After a long time and a lot of reloads, some of my cases are cracking. It isnormal, I know, but now I have to fireform some tens of cases.

Is there some trick that can make me save money on bullets and powder? I remember J.Belk and a fireforming using wax but is something far in the past ....

Thank you in advance for any suggestion

I have heard of using a fast powder and topping it with cream of wheat cereal. I have never done that.
Someone will chime in with a good idea.

Have formed many 22K hornet . Before I prime empty case, I Anneal the shoulder and neck of the case. Then load as normal. Most will group well when fireforming also. Maybe after loading the cases about five times, I will anneal again. I anneal all of the calibers that I reload for and get great life out of the cases and they really resize easier. Great Caliber........

The cream of wheat is a good way to fire form. Watch the annealing because your cases will be dead soft then and not have the proper neck tension to hold the bullet. They you have to shoot, reload to work harden them. Better to just "draw" them with a little heat. You can also put a real light light light coat of oil on the case so it will form better. It will not get oil dents if you put it on lightly. Watch where you aim the cream of wheat load as it will sand blast concrete. Ask me how I know.

I use copper plated lead (H&N) 45 gr. bullets with 5 grs. of Unique. Good part of this is that the load shoots well <1", too.

After splitting a lot of necks I switched to expanding the neck with a 6mm die (Makes a straight walled case) then setting the shoulder with a K Hornet die. Then I just load a normal charge and go shoot little furry critters.

I just used a normal load in Winchester brass and never split one neck. Plenty accurate for normal varminting within the hornet's limitations.

Start with new, unfired brass either factory loads or normal loads you have made with new brass. It will be properly ductile to form without the work hardening issues that you can run into with used brass. Then use the following procedure:

1. Insert in rifle and close bolt.

2. Aim at something you desire to be shot with a Hornet.

3. Fire.

This is all I've ever done to create perfect, long lasting K-Hornet brass.

Second that. Don't waste powder and primers making cases, just load a good accurate but top-end Hornet load in 100 new cases and go back to K-Hornet loads after you've shot them all.

The worst mistake is trying to fire-form with moderate loads. For reasons I don't understand but know from experience, mild pressure during fire forming will cause frequent split shoulders. You need a fast sharp pressure spike to keep from tearing the material as it expands.

Have not done a hornet to K-hornet...but in other bottle necked cartridges I use Unique and Cream-of Wheat and seal the end with a small plug of candle wax.

I usually look up a dose of Unique appropriate for a reduced load, drop in the Unique, fill the case with Cream-of-Wheat half-way up the neck then fill the remainder of the neck with candle wax.

If you have a wasp nest high in the eve to get rid of here is your chance.

I would load it up and shoot it as Stonecreek and tiggertate suggest, THEN I would anneal. I have never had a neck issue with the first firing, but when I loaded for the second and let them sit for a year or so. Then the necks can split. Happened to about 10% of my 6.5-06AI cases until I started annealing after fireforming.

Thank you all, as I already wrote Firefomed in the past more than 100 cases, but now I'm having neck cracks on several of them. nothing to say, they had a long shooting life.

Here in Italy the most expensive components are the bullets and I was thinking about saving some money with alternative forming practices.

I'll make some test and, even if it is not so much interesting I'll write the results.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Malinverni:

Here in Italy the most expensive components are the bullets and I was thinking about saving some money with alternative forming practices.

Steve, that is why I expand my cases with a 6mm expander and set the shoulder with the K Hornet Die, it forms the cases without fireforming and you do not have to waste any bullets. It works well for me.

I'll try it as soon as I'll have an expander dies for 6mm. Thank you again

Can you explain the 6 m/m expander die in more detail ?like who makes it, and the part number if there is one ? Then I presume I full length resize the strait case ?
Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by rosswaybarney:
Can you explain the 6 m/m expander die in more detail ?like who makes it, and the part number if there is one ? Then I presume I full length resize the strait case ?
Thanks.

It's nothing fancy, I just use the expander of 6mm or 25 caliber reloading die. You can use dies that are .243 (6mm) or 25 caliber to get the case to straight walled.

In the picture I used a 25-06 die. I just ran the 22 hornet case into the 25-06 die to expand the neck to make a straight case. Then I ran it into the K-hornet die to set the shoulder back. This way I get no split necks and I can load them to fill load the first time. Then I go out an shoot furry little critters with them.

Picture (From Left to Right) 22 Hornet case, 22 Hornet run into 25-06 die, Shoulder set with 22K Hornet Die, Fired Case (has been fired many times and needs to be trimmed)

Thanks Brad,
on the wildcat forum there was mention of a purpose built die from RCBS, but it's no longer listed. Have a Lee 3 die .243 Win Deluxe set, so will give it a try, or borrow a 25-06 die off my mate.
I appreciate your advice, and so quick...
Happy Hunting !

quote:

Originally posted by rosswaybarney:
Thanks Brad,
on the wildcat forum there was mention of a purpose built die from RCBS, but it's no longer listed. Have a Lee 3 die .243 Win Deluxe set, so will give it a try, or borrow a 25-06 die off my mate.
I appreciate your advice, and so quick...
Happy Hunting !

I think that a .270 die would work as well, but I have never tried the .270. The .243 die will work but you may have to reduce the load a little bit because it will not make the case wall completly straight. But it would allow you to reset the shoulder and elimninate the split necks.

The K-Hornet is a great little round, good shooting!

Brad, I tried the .243 die with some success, although the cases still had some of the original taper (I put some Lee case lube in the case necks). I have a set of dies for my 6.5x55 Swedish and have a set of .270 dies, so will keep you posted as to how it goes.
Have plenty of shooting ground, but can't use it to make loads of noise fireforming brass, and full bore ranges are scarce here and expensive. Had toyed with the idea of hydraulically case forming, but would be slow and messy !!! So want to perfect your method as have a mountain of hornet brass.

It's a great little round, I use 45 grn round nosed soft points, the original Hornet bullet, at an MV @2800 fps.

Thanks again.

Well if you have any problems and want to send the brass to the US I can expand them and set the shoulder for you. I am always looking for friends in the UK that have plenty of shooting ground!

I use my 25-06 die/expander without any lube and hardly loose any in the process. I split about 50% of the necks when fireforming with factory brass so it was a big improvement for me. I then load the full load and go shoot game. I have shot targets with the fire formed brass and the expander formed brass and the group sizes are indistinguishable from one another. So when you work out the kinks it should be a good solution for you.

If the UK ever goes lead free the Barnes 30 grain Varmint Grenade (Hornet) bullet is a great bullet for the K Hornet.

Ross build a stationary range silencer with old tyres in front of the muzzle ~4meter.

After I run the 22 Hornet brass thru the FL sizer and before priming I anneal the case neck & shoulder. I get good fill out and never loose a case.

I did the work usin a 7 mm dies to expand, I have only that one immmediately available and no time to buy another one, it is too much, but I loosed only 1 opened from mouth to rim.

Then I partially worked the cases in the full lenght 22 Hornet, I finished to work the case havin only an idea of conicity and finished working the cases in a full lenght 22 KHornet.

The sensation is that the neck is a little shorter of the shooted cases, but they are cahmbered without problems in the rifle.

As soon as possible I want to make some photo of the brass in the various steps, an the test at the range.

Thank you all for your sugestions.

A pair of groups of 5 shots at 100 meters are really interesting, but done with already formed in that barrel, not so bad either the groups done with the cases formed with the procedure of Brad Hinn, I'll try to post some photo in the next days

cracked cases and split necks are a sign of brass fatigue, all you can do is anneal the cases back..If cases are so soft that you cannot get a purchase on the bullet your probably not using a heat stick and your over heating the case necks and shoulder, this is a dangerous practice..USE A HEAT STICK, when the wax melts then let the case cool or quinch it in water..I quinch in water.

Annealing is something I would do only if I lived where components were not easily available such as in a foriegn country or outback regions, as brass is pretty cheap and has always been available in the good old USA,and at a very reasonable price until recently and I think this is only temporary, I hope so anyway.


When fireforming cases with cream of wheat or whatever and an wax plug point the gun UP to fire to get a proper shoulder...