defective HORNADY 338 LAPUA 285 GR

[shortgrass]

The ammo makers (and many others in the shooting bus) are swamped with e-mails and phone calls. It takes time. Hire more people you say? OK,,,, they have to have some 'knowledge' of the company and its products, so you have to train them and pay them well. Also, they're now "full time" employees, so add on the benifit package. Now,, be prepared for significant price increases to pay for these trained and 'knowlegable' employees. Then, let the whinning begin!

 

[gpo1956]

so they let a malformed brass out.... pout a little more??? I've seen it from most brass makers I've bought brass from.

It will shoot just fine but not reload... It may or not be "match grade" but why the heck are you shooting factory ammo if you want match grade. Check the neck dimensions and run out if you are scared it won't fall into the group. If the round checks out, shoot it.

Sorry, but this is a very flippant response. I've been reloading for 45 years and I've never seen a new factory case like this one. By your reasoning I guess we can just do away with inspecting cases for cracks or splits.

 

[Pdvdh]

Re: The sun is falling _defective Hornady 338 LAPUA 285 GR

It would be terrific if no company ever manufactured a defective item. But how much do you want to pay to receive this guarantee? Use the defective shell as a clean bore fouling shot? Or wait until Hornady compensates for the defective item?

My local gunsmith recently received some Nosler 7mm STW shells from a customer, along with the customer's rifle. The customer asked the smith to figure out why the primers were falling out of the fired factory loads. After much discussion, analysis & testing, disassembly of shells and weighing of powder charges, firing different factory ammo thru the rifle - it was as simple as these Nosler factory shells were overloaded with too much gunpowder. Firing was swelling the case heads about 0.005". That's more serious than a defective case neck - no?

I've been reloading for more than 45 years, and I've seen defective ammo in the past. Multiple times. Defective factory rounds. Defective boxed bullets for reloading. It's not ideal. If anyone has the expectation that manufacturers never produce a defective - less than perfect - product, perhaps the expectations are overly idealistic. Both Nosler and Hornady have replaced boxes of bullets for me in the past that didn't measure up to their quality control specifications.

Within the past 5 years, I've received the following "defects" from the firearms and firearms support industries. Just the ones I can think of at this moment:
1) A custom aftermarket rifle stock with the wrong recoil pad,
2) A custom action with the wrong magazine well cutout,
3) Custom reloading dies - took 3 attempts to get this correct,
4) A new, yet dull, chamber reamer that my gunsmith fought with trying to chamber a barrel,
5) A custom aftermarket 10.6 twist .308 barrel that was ordered as a 10-twist,
6) A box of 50 plastic tipped bullets with 7 plastic tips laying in the bottom of the box,
7) An aftermarket magazine box with a faulty spot weld,
8) A reloading (body) die that scarred resized brass leaving a ring on the brass at the shoulder body junction,
9) A flash hole deburring tool with an oversized pilot/drill bit,

There's more examples from prior years. I survived ALL...

And now, adding insult to injury, I learn I've been shooting plastic tipped bullets for the past 30 years with plastic tips that melt in flight...

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Sorry, but this is a very flippant response. I've been reloading for 45 years and I've never seen a new factory case like this one. By your reasoning I guess we can just do away with inspecting cases for cracks or splits.

your brass does NOT have a dangerous malfunction
separation at the base from stretching (incipient separation) is what you need to worry about. Shoot it as a fouler and forget it. Buy Lapua at twice the price if you want perfect...

 

[Timber338]

your brass does NOT have a dangerous malfunction
separation at the base from stretching (incipient separation) is what you need to worry about. Shoot it as a fouler and forget it. Buy Lapua at twice the price if you want perfect...

Lefty, it sounds like you are the manager of Hornady's customer service team.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Lefty, it sounds like you are the manager of Hornady's customer service team.

nope, haven't lived within an hour of Grand Island (closest I got was Lincoln)... I am, however a realist. Of course I want everything to be perfect, but once in a while I get a garfed up bullet or piece of brass and simply discard it. I don't stamp my feet and whine to the world that a shootable piece of brass wasn't perfect and someone wouldn't get me a new cookie, er. box of ammo...

Bigger things, like rifles, yep... I'll raise a bit of a stink; but a piece of brass with around a $2 street value is not worth my time.

 

[Timber338]

Bigger things, like rifles, yep... I'll raise a bit of a stink; but a piece of brass with around a $2 street value is not worth my time.

Very valid point. We all choose our battles. But at $0 street value why are you whining and raising such a stink over this thread?

 

[gpo1956]

your brass does NOT have a dangerous malfunction
separation at the base from stretching (incipient separation) is what you need to worry about. Shoot it as a fouler and forget it. Buy Lapua at twice the price if you want perfect...

Sorry, but I stand by my post, very flippant attitude.

 

[rockwind]

you know Lefty, you sound like , well,,,,,,. i'ld fire it but it won't even go into the chamber i originally contacted them to let them know their quality control system needs a bit of improvement but after being treated rather poorly, I just gave up. i've shot a lot of different ammo, even cheap reloads from cabellas, never got one like that. but continue on with your personal attacks. whatever.

are you a paid online hornady pimp? why defend them? it's ok to just ignore a customer who got that round in a box he paid for? really? I didn't even ask them for a new round. what's your problem?

 

[Wachsmann]

My 2 cents...First I would never recommend any one to shoot that case as I would be worried about extraction issues if it seperates futher when shot. If you have a bullet puller and reload then pull the bullet and dump the powder in the trash or make some use of it for lighting a fire; what ever you can use the powder for. If in the trash wet it down very much first. I would contact hornady about the issue with picture. Maybe they will want to replace the box or refund you money. Its a lot of trouble to try and ship ammo at least this has been my experience and its cost a lot. So I would just go with a refund. The rest of the ammo look it over, check some of the weights and if all close to matching and looks good, go shooting. If contacted back I would just ask for a refund on the ammo box. If hornady wanted to pay for all the shipping cost, hazmat cost, and no dollars out of your pocket to ship then that would be acceptable as well. If I was managing the customer service I would just send you a refund and a short apology note for you trouble with hoping this would not frighten you away from the hornady products. Then I might even worry about it and just put that one aside and go shooting. But I would not shoot that bullet. It looks like the brass over laps in the pic.

 

[Jokostel]

The internet. serious business,yo.
Everyone needs to calm the heck down.
Contact Hornady. Deal with them. Bit*** about it on the internet will get you nowhere. Contacting their customer service rep will... provided you CHECK your attitude at the door.

Nevermind the fact that If your running a Lapua, smart money says you can pitch a round and not loose sleep over it.
So... guess what I'm saying is, quit being Barry Obama over the whole damned ordeal.... and man up. Pitch the round, or deal with Hornady.... Or for that matter, Buy some lapua brass (which is FAR superior btw) and reload.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

I'd unsubscribed from the thread (and will again after this post) as you frankly bore me. You do what you want but if you came at Hornady like you have come at me, I'd ignore you too. I've also never worked for Hornady and probably never will. They don't have any business interests in North Dakota and I own a home here with no plans to move...
As to the last poster's mentioning haz-mat on loaded ammo; you have probably never shipped ammo. It must be ground shipped and marked with a small arms ammo placard, but does not need haz-mat like powder and primers.

As to the round in question, do with it as you wish. I would have no qualms about shooting it as a fouler if it fit the chamber. I would not use it in a group and would discard the brass after firing. If it won't fit, pull the bullet for later use.

 

[4xforfun]

If it were me, personaly, I would simply toss it into the round file and move on with life.

On a side note, although I don't shoot any Hornady products, I did shoot with at least a half dozen Hornady employees when I competed in IBS 600 and 1000 yard matches a few years back. They were the nicest and most helpful bunch of guys you could ever meet!!! My guess is that there is probably a good reason for their lack of responce.

Good luck,
Tod

 

[Pdvdh]

I'd set that round up at 100yds and use it as your sight-in target. Probably help calm the nerves. Hammer it!