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Trouble with the bra
- Thread starter Matt_3479
- Start date
@Matt_3479 i get what @Kinetic Moose is saying IF this was a standard cartridge but it is an AI cartridge so if chambered correctly a piece of BR brass should have slight resistance at the bottom of the bolt closing becuase as stated by a couple of guys the BRA or any AI cartridge is supposed to be -.004 to hold the case in place while fire forming.
try some softer primers and see if that helps if not id look at the firing pin fall and firing pin spring first.
Well gentlemen I’d say it’s a headspace issue then! I took 3 pieces of unfired brass and all of them closed with 0 resistance. I had to add 3 layers of blue painters tape before I got resistance. So somewhere between .006-.009 thou.
So here’s my question. If I don’t rechamber just jam the hell out of it, soft cup primer and then adjust die and good to go from that point forward and just remember that.
Otherwise, send in barrel/action and blank. Get them or my regular smiths to fix it, and do what with the brass? Is it garbage? Or do I save my remaining 20 ish pieces, fire them in the chamber, adjust die to new chamber dimensions and push back all original brass to new spec or would potentially be over working it?
Current fire formed shoulder measurement from hornady gauge is 1.1845” if anyone can tell if that sounds long compared to there’s?
So here’s my question. If I don’t rechamber just jam the hell out of it, soft cup primer and then adjust die and good to go from that point forward and just remember that.
Otherwise, send in barrel/action and blank. Get them or my regular smiths to fix it, and do what with the brass? Is it garbage? Or do I save my remaining 20 ish pieces, fire them in the chamber, adjust die to new chamber dimensions and push back all original brass to new spec or would potentially be over working it?
Current fire formed shoulder measurement from hornady gauge is 1.1845” if anyone can tell if that sounds long compared to there’s?
Brass is good. just wait till the chamber is fixed, fire form 3 and measure them, then bump the shoulders of the rest back to that measurement, make sure you anneal first, then should be good. I've pushed shoulders .010-.012 with no problems.
as for the barrel. all you need to do is take a little off the shoulder(assuming it's remington copy) and possibly some off the face of the tennon.
good luck!
as for the barrel. all you need to do is take a little off the shoulder(assuming it's remington copy) and possibly some off the face of the tennon.
good luck!
Brass is good. just wait till the chamber is fixed, fire form 3 and measure them, then bump the shoulders of the rest back to that measurement, make sure you anneal first, then should be good. I've pushed shoulders .010-.012 with no problems.
as for the barrel. all you need to do is take a little off the shoulder(assuming it's remington copy) and possibly some off the face of the tennon.
good luck!
Thank you all! I will contact my smith and see his time frame and go from there!! Save the remaining brass for the new chamber. Now I have 2 options.
I have the original smiths contact information and the gun is proving it will shoot with 0 load development it’s providing .3’s moa average. So is it better to just get the second blank chambered with the same reamer and just shoot it this way instead! He does still have the same reamer
Yeah that chamber is money, the mistake was not in the reamer but the smith took too much off the shoulder. good luck and at least you know now.
With 2000 rds on the barrel it may be worth having a new one put on and start from a fresh slate. I killed a couple BRAs at 2500ish. Fast competition type shooting, not casual shooting or 20 rounds in 20 minutes f class stuff. Could have gotten more out of them but not worth the risk for me.
Or shoot what you have formed for brass already and shoot out the rest of the barrel. Save the rest for the next one that’s done right.
well this barrel won’t be used in any comp. just playing at the range and fields. I just wasn’t sure if having the same smith with the same reamers chamber my blank, or go back to my normal smith and have him chamber just the blank and save a few pieces to set die up to his specs and new fireformed chamber or if having him freshen up the old barrel and ream the new barrel made the most sense. I don’t want to waste my time on freshening up old barrel
If it’s on its way out technically. 200 dollars to cut back and clean up, or 350 to just do the new barrel and use the old barrel for what it is with current brass until it’s toast and just adjust die to resize all brass to new spec after
Will do. He is a newer smiths to me as I have been trying multiple different guys out on my last few builds trying to replace my oringal retired smith. He was recommend to me by a few of the best fclass shooters in Canada. This smith I’ve gotten 2 different builds from both shoot in the .2’s and .3’s with 0 load development too and I know his current reamer for the bra just won 2 championships in provincials and 1 nationals in Canada so hopefully mine will too lol
Thank you everyone for helping me get things sorted out.
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Sorry, I didn't feel like reading through all the posts, but here's your checklist for fire forming if you're having fail to fires:
1. Use only CCI 400 or Federal 205's. The 450's and BR4's are too hard and will not reliably ignite if there is any issue with headspace. Having said that,
2. Who did your chamber? I know a lot of guys say they're good at BRA's, but my list of smiths that know what they're doing with them is exceptionally short. Alex Wheeler and Aaron Roberts had the best consistent shoulder dimension because they headspace properly. Other smiths (even some very big names) leave the shoulder too far forward and this causes inconsistent ignition and having to fire the brass a second time to get a full shoulder blow out.
3. Jam the bullets .030" or so. I know you don't need to, but it will help if you had issues with #2.
I've easily shot over 40,000 rounds of BRA and know what works from personal aggravation. Hopefully this will save you some time, primers and bullets.
But this is also why most of us just shoot BR now LOL...
1. Use only CCI 400 or Federal 205's. The 450's and BR4's are too hard and will not reliably ignite if there is any issue with headspace. Having said that,
2. Who did your chamber? I know a lot of guys say they're good at BRA's, but my list of smiths that know what they're doing with them is exceptionally short. Alex Wheeler and Aaron Roberts had the best consistent shoulder dimension because they headspace properly. Other smiths (even some very big names) leave the shoulder too far forward and this causes inconsistent ignition and having to fire the brass a second time to get a full shoulder blow out.
3. Jam the bullets .030" or so. I know you don't need to, but it will help if you had issues with #2.
I've easily shot over 40,000 rounds of BRA and know what works from personal aggravation. Hopefully this will save you some time, primers and bullets.
But this is also why most of us just shoot BR now LOL...
I do not.
I will switch to the 205’s to finish fire forming what I can and save a few piece for the new chamber.
The smiths is a Canadian smith, never used him before. The second barrel will be done by a smith who does a lot of fclass guys and bench rest guns in the 6bra with great reputation and results. He’s done 2 others for me and absolutely did a fantastic job. Just frustrating cause I didn’t expect it, and the gun shoots so damn well
Maybe you could buy one on eBay or maybe a 22-250 body die. A change in body taper will cause the shoulder to move forward.
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I had a similar issue with a BRA chamber set to BR headspace, documented here and here. I tried loading for a hard jam (0.025" in or so) at a slightly reduced load (29.0 gr N140) and ended up piercing 205M primers. My fireform load had been 29.6 gr which wasn't hot at all so I think this is from the hard jam. I'm going to seat those in further and try again. So just a warning to back way off on charge if you're going to jam hard.
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Thank you will do! My current fire form load is 29.6 of n140. So I will be sure to back off that
Matt sounds like your problems are solved .The brass that you have fire formed will now be perfect for what ever the chamber length is ,use them and have fun .These little 6 BRA are so accurate a step over the straight 6 BR . I will never go back to a straight BR .What province are you in ? Just trying to figure out who your smith might be .Cheers
Hoping so. It’s amazing to see the instant success with accuracy this little cartridge puts out with 0 effort in it. Hoping to get the rest all fireformed and get really shooting it.
I’m in Ontario, but the smiths doing the work will most likely be Dennis at go ballistic. I have 2 other barrels done by him and both have been my most easy and straight forward guns. The first one from him took 3 different bullets, 2 different powders, 2 primers and 60 total rounds for pressure testing, break in, and powder charge test and the largest group was .6 moa. Never seen a rifle just eat everything so well!! The second one, did a pressure ladder test with 2 different bullets and both groups for the whole ladder printed .3 and .4 moa. Without the flier they were both in the .2’s.
If the Chou’s start accepting more work, I’d be hard pressed not to go back to them. I’ve used 5 different smiths and the Chou’s and Dennis have provided exceptional
