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fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard (Read 9154 times)

Mick B Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1007 Location: 19 Ian Nicol St watson ACT aus Joined: Apr 11^th, 2013	fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Sep 8^th, 2015 at 9:09pm	Print Post
	My new CPA Stevens is ready to go and I got 50 cases from BACO that were made from 30/40 Krag brass. I was also given some .303 cases locally to form into 40/60 Maynard, these cases were already primed but appear to have never been fired. The cases measure 2.215" in length,a 40/60 Maynard case is 2.200". My question is this, firstly should I trim the case to 2.200" before fire forming it, and secondly would filling it with 2f up to the top end capping it with a card wad work OK ?. I do not use smokeless powder so black is all I have. Mike.


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George Babits Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1156 Joined: Sep 27^th, 2012	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #1 - Sep 8^th, 2015 at 9:25pm	Print Post
	Years ago I had a 40 Krag built on a Ruger #3. That is almost identical to the 40-60 Maynard. That used the 30-40 Krag case blown out to a straight case. I would NOT trim the 303 cases before fire forming. When you blow them out they will shorten some. It would be pretty hard to guess how much they will shorten, so blow them out first and then trim to length. I can't remember what I used for powder when I fireformed those cases. I think about about 15 grains of 4227 and then filled the rest of the case with cornmeal. Got a little messy but that got me opened up enough to where I could use the 40 Krag expander to finish the job. George Salmon, Idaho


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oneatatime Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 4533 Location: Rocky Mountains Joined: Oct 30^th, 2011	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #2 - Sep 8^th, 2015 at 9:34pm	Print Post
	My inclination is to say no, that the powder alone will not develop enough pressure to do the job. I would be interested to hear if someone says otherwise. Also I wouldn't trim the cases until they are formed as they are likely to shorten in the process. My recommendation would be to bite the bullet and buy/beg/borrow some fast pistol or shotgun powder and put about 8 grains in the case and fill it with cream of wheat and cap it with a little plug of wax. If y'all are down south, you can use grits but they do tend to smell a little.This works fine when I form 40-60 from 30-40.


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Schuetzenmiester Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 6707 Location: Cool Wet Side of WA Joined: Apr 27^th, 2008	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #3 - Sep 8^th, 2015 at 9:34pm	Print Post
	Faster powder will work better. A little Bullseye with some toilet pare wadding will do the trick.

	"some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence
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craigster Oldtimer Offline Posts: 833 Location: lost coast CA Joined: Feb 20^th, 2011	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #4 - Sep 8^th, 2015 at 11:28pm	Print Post
	Tried fire forming with black once. Suffice to say, it was a waste of powder.


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Schuetzenmiester Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 6707 Location: Cool Wet Side of WA Joined: Apr 27^th, 2008	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #5 - Sep 9^th, 2015 at 12:49am	Print Post
	I forgot to say to wet the TP if using it for wadding. It won't work dry.

	"some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence
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Bent_Ramrod Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1596 Location: Southern Arizona Joined: Feb 8^th, 2006	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #6 - Sep 9^th, 2015 at 1:44am	Print Post
	I used to blow .30-30 cases out cylindrical to form .38-55s. IIRC, the charge was 9 gr Bullseye, the case filled with Cream of Wheat, and a disc of wax in the case mouth. The mouth will likely be uneven after fireforming so leave the trimming until it's done. Fireforming is like taking off a Band Aid. Best to do it quick, all at once, rather than any half measures, especially if you are blowing bottlenecks out to cylinders. As Ackley said, you want "good, snappy charges."


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Hiwall55 Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 468 Location: west central Illinois Joined: Jun 30^th, 2012	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #7 - Sep 9^th, 2015 at 7:06am	Print Post
	Just got done fire forming 100 40-60, 11 grains of unique fill cases up with cream of wheat, load and shoot straight up, no wad. Cases made . 303 will be way short, .080 to ..100 short would work for breech seating.Best to use 30/40 cases. Bill


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Mick B Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1007 Location: 19 Ian Nicol St watson ACT aus Joined: Apr 11^th, 2013	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #8 - Sep 9^th, 2015 at 7:18am	Print Post
	Thanks for all the suggestions, I will scrounge some fast powder and try that. I have no idea what Cream of wheat is, or grits either, in Australia we have "Uncle Toby's Oats", is that similar ?. If the case's end up too short I will just buy more of the already formed cases from BACO. Thanks again. Mike.


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Hiwall55 Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 468 Location: west central Illinois Joined: Jun 30^th, 2012	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #9 - Sep 9^th, 2015 at 7:37am	Print Post
	Do you have cornmeal?


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oughtsix Global Moderator ASSRA Board Member Offline Posts: 1369 Location: Columbus Joined: May 31^st, 2009	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #10 - Sep 9^th, 2015 at 7:48am	Print Post
	Grits is a white corn based food, ground a bit more coarse than corn meal. Polenta is essentially a yellow corn version. Cream of wheat is about the same consistency as grits and obviously made from wheat. They are both "gritty" . Most folks in the southern US grew up with grits as a breakfast food, and now the gourmets are finding a love for "shrimp and grits" . I love grits but prefer to shoot the Cream of Wheat, you will also see guys abbreviate it to COW. That is funny the first time you read that someone puts cow in their brass. The trivia part of the day has ended, now back to our topic: -06

	Life Member ASSRA, OGCA & TSGC I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters........ Frank Lloyd Wright
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Hiwall55 Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 468 Location: west central Illinois Joined: Jun 30^th, 2012	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #11 - Sep 9^th, 2015 at 1:09pm	Print Post
	I was going to abbreviate COW but didn't think the Aussie would get the meaning.


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beltfed Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1852 Location: Central Wi Joined: Dec 20^th, 2007	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #12 - Sep 9^th, 2015 at 1:31pm	Print Post
	Some of us have used the " COW" to reference the book Cartridges Of the World, too beltfed/arnie


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Deadeye Bly Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1152 Location: Stephens City Joined: Feb 25^th, 2011	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #13 - Sep 9^th, 2015 at 5:42pm	Print Post
	Others are correct in that the 303 brass is too short for the 40/60 Maynard. The Krag brass works much better and it is thinner with more powder capacity.


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Green_Frog Frequent Elocutionist Offline "It ain't easy being green" ASSRA Life #281 Posts: 4195 Location: Lynchburg, VA Joined: Apr 18^th, 2004	Re: fireforming 303 British to 40/60 Maynard Reply #14 - Sep 10^th, 2015 at 2:06pm	Print Post
	Deadeye Bly wrote on Sep 9^th, 2015 at 5:42pm: Others are correct in that the 303 brass is too short for the 40/60 Maynard. The Krag brass works much better and it is thinner with more powder capacity. I like to use 30-40 brass as well. I have a Model 1873 Maynard in 40-40, so with some adaptor rings from DeadEyeBly I made up 50 cases from this brass... it actually holds about 60 grains of FFFg GOEX with minimal compression for good ignition. BTW, those 50 cases will probably last me until about 2130! Froggie


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