Re: The sun is falling _defective Hornady 338 LAPUA 285 GR
Now I can add number 10 to my list - all within the past 5 years. This one is an continuation of defect #2, above;
10) A $1,600 custom action with the magazine feed lips cut exactly incorrectly again, a second time. The replacement action body was provided to correct the mistake on the original action body. Believe it or not, the feed lips on the replacement action body have been cut to the same exact incorrect dimensions as they were on the original action body. I wish I was so lucky as to only have to deal with one defective cartridge out of a box of 20 cartridges. That would be like hitting the jackpot. I'd be delighted. Instead, 7 months have elapsed, and I've still got a non-functional $1,600 receiver that will take additional months to correct.
Sorry for the hi-hacking of this Thread Hornady. You could consider this my effort to make Hornady products and QA/QC look really terrific, in comparison...
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...
Now I can add number 10 to my list - all within the past 5 years. This one is an continuation of defect #2, above;
10) A $1,600 custom action with the magazine feed lips cut exactly incorrectly again, a second time. The replacement action body was provided to correct the mistake on the original action body. Believe it or not, the feed lips on the replacement action body have been cut to the same exact incorrect dimensions as they were on the original action body. I wish I was so lucky as to only have to deal with one defective cartridge out of a box of 20 cartridges. That would be like hitting the jackpot. I'd be delighted. Instead, 7 months have elapsed, and I've still got a non-functional $1,600 receiver that will take additional months to correct.
Sorry for the hi-hacking of this Thread Hornady. You could consider this my effort to make Hornady products and QA/QC look really terrific, in comparison...
