HELP WITH HORNADY CASES

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mashburn posted this 16 September 2019

Although I have reloaded for over 50 years, I had never reloaded a Hornady brand case until a few months ago. I had fired two boxes of factory Hornady 25-06 cartridges and decided to reload these instead of cases that I had available of other brands. Here is the problem: I could not find a primer that would seat below the surface of the case head. I made a cutter to cut the primer pockets a little deeper and after doing a few cases, I soon said why do this when I have Remington and Winchester cases in abundance. Are all Hornady cases like this or does it take a special primer for these cases I don't keep up with all of the new stuff because I'm very set in my ways when it comes to guns and reloading. This is the first factory Hornady that I ever fired in my life.. The primers in the factory Hornady ammunition look funny and appear to be awful soft upon inspection after firing. Someone who has loaded Hornady cases please give me some information.

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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Ross Smith posted this 16 September 2019

Many posts ago, when I still loaded for my 223, accuracy was hard to achieve. This was with those j-bullets.So I started weighing cases. There was as much variability between Hornady cases as there was between 20 different headstamp cases. The best thing I did was to buy 100 Lapua cases. Accuracy then improved greatly.You can't believe it when they put the word Match Ammo on the box.

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mashburn posted this 16 September 2019

Hello Squid Boy,

Yes I did measure the primer pocket depth and they were all shallow; uniform in depth but shallow. When I talk to Hornady I will post what they said. Thanks for your reply and information.

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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Ross Smith posted this 18 September 2019

Mash: I had the same experience with the factory .223 match ammo. Just didn't reload for beans for me and the case weight was the only parameter I pursued. I do find other problems with other "range brass" and loose primer pockets is one. That's on presumably once fired brass. I bought 100 winchester brass for my 30-30 and I had to completely re work the brass, size, trim, etc. But when I got done , they were all ok. By the way ,winchester put a note in the bag stating the brass might be dented,squished and long. They were .

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mashburn posted this 18 September 2019

Hello Ricin Yakima,

Like I've said I have no past experience with Hornady brass or ammo. The two boxes that I bought were American Whitetail and were the first Hornady ammo that I ever purchased. They were quite accurate but evidently the brass in that particular lot is junk. I bought  a box of the American Whitetail cartridges at the same time but haven't tested their accuracy as of now. I like Hornady dies and all of their bullets that I eve ever used were quite accurate and effective on game. Where are the American Whitetail cartridges manufactured? I'm not one to report on the quality of factory ammo: I was nearly fifty years old before I killed a deer with factory ammo, my first deer ever killed when I was at a  very young age was with one of my reloads.

Thanks again for your replies,

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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RicinYakima posted this 18 September 2019

Where were they made? It depends upon what caliber, what day of the week and of course, what the bid price was. Early revolver ammo was made by Fiocchi in Italy, but the last 9mm I bought was from Serbia. FWIW

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mashburn posted this 19 September 2019

Hello M3 Mitch,

That's a good question that you posed about uninformed shooters. I don't know if all Hornady brass is like these, evidently not from other peoples comments. There are so many people that don't realize that cartridges of different brands don't impact in the same place and they don't know that bullet weight also affects impact point. I only load Winchester and Remington cases. When I was 50 years younger and very, very broke I would reload anything that I could get my hands on. But I'm much smarter now and somewhat better off financially. 

Thanks for your reply and comments,

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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mashburn posted this 19 September 2019

Ross,

Amen to both of your statements. Firearms made years ago are a form of art to me and the modern junk is definitely ugly junk. You have to go to Japan or Eastern Europe to find a decently constructed firearm these days. There are customs of course but most people can't afford those. Fortunately, the good Lord gave me the skills to build my own.

I purchased a side by side double shot gun from a pawn shop in the wrong part of St. Louis last week and is it beautiful .It isn't a gun safe queen, just a good solid shotgun and is it pretty. All steel except the barrels are totally engraved and the barrels are engraved where they meet the breech. I haven't measured the checkering but I'm guessing it somewhere between 28-30 LPI. I've owned lots of old firearms and the problem is, there is a lot of them that I don't have anymore. It does not wear the Makers name but the bottom of the barrels have both Belgium and English proof marks. Here is the problem, we have fewer and fewer people who appreciate this kind of craftsmanship.

Thanks for you response,

Mashburn

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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mashburn posted this 20 September 2019

Hello again Mitch,

Thanks for your good  opinion on quality firearms (old versus new). I've had some old Savages come through my shop in the past that were good looking well fit rifles and yes nearly all Savage barrels shoot very well.one of the prettiest best made custom rifles that I ever saw was built on a Savage long magnum action in the caliber 7X61 Sharp and Hart. I bought a Savage Axis about 3 years ago in 25-06 just to play with and see what I could do with it. I like to build my own parts. I got this thing shooting unreal with some mods. Now, I through with it, mission accomplished. It will probably set the rest of my life now. At the time there were no steel bases available for the Axis, I had to make my own steel bases. I reworked the standard trigger and it makes the Accu trigger seem crude. That is my favorite thing to do-take a ugly step child and see what it can be made to do.

I got on the CZ bandwagon early. I wish they were as cheap now as they were when I bought my first one.

Thanks for your good reply,

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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mashburn posted this 20 September 2019

Hello again,

I have used some starline brass, mostly in my revolvers and my old 50-70. The rims on the 50-70 starline cases are so much thicker I had to deepen my chamber a little. Like I said when I was younger I would stick a bullet in anything that would hold powder. With experience and better finances I stopped. It has been so long since I loaded a federal case I couldn't honestly say anything good or bad.

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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mashburn posted this 20 September 2019

Hello Ken,

When I get caught up with some gun projects around here, I definitely want to make a 25-06 Mashburn out of my El-Cheapo Savage. When you get ready to build the .17 Mashburn let me know and I will send you my .17 reamer.  Oh, a close friend of mine who was the last closest friend of Old Man Mashburn passed away recently. His Dad also worked for Roy Weatherby during Weatherbys  early beginning.

David Cogburn

 

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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mashburn posted this 21 September 2019

Hello again Ken,

Since I got your email about the 25-06 Mashburn reamer, my feeble mind has been spinning all of its gears .I've been trying to dig up a diagram of the cartridge but with no luck so far. Tell me something; is this a cartridge with a shorter neck than the Ackley Imp. version. Mashburn quite often blew his  improved cartridges out farther for more capacity and left shorter necks in the process .Also what is the shoulder angle. I've got two different angles from some of the idiots on the shooting forums.I would appreciate any information,

David

David a. Cogburn

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lotech posted this 16 September 2019

I've used Hornady brass without problem and can see no difference from other brass, but I would guess all manufacturers let a few bad cases slip out of the factory occasionally. I'd contact Hornady. 

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RicinYakima posted this 16 September 2019

l have not had your issues, but they were made in Eastern Europe, so quality is variable. Their revolver cases are thin and have minimum rim thickness, so they are only used for light load plinkers. I have some empty 7X57 cases I picked up at the range, but never reloaded.

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mashburn posted this 16 September 2019

Hello Ross,

Thanks for your information. It sounds like I did the right thing when I decided  to  use other cases. However the Hornady 25-06 cartridges that I fired were quite accurate for factory ammo.

David a. Cogburn

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mashburn posted this 16 September 2019

Hello RicinYakima,

Thanks for your reply and Info.

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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mashburn posted this 16 September 2019

Hello Lotech

Thanks for your comments. I don't plan on using any Hornady cases because I have thousands of good cases. I think I will call Hornady. It would be interesting to see what they have to say.

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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Squid Boy posted this 16 September 2019

Mashburn, did you try to measure the pocket depth?  I am wondering if there isn't something else going on. I use a lot of Hornady brass for my 450-400 nitro and never had an issue with primers. Their bullets however copper the barrels very badly and I switched to Woodleigh. I would like to hear what Hornady has to say. Thanks, Squid 

"Squid Pro Quo"

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erj145 posted this 17 September 2019

Mashburn,I had the same problem with some Hornady 30-30 brass a couple of years ago. I  think RicinYakima had the answer. I have used Hornady brass in other calibers without issue.

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mashburn posted this 17 September 2019

Hello erj145,

Thanks for the information. I am going to call Hornady when I get around to it and see what they have to say.

Thanks,

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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RicinYakima posted this 18 September 2019

Their made in Mexico stuff is not of very good quality.

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