Need opinions of fireforming .270 AI

[Larry Ashcraft]

I'm getting ready to load 100 rounds of fireforming loads for my yet to be fired .270 Ackley Improved. I rebarreled a 1903 Springfield my dad built in the 1950's.

John is the gunsmith who barreled and chambered the rifle. Let me say, he is a well respected gunsmith who builds 1911s and hunting rifles, among other things and he has a lot of experience with Ackleys. He recommended using new Remington brass, 22 grains of H110, and whatever cheap bullets I could find.

Bruce is another well respected gunsmith, who builds primarily 1000 yard benchrest rifles. When I told him my plans he said "H110 is pistol powder". He recommended using Lapua brass and a 90% charge of H4831 or Reloader 22, and whatever bullets I plan on using later (Swift Scirocco 130 gr.).

So I'm sizing and preparing 100 Lapua cases. What are the opinions on this board about using H4831 for fireforming? And, I've got Hornady bullets on hand. Would it matter if I used them for fireforming and barrel break-in, and then switched over to Swift? My barrel is a machine rifled blank from a company in Raton, NM whose name escapes me, but the price doesn't - $300.

 

[Jim Watson]

I am not a wildcatter and have seen recommendations both ways.

On the other matter, there is no reason to fireform with premium game bullets. Load 'em up with plain vanilla - bulk Remingtons do pretty well in most calibers I have tried - and practice your offhand shooting with them.

 

[rick_reno]

I'd use H4831, you can't go wrong with Lapua brass - cut a case in half (the long way) and compare it with anything else (cut the same way) and you'll see why. Use whatever cheap bullets you can find - we used to used pulled bullets for fireforming. 90% charge will work and should be safe.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Well, I figured the 4831 would be the way to go, since the other alternative is to buy factory .270 Win. ammo and just shoot it.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Ahh, success. 55 gr. H4831SC, cheap Winchester bullet I forgot I had. Recoil was surprisingly mild.

Back to the dungeon to load these up.

 

[Hoser]

Very cool Larry. A K&P Barreled 270 Ackley built by Roscoe.

Glad to hear the fireforming thing is going good.

The AR in 223 Ackley he built for me was a tackdriver.

Hope all is well, long time no see.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Another "old stand by" is to use a 60-75% loading of either one of the #4895's (I or H).

I've found that this works better than either the "pistol" powder or the "slow" powders.

The only reason I can see for not just loading up "regular" .270's and firing them would be to get minimal Head Spacing for the first shot. You can also get around this by just seating the bullet out to touch the throat/lands such as to force the case to meet the bolt face, also with the 90% H4831, my "favorite" for the .270wcf.

The only "IMP's" I've ever tinkered were a .22K-Hornet, that required the bullet seated out-trick to get "good" cases. The other was a .223 AI, and it didn't really "care", as long as I used new cases and not nickle plated (every one I tried split the neck at the "old" neck juncture), and shot just fine with factory .223.

I'd stay away from H110 in large cases too! Read all the warnings in the manuals about large pistol cases and low charges of H110. (It's hard to ignite and requires magnum primers and heavy crimps with full charges.).

Stick with "Rifle Powders" in rifles. I almost destroyed my MkX .30/06 with a "double" charge of 10.0gr of Unique under a 160gr Cast bullet (20grs). Locked the bolt up Tight !!!!! There is enough room in an '06 case for nearly 40gr of Unique! A double charge is almost impossible to notice even with visual check. I KNOW now !!!!!

But at least I got that .338/06 I wanted, after the rebarreling and rewelding the bolt at the ejector slot!

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

The case above was fired with the bullet .005 off of the lands, with 55 grains of H4831SC. After reading the Nosler loading manual, I'm going to back off to 53-54 grains and seat the bullet out to touch the lands.