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Re: Hornady Brass-Good Stuff

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28 July 2004, 07:45
shilen30
Re: Hornady Brass-Good Stuff
It is good to hear reports from someone who has used it for the 7MM RM. I called Hornady about their brass and they said winchester does not make it (take it to mean what you want) and that wall thickness is to vary no more than .002" whereas winchester varied as much as .005". I know now I will use it for my 300WM when my federal gold medal match cases are done in.
28 July 2004, 07:20
Rob1SG
I just bought some Hornady brass in 7mm RM. I thought I would weigh it as they claim it to be consisant. Well to my suprise 30 pieces were within .1gr and the rest with .5 gr. The primer pockets are all uniform in depth and no burrs could be from on the inside of the primer hole. I don't know who makes this stuff but if it shoots as good. I'll be a very happy camper.Anyone have the same or a different experience ?
28 July 2004, 07:29
RSY
My impression is that it is made by Olin. So, it's essentially the same as Winchester brass; only with greater attention paid to sorting by weight within any one lot.



And yes, it is good stuff.



RSY
28 July 2004, 07:30
lawndart
Yeah,
I got some boxes of .376 steyr brass last year. Very nice stuff. Heard good words about their 6.5x284 brass from a long range shooter. Almost smells like Lapua, eh?
28 July 2004, 08:27
Paul H
I've been using it alot in my 480 ruger, and it has heald up to countless firings, I'm sure many cases have seen over 20 uses, from mild to, oops time to back it off. A few cases did develop very small neck cracks, but part of that was due to excessive belling when first settihg up the dies.

I do have some in 458 Lott, but haven't had a chance to try it yet, something that needs to be rectified
28 July 2004, 20:42
Alberta Canuck
Shilen30 -



I'd be quite surprised if Hornady does not make their own brass cartridge cases. They make their own gas checks, and their own bullet jackets. It is not a totally different process to extrude cartridge cases, though it requires more dies. From seeing the size of their extrusion machinery when I visited their plant in 1998, I think they could probably extrude naval artillery casings if they wanted to...<G>



They do get their raw material (sheet brass) from Olin...as a matter of fact, Hornady gas checks are actually made from the classic "Lubaloy" brass which Winchester/Western used to promote as their premium bullet jacket material 50 years ago.... That would not be the correct alloy for high pressure cartridge cases, but Olin (of which I am a meagre stockholder) is always happy to provide just about any specification of brass alloy a person could want.



Best wishes,



AC
29 July 2004, 01:58
PC
I like it I use it in .458 lott and I reckon it is really good better finished than winchester or rem brass...might be higher QC than win who knows ??
29 July 2004, 08:57
kraky
I AGREE TOO!!-- I feel it's really excellent stuff. Bought some new brass and just "bumped" the case mouth and did a inside chamfer and loaded. (didn't even run the expander all the way through the case neck) Checked my runout and it was almost perfect--it rivaled carefully prepped stuff that had been neck turned. A real pleasure compared to my last batch of rem brass. That stuff looks like it came out of a cement mixer that was filled with rocks and saw blades!!
29 July 2004, 12:54
JustC
Hornady brass is produced by BOTH remington and winchester. I read an article on this a few months back and all "frontier" brass is either rem or win depending on the caliber. American brass varies from lot to lot just as much as women. You never know what you got until you start working with it. The only sure bets in the brass category are Lapua, Norma, RWS, and other euro makes. I have had both superb and sh!t lots from all US names. Law of numbers,...luck of the draw.

I just finished match prepping (including turning necks) a batch of win 220swift brass,...and a random 10 samples yielded only .3gr ES!!!!!!!! But I have had other win batches that were worthy of machine gun ammo
29 July 2004, 16:21
shilen30

Quote:

Hornady brass is produced by BOTH remington and winchester. I read an article on this a few months back and all "frontier" brass is either rem or win depending on the caliber.




Frontier brass was produced by winchester, but the new hornady brass is NOT frontier headstamp. Call them up and they will tell you winchester does not produce their brass anymore due to inconsistancies they had in the past with their frontier brass produced by winchester. Hornady claims they make it themselves, whatever that means. Honestly give them a call if you have any doubts. If you have frontier headstamped brass it is not any better than winchester. If it is not frontier headstamed hornady brass, it is good stuff. It is suppose to be very consistant dimensionally and from lot to lot much more so than rem and win.

I think the new "hornady" brass is going to be awsome stuff, and in most cases a huge savings over lapua and norma, especially when it comes to the 300WM and 7 RM. BUT, they don't make the stuff for too many calibers (don't make it for 270 fro example), but they do have it in .243, .308, 6.5-284.
29 July 2004, 16:47
lawndart
Still smells like Lapua to me.
JCN
29 July 2004, 17:51
JustC
unless lapua makes it,..and says so,..it will never be lapua brass. I'll agree that SOME of the Hornady lots I have tested are great,..but others varied by .002" neck thickness. If you are much above .001" variance,..then it really doesn't matter what the headstamp is,...there is still plenty of work left to do. I have found Lapua and Norma to be the best brass around,...hands down. RWS is superb if you can find it in a caliber you can use/change.

Lapua,..Norma,..and RWS make the cut. For a factory or non-tight chamber,..it realy doesn't matter what brass you use,..you will likely never see the advantage.
26 August 2006, 05:27
Duckshoot
I have some Hornady 300 Win mag brass, it came it thier great carboard logo covered box ( nice touch and good protection) to start with it is not all covered in dents around the necks like win and rem can be. also it shows vary true over my case master gauge even before fire forming and the wieght is very consistent. So far I am impressed.
26 August 2006, 16:35
kraky
Well, now after about a year I have to take back the good things I said about it. Everything was fine till you shot it. All my primer pockets went to heck in one loading of a medium load. I've seen others report the same situation. It make federal brass look like the most durable brass out in the world. Also, in the last year the hornady brass has gone up about 50% here in my area. I used to be able to buy it for the 300 wby for about $23/50....now it's about $36/50. It did load nice and it had great consistancy but, now, I'd never buy it again.