Hornady primer pockets

[Bunnybuster]

I know that the Hornady brass has a reputation for having small primer pockets, that are so tight it is hard to uniform them with a reamer.

Last night I started in on reloading a bunch, (about 500-rounds), of once fired Hornady factory brass. It is a mixed lot, some of the 32-gr, 40-gr, and 45-gr factory loads I went through while I was seeing how the rifle did with the available factory loads. And, for general shooting once I figured out that it was acceptably accurate with any of it, (other than the fact the 45-gr stuff groups well but 6-inches high).

What I have noticed is the brass from the factory 32-grain loads, have the small primer pockets, and are hard to ream. The brass from the 40-gr and 45-gr boxes, is just fine.

So, has anyone noticed the small primer pockets on the new factory brass before firing?

And, if the factory 32-gr loads are generating enough pressure to be flattening the case heads, any body got any ideas of how high the pressure is getting?

[jo191145]

Myself and others I'm sure have noticed tight primer pockets on fresh Hornady brass.

I'm not so sure the 32's are flattening the case heads to create this issue.
I've launched 35 Bergers at faster velocitys than factory 32's and most assuredly did not get tighter pockets doing so.

I think its more of a manufacturing issue and luck of the draw.

I chuck my uniformer in the drill press and it makes life a little easier.
I also have an RCBS primer pocket swage die but never even used it. It was a freebie from a friend.

Haven't used Hornady since I tried Nosler but it would be my second choice. So far I'm reluctant to spend the extra on Norma.

[Rick in Oregon]

Bunnybuster: I think jo191145 is right. I gave up on Hornady brass for that reason, and am getting by just fine with Winchester. With the amount of brass I go through for high volume ground squirrel shooting in two 204's, the cost of Norma or Nosler brass is not up for consideration. Good stuff to be sure, but not worth it in terms of cost to me considering how many cases I use in a season.

I wonder if Hornady has received enough complaints about the primer pockets to look into their manufacturing process/qualilty control?

[Orion2see]

I bought 600 Hornady Brass and did not realize they had tight primer pockets until once fired. I decided to tough it out and ream them, no small task even using a drill. Next time I will buy Winchester.

[Silverfox]

I purchased 15 boxes of 32 gr. Hornady V-Max factory ammo the first week of June 2004. Ten boxes were in an unbroken case and of the same lot number. The other five boxes were all the same lot number but from a different lot. The primer pockets in those first 10 boxes were just fine for uniforming and no problems with them being too tight. However, the other five boxes had casings with primer pockets too tight to uniform. I received two boxes of once-fired Hornady brass from a shooter and they had the same small primer pocket issue. With those casings, I just use a small primer pocket brush I have had for years. I never bothered to try to uniform the primer pocket depth and it hasn't seemed to make a whole lot of difference.

Other than the issue with the inability to uniform the primer pockets, the Hornady brass has been very high quality for me. I haven't lost any casings to cracked necks, etc. Some of my brass has been fired 8 times without annealing.

I use the Hornady brass for my high pressure 35 gr. FB HP Berger coyote loads. All my other varmint shooting is done using WW brass. I recently acquired some Nosler brass and when I get my Savage 12VLP rebarreled with a super match grade Pac-Nor barrel that will be chambered with a match grade reamer with zero freebore, I'll utilize the Nosler brass first, but will also use the WW brass for colony rodent shooting.