Fire forming 348 brass for Gras

[condorjohn]

HI All,
This is my first post on this sight, but have been gleening much info from it.
I recently got a French Gras and read on another site that one could fire form
.348 Win brass for it. The rim will be small but it beats the price of new or reformed brass.
My question is, How do I go about doing the fire firming?

Thanks For Any Help... Condor John

[JeffinNZ]

I fireform my .303 British prior to loading to fit the chamber with a load of 15gr Green Dot topped off with corn meal and a tuft of tissue to hold it in place. Loud and proud and get's the job done. I like to anneal first.

[twotoescharlie]

anneal first,8-10 grains fast burning powder, 1/4 sheet of toilet tissue over powder, top up with cornmeal or something similar,and a wax plug on top of all.
just recently made some of these,all good, didn't lose any shells.
filled a bucket about half full of rags and shot into it.(in my shop) use earmuffs and don't use a plastic bucket as it will knock the bottom out of it.

TTC

[condorjohn]

Thanks for the guidance... Condor John

[smokemjoe]

I necked mine out to size and shot 13 grs. of Unique for fire forming,Smokemjoe

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I just thought I'd wake up this old thread.

one of my 'up n coming' projects is just this
fireforming 348 into 11mm french gras.

I am leaning toward smokemJoe's technique...Maybe two grains less of Unique though. Should I anneal before sizing the case mouth...or after...or both ?

Also, should I use a filler ? or just purposely tilt the rifle back before each shot so the powder is to the rear of the case ?

thanks ahead of time for any hints,tips and tricks.

[FrankG]

I used a straight bored chamber 2.5" long in an ol mauser barrel to fireform cylindrical brass for making .400 Brown Whelen cases.

I annealed them using a socket with a stove bolt put through the drive end for using a cordless drill to turn casing neck/shoulder area in flame of propane torch till red then dumped in bucket of water.

After they were dry , I primed and used 8 grs 700X with a tuft of toilet paper followed with cream of wheat and another tuft of TP.
These I shot into the air.

I tried a lesser amount of powder and they wouldn't fully straighten out.

Below is a annealed 30-06 on left center is after initial fire form in straight chamber and right is resized , trimmed ,annealed once more and fired with a medium load .

The shoulder squared up nicely on firing.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b74/ModocWrangler/400%20Whelen/DSCN1523_zpsf495d999.jpg (http://s17.photobucket.com/user/ModocWrangler/media/400%20Whelen/DSCN1523_zpsf495d999.jpg.html)

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Oh, I should clarify,
I am gonna load a boolit into the case.

[45 2.1]

one of my 'up n coming' projects is just this
fireforming 348 into 11mm french gras.

I am leaning toward smokemJoe's technique...Maybe two grains less of Unique though. Should I anneal before sizing the case mouth...or after...or both ?

Shouldn't be much of a problem. Whether you anneal before or after really depends on the brass you are using. If it is soft, try it after or not at all. If its hard, anneal it, shoulder and neck.

Also, should I use a filler ? or just purposely tilt the rifle back before each shot so the powder is to the rear of the case ?

On extreme blow out fire forming, put just enough shotgun/pistol powder in to fire form, then a wad of paper towel, then a round ball or light boolit. Do NOT use a granular grabby type of filler as these types usually take the front of the case off with too stout of a load. Point it almost vertical to get an even fire form and test it.