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I have heard some grumbling about the quality of Hornady brass. Has anyone had issues with it that they did not have with brass from say, Winchester, Remington, Norma or Lapua? Do they make it themselves? There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t. – John Green, author | ||
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No, and yes. | |||
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Thanks Tom. There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t. – John Green, author | |||
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I had some problems with early Hornady brass in .405 and 9,3x74R; the 405 brass was very hard and brittle and the 9,3 had thickness variations with the rims that made about half of them misfire in a new rifle where RWS and Norma worked fine. In the last few years, though, I've had very good luck with Hornady brass in 250 Savage, 35 Rem and 218 Bee. No complaints there at all, and notably more durable than WW brass in the same ctgs. | |||
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Some of the reloaders are complaining about the Hornady cases being short. I've seen some of this. From what I understand Hornady makes their own cases from the coins. I don't know who they get their coins from. They apparently aren't the only company with short cases. I know some 350 Legend owner that bought Winchester ammo and pulled the bullets and the case lengths were all over the place. This is critical because that cartridge head spaces on the mouth!!! | |||
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I recently bought some new Hornandy 25-06 brass that I noticed a good bit more case to case weight variation than I do on comparably priced Winchester and Remington. | |||
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My only "issue" (= non-issue) with Hornady brass is primer pockets on the way snug side. Especially .308 Win. My ancient C-H swage fixes problem puppies fine. The brass will die of other causes long before primer pockets start to loosen. Ran my first batch of .375R brass out to 16 FL-size/firing cycles and not one primer pocket became even marginal. | |||
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I use what ever brass I can find rem, win, fed, Hornady. All have had QC issues, Hornady seems to have less issues in my limited sampling.   | |||
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Exactly; far less issues than any other big company brass. | |||
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If I had to pick my brass for quality Id go with RWS, then Lapua, PPU, WW Rem., not fond of Hornady yet, they will work it out sooner or later IMO..Actually Im mostly interested in having the same make of brass for a given caliber, whatever that might be..Consistentcy in reloading is of primary importance it seems, but it also depends on what the reloader requires.. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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The only brass I have had issue with lately (past 5+ years) is Federal. Way to soft and primer pockets expand after a couple loadings, especially in magnum calibers. Hornady brass has been pretty decent. I would put it slightly above Remington and WW brass. | |||
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I have used Hornady brass; I shoot their match cases in one of my .308 Wins. These days I prefer Nosler brass; it is more weight consistent than anything I have tried, incl Lapua. | |||
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I use a lot of Hornady brass. No problems. Mike  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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where does Starline brass fit into the rankings? | |||
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Have never had any issue with the limited starline brass I have (44 mag, 45 colt I think I have some in 223 also) | |||
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I use a lot of Hornady and Winchester brass and don't have any problems other than maybe one out of 500 or so may have a slightly folded neck or something like that. Steve ......... NRA Patron Life Member GOA Life Member North American Hunting Club Life Member USAF Veteran | |||
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There are different things to consider when you are looking for the "best" brand of brass. Uniformity in case weight, hardness of the case head (primer pockets), and softness of the case neck. Sometimes one brand of brass is better than others for a particular caliber. For the .308 Win I prefer Lapua. Second choice is Winchester. When you buy ANY brass, keep different lots of brass together, unless you want to weigh all of your cases. That works for me. | |||
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rifle brass can be the best or problematic from any of the makes, and calibers can differ, therein lies the reason there is so much confusion on this thread...A company, any company may make great 22-250 brass, and bad 375 brass..Ive seen the same in bullets. My 30-06 loves NOsler Accubond, but does not like Rem corelokts, that's not unusual in rifles of all makes and calibers so what Im suggesting is components in general vary depending on the guns appatite.. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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True. I had 2- 7X57 rifles + one liked the 160 G. + the other the 175 G. but neither liked the other. Never mistake motion for action. | |||
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I have had no problems with 450/400 or 404 Jeffery. I think they have discontinued manufacturing of some of the NE brass. Rusty We Band of Brothers! DRSS, NRA & SCI Life Member "I am rejoiced at my fate. Do not be uneasy about me, for I am with my friends." ----- David Crockett in his last letter (to his children), January 9th, 1836 "I will never forsake Texas and her cause. I am her son." ----- Jose Antonio Navarro, from Mexican Prison in 1841 "for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Thomas Jefferson Declaration of Arbroath April 6, 1320-“. . .It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.” | |||
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No problems with Hornady that I have experienced. | |||
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Laid in a box of Hornady .35 Whelen to size up to .400 Whelen. Thanks again for that swell expander dpcd! There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t. – John Green, author | |||
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I had lots of problems with hornady brass ammo dies and bullets. I DONT buy their stuff unless it's the only kind made .I asked starline to make 357 rem max brass and 444 brass and 375 Winchester brass and its awesome. IF they would only make 405 win brass now it would be way better than the hornady junk 405 brass they make .I crushed about 40 cases of 405 trying to load that junk .Their service dept is totally terrible too . They rifle bullets have not impressed me either. The only bullets I like that they make are the xtp pistol bullets they were fairly good . | |||
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Only brass I've kind of shied away from is Federal and Norma, primer pocket issues in both, but, that was a long time ago. Just got a new package of WW 218bee brass, lot of rim thickness variation, noticed because of Co-ax jaws and the brass sticking on them. Bee brass is a hair thick for the way they set the rim clearances on them to start with. Hazards of the "universal" jaw setup. Found the Hornady 450-500NE brass to be ok for me, but, I shot mostly cast bullet loads, albeit at factory velocities, RWS has been really good on the 30R, haven't really had any issues with WW or Rem brass for any other apps. There again too, I wasn't using any for much that required any particular fussing over it. I have some Starline and Peterson to try out in a couple of apps at present, and I may acquire some Hornady thru a horsetrade. See where it takes me. Krieghoff Classic 30R Blaser Stevens 044-1/2 218 Bee Ruger #1A 7-08 Rem 700 7-08 Tikka t3x lite 6.5 creedmo Tikka TAC A1 6.5 creedmo Win 1885 300H&H. 223Rem Merkel K1 7 Rem mag CCFR | |||
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I use Hornady brass in my .450 & .500 Express rifles as well as .405WCF (because that was what was available). No issues whatsoever. As an aside: how on earth does one “crush” a straight case like the .405? All I can think of is badly adjusted die, or not enough case mouth flare, or excessive crimp, ....and a gorilla on the press handle  | |||
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I recently bought some Hornady 6.5 Grendel cases that had some pretty tight primer pockets. | |||
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Several years ago five of the elk hunters in camp wanted more .300 win ammo. I sent them out to buy brass as I didn't have enough for all of us. Every bag of 50 win cases had from 1 to 5 cases the fire hole hadn't been punched thru. We sorted them all and had around 30 like that from I think 400 cases in 50pc bags. Store took them back and gave them a bag. They opened it and looked thru and found 3 more not punched. Damned poor QC those days. About ten years ago. George "Gun Control is NOT about Guns' "It's about Control!!" Join the NRA today!" LM: NRA, DAV, George L. Dwight | |||
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