C'Mon Hornady!!!!

[hafejd30]

Long story slightly shortened. I'm loading for a 308. My die is set up so my overall length (base to ogive) is 3.180" with the hornady comparator on a dial caliper. 1st bullet is exact/2nd is exact/3rd is .012" to long (3.192"). I'm running bullets .020" off the lands so I like to not run .008" off if I can help it.

So I think "oh just a dud", and load the next one. This one is 3.174". So now I'm thinking wtf. So I tear the Forester die apart/clean/reassemble and half way pull one of each 3.174/3.180/3.192". Then I reseat with exactly the same measurement as they were before. So I grab my box off bullets and start measuring each one.

End result is:

About 40% are measurement A (in which all bullets measure exactly the same)
About 40% are measurement B (which is .006" longer than A- but again all in this group are exactly the same measurements.
The remaining 20% ish are about .003" shorter than group A- but as A/B groups did they measure exactly the same as each other

Group A loaded was what I set the die for originally- and all rounds measured 3.180" with .0005" of each other
Group B loaded measured 3.192" without adjusting the die from group A. And all in group B were within .0005" of each other
The remaining measure 3.174" all exactly .0005" of each other with same die setting

These are 165 SST Hornady bullets. And this is the 3rd time I've had this issue with hornady. The other 2 were Amax in .308 and .264 calibers.

All bullets came from the same box of 100. I just have to rant and hope that Hornady realizes this sucks for precision reloading. This box clearly had 3 different lots/machines etc in it. I'm not asking that they try to have everyone exact but semi close would be great. I spoke with Hornady about this with one of the previous boxes I had which was the same thing and they sent me a full box in return for the partial I sent back. Took a while to get but the box they sent contained bullets with consistent measurements.

I've never had this issue with Sierra bullets especially 100 round boxes. I'm not trying to put any manufacturer down in any way but just making them realize this issue is out there. I really want to trust Hornady but it's frustrating

So just FYI if your having similar issues with Hornady bullets.....

[JeepsAndGuns]

As much as I like hornady bullets, when I am shooting for top accuracy, they are not the bullet I use. I will choose either berger or sierra. Even their new ELD-M still do not hold a flame to the SMK's, and the bergers out shoot the SMK's.
Now if I am loading for plinking, hornady is usually the bullet I pick. Accuracy is good enough to hit the targets I'm aiming at, but I am not wasting expensive bullets.

Hornady has some really good customer support. I had a issue with some of their one shot (spray can) case lube a couple years ago. I called and asked about it. The guy sends me a replacement can, and also a small (shoe polish can sized) can of their unique case lube and sizing wax for me to try. Never even had to send my old can back. Very friendly and good customer support.

[hafejd30]

I run SMK for my precision shooting. And generally Hornady for hunting.

I switched to the 142 smk in my 260 after having the same issue as above with the 140 Amax

[Balljoint]

Some years ago was shooting 600 yards at Cumberland Rifleman when my scorer asked if i was shooting Hornady bullets as they were sprilling into the target switched to same load in Sierra bullets (lucky i had them) and shot last ten rounds a TEN.

[Rob01]

Hornady bullets have never slowed me down in matches. Have shot them in both factory ammo and handloads for many years in multiple calibers and they shoot great.

[bearcatrp]

Don't think I have used bullets from any manufacturer that didn't do that. Would have thought match bullets would be the best but even those do this.

[stomp442]

Did you weigh the SST's as well? I have had some horrifying results on weight differences with the SST line. I was loading some .30-06 one time with the 150s and I had one weigh as little as 137gr in that box with most others averaging about a grain high or low of the advertised 150gr. The SST line has been consistently horrible especially in 30 cal it seems. The amax line has always been much better at least as far as weight goes.

[Deadshot2]

Hornady bullets have never slowed me down in matches. Have shot them in both factory ammo and handloads for many years in multiple calibers and they shoot great.

Would be nice if people would compare like bullets, hunting with hunting and match with match.

I've found that Hornady Match bullets shoot very well and more than meet my needs. Now if we could only come up with a bullet that compensated for individual shooter weaknesses (like inability to dope the wind, etc). :) :)

[hafejd30]

Would be nice if people would compare like bullets, hunting with hunting and match with match.

I've found that Hornady Match bullets shoot very well and more than meet my needs. Now if we could only come up with a bullet that compensated for individual shooter weaknesses (like inability to dope the wind, etc). :) :)

Not sure if your talking about my comparison or not but my previous experiences with the .308 and .264 Amax were both Hornady match bullets vs sierras match bullets

[Rob01]

Was directed at me but I have shot the ELD-X hunting bullets in 6.5 and .30 and they also were very accurate. Never used SSTs though.

[hafejd30]

I should say long range bullet for the Hornady as I'm not sure how their Amax tolerances are compared to the ones they mark as match which are similar to the smk as I haven't used those.

I am also running eldx 200 gr in my 300 WM. Only on first box but so far very impressed with those

[Rob01]

The AMAX were fine as well as I shot them before they were discontinued and replaced with the ELD line.

How did those loads you loaded above shoot? Sometimes small differences in OAL to ogive and jump won't effect the over all accuracy.

[psharon97]

After seeing how the bergers outshot many other bullets I've tried, I'll stick to them for the precision stuff. For hunting, I like Hornady.

[SageRat Shooter]

I've been shooting the 143 ELDX in my 260 (less than 200 rounds thus far), and I've had great accuracy with them so far. I have noticed some differences in weight ( 142- 143.3) as well as about a .02 variance on the OG measurement. Doesn't seem to effect accuracy much as long as I'm not shooting a 143.3 and then a 142... the closer I can keep the weights, the better they group. haven't seen much difference with the OG measurements.

[Ray1953]

I have the RCBS gold medal micrometer seating die. If you look the die seats the bullet above the ogive. Off the very tip but close to it. The issue is the distance from the ogive to the tip is not very controlled during manufacture. If you measure the bullet overall length, base to tip. you will find about 0.010" difference in any box of bullets from most manufactures. Depending on where your seating die mates to the bullet this can add variance to your final seating depth. One way to help fix this is to segregate your bullets by length. You check and adjust final seating depth as the length changes. I have found with my die the variance is not worth worrying about but I am not a F-Class or bench rest shooter. I am just shooting to hit a .67 MOA steel target cold bore at 600 yrd plus distances.

[thamm]

If you are settled on a particular projectile, you can have a custom seater stem made to match. I know RCBS & Lee will do this. I'm sure the other die mfgs would do this, as well.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Texas10]

If you are settled on a particular projectile, you can have a custom seater stem made to match. I know RCBS & Lee will do this. I'm sure the other die mfgs would do this, as well.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Wow!...That tip, Sir, was worth the price of admission alone! I have never read that before, and have modified a seating stem myself for exactly this issue, stem using the tip of the bullet instead of something nearer the ogive and seating to varying OAL's.

[hafejd30]

The AMAX were fine as well as I shot them before they were discontinued and replaced with the ELD line.

How did those loads you loaded above shoot? Sometimes small differences in OAL to ogive and jump won't effect the over all accuracy.


I haven't tried this particular load. I did test the 260 Remington and 308 tho. They increased the velocity. But don't remember the group sizes. Obviously we're not better or I would have tried those in further testing. This is a hunting bullet in a factory barrel so I will just adjust the die and load to proper length per my oal gauge. The other rifles were custom barreled target guns.

This is for my brother in laws rifle. I load match kings for long range target shooting. Will most likely try eldx soon in this rifle. I'm also loading 143 eldx in another buddies 260 with good results so far. Maybe the issue is non existent in their eld line. We'll have to see

[wbm]

I've never had this issue with Sierra bullets

I have.

[holescreek]

I've run into this problem of bullet seating depth for a couple years now since I started reloading again. I find it in every brand of bullet and for a very long time thought it must be something I was doing wrong since I never saw anyone else reporting the problem. I even switched to a different brand of press to see if it would help and went so far as to make an attachment for a digital caliper to measure cartridge OAL.

I'm relieved to hear that others have found the same problem. My solution will probably sound stupid to most but I seat all the bullets about .012" long to start with then segregate the lot by height. Then I seat the shorter ones to finish depth before readjusting the seating depth for the next taller cartridges. It's a bunch of extra work but the results appear to make it worth the effort.