Forming 25-06AI brass - better to start with 25-06 or 270 brass?

[Shinbone]

I have never formed wildcat brass before now. I've got a 25-06AI coming soon, for which I will need brass. My plan was to form the brass myself, probably using the fast powder + Cream of Wheat method. Anyone have any suggestions for what type of hull to start with?

 

[Tommie]

Assuming the chamber is headspaced correctly for the Ackley chamber, 25-06 brass will work fine.

 

[jepp2]

My plan was to form the brass myself, probably using the fast powder + Cream of Wheat method.

I fire form brass for my 20 Bobcat (20-222 Ackley), 223 AI, and 22-250 AI. I have found the accuracy to be excellent when fire forming, and thus have never used the COW method. Just something to consider.

As mentioned, the entire concept behind the Ackley was to allow the shooter to use factory parent loads for the initial firing.

 

[2506]

My buddy got a 25-06AI and all he did was load up his standard 25-06 load in new cases and shot them to break in the rifle and zero his scope close. Worked out that there was not that much difference in POI between the two out to 200 yards. Where the AI shined was at 300 and out. When hunting where his shots would be inside 200 yards he used the 25-06 loads to KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE SHOT so to speak. Shot a deer and fireformed a case.

 

[Shoebox]

You can, but it's a lot easier to just form your own .25-06 AI cases out of cheap .270 Win brass.

1.) Take new .270 Win cases, run them through a FL .25-06 AI sizing die.

2.) Trim the cases to 2.514" (it will shrink 0.020" during the fire-forming process to get your proper case length of 2.494").

3.) Load your primer into the case.

4.) Use a light load of powder (I use 45gr of RL19) behind a cheap bullet (I use Hornady 117 Interloks), seating the bullets touching the lands so that when you close the bolt, you get a very slight resistance, so you know the bullet is against the lands and the case head is against the bolt face.

5.) Go shoot.

= 2506 ai

 

[6MMWASP]

I am unsure how many AI cartridges I load or how many rifles I have with AI chambers but I have never not been able to find a fire forming load that would shoot as well as or better than fire formed loads.
I just don't see any advantage to COW fire forming for a hunting rifle or varminter.
270 cases have a slight advantage as you can create a false shoulder when necking them down but most of my 25-06 brass is 25-06 head stamped.

 

[stacy]

270 BRASS FOR ME

 

[Shinbone]

270 BRASS FOR ME

Please elaborate . . .

 

[Walt Krafft]

Depends on the reamer used. Watch your neck diameter if forming down brass. Make sure you still have some clearance for your loaded necks to expand.

 

[stacy]

Please elaborate . . .

JUST AS 6MMWASP SAID FALSE SHOULDER BETTER FORMING AND LITTLE LONGER NECK I HAVE HAD 25-06 BRASS AFTER FORMING THE NECKS WAS A LITTLE SHORT TO MY LIKEN

 

[Shinbone]

Depends on the reamer used. Watch your neck diameter if forming down brass. Make sure you still have some clearance for your loaded necks to expand.

The gunsmith will cut the neck to any diameter indicated by the dummy round I send him. My plan was to trim just enough off the neck to make the wall thickness uniform around the circumference.

 

[Shinbone]

I just don't see any advantage to COW fire forming for a hunting rifle or varminter.

My thought was the CoW method caused less wear and tear on the bore than firing factory 25-06 loads, while producing more fully formed brass than hydro-forming.

 

[Bill K]

Just take you 25-06 brass and fire it in the AI chamber, then you are set to go with formed and head stamped brass showing 25-06.

 

[ebb]

They are not talking about neck dia. they are talking about neck length. 270 is longer than 2506 and gives some insurance that after formed it can be trimmed to be as long as your chamber.

 

[Brians356]

Why bother with cream of wheat? You don't need inert filler, wad, or wax neck plug. Just pistol powder like Bullseye and a pistol primer. Probably about 15% of case capacity of the powder. Use a Lee powder dipper to pour the charge into the primed case, chamber it keeping rifle pointing skyward, and fire it at the nearest cloud. You'll be finished in a fraction of the time messing with filler. Adjust the charge as required for well-formed shoulders.
-

 

[jepp2]

My thought was the CoW method caused less wear and tear on the bore than firing factory 25-06 loads, while producing more fully formed brass than hydro-forming.

Well, it will. But you will not learn anything that you could be learning while fire forming your brass and breaking the barrel in. I would use other alternatives to "ration" the barrel life of your seriously overbore cartridge.

 

[Shinbone]

Well, it will. But you will not learn anything that you could be learning while fire forming your brass and breaking the barrel in.

I have never worked with a wildcat or AI cartridge - what will I learn if I fire form using a bullet and regular 25-06 powder charge? I thought that the velocity would significantly off due to the smaller volume of the 25-06 case? As such, any data collected from the 25-06 firing wouldn't translate to the 25-06AI cartridges.

 

[Shinbone]

Why bother with cream of wheat? You don't need inert filler, wad, or wax neck plug. Just pistol powder like Bullseye and a pistol primer. Probably about 15% of case capacity of the powder. Use a Lee powder dipper to pour the charge into the primed case, chamber it keeping rifle pointing skyward, and fire it at the nearest cloud. You'll be finished in a fraction of the time messing with filler. Adjust the charge as required for well-formed shoulders.
-

Thanks for the time saving suggestion.

 

[jepp2]

what will I learn if I fire form using a bullet and regular 25-06 powder charge? I thought that the velocity would significantly off due to the smaller volume of the 25-06 case? As such, any data collected from the 25-06 firing wouldn't translate to the 25-06AI cartridges.

It is only a 25-06 until you pull the trigger. Then it is a 25-06 AI. Max velocities listed in the Sierra VI manual for 25-06 max out at 3200-3300 for 100 gr, and for the 25-06 AI 3400 fps. Not much difference to me.

As others have mentioned and has been my experience, fireforming loads can be very accurate.

 

[Walt Krafft]

How much brass are you going to need? 100 rounds - just go shoot it. 200 rounds - just go shoot twice as much. I regularly fireform brass in competition at 600 yards with no loss in accuracy. Over 1000 rounds this year.