Hello,
I've found this forum very helpful and would like to give back a little. I'd like to start by saying I'm in no way an expert, just a guy who enjoys this hobby. I have a winchester model 70 in 25-06 ackley improved and found the idea of fire forming without a bullet interesting. I searched the internet for ideas and found a number of different techniques. Heres what I did:
I started with 100 pieces of winchester brass and annealed them. Then I created a false shoulder by necking them up to 7mm then necked them back down to 25 caliber but not all the way. Only far enough to close in my chamber firmly so the primer strike would not drive the case forward in the chamber and give me missfires or stretched cases. I primed them with f205's. I then put 15 grains of unique into the cases. I chose cream of wheat as the filler. I poured it into the case about halfway up the neck. I tapped the case to settle the filler, rolled up a 1/4 square of toilet paper, and stuffed it in the neck to keep everything in place.
I lubed my bolt lugs and chambered my first round. (please make sure to fire in a safe direction in an appropriate place. There are high velocity particles exiting the barrel that could do serious damage at close range.) The report was louder than expected but with almost no recoil. When I ejected the casing it I found a perfectly formed ackley case.
It worked so well that I will do all my fire forming this way.
I hope this helps
I've found this forum very helpful and would like to give back a little. I'd like to start by saying I'm in no way an expert, just a guy who enjoys this hobby. I have a winchester model 70 in 25-06 ackley improved and found the idea of fire forming without a bullet interesting. I searched the internet for ideas and found a number of different techniques. Heres what I did:
I started with 100 pieces of winchester brass and annealed them. Then I created a false shoulder by necking them up to 7mm then necked them back down to 25 caliber but not all the way. Only far enough to close in my chamber firmly so the primer strike would not drive the case forward in the chamber and give me missfires or stretched cases. I primed them with f205's. I then put 15 grains of unique into the cases. I chose cream of wheat as the filler. I poured it into the case about halfway up the neck. I tapped the case to settle the filler, rolled up a 1/4 square of toilet paper, and stuffed it in the neck to keep everything in place.
I lubed my bolt lugs and chambered my first round. (please make sure to fire in a safe direction in an appropriate place. There are high velocity particles exiting the barrel that could do serious damage at close range.) The report was louder than expected but with almost no recoil. When I ejected the casing it I found a perfectly formed ackley case.
It worked so well that I will do all my fire forming this way.
I hope this helps
