I have a 6.5x55AI, and I just bought a bunch of prvi brass to fire form. I find that with this new brass it will not fire a remington primer. I am sure this is a case fit problem. I am open to all suggestions.. I have though of squeezing the case necks slightly out of round, but do not have a lot of other ideas...
Which primers fire easiest?
- Thread starter 22to45
- Start date
I would advise you to seat the bullet long so that it is on the lands when chambered. This should give you a "crush fit" for fire-forming.
Use a warm load and that should do the trick.
Once fire-formed, you should possibly get 20+ reloads with the same brass.
Have fun!
Use a warm load and that should do the trick.
Once fire-formed, you should possibly get 20+ reloads with the same brass.
Have fun!
+1
Federal primers are known for being much more sensitive as well as having softer cups.
Find your seating depth to just touch the lands using your least valuable bullets at hand, add .020+- to that length, in order to jam the bullets into the leade, reduce powder charge to well under max., and then fireform the brass while pushed hard against the boltface. Cases will lengthen to almost zero headspace.
Trim.
And then be very carefull thereafter not to bump the shoulder back in sizing any more than neccessary for smooth chambering.
That prvi brass is good stuff, worth re-annealing after a few firings if you are after precision.
Trim.
And then be very carefull thereafter not to bump the shoulder back in sizing any more than neccessary for smooth chambering.
That prvi brass is good stuff, worth re-annealing after a few firings if you are after precision.
^^ THIS ^^
In my previous post (#2) I was a bit hasty in recommending a solution because "I've always done it this way" but I recalled reading something on this matter and went hunting through some books. 45 minutes later, I came up with the answer...
This is what THE GREAT GOD OF RELOADING (P.O. Ackley) has to say on this matter. This is a direct quote form Ackley's Volume 1, page 538:
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QUESTION: I have a rifle which is chambered for a blown out .30/06 cartridge with a much longer body than is found on the standard '06 case, and I have been told that I can fire form cases by using factory ammunition, if I pull the bullet out far enough so that it will set up against the lands or touch the land firmly. Is this a safe practice? WCH
ANSWER: Some recommend this way of fire forming cases, and some get away with it for a long, long time, but it could hardly be considered a safe practice. For example, I once observed this method of fire forming where the bullet was being set into the lands and the case were blow forward about 1/8 inch in the fire forming process. This shooter got away with it for several hundred round, but finally one did not form correctly. The head blew off, the action was completely demolished, the barrel was blown off into the bushes ten feet away and the shooter wound up in the hospital for several weeks, and for some time, there was some doubt about saving his sight. Therefore, it would be cheap insurance to first neck the cases up to larger diameter, and in this instance it would probably be .35, then nick it back down the distance equal to the headspace of the new chamber, or to a point which will allow the bolt to be closed on the new cartridge with a definite "feel". This eliminates the necessity of withdrawing the bullet far enough to engage the lands and establish a safe shoulder to headspace against. Then, the resulting cartridge can be loaded with a full load and fire formed with perfect safety.
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Above all else, SAFETY FIRST.
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Agree with chappy and K-C, the neck up and size down to crush fit method works very well.
If, one has the tooling at hand to expand the necks to the next cal..
8x57 to 9.3x57 for example, the .375h&h expander did the trick. Every case formed perfectly. Same for 30/06 expanded to .40 by Why Not? for 9.3x62, all perfect.
However, when fitting same cal. brass to same cal. chamber that happens to be just a few thou. more generous in headspace like our OP's appears to be, ... never heard of anyone having a prob with the long seat bullet jamming method.
If, one has the tooling at hand to expand the necks to the next cal..
8x57 to 9.3x57 for example, the .375h&h expander did the trick. Every case formed perfectly. Same for 30/06 expanded to .40 by Why Not? for 9.3x62, all perfect.
However, when fitting same cal. brass to same cal. chamber that happens to be just a few thou. more generous in headspace like our OP's appears to be, ... never heard of anyone having a prob with the long seat bullet jamming method.
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
The neck up, then down to form a false shoulder is THE way to form brass. I like to use a light charge of pistol powder under a case full of cornmeal (non instant). Usually cream of wheat is used but I have cornmeal in the house.
The false shoulder is set so that there is resistance on the bolt in the last 1/4 of closing.... you feel the squeeze of the case in the chamber. When you fireform (moderate pressure), the shoulder is formed but there is no stress on the web area.
Now a standard high pressure load can be used without risk of damage to the case. As was said, PRVI is very good brass. Very tough, when fireformed properly.
If you size minimally, it will last a good long time. Annealing regularly, really helps to keep this brass working its best (as with any case).
Jerry
Ya but, why did the gun in P.O.'s story blow up? Don't dare tell me pressure went up because the bullet was in the lands. It must have been because the case was way forward and with enough pin reach to hit the primer OR maybe he filled it up with BULLSEYE, who knows, nobody knows for sure. Perhaps the case was shoved forward by the pin??
Why fire real bullets for fire forming when you can use Crisco?
For a .308 Win case I use 4gr of Red Dot topped off with cream of wheat then a dab of Crisco to seal the neck.
Do a search and you will see many people using this technique.
For a .308 Win case I use 4gr of Red Dot topped off with cream of wheat then a dab of Crisco to seal the neck.
Do a search and you will see many people using this technique.
Sometimes when case forming I find it useful to lightly lube the case so that there is no chance of case stretching at the web. This is with mild loads, obviously.
One trick is to seat the bullets upside down, so that they are real hard into the rifling.
One trick is to seat the bullets upside down, so that they are real hard into the rifling.
I seal the case mouths with the cheapest soap I can buy in bar form. I think it was a buck for a ten pack. Push the charged and COWed cases into the soap and twist. That will cause a soap plug to break off inside.
I use the technique to blow .300 Win Mag cases out straight for use in the .458 Win, and .375 H&H into Lott cases. I use about 14 grains of Unique.
At close range you might be able to shoot dragon flies out of the air with these COW loads. Worth a try anyway. The soap plug could hurt people or your wife's cat.
07blackwater
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Port Coquitlam, BC
If they don't fire I'd say the primers aren't seated deep enough.
Seat them to a crush fit.
If they're not deep enough the firing pin is probably pushing them in instead of firing them.
