July2026 (1) - Flipbook - Page 9
Fireforming
Ri昀氀e Brass
to your
Black Powder
Ri昀氀e Chamber
without using
Black Powder or
cast bullets
By Zack Taylor
The Desert Duece
Folks are noticing that there has
been an increase in the price of
components used in the loading of ammunition for Black
Powder Cartridge Ri昀氀es. Below
is the alternative method I use
to preserve powder and bullet
alloy and accomplish the same
task which is no guarantee that
it will work for you.
While I no longer 昀椀nd it necessary to 昀椀reform new 40-65 ri昀氀e
brass a similar approach can
work for that case, and others,
also.
I do 昀椀reform 44 and 45 caliber
new ri昀氀e brass using the following procedure with satisfactory
results. The idea is to obtain the
same 昀椀reformed results without
using up black powder or bullet
alloy or having to go to a suitable range to 昀椀reform.
God Bless Black Powder!
The 昀椀rst step involves annealing
the mouth of the new case, then
full length sizing, then inside
neck expanding and belling of
the new piece of ri昀氀e brass. The
neck expanding ensures the
mouth of the case is round for
caliber and the belling allows a
compression wad to enter the
body of the case round and 昀氀at.
Next I prime the new case with
any large ri昀氀e or pistol primer
before dropping a charge of
Winchester 231 powder into the
new case. For 2.1 inch cases 7.5
grains. For 2.4 inch cases 8.5
grains and 10.0 grains for 2.6
inch cases. Next I seat a vegetable 昀椀ber wad down onto the
powder charge lightly holding
the smokeless powder charge in
place.
and then compressing by hand.
Re昀椀ll the case and compress by
hand, re昀椀ll the third time and
place a poly wad on top and
compress with a press mounted compression die until the
wad is at about one inch from
the mouth of the case (careful
not to bulge the case) before
closing the bell and checking to
ensure the case will chamber
easily. Transport the corn meal
charged cases upright.
When chambering the corn
meal loaded round keep the
barrel pointed upward to load
and 昀椀re with the wind and keep
the muzzle pointed below level
when extracting the 昀椀red case.
Zack Taylor
Rio Rico, Arizona
llhepburn@Outlook.com
I use corn meal for the next
step 昀椀lling the case to the top
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