WARNING! ABOUT HORNADY ELD-X BULLETS

[okie man]

The closer you seat a bullet too the lands , the more important base too ogive length becomes also! He's lucky he only had lose primer pockets, sticky bolt and not a ruined gun or worse

 

[JakeM300winnie]

Again, "if" you are measuring COAL to set your distance to the lands, you are not getting a true reading unless you are using CBTO measurements.

Yes, cbto to the lands, and a person should used a fireformed case to get accurate readings also. Not general spec Hornady tool/cartridge. I seen my cbto to the land grow .010 from new unfired brass to once fired.

 

[joep17]

This a common thing. I do like Hornady. My very first round I loaded was a 150 GT 270 Hornady spire point. Shot lots of deer and coyotes until I had enough money to buy a 22-250. Now I usually only use their V max on varmints. I have progressed to Partitiions and finally settled on Barnes for hunting.

Long range requires different parameters.

My closed pal I shoot F Class with thought he would try these out. He bought 1000 from the same lot and weighed each bullet. They varied plus or minus 3 grains. He proceeded to separate them in 1 grain increments and only shot them that way. When he was done with the 1000 bullets he went back to Berger.

Now my experience is similar with Lapua 155 GT scenars regarding ogive differences. They are all +/- 1 grain weight wise. My first 5000 from the same lot shot great. When they were done I ordered 5000 more. I did not change seating depth on the forester seating die and they shot terrible. I got out my comparator and the difference was drastic. I tuned the load and then successfully shot those off. Last year I had to order another 5000 be the first thing I did is used the comparator. Again this lot was different. I went to the range to test knowing this. After a bit of tuning, they would shoot well too.

All this goes to show that tooling changes, tools wear and even the best manufactures can have variations between lots.

I liked the comment by someone in this thread who suggested buying enough of one lot to last the barrel.

Also all manufacturers have improved their quality over my 40+ years of loading.

Good luck and keep experimenting. That is one of the most enjoyable parts of our great hobby.

 

[elkaholic]

This a common thing. I do like Hornady. My very first round I loaded was a 150 GT 270 Hornady spire point. Shot lots of deer and coyotes until I had enough money to buy a 22-250. Now I usually only use their V max on
varmints. I have progressed to Partitiions and finally settled on Barnes for hunting.

Long range requires different parameters.

My closed pal I shoot F Class with thought he would try these out. He bought 1000 from the same lot and weighed each bullet. They varied plus or minus 3 grains. He proceeded to separate them in 1 grain increments and only shot them that way. When he was done with the 1000 bullets he went back to Berger.

Now my experience is similar with Lapua 155 GT scenars regarding ogive differences. They are all +/- 1 grain weight wise. My first 5000 from the same lot shot great. When they were done I ordered 5000 more. I did not change seating depth on the forester seating die and they shot terrible. I got out my comparator and the difference was drastic. I tuned the load and then successfully shot those off. Last year I had to order another 5000 be the first thing I did is used the comparator. Again this lot was different. I went to the range to test knowing this. After a bit of tuning, they would shoot well too.

All this goes to show that tooling changes, tools wear and even the best manufactures can have variations between lots.

I liked the comment by someone in this thread who suggested buying enough of one lot to last the barrel.

Also all manufacturers have improved their quality over my 40+ years of loading.

Good luck and keep experimenting. That is one of the most enjoyable parts of our great hobby.

Are you saying 1 to 3 grains, or .1 to .3 grains? I've never seen a 3 grain difference in bullets.

 

[joep17]

Are you saying 1 to 3 grains, or .1 to .3 grains? I've never seen a 3 grain difference in bullets.

Yes!
3 grains not .3
I actually had him weigh some in front of me because I would not believe him

 

[elkaholic]

Yes!
3 grains not .3
I actually had him weigh some in front of me because I would not believe him

That is BAD!!

 

[Barrelnut]

I'm one of the foolish shooters who sort bullets, within the same lot, by weight and bearing surface. I have sorted many Berger and Hornady A-Max bullets this way. (Haven't used any ELD bullets yet.)

If you sort a few hundred bullets in a lot of Bergers and the a few hundred in a lot of Hornady, you will not want to use Hornady bullets again. The inconsistency of A-Max bullets, within the same lot even, is pretty bad. Berger bullets just have better tolerances all the way around. Which is probably why they cost more.

 

[jrock]

When I first got my Hornady CBTO, I went through all my bullets measuring everyone for every gun and brand. Brands I had were Nosler BT and LRAB, Hornady V-max and SPBT and Bergers. The Berger bullets were way more consistent than any of the others. The only time I've had bullets seat into the lands when not expected was when I wasn't annealing brass and it prevented consistent bullet seating. That is why I bought the gage. Never have had an issue after measuring with CBTO. I seat for 0.020" jump.

 

[FEENIX]

Yes, cbto to the lands, and a person should used a fireformed case to get accurate readings also. Not general spec Hornady tool/cartridge. I seen my cbto to the land grow .010 from new unfired brass to once fired.

I never have your issue modified or fireformed for the LNL, virgin or x fired brass, once I have set my "actual" CBTO. I have loaded off the lands from .010" to .080" without any issues.

 

[FEENIX]

When I first got my Hornady CBTO, I went through all my bullets measuring everyone for every gun and brand. Brands I had were Nosler BT and LRAB, Hornady V-max and SPBT and Bergers. The Berger bullets were way more consistent than any of the others. The only time I've had bullets seat into the lands when not expected was when I wasn't annealing brass and it prevented consistent bullet seating. That is why I bought the gage. Never have had an issue after measuring with CBTO. I seat for 0.020" jump.

Ditto!

 

[Trnelson]

I can't believe this has made it 38 posts without someone saying this. Shame on us all.

EVERY TIME YOU CHANGE A COMPONENT YOU HAVE TO RE-PROOF YOUR LOAD BY STARTING A FEW GRAINS LOW AND WORKING BACK UP.

The variation the OP reports has been documented in multiple other threads. I have even reported it myself. It's well known, and even accepted at this point. It proves the NEED to check your components, prior to loading up your regular load and heading to the range. It is not fashionable, or healthy, to wear your rifle on your face.

 

[LoneTraveler]

I am working with a 223 Rem. I just put together as a play gun. I loaded some 50 Gr. V-Max and was surprised at difference in COAL. I had set the length by setting my dies using my land gauge. and it holds that measurement within a couple thousands. I checked the seating die stem, It has a deep hole and is putting seating pressure on the Ogive of the bullet instead of the tip.
Since I worked in production I am wondering is if the bullets are coming off multi presses into one packaging line. This may explain some of the differences in tip measurements.

 

[L.Sherm]

I don't want this to sound like a slam against Hornady but over the 30+ years of reloading i have tried there dies, brass and bullets and find myself going a different direction everytime.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

I am only using hdy interlocks and hpbt's for the most part... I have worked with 7mm and 30cal eld-x and found them to be sub par at best.. The only load that really works for me with the eld-x is a 143 eld-x pushed by h4350 in my son's 6.5creed. That load is at factory ammo oal. so it is well behind the rifling and it is a rather mild load. I am working with the 175 eld-x in my 7stw but the load has been a bit flaky; I suspect because of the variation presented in this thread. I think I'll go back to the hpbt pills when my eld-x are used up..