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I bought a bag of 50 hornady brass in 243 the other day when I was at bass pro, mainly because they had it. I weighed about 25 or so of them, so far I have a 2.1 grain spread from min to max. I was pretty impressed with that. What I have read on the Internet, the brass doesn't have good reviews. I would like some other opinions from guys who have actually used it. I have not actually loaded any yet, but plane to in the next day or two.
Thanks!
Michael
From my experience Hornady brass is generally very good brass. The only issue I have had is with their 338LM brass as it tends to be a little soft. Other than 338LM, their brass has been very good. (22-250, 6.8SPC, 270W, 7-08)
I run Hornady brass in my 243Win match Rifle. Been using it for 2 barrels now. No issues at all with consistency. I will probably go to Winchester brass in the though as it provides more capacity and is usually close to half the cost of the Hornady brass.
I also run Hornady brass in my .243 Winchester. Consistency has been good for me too. Measured concentricity has not been as good as Lapua brass out of the box, but it's sufficient for my shooting.
I hadn't considered the case volume differences that LoneWolf mentioned. My load is already stuffed to the gills, and if I start messing around with coated bullets, I might need to add a little more.
Use Hornady brass for the Creedmoor, 243, and 6.5x55. No problems.
I tried Hornady brass in my 7mm rem mag. I found that brass to be way too soft for any practical use. The only thing useful to do with that brass was to throw it away.
I neck up the 25-06 brass for a 6.5-06 and it seems to be working ok. Only issues I have had with Hornady is if you load a little warm it seems the primer pockets loosed a little sooner than some other brands.
SOFT!!! And that is MY opinion based on 30-06, 308, and 6.5 Grendel brass. As stated primer pockets tend to open up very easy and that was within book loads with me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mthomas90
On my 4th reload using Hornady 6.5x55 brass. Brass is not "too soft" and primer pockets remain tight. In the 6.5 Creedmoor it was also very good brass. Still using it after at least 6 reloads.
ive had multiple hornady cases split when fireformed in an improved cartridge. never had that happen with other brands. had a friends whos 300 WM brass was so soft that it wouldnt hold a bullet in even with .003 neck tension
ive been having problems with a batch of winchester brass in 243! gas flow around the primers and loose pockets on brand new brass that hadnt been fired! like the pockets were oversized from the factoryQuote:
Originally Posted by LoneWolf
How hot are you running them?
I've used tons of it for .223 with no problem. I've worked up some very accurate loads actually!
I run Hornady brass in my .223, .243, and 30/06, at moderate to slightly warm (but safe) loadings, and have never had a failure that I could attribute to the brass.
Another vote for soft here. Also, at least in .220 swift, seemed like it had very thin necks. Primer pockets were ok, but I ended up tossing all my Hornady head tamped brass after 2-3 firings because it would not hold neck tension and bullets would spin/sink into the case. I could seat them, then push them till the bullet tip was even with the neck with fairly light finger pressure.
I haven't had any problems with accuracy performance. That's my ultimate test for anything on precision rifles.
One thing that I did notice is I get "pressure signs" at the exact same loads on the primer, but I don't with lapua brass. Im guessing that's to do with soft brass?
For my money, Buy the Winchester (less money and better) I wouldn't want to see more than 1.0 gr variation weight in the brass you bought. If you can afford it, buy Lapua and don't look back. My use of hornady brass is fine with 223, anything higher than that it seems to come apart after a few firings. IMO it is not what it should be for the money. I have max loads for 1K in my 260, Winchester brass outlasts the Hornady, neither come even close to what Lapua will do.
The only thing I don't like about Hornady Match brass is the crimped primer pockets. I can't understand why a match load would need the primer crimped? I ran the cases through my Dillon swager and still couldn't seat a primer. I finally had to resort to cutting out the crimp with my neck chamfering tool.
It really depends on the cartridge. For any of the bigger mag cartridges (7mm rem mag, .300 win mag, .338 Lapua mag, etc.), I've found that their brass is pretty much useless after 1 or 2 firings tops. Primer pockets become loose and at that point it's pretty much done. I mean if you're shooting any of the big mags, at least find some RP brass, and even then it doesn't hold a match to Lapua or Nosler. You'll pay for the good stuff but you won't regret having used it.
For the smaller rounds (especially 6.5 Creedmoor), Hornady brass is great as long as you're not loading them too hot. My .308 brass was on its 5th firing when I sold it, and it still wasn't showing any signs of fatigue. YMMV, depending on what round you're shooting and how hot you're loading it, but from my experience (and I think most will agree), stay away from it on the bigger rounds.