204 Brass Question

[rugermk2]

I have been developing some loads for my cz 527 american, using 40 gr nosler bt, and IMR 8208. The only brass I had laying around was remington. The gun settled in on 26.5 grains, gave me a .226 group at 100 yards at 3586 fps. I came across some hornady brass a few days ago and decided to try the same loads. The groups opened up to around 1 inch and my speeds shot up to 3620. I then went back and started at 26.0 grains and went up in .2 grain increments all the way up to hodgdon max load of 27.3. I couldn't ever get the loads to drop below .80 @ 100 and also noticed my speeds shot way up from the same loads with the remington brass. Has anyone else came across a problem like this. It almost seems to me like the hornady brass is running higher pressures then what the remington brass was. Any help would be appreciated. Also I weighed and sorted the hornady brass trying to eliminate that problem, and would just go back to cheap remington brass but can't find it anywhere
Thanks

[Jim White]

Loose the Hornady brass. I haven't seen nor heard of anyone having even marginal luck with that stuff. I'll take Remington over that stuff any day. IMO, Remington & Winchester brass is pretty darn good. It needs prep but it's not too bad.

I'm about to start the anneal process on my 204 brass. On some of them I'm not feeling the little pull/tug on the down stroke of the press after sizing. That's a sign the brass has harden and isn't springing back. Split case necks are just around the corner and as scarce & expensive as the brass is these days, I'd want to keep every piece I could.

Jim

[Rick in Oregon]

I agree 100% with what Jim has said.

In feeding my four 204's since 2006, and having right at 600 rounds for each of them, experience long ago with the 204 indicated that both WW and R-P brass (and now Nosler) was the only way to go. No fussing with too tight primer pockets, varying neck tension/brass thickness and questionable annealing (split necks too soon).

With full brass prep, both WW and R-P will produce bragging groups with the right load, even in a factory barrel without weight sorting. Give the Hornady stuff the Deep Six and start fresh with either of the other brands, and you'll soon be a happy 204 shooter. JMO JME

[cosh]

I have loaded some Winchester brass that I got last year. It seems to be fairly consistent neck tension and volume. Since that time I have only found a box of Hornady brass. A couple of the Hornady were not usable due to a small crack at the neck. I think the Hornady had much more neck tension until I annealed them. Agree - lose the Hornady but lately that is all I can find. - cosh

[Tokimini]

I just ordered 100 rounds of Nosler brass from Brownells. At roughly 3 times the price of Win or Rem I hope it's worth it, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy any more Hornady brass. Even scrap dealers don't want it.

[bow shot]

I had very bad experience with the Hornady brass. Min all came from factory ammo that I shot up, not from boxed brass, and the consistency shell-to-shell was… awful. Maybe the boxed Hornady stuff is fine, but after my experience…I aint gonna even try it.

The Nosler is fantastic, so is the Norma, which as RIO has mentioned, is where the Nosler "comes from", so to speak. SUPER consistent in these areas:
1) case wall thickness (both per-case as well as case-to-case)
2) case-to-case weight
3) trim length (and chamfer)
4) flash holes are perfect
5) primer pockets are uniform in width and depth

I have a thread somewhere here about the Hornady brass….

[bow shot]

here it is…
http://www.204ruger.com/forum/viewtopic ... e&start=60

Scroll down a tad, and check out the pic of the Hornady case neck! Ouch!!

[MZ5]

I have been developing some loads for my cz 527 american, using 40 gr nosler bt, and IMR 8208. The only brass I had laying around was remington...

I came across some hornady brass a few days ago and decided to try the same loads. The groups opened up to around 1 inch and my speeds shot up to 3620...

It almost seems to me like the hornady brass is running higher pressures then what the remington brass was. Any help would be appreciated.

What you have discovered is that your Hornady brass is much smaller capacity than your Remington brass. You can confirm that by filling each with water (once you've fired it in your rifle). You'll find that your Remmy brass holds more water. The smaller-capacity brass results in higher pressure.

Worse precision could be from a number of things.

Personally, I'm happy to have found a bag or two of R-P brass about a year ago. It's excellent brass, and holding up well for me in my Ruger Predator.

[cosh]

bow shot - I checked new brass, both Winchester and Hornady necks (about 6 each). The Win runs about .0115" to .012" thickness largest delta. The Hornady was .011" to .0125". This is Hornady Lot 4121064. I got them from Midway and it is the only lot that I have. I am hoping this is newer Hornady that is better than the original stuff.

I also have some Fiocchi I got on clearance. That stuff is much worse. Some run from .0125" to .015". Fiocchi had about 10% split necks right out of the box and very tight primer pockets. Pulled down all the ones with split necks. - - cosh

[fishnbob]

i have used Win, R-P and hornady. R-P gives me the best groups in my 204 but do tend to get a few tight primer pockets Win gives me the best groups in 243 and 22-250. Hornady never does me any good except the first shot of factory loads.

[ALP]

I been looking for rem. or win. brass for the last 6 mo. Does anyone have any idea when they will start running 204 brass and get it back on the market. I don't think this hornady is giving me very good groups.Can a make of brass make that much of a difference in tighter groups?

[fishnbob]

I been looking for rem. or win. brass for the last 6 mo. Does anyone have any idea when they will start running 204 brass and get it back on the market. I don't think this hornady is giving me very good groups.Can a make of brass make that much of a difference in tighter groups?

I am not as experienced as some of the guys here but I have found different brands of brass can make as much difference in groups with my rifles as powder, seating depths and bullets. Just my experience.

[bow shot]

cosh, that sounds pretty good! I'll say this (good) about the Hornady that I had: Some of it was up to 9 firings with no signs of stress… not too bad!

[cosh]

Thankyou for a little positive news on the Hornady. I have some loaded with SR4759 to simulate HMR velocity and hopes the barrel stays cooler. Maybe quieter than the fast loads. If Hornady can group 1 MOA or less to 150 yds I would be satisfied.

Sent from my VS920 4G using Tapatalk 2

[jo191145]

Thankyou for a little positive news on the Hornady. I have some loaded with SR4759 to simulate HMR velocity and hopes the barrel stays cooler. Maybe quieter than the fast loads. If Hornady can group 1 MOA or less to 150 yds I would be satisfied.

Sent from my VS920 4G using Tapatalk 2

If your looking for a cool burning powder get some W-748.