Dedicated fire forming rifle

[Maxxwell86]

Has anyone setup a long action on a junk stock just for the purpose of barrel swap fire forming for various non factory loads?


Here's the idea:

If you had pairs of inexpensive factory sporter barrels and your custom barrels re-chambered for the same cartridge (260 AI as an example or whatever you like) using the same reamer, one right after the other so the tool wear is for all intent the same. The chambers and freebore should be almost a perfect match.

Is there any reason you couldn't fire form a butt load of brass in the one rifle and save barrel wear on your $400+ barrel.

It shouldn't bee any different than what happens when you buy factory brass off of a SAAMI chamber in a standard cartridge and shoot it in your pet rifle the first time.

Or would it?

[rsbhunter]

From what i read, there are alot of guys that do that in bench rest...cause by the time you get the bbl, have it chambered and fitted to your rifle (rem, stolle, panda's) you inthe 700$$$ range plus. rsbhunter

[82boy]

I have never head of anyone taking and dedicating an action for fireforming brass. Yes some benchrest guys will take and old barrel and fireform brass in it, but they are using the same action. Barrel cost for a Panda, or a Bat is not much different than for a Savage. $400-$500 dollars. Most BR shooters prefer high end cut rifled barrels and they average at $300 for the blank. Krieger, Bartline, Brux. That puts $200 into cambering and profiling the barrel at $500.

[Uncle Jack]

Considering that many folks fireform brass with less than max loads with lighter bullets, cast lead bullets, or with no bullets at all (corn meal, styrofoam, cardboard, etc,) the wear factor on a new barrel hardly justifies the time, cost and trouble of building a seperate machine for the purpose.

uj

[Con]

I have never head of anyone taking and dedicating an action for fireforming brass.

Ken Howell is an advocate of it. An old M98 action onto which barrel stubs could be screwed for fireforming using the Cream of Wheat method. The action was mounted to a fixture so it didn't need to be held.
Cheers...
Con

[Maxxwell86]

Considering that many folks fireform brass with less than max loads with lighter bullets, cast lead bullets, or with no bullets at all (corn meal, styrofoam, cardboard, etc,) the wear factor on a new barrel hardly justifies the time, cost and trouble of building a seperate machine for the purpose

But it's the flame front and burning powder that wear out the lands and grooves at the end of the freebore. Any load fired in that barrel (delicious cream of wheat not withstanding) is going to cause damage in a high $$ tube for nothing more than adjusting a brass shoulder.

I would think sacrificing a 70 dollar factory barrel plus the cost of an old Stevens action would cost a quarter to a third of what you have invested in a tuned up precision rig.

[TonyBen]

Six one way; half a dozen the other, I suppose...

If it makes sense; why not?

If I were going to do it though I'd make sure they both have the exact same headspace. No sense in fireforming short of one chamber only to have to fireform it again although I suppose it will be a miniscule amount of difference and still yield better results than virgin brass.

[Blue Avenger]

I have never head of anyone taking and dedicating an action for fireforming brass.

Ken Howell is an advocate of it. An old M98 action onto which barrel stubs could be screwed for fireforming using the Cream of Wheat method. The action was mounted to a fixture so it didn't need to be held.
Cheers...
Con

Guy would have to be very careful on that idea. If it could chamber a live round, it would have to pass BATF rules.
guy went to jail years back for being lazy and whacking barrels to stubs to sell M98 actions for custom builds.

[Switchbarrel]

I had a short action 6BR re-chambered with my Dasher reamer to fireform brass for my 1000yd. light-gun.

Kevin Rayhill is building me .284 Shehane on a long-action to fireform brass for my heavy-gun. Sadly, I'll have so much into this build, I should've just started with another custom action.

That's the beauty of owning your own reamers, multiple rifles with identical chambers.

-Rick

[CJ in WY]

Along the lines of every shot down a barrel counts against it I try to put all the first shots on paper between cleaning to get dailed in dureing breakin and fireforming. Heck some of my best groups come from fireform loads and I have yet to have a prairie dog complain that it was killed with a little slower fireform load ;D

[lomfs24]

I have had a couple Pdogs come up to me and tell me that it wasn't fair and honorable to be killed with a piece of brass that was being fireformed. The Pdog community as a whole prefers to be killed with fully developed loads and custom rifles.

Deer, on the otherhand, don't seem to mind one way or the other. ;D