Good day members.
Something interesting I like to share with you who are interested in fire-forming brass. A few years back I bought a 404 Jeffery hunting rifle. At that stage 404 Jeffery brass seems not so abundant in South Africa. I had a few eighty years old 404 rounds but was reluctant to shoot these old rounds.
While taking photos of the rifle and old rounds I received from the previous owner , I noticed some of the brass was .375 H&H Belted Magnum rounds and brass. I started wondering if it will be possible to fire form this brass to fit in my 404 Jeffery.
As usual, when contemplating an issue I do not have real answers for, I approached Johan Greyling, the gunsmith with all the answers.
Meanwhile I did post this question on an Afrikaans forum I was a member of that time, naturally all the "clever" people who have all the correct answers available , frequent this forum and this idea was opposed immediately . These "clever " gave measurements to state why this venture is a still born exercise that will never work. ( The knowledge of these "clever persons was determined by the quantity of rifles they possess.
Meanwhile Johan Greyling explain to me the concept of fire-forming and flow of brass. He also explained that by using 15 gn MP 2OO in the brass stuffed with maze-meal is a safe procedure to blow out brass.
We did fire form the brass in two stages as well as run it through the 404 Jeffery sizing die. The first fire forming round showed the brass fire-formed from the neck to halve way of the brass.
I used the MP200 15 gn with maze-meal for the second time as well, and run it through the full length 404 sizer.
The third time I re-load 71 gn S335 and a 400 gn cast bullet to shoot . This ensured a fully formed .375 H&H Magnum brass fitting in my 404 Jeffery rifle.
Phase Two:
I cut the fired formed brass open , as well as a standard .375 H&H Magnum brass and a standard 404 Jeffery brass.
This was done to take measurements of how the brass flow happened. I made use of a veneer to take some measurements.
Measuring:
I should mention the part which was a concern to the "clever" persons was the part above the belt. In the photo it seems as if the brass bulged out...when holding the brass in your hand this is not evident.
After the experiment I did shoot this brass a lot of times in the tunnel at the safe as well as on the BASA shooting days. This is two years + now and I still re-load this fire-formed brass and shoot it frequently. So far no cracks, head separations, blow outs, blow-ups, nothing the "clever all knowledgeable people " warned me about.
I did mentioned that it is good to posses a lot of theoretical knowledge, but it is even better to posses practical, hands on skills and knowledge.
As pointed out, at no stage was there any dangerous procedures done, since 15 gn of MP 200 stuffed with maze-meal can not in any situation pose danger when following these procedures...
I hope you enjoyed this thread....any inputs are more than welcome...
I have several wildcats that I like to shoot and the only person that has to like them is me so I can relate to your wanting something different. Let us know how it shoots when you get it done.
