My #1 son (James) is having nothing but grief with his 375 Ruger and Horn brass. It is acting like the brass has lost all memory. He fires a round and then almost has to pry his bolt open but there are no pressure signs at all. No ejector marks and primers are not flattened it's seems to me that his garbage Hornady brass has lost it's elasticity-memory. The load also does not chronograph as hot, and his primer pockets are still tight. Anyone else ever encountered this problem? His brass has probably been fired 5-8 times.
Hornady brass problems in .375 Ruger
- Thread starter c-fbmi
- Start date
Longshot338
CGN Regular
- Location
- Southern Ontario
Hornaday brass is soft. In my experience loading it for 308, it reworks VERY nicely, and has great consistency. The tradeoff lies in its short life span however, as well as the need to trim more often due to exissive stretching when reworked.
My suspicion would be that it has seen the end of its life as it is.
There are 2 routes you can go from here.
#1: Look for new Brass. If you can find Remington, grab it. I like Remington brass; it will hold up much better than Federal or Hornady.
#2: you could try annealing the cases you have to harden them up and see if they improve.
Alec
I've been loading the same 50 .375 Ruger brass since around 2009 - probably 6-8 times. I haven't experienced any of the problems described. My loads have been mild(2350 fps with 300 gr bullets Hornadys) to hot(2870 fps with 260 gr Accubonds). Primer pockets are still tight and no split necks.
Maybe a bad batch??
Maybe a bad batch??
Try annealing a couple and see what happens.
Seems most problems happens with stiff brass.
I shot a box of factory 300win mag in Remington and thought for sure I had a problem
rifle. Hard bolt lift and opening.
I went through a box of old Imperial and no problems with unloading the spent brass.
For chits and giggles, I tried to run those spent Remington brass through my RCBS
308 Norma Mag dies and had a tough time to convince the brass to play nicely.
Ran the Imperial through and went without a hitch.
Go figure.
Seems most problems happens with stiff brass.
I shot a box of factory 300win mag in Remington and thought for sure I had a problem
rifle. Hard bolt lift and opening.
I went through a box of old Imperial and no problems with unloading the spent brass.
For chits and giggles, I tried to run those spent Remington brass through my RCBS
308 Norma Mag dies and had a tough time to convince the brass to play nicely.
Ran the Imperial through and went without a hitch.
Go figure.
Longshot338
CGN Regular
- Location
- Southern Ontario
I didn't know it softned brass. I suppose "harden" was technially incorret; I personally anneal to provide more onsistent neck tension in my 308 and 223. Upon resizing, I percieved less stretching of the case which led be to believe the brass was less prone to deformation. I incorretly assumed it was harder.
I had no idea who makes brass for this caliber. I readily admit that I have zero experience with it.
I suppose you could still try annealing; if the brass is already done, you really don't have a lot to lose...
Just a question; how much is your son sizing his brass? Is he FL sizing it right down to minimum dimensions, or is the die set up to just bump the shoulder back .001"-.002"? If you set the die up to shoulder-bump brass fireformed in your rifle, you can prolong brass life.
If you are neck sizing, you need to FL size every 4-6 reloads regardless. This may solve your issues if you don't already do so...
FL sizing all the way is hard on brass. Especially if you have a larger chamber or sloppier specs in your rifle like Enfields are known for, the exessive reworking of the brass an kill it in 4 reloads.
Alec
I would anneal it as well, the loads don't have to be hot for brass to work harden. Most likely it has lost it's elasticity, split necks are soon to come from the sounds of it.
I don't care much for hornady brass either. How hard would it be to make your own brass from a different cartridge? I am too lazy and disinterested in the H&H wanna-be to look it up.
I don't care much for hornady brass either. How hard would it be to make your own brass from a different cartridge? I am too lazy and disinterested in the H&H wanna-be to look it up.
