Quality of Hornady 223 brass?

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christos808

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I've been shooting 223 for a little over a year, both out of a bolt-action and an AR-15, and have been saving most of my brass (and picking up the occasional spent casing at the range) with the intent to reload.

I have several hundred cases of Hornady, which is what I shoot out of my bolt-action (Remington 700 SPS Tactical) as well as several hundred cases of Federal (cheap Americal Eagle ammo, which I shoot out of my AR) and smaller numbers of Remington, Winchester, PPU, Aguila, Lake City and a few that I can't identify. The Hornady brass looks like it's in the best shape, but I'm thinking that may be due to shooting it out of a bolt rather than a semi-automatic.

My first question is: Does Hornady produce only one standard of brass for each calibre, or do they have "premium" brass and regular stuff? I pay about 1$ per round for the loaded ammo (55gr FMJ - http://www.theammosource.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_108_109&products_id=3499) but their new brass is sold for about the same price, which doesn't seem to make sense. Why would anyone pay the same price for an empty casing as they would for loaded ammo using the same casing?

Second question: Is Hornady considered good quality brass? Compared to the other brands mentioned above? I also bought a box of Lapua brass, which was only slightly more expensive than the Hornady, and I know that it's considered the top of the line. If I'm loading precision ammo for the bolt action, is it normal to pay 1$ per case for the brass?

Thanks
 
christos808 said:
My first question is: Does Hornady produce only one standard of brass for each calibre, or do they have "premium" brass and regular stuff? I pay about 1$ per round for the loaded ammo (55gr FMJ - http://www.theammosource.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_108_109&products_id=3499) but their new brass is sold for about the same price, which doesn't seem to make sense. Why would anyone pay the same price for an empty casing as they would for loaded ammo using the same casing?
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I don't know much about reloading 223, but I can tell you that the magic of retail can easily get a store to point where a single component used to build an item sells for more than the item itself. I once bought a microwave just to get a single transistor, because it was cheaper than buying that transistor.

Without even taking a look at it, and without knowing much about 223 brass, or about hornady in particular, I can tell you it's probably the same brass. Unless you see a difference (like one is nickel plated and the other isn't, or one if obviously cheaper and the other is obviously premium), I would suppose they'Re the same and keep buying the ammos if you don't specifically want brand new brass.
 
As comparison, new unfired Lapua brass in 223 sells for $99 for a box of 100 (and the box itself is also kind of nice) while Lapua 223 ammo sells for $99 for 50, so twice the price. In that instance, if you want Lapua brass it makes sense to buy the brass itself, since the bullets are about 45 cents, plus another 10-12 cents for primer and powder.
 
I shoot a lot of hornady brass. I like it in 223, as well as in my 308. I have some of their "match" 308 brass that seems to be better than their standard 308 brass. The only time hornady didn't impress me was in 7mm rem mag but it could have more to do with the gun than the brass. Lapua is hard to beat. It may be $1 per case, but if you are getting 10+ firings then they are only about 10 cents a round.....
 
I've been loading .223 (almost exclusively) for several years, and have some Hornady brass that I know I've reloaded at least 3x. Thing is, it was once Hornady factory ammo (I've never bought Hornady brass on it''s own) so it's been loaded 4 times. I don't know about you, but I consider that to be pretty good brass. Now, I'm using a bolt gun only...loads aren't overly "hot"...and..I do all my loading by hand, every step. If a primer pocket is getting worn, I can tell...and out it goes. Any pressure cracks/dents/dings~same thing. Every time I load now, 1 or 2 (from about 150 or so) get tossed. When I owned a semi (RA XCR-L) it tossed the brass pretty good...so not as many survivors.

Only other thing that bolsters my opinion of Hornady brass is a brief stint loading .204R. Again, started with a couple of boxes of Hornady .204R factory ammo and then searched for the brass on it's own. Ended-up buying Winchester brass and it was garbage in comparison. I ended up buying a third box of Hornady, and cycled through those 60 pcs. of brass a couple of times before selling the rifle.
 
Lots of hornady 223 brass has crimp primers, it can be a pain and adds an extra step. I'm not sure what factory 223 hornady loads have it as I picked up most but thing the 75gr match stuff has it.
 
Sask_Hunter said:
Lots of hornady 223 brass has crimp primers, it can be a pain and adds an extra step. I'm not sure what factory 223 hornady loads have it as I picked up most but thing the 75gr match stuff has it.
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The 55-grain FMJ ammo that I've been using does not. I've primed a few cases (testing out my new RCBS hand-priming tool) and they are super-smooth.

I think this adds to my suspicion that Hornady may have regular and premium brass, rather than using the exact same cases for all its ammo.
 
I have hornady 223. Loaded it probably 5-6 times as 223. I now neck that same brass up to use in my 6x45 and it has another at least 6 loading's on it.

All hornady 223 loaded ammo has a crimp so you must remove that.
 
Drawing brass cartridge cases is no small feat, and I doubt that Hornady makes their own. So the question really is, who makes the brass that bears the Hornady name? Knowing that would allow you to guess where it sits quality wise.
 
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