Fireforming 308 brass

[gunauthor]

I am getting a 100 nickel/brass cases prepped for my 308 bolt gun with the idea to compete in cast boolit benchrest shooting. I want to fireform the cases and need a bit of advice regarding how to do this. Can I use say 2400 powder behind a cast boolit or would it be better to use jacketed? Is that too fast powder and maybe IMR 4895 be a better choice? Thanks in advance to all for your help.

[jhalcott]

Look up fire forming with cream of wheat. You can save bullets/boolits this way. You do not need to go to a range either if you live in a rural area.
I do not like nickel plated cases except for hunting. That hard plating can scratch expensive dies.

[GRUMPA]

Look up fire forming with cream of wheat. You can save bullets/boolits this way. You do not need to go to a range either if you live in a rural area.
I do not like nickel plated cases except for hunting. That hard plating can scratch expensive dies.

Very sound advise......

[skeettx]

24 grains of 4227, Lyman 311465, powder oriented toward the base of the BULLET
Mike

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/MVC-025S13.JPG

[yovinny]

Back in the day, Federal sold match nickle 308 cases, headstamped 'Fed match 308' IIRC.
I bought a few hundred and used them for years in a 40X target rifle. But I always used full house jacketed match loads right from the get go and always neck sized afterwards. Cases went to a new home with the rifle, but they lasted years, through lots of reloads and were still going strong when I sold it.

Cheers, YV

[GabbyM]

The faster powders like 2400 or skeetx favorite 4227 load will give you a high enough working pressure under cast boolits to yield a crisp fire formed case. I'd choose a bullet at least 170 grains in order to get pressure up in the mid to high thirty thousand psi range.