Hornady's 338 brass??

[4xforfun]

My buddy just brough me in 50 pieces new Hornady 338L brass. Any thoughts on this brass...Good??? bad???

 

[SVG308]

From everything I've heard it will not have the longevity of Lapua brass. To me it isn't discounted enough from Lapua to consider it.

 

[winmag]

I bought 2 boxes of Hornady Custom box ammo for my old 300 Wby, cause I got a Smokin deal on it. All I wanted was the brass. To my suprise the ammo shot great! But the brass sucked Soooo bad ill never go near it again. Way too soft. I got 2 fireings before the brass was ruined.
Do yourself a favor & get good brass or you'll be frusterated.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I bought 2 boxes of Hornady Custom box ammo for my old 300 Wby, cause I got a Smokin deal on it. All I wanted was the brass. To my suprise the ammo shot great! But the brass sucked Soooo bad ill never go near it again. Way too soft. I got 2 fireings before the brass was ruined.
Do yourself a favor & get good brass or you'll be frusterated.

By too soft, I take it you mean the neck?

I find that interesting in as much as I prefer Hornady over all others and have no issues with it, excepting .338 where Lapua/Lapua is the best and also the most expensive....

...and was it factory loads or someone's handloads?

 

[royinidaho]

Sidecar,

It's most likely soft like the Nosler stuff. Primer pockets loosen way too soon. Even faster than with remmy brass.

Just my guess.

 

[winmag]

By too soft, I take it you mean the neck?

I find that interesting in as much as I prefer Hornady over all others and have no issues with it, excepting .338 where Lapua/Lapua is the best and also the most expensive....

...and was it factory loads or someone's handloads?

Ya factory box ammo, just like the post said, (Hornady Custom is the what its labled)
Every single part of it was soft. So soft that after two fireings, I was starting to get case head seperation! Primers weren't overly loose, but it didn't take much effort to de cap them. I was still 2-1/2 grains UNDER max. I had to lube the bullets to seat them on the Hornady brass, or the shoulder crushed. Not so with the other cheapo Rem brass I was using & it held up just fine. Same loads. Same situation. Got a Smokin deal on Rem box ammo, it shot ok to not so great (go figure), but all I wanted was the brass. It sized nice, loaded nice, & never showed any signs of pressure with the exact same loads as the Hornady brass.
I'm glad you had better luck than I did. It's possible I got a bad lott. But I've hered quite a few stories simmilar to mine, so its doubtfull.
What I got out of the experience was to spend the $ once, for good brass, or you just take a big chance on screwing yourself in the end. One brand of cheapo stuff worked well, & one brand failed, in very short order.
Now I'm not saying Rem brass is looked upon any higher than Hornady. But I am advocating buying quality brass on the first go round. I went the cheap route, & paid for it.
I have since sold my 300wby to a buddy, & I threw every piece of Hornady brass I had in the trash, cause it was not safe to shoot. My buddy plans on loading the Rem brass a few more times before he starts in on his Wby brass.
I hope you continue to have very good fortune with your Hornady brass. Like I said, maybe I got a bad lott. I've never tried Lapua, but is sure like to some day.

 

[4xforfun]

Our problem is this....I did the load development for him a few years ago....Armalite AR30. He baught cheapo RCBS FL die set. I had him buy a Redding neck die, but he got the non bushing type. His gun has a very generous chamber and both the neck and fl dies really squeaze the brass down, and the friggin expander button scrapes and streaches the hell out of the necks. Now, we only end up .002 bigger on the loaded round vs the sized case, but I have no Idea how much the dies are sizing the necks down before the expander gets to them, but it feels like a ton. Thats why I don't even own a die with an expander button!!! And the fired casses are .012 bigger than the loaded round. HUGE. Any way, We have lost 40 of the original 100...split necks. I just annealled them for the first time tonight....the old fashond way....drill, and two torches.

Going to call Bench Sorce on Monday...It's time to bite the bullet....no pun intended.

If I had known that he was going to spend the $$ on brass, I would have ordered him a Bushing Die set instead!!

 

[SidecarFlip]

Sidecar,

It's most likely soft like the Nosler stuff. Primer pockets loosen way too soon. Even faster than with remmy brass.

Just my guess.

I was curious. I use Hornady for my .223 match loads with no problems, of course a different animal......

I will say to stay away from PPU brass in .338. I'm having an interesting and ongoing situatuin with PPU that's far from resolved.