here's the situation. my father just had a 6.5 PPC built. since he's headed out of the country for awhile, it's my job to get the reloading dies made and develope a load for him. to get the dies made i need to send hornady 3 fired cases. the gunsmith who made the rifle test fired it with 3 6 PPC factory loads. so i have those 3 cases. i want to re-fireform them useing a fast powder and cream of wheat to make sure they get good and squeezed into all the corners of the chamber.
the question...how do i fireform useing the the fast powder and cream of wheat method? the only fast powder i have is H110. how much powder do i use? do i put a "wad" of some kind between the powder and cream of wheat? how much cream of wheat? please explain the entire process to me. this is not my gun so i really don't want to screw anything up. as always, thanks for the help...bud

I have tried ~100 combinations of Bullseye, Unique, or 2400 with Cream of Wheat in forming 257 Roberts Ackley Improved cases.

Over a range of 15 to 24 gr of 2400, not much change in the fireforming.

Generally, I found that I could only get about 90% shoulder forming with light to maximum pressure. It is important to lubricate the cases. Upon shooting a bullet, the final fire forming becomes perfect, and that round is also sub moa.

Your cartridge is much less overbore, and may not work with H110. I would try 10 gr of H110, fill the rest with Cream of Wheat, cap with a plug of Ivory Soap if you can't fire vertically, and lubricate the case with Imperial sizing wax, motor oil, or something in between. If the case does not form enough, load it with a bullet and powder, shoot it, and the case should be formed perfectly.

I have heard spoken of in the past of fireforming the case in a sizing die.How is this done?

As a general rule of thumb load the case with a charge (I use Unique) that is 10% of the volume of the case. I fill the case with powder to the top dump it out in a scale and figure what 10% is. Thats the starting point. You can go up from there till the shoulders fillout. I never get 100% shoulder form. 70-80% is just fine for me. First full house load will sharpen the shoulders and I cant see a difference in shooting that round over a fully formed round. Make double sure you have a tight headspace situation or you'll stretch the brass too much in the wrong place. In some instances its a good idea to anneal first.