I've seen the topic a few times on here but how about one more time for those of us who have a short attention span.

I'm going to be fire forming for the 6.5/06 AI. I have a box of cheap bullets, Hornady 140 gr. sp to be exact. I think I remember it being suggested using one of the faster powders listed for the 6.5/06 and loading it near max.

What is yopur methode and can anyone tell me what they did for their 6.5/06 AI?

what will the parent case be?06,.280,.270 or 25-06?roger

The Sierra hotline folks said to use a midrange load of any 4895 powder, seat the bullet so it touches the rifling. That's it.

I'd pick a load that closely matches the factory load. For instance for my 223AI I duplicated winchesters 50 gr factory load and had excellent accuracy during fireforming.

I load for the 244/6mm AI and I have been using the max listed load for the standard 6mm round as my fireforming load.much less and it sometimes doesnt fill out completly,much more and I lose about 1/2 of the cases to splits and so forth.

I seat the heavy pills ~.005-.010" INTO the lands and use a mid range charge of a faster powder for the parent caliber. That made perfect shoulders on my 6.5-06AI, 6.5x55AI, and 280AI.

The best way to fireform loads and not add any wear to your barrel is to do it without bullets. There have been several very good articles written how to do it ... the best by Ken Howell.

Dear Boiler,
Make SURE you get pressure against the bolt with a sized[unloaded, no bullet] case. You will feel some difficulty getting the bolt closed all the way. This is assure you are holding the case against the bolt face and the chamber snugly. This is for your headspace and protection. Then I load a case with 10-12 grs Bullseye and a cheap bullet. Fire in a SAFE fashion and you`ll have your new, improved cases. Some guys use grits, cornmeal and tissue packing. I never tried this way but it must work too. Too many guys say it does!!Good luck and be SAFE!!

Aloha, Mark

Bohica --- that sounds a little "dicey" to me. I was under the impression that light loads of pistol powder in a rifle could be a problem ...... very fast powder and a partially full case (lots of air-space) could give some strange pressure problems.

Concerning using grits and cornmeal personally I would be concerned of a sandblasting affect if I had a custom barrel.

that's why I work the load ladder with bullets in the lands while I am forming brass at the same time. No barrel life wasted that way, and no abrasion in the bore.

Lots of different ideas here but I'll think I'll keep it simple and take JustC's advice. i was less confused before I asked.

Everything is ready and I pick the rig and the dies up Saturday. I'll be fire forming during the week so I'll let you know how I did.

Thanks guys.

I basically use Justc's technique for my .260ai, but Iike med. burners & use 2-3gr less than my max. load. I take 3-5rds every time I go to the range & use them for clearing the bore & checking the chrono, so I don't really see it as wasted componets. I have used the cream of wheat methode but only for forming something like .375h&h to .458lott ot .375rum to .404 jeffery, where I can't get a bullet in the case.

Out of the powders listed in the Hornady manual for the 140 gr SP, RL 19 seems to be one of the faster powders available in the area I live in. Unfortunately I can not order powder to where I live out in the bush.

Does this choice seem adequate?

If RL19 is your powder then go with it. Normally the worst that happens if your forming charge doesn't generate enough pressure is that the shoulder is more rounded than sharp. That is normally taken care of in the second firing.
I have never seen a difference between a AI with a sharp shoulder and one that is a little rounded.

Ramrod is correct, RL19 is fine. I would load up the med. charge & put the buulet into the lands.

I'm putting Tuesday aside for this job. I'll be doing the barrel brake in at the same time.

Thanks guys.

Let us know how fireforming goes. I quite oftem find that if you work a load ladder while fireforming brass,..you won't be far off at all when the brass is formed. It saves barrel life and load time. Even though that may not be your chosen powder, you have data for it if you ever need it after forming.

So far I have not lost a shell and they all have perfect shoulders. I'm between .010 and .005 into the lands and am using just under 2 grains less from the max load listed for the 6.5/06. Accuracy is damn good considering and I'm not holding for my best shot. I'm punching almost a single big hole with 10 shot groups moving at 2650 fps.

On my way to form some more. Thanks for all the help guys.