Not sure if this belongs here or reloading,
my apologies if it's in the wrong place.
My question is:
When fire forming 6.5 swed (into 7.5 French), do I need to trim first, or form and then trim after case sizing?
Is there any powder that is recommended?
All I have on hand is BLC2 and IMR-4198, could I use one of these?
Thank you for helping.
And I'd like to thank everyone for there contributions on this great forum, it's been a huge help.
Pieter D.

Trim AFTER expanding the case mouths. Sizing UP generally shortens the case somewhat, and you don't want them to come out short, BUT they can't be allowed to be too long when being fire-formed either. You want the case to release the bullet easily when it is fired. So neck them up, make sure they are not too long, (trim if they are) then load the fire-forming load and fire it. Next, measure the cases again, and trim them if they need it now, before loading your "service load".

Personally, for a fire-forming load I prefer one that is close to standard pressure to ensure complete forming. In that 7.5X54 Froggie, I'd use a load with BLC2 rather than 4198. You COULD use that 4198, but it is a faster powder, and will reach higher pressures with a lower charge. In either case, I recommend that you use the STARTING LOAD from a good reloading manual for that cartrigde for fire-forming.

So, load a .308?
Most people say to load with corn meal and wax.

DO NOT! form 6.5x55 cases into 7.5x54mas!





As you can see the casehead on 7.5mAS is already .006 smaller than SPEC 6.5x55 brass normally this would not be an issue, The problem lies in lazy domestic manufacturers making 6.5x55 cases with the smaller 30-06 sized case head of .473!!!!!! Giving you an under sized case head of .013!!!!!!!! NOT COOL


Do yourself a favor and buy some 7.5x54 brass from grafs.com

http://www.grafs.com/metallic/774

quote:

Do yourself a favor and buy some 7.5x54 braass from grafs.com

Very good advice. I fire formed some very heavy walled PMC 6.5X55 brass that was the same daimeter as Norma 6.5X55. It was way too small for the Mas chamber so I did not reload it.

Use Lapua brass and with a good chamber no problem. doing it for 7.5x54 MAS and 7x54 MAS Fournier for years.

You are eventually going to have case head separations with undersize brass.

i bought a perfect 49/56 years ago and now wish i would have also bought a mdle 36 bolt gun. great round.

Do it now! while they still are available at a cheap price. Last batches have been melted here..

I intend to shoot some 6,5x55 gallery loads in a 7x54 MAS-Fournier and will report how the fired cases look...

Carcano

Is this the Carcano - AE?