I was thinking of fire forming some brass using the cream of wheat method and was trying to find out if it would damage the barrel. Would there be any permanent residue or any resulting damage due to heat? Googled this for a while and have not found anything negative. It would be PRVI brass, 22-250 Remington to 6.5 Creedmoor. Anyone have any bad experiences doing this?
Does Fire Forming using COW Damage the Barrel?
- Thread starter MikeinCalgary
- Start date
I've done lots of 280ai and 338 lapua ai brass with the cream of wheat method. No issues.
It's a balancing act between using enough powder to form the case and not enough and getting a nice bunch of cream of wheat stuck in the barrel.
It's a balancing act between using enough powder to form the case and not enough and getting a nice bunch of cream of wheat stuck in the barrel.
COW works but in most cases just doesn't properly form the case to the chamber dimensions. Pick up the cheapest 6.5 bullets you can find and load up your cases to minimum specs.
The 22-250 case may not be your best bet either, The 250 Savage case is almost identical and would only require only one pass through your dies to bump back the shoulder and size the necks.
Your call though. 22-250 brass is easier to find but the shoulder will still have to be bumped back.
The 22-250 case may not be your best bet either, The 250 Savage case is almost identical and would only require only one pass through your dies to bump back the shoulder and size the necks.
Your call though. 22-250 brass is easier to find but the shoulder will still have to be bumped back.
I have formed hundreds and hundreds of cases to AI and other configurations using the COW method.
I prefer Bullseye or Unique as a powder. I have never had any issues whatsoever with this system.
Regards, Dave.
I prefer Bullseye or Unique as a powder. I have never had any issues whatsoever with this system.
Regards, Dave.
PitBull1973
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Right Behind You
I load my cases up just with powder and go to the range . More trigger time
Last edited:
The COW method certainly works, as several have already pointed out. So does seating a bullet and firing. I would suggest that you choose a procedure that best controls the headspace issue. For example if you are trying to form a rimless case that has the shoulder moved forward you will have nothing to control the headspace. And example would be forming 30 Gibbs from std 30-06. In this case seating a bullet out far enough to engage the rifling would be required.Another option is to expand the neck up at least one calibre above what you are trying to create ,then re-size the case with a small secondary shoulder to control the headspace. If you are forming an Ackley improved cartridge (say 30-06 Ackley Imp from std 30-06) the headspace should be the same. So the COW method would be the preferred ( or should I say cheapest and least amount of wear on the barrel) method. If you understand the difference the procedure you should use will be easy to figure out.
- Location
- Rimbey, ab
I have used the COW method quite a bit. However recently I had a piece of soap come out when chambering a round and got mashed in my chamber causing deformations of the case. I had a bit of a struggle getting the soap out of the chamber and now think I'm just going to stick with loading bullets to fireform from now on.
Never used soap or wax....only a little wad of T.P. in the case mouth. No danger of it causing the issue you experienced.
