Blackwater
12-26-2015, 04:59 PM
Just got in from finally getting my round tuit to form 100 new Hornady brass from .303 Brit. to .358 Malcolm (.35/.303 Brit. Imp.). I loaded 9 gr. Unique under 1/2 sheet of bathroom tissue rolled tight and tamped down good, then filled the case with some grits I had that I can't eat any more (sigh!). Topped it off with 3 drops of candle wax from some little birthday candles we had on hand to seal it all in.
Report was good, but cases came out with necks slightly undersized and the case mouths didn't open up well, and looked like they'd been crimped in. It seems the wads didn't keep the pressure contained long enough to form them better. On firing, some of the TP wads broke into 100 pieces of small fragments, and some stayed largely intact, with a number of them landing on the roof due to the wind. Had the yard looking like it'd hailed in a small part of it, but that'll straighten out quickly with the next shower we get.
The shoulders were rounded and not fully filled out also. So it looks pretty much like my fireforming load didn't quite do the job. Any suggestions would be appreciated. The necks should open up and straighten out pretty well with my .35 Whelen Ackley dies with the tapered expander ball, but I'm not fully sure whether I want to load a bullet now to form the shoulders fully, or whether it'd be best to fire form again with a slightly "hotter" load and maybe a better wad.
I know some of you guys here have done more of this than I have, and would appreciate your insights and recommendations. I'm pretty much a miser, and like my cases to last as close to forever as I can get them to. Usually adjust my sizer dies specifically for my chambers, and that's helped me get some really long case life from my brass through the years. Would like to continue that with this neat old #4 that Tim built. I love this gun, and he certainly did a good job with it. Still needs a little tweaking of the feeding, but that's half the fun of these type projects - the pure challenge of it. Anybody got a good insight on what my next move should be with this brass? Thanks in advance for your insights and recommendations. There are so many ways to form them that my main consideration is not creating any weak stretch spots in it so it'll last as long as possible. I don't plan to stress it unduly as it should do anything I'll likely want or need with cast and very moderate loads.
Report was good, but cases came out with necks slightly undersized and the case mouths didn't open up well, and looked like they'd been crimped in. It seems the wads didn't keep the pressure contained long enough to form them better. On firing, some of the TP wads broke into 100 pieces of small fragments, and some stayed largely intact, with a number of them landing on the roof due to the wind. Had the yard looking like it'd hailed in a small part of it, but that'll straighten out quickly with the next shower we get.
The shoulders were rounded and not fully filled out also. So it looks pretty much like my fireforming load didn't quite do the job. Any suggestions would be appreciated. The necks should open up and straighten out pretty well with my .35 Whelen Ackley dies with the tapered expander ball, but I'm not fully sure whether I want to load a bullet now to form the shoulders fully, or whether it'd be best to fire form again with a slightly "hotter" load and maybe a better wad.
I know some of you guys here have done more of this than I have, and would appreciate your insights and recommendations. I'm pretty much a miser, and like my cases to last as close to forever as I can get them to. Usually adjust my sizer dies specifically for my chambers, and that's helped me get some really long case life from my brass through the years. Would like to continue that with this neat old #4 that Tim built. I love this gun, and he certainly did a good job with it. Still needs a little tweaking of the feeding, but that's half the fun of these type projects - the pure challenge of it. Anybody got a good insight on what my next move should be with this brass? Thanks in advance for your insights and recommendations. There are so many ways to form them that my main consideration is not creating any weak stretch spots in it so it'll last as long as possible. I don't plan to stress it unduly as it should do anything I'll likely want or need with cast and very moderate loads.