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HELP- fireforming to .243 ackley

I need some guidance on fireforming to .243 ackley, using the cream of wheat method. The fast burning powders I have on hand are: clays, hp-38 and hs-6, are any of these powders suitable, and how many grains of each? if these powders are not suitable, which powder do I need to use.

Thanks,

Tony.
 
I used cow in a 22-250ai and i used 4gr of red dot. that was to light so i would add 1gr at a time untill i reached the right load. it takes awile but it is worth it.
Caution a cow load is just as loud as a full load. Shot the first one into the trash can and boy was it loud.
 
Hello Tony,

Any one of the powders you have listed would work ok. My personal pick of the powders you have listed would be the Clays. It would burn the cleanest and would be the easiest one to use. I have used powders as slow as 2400, but I have found that the powders from around the burning rate of Red Dot to Unique tend to be the best ones to use in my experience. You will need to start around 4 grains and will most likely work up to what will ultimately do the job for you.

Bob Blaine
 
You have to develop enough pressure to take the brass out and fill the chamber. In the 6PPC from 220 Russian, a lot of guys fill the case up to the shoulder with bullseye and then top it off with wax. If your chamber is cut correctly then you could just use a good stiff load with bullets to fireform with...you would likely get a better case that way.
 
thanks, and keep um coming guys. The only reason I choose the c.o.w. method over the regular bullet method, is to save the wear and tear on the rifle.

Tony.
 
I used a stout load of RL 22 with my 243 ackley then took it to the range to break in the barrel and they shot great so after the barrel was broke in correctly then I already had my scope sighted in and took the rest of my fire forming loads coyote hunting and fireformed while hunting. Alot of guys say your barrel needs 100 rounds or so to break in and stabilize velocity anyways. You can break in your barrel, hunt and shoot some long range rocks for fun while fire forming. Its like killing 3 birds with one stone!

Shaun White
 
clays---no cream of wheat and NO bullet

I use clays or Universal Clays with a lil pinch of toilet paper stuffed in the case neck to keep it from spillin out....no bullet wasted....no mess with burnt cereal ,,,,no bbl. wear....what more culd u ask 4.....start out with a case 1/2 full and work up till the shoulder looks nice and sharp....Roger
 
Some brands of COW contain table salt so watch out for that.

I fireform a new batch of brass for my 6AI at F Class short range practise on a Canadian Army range. Haven`t noticed any great difference in accuracy at 600 yards. And I am working on wind reading and plotting while forming the brass. No such thing as too much wind reading practise. Have to increase elevation by a minute to compensate for the lower velocity.
 
tonyb: i use 10 gr unique, cow, and cotten. i fill a very large cardboard box with wadded newspaper, styrofoam, cardboard, etc.(the larger the box the better). poke a hole in the end of the box just larger than the barrel muzzel. load a prepped round, insert well into the box and whummppp! a very nicely fireformed case in my garage and my family didn't hear a thing! if the other powders burn cleaner, i may give them a try...fewer graines equals less burnt residue? just noticed that a fired case seems to have less runout than it did before. am now using this cow process to see if i can reduce runout on some cases.
if ican see you, i can touch you. BANG!
 
I tried a case with 10 gr. of green dot and cow with tissue plugging the end. Pulled the case out, nice form, but the primer was pushed slightly out of the case. This tells me that the case was not back against the boltface, therefore not properly formed. Am I correct with this, I allways have heard that you want the case to be against the boltface for proper headspace??
 
Shooting that fireform round into a box full of paper, cotton balls, styrofoam, etc will produce something else besides a fireformed round-- FIRE :o :o :o Be careful.
 
tonyb
You do need the case tight against the bolt face when it's fired or you'll run into problems..
It needs to be tight in the chamber when you close the bolt........
A primer backed out is a sign that your going to have a headspace problem...
 
Don't waste your time with cream of wheat. Just shoot bullets.

With fillers, you'll be loading, using components, then cleaning whatever the crap is out of your barrel. Cases likely won't be completely formed and you'll still have to do load development after that.

With this or any AI round....work up an accurate load just like you would with any other cartridge. The .243 case has very little taper anyway and only just the shoulder blows forward, so the change won't be as dramatic as with some other AI cartridges. Start maybe just shy of max for the std. case and go up from there til you find the load it likes. Then go shoot them. Do a good job and accuracy will be the same as with fireformed brass, velocity will also be pretty close to the same. Cases come out perfectly formed and you now have the load, almost. With the 243AI, formed loads will be only a little more powder than fireforming, or they might even be the same.

The fireform load through my 243AI's is W760 with a 70TNT at about 3800, + or - depending on the primer and barrel. Accuracy is from all holes touching to about 3/8", again depending on primer. This isn't putting "wear and tear on the rifle"......I shot a whole ton of prairie dogs and rockchucks with that load and got a perfectly formed case with each shot. It's a no-lose situation.
 
tonyb said:
I tried a case with 10 gr. of green dot and cow with tissue plugging the end. Pulled the case out, nice form, but the primer was pushed slightly out of the case. This tells me that the case was not back against the boltface, therefore not properly formed. Am I correct with this, I allways have heard that you want the case to be against the boltface for proper headspace??

Sounds like the chamber is cut too long for your brass. There needs to be pressure when closing the bolt and not all .243 brass has the same headspace. I've measured .004" and .005" difference with 3 different headstamps, and .009" headspace difference between the shortest of one headstamp and the longest of another. So if a chamber is cut with what's considered by many as standard .004" crush, it'll be too long for some brass.
Only way to be sure of good crush on each and every case is to cut the chamber about .012"-.015" shorter than standard .243.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. I will try forming with bullets jambed into the lands tomorrow, and follow up with a report.

Tony.
 
Went out this morning with some winchester 748 (that I don't use anymore) and some 87 hornady bthp bullets seated hard into the lands. 39 grains showed slight ejector plunger mark and 37 grains was pretty good, but did not show a sharp shoulder. Settled for 38 grains. This load shows no ejector mark, forms a sharp shoulder and there is just a slight hint of bolt lift resistance. I think I found the sweet spot! thanks everyone for your input.

Tony.
 

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