6BRX, fire forming brass

[Dennis]

What is the correct way to get brass ready for the 6BRX? You start with 6BR brass and . . . . . . ?

[tiny68]

Here is a good review: http://www.6mmbr.com/6improvedform.html

I personally have to form a false shoulder on my 6Ackley because is was chambered a little deep. I use a 0.257 expander (lots of lube) to open the neck and then just size a portion of the neck. Gives a good tight crush fit and forms good fireformed brass. Of course seating a bullet at the jam works well for most and I do this with my other Ackley chambers. Luck with your 6BRX. That will be one of my next 6 barrels to shoot F-open. Tim

[Dennis]

Good articles!

So, from what I understand, take your 6BR brass, load it to the max, seat your bullet about .020 in the lands, fire, then you have your fireformed 6BRX brass! Correct.

What dies do you use?

[82boy]

There is several ways to fireform brass. What works best is up to you.

When I fireform PPC cases I take a small piece of cloth saturated in oil, and give each shell a lite coating, this helps then to fit better, and keeps them from sticking. I jamb the bullets hard into the rifling, that way the case head is against the bolt face. You don't need to load to the max, all it does is beat up the brass, a moderate load is all that is needed.

When I fireform necked down brass, 6x47L and 22BR ETC I use small load of pistol powder and Cream of wheat. (No bullet) This works well, as it blows the donut out. If you don't know what your doing please don't try this. I don't recamend it it is just an example of how I do things.

Some benchrest shooters fill the case full of pistol power (No bullet) and fire it. I highly don't recemend doing this, and this is only an example on how some shooters do this . To add some shooters just load the rounds up and shoot them. Like a 220 Russian (22 bullet) in a 6PPC. On AI chambers (Like a 22/250 AI)some shooters just buy (22/250 rem) winchester whitebox in the parent caliber, and shoot it.

You may be surprised, I have found that a lot of times that the guns shoots just as good if not better when fireforming cases as shooting formed cases.

A few good articles to read.
http://www.6mmbr.com/6improvedform.html
http://www.6mmbr.com/260AIforming.html
http://www.6mmbr.com/6PPC.html
http://www.6mmbr.com/CroneBRX.html

[GaCop]

223AI is an easy one to form brass for just chamber handloads or factory 223 rounds and pull the trigger.

[kschilling]

Dennis,
When I did mine for my BRX build, I loaded 29.o grains of H4895, set the bullet into the lands and fired away. My current load is 33.0 grains of Varget, RP 7.5 primer and a 105 Berger. Vel runs about 3075 - 3100. Yes... it will go faster... but, with a .0355 5 shot group....... I think it's fast enough. I also use Redding 6mm BR dies with a .308 Full length die for "body sizing". Simply take the guts out of the full length die and go to work.

Ken

[Dennis]

Method 1--Fire-Form with Pistol Powder, No Bullet: With this method, you load a case with pistol powder, seal the case mouth with wax or modeling clay, and then just shoot off the charge. There

I guess this way might be one of the best and your not waisiting bullets! Do you melt the wax or just fill it with the wax striaght out of the box? Aslo, do you clean the barrell after you fireform all the brass, or clean after each forming?

Second,


Based on what little info was available, I selected Unique pistol powder, a Winchester Large Rifle primer, regular (not instant) Cream of Wheat breakfast cereal as the inert filler material, and a dab of Crisco shortening at the top of the case mouth to hold it all in during the firing process.


I looks like you fill the case with powder, fill the remaining case with 'cream of wheat" (dry), then put a small coat of crisco on the top of the next to hold all in! Again, do you form all your brass or cleans inbetween forming?

or number 3,


Method 2--Fire-Form with 6mm bullet and Full Load: The second method is to fire-form with a 6mm bullet in place using your regular rifle powder. To save wear on your precious match barrel, again, this can be done with a dedicated fire-forming barrel. It's fine to use a "throw-away" PPC barrel that has lost its accuracy, but you want to make sure the chamber is the same as your match gun, or your fire-formed rounds may not fit. You expand the brass with a 6mm expander, then turn the cases to fit your chamber. (You may wish to leave the very end of the neck a couple thousandths larger than the rest of the neck so you get a crush fit--you can then make a final neck-turning pass after fire-forming). Load a full charge, seat the bullets into the lands, and shoot.

I heard the bullets were still pretty accuracte using the above method! But if you want to fireform about 500 rounds, could get a little $$$$$$$ !!!

[Dennis]

You may be surprised, I have found that a lot of times that the guns shoots just as good if not better when fireforming cases as shooting formed cases.


Patrick, I have seen this statement in many forums!

[Dennis]

I guess your brass OAL is still 2.075 for the BRX's

[82boy]

On the methods mentioned.
#1 filling with pistol powder, it works but I don't like doing it, because I just don't feel comfrontable using that big volume of pistol powder.

#2 Yes you use a very small charge of Unique or bulseye and fill the case the rest of the way up with dry Cream of Wheat. (AKA COW) You can use different things to plug up the end of the case I use wax. (Which will answer your question in #1) The wax just disappears or melts, and you get a blast of dust that comes out the barrel. When using this method be carefull to not overheat the barrel. There is a very small amount of recoil, and it is easy to just stand there and pull the trigger, and throw another shell in. I usually fireform brass this way when it is very cold outside. Yes you have to clean the barrel you get dirt in there, push a wet patch and a dry patch and your done. There is a myth behind this method that the COW or what ever actually polishes the barrel. The wax I use is old tea candles my wife is done with, I just take the loaded round, and push a small chunk of it in there to keep everything still. Some people use toilet paper, and other stuff. A good friend of mine uses corn cob media insted of COW he says it works better, I have never tried it.

Disclaimer. I don't recamend anyone using these ideas, and if they do so they do on their own. In no way do I recamend anyone using any of this information, this is just an example of how I have done things in the past, it doesn't make it right or safe.

#3 use cheap bullets.