fillers for fire forming

[SlowBurn]

Instead of cream of wheat, are there other fillers used for fire forming?

I have a "new to me" .308 and a large batch of previously fired brass (same head stamp and year) that I want to prep them for load development. Thought I would body size and fire form before starting to work up a load.

Has anyone tried using lightly packed shredded paper? Stupid idea? Thoughts?

Thanks.

[swamp]

I use cornmeal.
swamp

[sawzall]

I've used toilet paper with success. However since you're on cast boolits I'm assuming you have .30 caliber cast boolits to use? Just resize load up some cast and have some fun shooting it. Voila fire formed brass.


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[brstevns]

I use Grits. I also used some steel cut oats my wife had purchased and didn't like.

[MarkP]

malto-meal and corn meal.

[Mk42gunner]

I've always had better luck using a fairly stout load with an actual bullet instead of using cornmeal/ grits/ whatever to reform cases to whatever chamber I was converting it to.

Robert

[lotech]

I haven't fireformed anything in a long time, but have used Cream Of Wheat and toilet paper wad over Bullseye for forming .375 Whelen Improved brass and probably others. Cases were not fully formed and it took a load with a real bullet and suitable powder to fully form. In later years, when forming .411 Hawk brass, I simply made up a cast bullet load and formed the case properly with one firing. This does take a stout, but not necessarily maximum load to fill out the case on one firing. It requires a little experimentation to get the powder charge to the point where full forming occurs, but the effort is worth it. The cast bullet should engage the lands.

Difficult to see an advantage to the filler & wad method of fireforming. I've found it's nothing but additional work.

[fast ronnie]

Cornmeal here then put a drop of paraffin to hold it in place.

[upnorthwis]

When I was first learning to cast, a friend of mine told there's no such thing as a scrap bullet. Use them for fireforming.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Boolits with standard boolit loads is my fireforming technique of choice.

[runfiverun]

see post number-6
the brass needs to have the molecular structure aligned properly and the only way to get there is with pressure and heat.
I routinely use jacketed loads to fire-form my cast boolit brass I want to make my 'best' loads with.

[9.3X62AL]

No fillers used to fire-form my 35 Whelen brass into 9.3 x 62 brass--just a full/safe pressure load of WC-852/fast lot under a 9mm Makarov JHP (Hornady) at 3100 FPS, and then went jackrabbit and ground squirrel strafing. Great results on both the brass and the varmints. The CZ-550's Mauser-type claw extractor helped things a bit, I am sure. To be clear, this re-form includes a shoulder being blown forward about 1/10".......it did the job handily.

[Reverend Al]

Bulk yellow cornmeal has always worked well for me ...

[SlowBurn]

thanks everyone for your advice - I guess I won't be the one to try shredded paper as a fire forming filler

[9.3X62AL]

thanks everyone for your advice - I guess I won't be the one to try shredded paper as a fire forming filler

I wouldn't DARE try that where I live. Talk about wildland fire-starting, with enhancements for aggravated mopery and intent to gawk.

[runfiverun]

but you'd be an internet sensation.

[pugjunga123]

Cornmeal

[tdoor4570]

I just use my not so great cast boolits to fire form brass when I need to or want to set up some brass for a certin rifle has always worked well for me

[GONRA]

GONRA has commented (endlessly) on "fillers".
Really watchout with NECKED CARTRIDGES guys.
KABOOM with "too much" filler!!!

Better to Just Not Doit with "necked cartridges.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Any danger with fillers and small charges, which can be exaggerated, appears to attach principally to light fillers which position the powder, but have little real mass or volume. There is a slight chance of a pressure wave building up. With a solid filler like those named here (or coarse sawdust) the situation is quite different. The minimum charge which will fireform brass is harmless.