Another Hornady brass thread!

[Davew223]

Have you measured the OD of the the neck of a fired case and compared that to a SAAMI dwg? Your chamber may have just been one of the first cuts with a new reamer at the factory that was oversized to get more life out of the tool. ("They" don't use a minimum SAAMI reamer to cut the chambers, you only get that when you have a reamer ordered from someone like Pacific Tool) In my min cut SAAMI 7MM Mag chamber, I do not have to resize the brass at all when the neck wall thickness is correct and Hornady brass is dead on that thickness. The brass expands .002" to release the bullet and contracts to a .002" press fit for the next bullet when it cools. Groups well under .14 MOA with the low pressure load are the result and I'm pretty sure I could get it in to the zeros if I wanted to get into BR or PRS competition.

Point is, it's not the magic of the newest cool chambering. If you find that the neck is in fact oversized in the chamber, do the research and talk to a real gunsmith. You might be able to re-cut the chamber to a min creed or better yet a .260 rem. Circle in a circle in a circle.

Oh, and the cheap Lee collet neck dies give the best runout. The redding bushing dies are great but they require perfect neck wall thickness to even get close to the Lee's.

 

[Alibiiv]

I have notice several comments about annealing brass. Is there some way to do this other than buying the one unit that costs about $2500? At that point I think it would be cheaper to just buy new brass. I have a lot and wondering what methods some of you guys use.

I have been using a salt-bath annealing system that has been working for me, about $100. I bought an extra tub of salts a year ago and just started dipping into the new tub; and.....I anneal everything that I reload before doing any other prepping. There's been some controversial opinions on whether or not the system is effective or "not", I have been getting good results with the salt-bath annealing. I've read on this forum where a deep socket, a propane torch and a product called Tempalac can be used to anneal brass, however never tried it and really did not have a good opinion on the process due to having too many variables that could lead to spoiled brass from over annealing.

 

[MontanaJack]

I have notice several comments about annealing brass. Is there some way to do this other than buying the one unit that costs about $2500? At that point I think it would be cheaper to just buy new brass. I have a lot and wondering what methods some of you guys use.

I anneal eveytime using my Bench Source case annealer, $549 @ Brownells.
( https://www.brownells.com/reloading...y&utm_campaign=itwine&utm_content=749-013-958 ) . I was accustomed to getting 3-5 cycles out of magnum brass before annealing. Still counting after annealing. I don't anneal straight wall pistol brass. Good luck!

 

[Gater]

I know this has been said before but , why does it have to be like this? So I fire sized 100 Hornady 6.5 creedmoor cases while breaking in my new rifle. Loaded 50 in 25 case batches doing final break in and load development last summer. Loaded the other 50 with my best load and never fired a shot during hunting season. Went out today, 30 degrees , and started shooting . I put 10 rounds down the tube and half the cases had split necks. Any one else have an issue with necks splitting in the cold but not when it's warmer? Should I be looking at a better quality brass? 2 shots per case isn't gonna be any cheaper than 5 plus from Lapua or adg . Thoughts?

I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for. I use Norma and Lupua brass in my bolt gun .223 and LC military brass in my mouse gun

 

[SilverbulletMAG]

I have notice several comments about annealing brass. Is there some way to do this other than buying the one unit that costs about $2500? At that point I think it would be cheaper to just buy new brass. I have a lot and wondering what methods some of you guys use.

Tough to beat for the money - ANNEALEEZ You can get an older model without the digital display for much less as well.

 

[BHP9]

When I got my .338LM I bought a box of Hornady 250gr ammo. The ammo was great, but when it came to loading the brass, I lost about 50% of the brass to collapsed shoulders (no I didn't use too much lube) and founds that the brass was too soft.

I only used Lapua brass from there on.

I have found that it was the same with .308 brass too.

 

[JarHeadTim]

We build long range rifles and do custom load development for them and we run our stuff on the top end of the pressure curve and H brass doesn't survive. We lose 50% of the primer pockets on the first firing, and we're at 90% attrition after 2 firings. By comparison we fired Lapua SRP 4 times before we lost ANY primer pockets so the math is easy, plus the Lapua case weights are much more consistent...

We are not Kool-Aid drinkers, we seek the components that work and use them, and do not have blind allegiance to any manufacturer, the above are our results...

 

[Flintlock]

I had a bunch of Horandy 22-250 brass with split necks. I shot them once, reloaded and some sat in the ammo boxes for several years. I took them out for a prairie dog hunt and about half of the 200 rounds I fired had split necks. I just wrote it off as old brass that was brittle. On my wildcats I size, fire form, then anneal. I use the roll them over a torch in my fingers till warm in the middle of the case and then drop in water. Always had good luck with my 309JDJ, 6.5JDJ, 257JDJ and 7-30 Waters cases, all improved. The 6.5 and 257 JDJ cases will split after a few firings since I run them pretty warm. I hope my supply of 225 Winchester brass holds up.
Good luck finding your problem.

Mike

 

[tnek13]

My first 6.5 Creedmoor ate Hornady brass like they were potato chips, lots of stretch even with a .001 shoulder bump. Lapua was not making 6.5 Creedmoor brass at the time, so I fireformed some Norma 22-250 brass, but when Starline started making brass for the Creedmoor I started using their SRP brass and have never looked back, of course, I did get ride of the first rifle and am now shooting a Seekins Havak which does tolerate Hornady brass since I had a bunch from the first rifle I used it, but I prefer Starline.

 

[cape cove]

@JarHeadTim Was the Hornady brass you used SRP like the Lapua brass or was it large primer pocket. Just curious.

 

[david g ranes]

Shot a lot of Hornady brass with no issues Natchez has creedmoor brass for for 1790 for 50 for that price I will throw a few bad ones out. David

 

[freddiej]

I am going ot have to echo many of these comments. I have primarily Hornady brass for me pistols and hunting rifles. I have yet to have any hunting ammo (22-250 through 45-70) split a neck due to going from summer to winter even out of state like Montana, Vermont, Wyoming, and Idaho. the ones that would have done this would have been 22-250, 270 Win, 270 WSM, 338 W/M. nothing has ever happened. I ahve to think the bras was overly worked and hardened. I still religiously anneal all my cases after the second or third firing. I have three friends that have 300 to 1,000 pieces of hornady brass in 6.5 Gren without any split necks yet. either that batch of brass is super brittle or the dies are over working your brass.

 

[Calvin45]

I know this has been said before but , why does it have to be like this? So I fire sized 100 Hornady 6.5 creedmoor cases while breaking in my new rifle. Loaded 50 in 25 case batches doing final break in and load development last summer. Loaded the other 50 with my best load and never fired a shot during hunting season. Went out today, 30 degrees , and started shooting . I put 10 rounds down the tube and half the cases had split necks. Any one else have an issue with necks splitting in the cold but not when it's warmer? Should I be looking at a better quality brass? 2 shots per case isn't gonna be any cheaper than 5 plus from Lapua or adg . Thoughts?

I like hornady projectiles very much. Not such a fan of their brass or loaded ammo. my experience was the same thing, with .270 win once fired from factory ammo. Super brittle from the get-go, neck splitting worse than any other brand I've seen. Additionally, the ammo it came from resisted chambering easily, like it was right at the max end of tolerance. Was accurate and true to listed velocity, but no more so than Winchester super x and federal blue box and they're cheaper, chamber reliably, and are made with better brass apparently. Honestly if I had to shoot factory ever again that cheap federal blue box is where it's at for me.

 

[Scott E Ames]

I know this has been said before but , why does it have to be like this? So I fire sized 100 Hornady 6.5 creedmoor cases while breaking in my new rifle. Loaded 50 in 25 case batches doing final break in and load development last summer. Loaded the other 50 with my best load and never fired a shot during hunting season. Went out today, 30 degrees , and started shooting . I put 10 rounds down the tube and half the cases had split necks. Any one else have an issue with necks splitting in the cold but not when it's warmer? Should I be looking at a better quality brass? 2 shots per case isn't gonna be any cheaper than 5 plus from Lapua or adg . Thoughts?