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Thread: Cream of wheat to blow out straight wall cases?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    Cream of wheat to blow out straight wall cases?

    Has anyone used bullseye or similar powder with cow to expand straight wall cases? I'd like to blow 223 basic cases out to 357ar rimless. I have a 357 max contender I can swap the extractor out on. This is for a 357ar barrel I'm putting together for a friend.
    I've blown 348 cases out to 450 Alaskan before, but never tried it with a straight wall case. If anyone has, how much bullseye would be appropriate?
    They only need to expand about .004
    When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
    They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
    But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
    And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

  2. #2
    In Remembrance



    curator's Avatar
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    I have successfully "blown-out" 7mm Mag cases to .458 Winchester using 6 grains of Unique and a case-full of Cream of Wheat. I did anneal the case mouth and shoulder prior to doing this, but it worked just fine for me.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    .004??? I would just load them and shoot.
    The only amendment the Democrats support is the 5th.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master Moleman-'s Avatar
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    Unless you just like making a mess, just shoot them. You'll get a little bit less case shrinkage if you expand them up first. If you don't want to expand them up with a Lyman "M" die expander, trim to max case length knowing that when they expand they'll also get slightly shorter but not as noticeable as a 223/5.56 case would. The starline cases that I've used were fired generally with 158gr xtp plinker loads (23.5gr W296, 158gr XTP@1.950"col, 43Kpsi-2150fps for a 16" barrel). They'll fully iron out the cases and are well under the 60Kpsi max limit. Any of the reloading book loads for TC 357Maximum should also work but may not cycle your action.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    Thanks. I didn't realize the basic wouldn't shorten as much as necked up 223 brass. As far as making a mess, theres no way I'd try cow in an ar, lol. I figured on doing that in the contender.
    When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
    They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
    But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
    And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

  6. #6
    In Remembrance Reverend Al's Avatar
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    I've been forming .40-50 Sharps Straight from shortened .303 British cases with great success. I annealed them, shortened them with my Forster drill press trimmer, primed, and then loaded with 8.5 grains of Nitro Trap 100 (since I have lots of it), 1/4 sheet of toilet tissue pressed down with a wooden dowel, then filled to the mouth of the case with bulk yellow cornmeal, topped with another 1/4 sheet of toilet tissue pressed in with the wooden dowel. When I fire form them up at the range they snap right out straight, ready to reload. It's a bit of time spent, but I'm retired and have nothing but time these days ...
    I may have passed my "Best Before" date, but I haven't reached my "Expiry" date!

  7. #7
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    "I'm retired and have nothing but time these days ..."

    No bars and topless joints in BC ?

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    red dot or unique is better than bullseye for what you are doing. about 6-7 grains of either, and full with COW or dry grits to neck. years ago i made a "bird-box" with a cloth far end and a round hole in the near end so that i could fire-form 38-55 in my reloading room.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master Moleman-'s Avatar
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    The starline 223 basic is much nicer to work with since they are basically already expanded. Only down side is they're not free like range pick up 223/5.56. I ordered 500 Starline 223 basic cases from the first run last year and 1000 from the 2nd run.

  10. #10
    In Remembrance Reverend Al's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 6.5 CM View Post
    "I'm retired and have nothing but time these days ..."

    No bars and topless joints in BC ?
    I'm married and can't afford the divorce lawyer that would be needed if I started that sort of nonsense ...
    I may have passed my "Best Before" date, but I haven't reached my "Expiry" date!

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    Maybe some clarification is in order here. The 223 basic brass is not bottle necked, but straight walled. I dont know if it would react differently to a blank load than it would in a bottle neck case. Since the 223ar headspaces on the case mouth, I'd like to expand the brass before final trim to get the correct case length, hence my desire to expand before loading projectiles. Mole man has been doing this in an ar15, so I guess he has the right answer, given his experiences with the basic brass. I figured, (probably wrongly), that fire forming vertically would give the most concentric cases. Where I live, firing boolits vertically wouldn't be a good idea.
    When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
    They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
    But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
    And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check