Should I avoid Hornady brass?

Hey gents, im still pretty new to reloading. Have developed a few good loads for a .270 and .223 but have a 7 PRC on the way.

My plan was to buy Hornady factory loads (already have around 100 rounds in the safe) and shoot them and then reload with those cases.
Did some ready and some people were saying they’re only getting 2 reloads out of Hornady brass for magnum loads .

Is this common? Is this a brass I should be avoiding?
I’ve only really used Sako in the past with the same method and it worked mint

My experience with Hornady brass in magnum caliber is they tend to develop split necks after 1-2 firings. This can be avoided or reduced by annealing. So I would suggest anneal after first firing. Have not seen this problem in 708 or 308.

It's poor quality brass vs the likes of Norma and Nosler. Which would be fine if Hornady ammo didn't cost just as much.

No way, buy Adg brass. Hornady gives very inconsistent pressure signs. I did exactly what you are wanting to do with my 7prc, 10-20 percent of the factory cases I’ve tried that with have loose primer pockets. 7prc runs hot in factory ammo, so to handload to same or similar velocity you will be on the max, you’ll want good brass dude. Sell the factory box stuff and buy some Adg brass

My opinion differs to Jus but i guess because im not chasing maximum speed, it doesnt matter so much to me.

Hornady brass in 7PRC isnt bad if your not chasing every last bit of velocity. Originally when i did my 7PRC i bought 3 packets of factory ammo, pulled it and began loading from there using the brass and pulled projectiles. I found that there was the odd bit of brass that was soft compared to the rest & so i ended up with about 45 good bits of brass out of 60. They didnt shoot any different to the others, they didnt split necks they would just get loose primer pockets very quickly with even mild loads.

I got to a point where i was running 175 eldx at 2970fps with RL26 using hornady brass, 22" barrel. The brass that i didnt have to throw away due to loose primer pockets is on its 5th firing now and good as gold.

Just last weekend i loaded up some ADG brass to try. I was able to get to just over 3000fps before seeing pressure signs. 3013fps average has given a slight ejector stamp and a loose primer pocket on the ADG Brass.

Knowing what i know now, for what the ADG cost i would have just stuck with the hornady, in my opinion not worth the cost for the extra 30 odd FPS gain.

Same here if reloading for accuracy not every last bit of velocity it lasts ok. Youll just have to try it and see. Some of my ppu brass is on 10+ reloads

The other side of this is, if you are bush hunting and the brass is going on the ground while you reload.... maybe to be never seen again, whats the issue if its cheaper.
I've seen hunters that reload look on the ground after each shot, not ideal when you are swinging on a bunch of pigs or deer.... most of them get away.

7prc for bush hunting ?!?

Didn't have an issue anywhere near as much as Winchester brass

With .223 I find that the Hornady brass is tight/stickier to put through the FL die. Seems harder (and I expect more brittle) than other brands. I avoid it.

I'm not a fan of hornady brass.
In my 300prc, primer pockets became lose after 3 firings with a mild load

I'm not the biggest fan of Hornady brass and avoid using it generally.
My main issue has been necks splitting after two or three loadings and to a lesser extent circumferential splits above the head, like excess headspacing , but definitely not excess headspace. This applies mainly to calibres smaller than .375 H&H. I've got some .375 H&H brass that's had maybe 4 to 5 loadings and so far it's good
I think Hornady's issue is inconsistency. I've seen both good and bad reports on brass life.
Mainly I'm using Norma brass and have done for quite a few years. You sort of know what you're getting with Norma. I'm not saying it's perfect but I've found consistency is good and I'm happy with it.

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Originally Posted by STC

7prc for bush hunting ?!?

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Super pig:thumbsup:

I use it no probs for non magnum. I anneal each time and throw the loose primer ones along the way. I only do 4 to 6 loadings. With lapua or Norma or other quality brass I do 8-10

I found primer pockets seem to be crimped so needed a deburring/champer on lip of primer pocket but otherwise no issues reloading brass...223/308/270

Thanks for the input everyone.

I think i will shoot the factory ammo i already have (because I don’t have any magnum primers yet) and then reload those cases to tinker around and then buy some ADG brass in a few months.

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Originally Posted by 6.5 CRD

My opinion differs to Jus but i guess because im not chasing maximum speed, it doesnt matter so much to me.

Hornady brass in 7PRC isnt bad if your not chasing every last bit of velocity. Originally when i did my 7PRC i bought 3 packets of factory ammo, pulled it and began loading from there using the brass and pulled projectiles. I found that there was the odd bit of brass that was soft compared to the rest & so i ended up with about 45 good bits of brass out of 60. They didnt shoot any different to the others, they didnt split necks they would just get loose primer pockets very quickly with even mild loads.

I got to a point where i was running 175 eldx at 2970fps with RL26 using hornady brass, 22" barrel. The brass that i didnt have to throw away due to loose primer pockets is on its 5th firing now and good as gold.

Just last weekend i loaded up some ADG brass to try. I was able to get to just over 3000fps before seeing pressure signs. 3013fps average has given a slight ejector stamp and a loose primer pocket on the ADG Brass.

Knowing what i know now, for what the ADG cost i would have just stuck with the hornady, in my opinion not worth the cost for the extra 30 odd FPS gain.

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That’s the limitations of the cartridge not the brass the Adg will be very consistent and last a very long time if you don’t ring the neck out of it

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Originally Posted by Kelton

That’s the limitations of the cartridge not the brass the Adg will be very consistent and last a very long time if you don’t ring the neck out of it

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For sure, but my point being the hornady wasnt that far behind so in my opinion if you already have hornady and a load sorted for it, changing to adg isnt really worth the hassle. Some of my hornady 7prc brass is on its 5th firing now and still good as gold.


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More important to note perhaps is that the factory box ammo isn’t designed to be reloaded. I’d say the brass hornady for actually reloading (as in a bag of empty virgin cases) is probably of a better standard. However, point being, if you’re hand loading a prc cartrage, wouldn’t you use the very best of everything to get the very best out of the cartridge? Or just shoot factory box as it’s sub Moa anyways

Yea man can’t argue with you there. At $6 a bullet with factory loads I’m hoping I won’t have to rely on that too much if I can get magnum primers.
Although ADG brass is so expensive it will probably cost the same as shooting factory loads anyway

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Originally Posted by Jus

More important to note perhaps is that the factory box ammo isn’t designed to be reloaded.

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you say what????????

Ive been on Gods green earth for 51 years and for most of my lifetime ALL boxer primed brass cases have been designed to be reloaded...the earliest norma brass had a Re stamped on it but shit thats going back a loooong way. to say modern brass isnt designed to be reloaded seems ludicrous...surely if it was intended for single use only they would go steel case for economy....

Early Hornady brass is Norma brass, brass with a dot on head stamp is Norma.

Have searched up similar threads before, relating to the 7prc, people in the states have questioned hornady regarding their brass and it’s reloadability, to which hornady states in no uncertain terms it’s factory box ammo isn’t designed to be reloaded. Their reloading brass is however. Don’t what the manufacturing differences would be but that’s what the hornady reps say about factory loaded ammo

That probably legal lawyer opinions in the US, so their are not liable if you do something dumb and then try to blame it on their brass. Ignore it, you can reload Hornady factory fine.


I dont like Federal brass (too soft) Hornady brass (too hard or brittle) Sellierand Bellot (too hardor brittle) or Fiochi, which gives me a sticky bolt before other brands do...

I like Norma, Lapua, Winchester, Remington, but the stuff I use the most is good old PPU Privi Partisan. Just as good as the scandinavian brands as far as I can tell.

I feel compelled to prove my point but I fear I’m already turning this post into a s$&t show.
My personal experience, I bought 2 boxes of precision hunter for my 7prc, fired them, reloaded them, I get stiff bolt lift on random cases, major primer swipe on other cases, loose primer pockets, and I’m still 2-3 grains under max charge weight. Cost, 240 for 2 boxes(20rounds each for a total of 40 cases)
Enter Adg, load work up until a grain and a half over max load (from the same data source, same powder, same primer) to get my first primer swipe. Bolt lift is smooth as silk still. Price, 265 for 50 cases. To the OP, from my own personal experience, I wouldn’t bother with firing cases to reload them, just buy good quality brass to begin with, especially if you’ll just go ti the range to fire the cases to gain empty cases to reload with.
I know hand loading is incredibly subjective, so I don’t intend to and hope I don’t offend the likes of micky duck and duxbury, I’ve not long been a member here but the 2 gentlemen seem to always have good content to post, so apologies if I hit a nerve fellas

I agree with Jus, i probably should have been more specific in my original comment. If your starting from nothing, and ADG is available then i would use it as it certainly is better. The point to my original comment was that if you already have some hornady ammo / brass, my experience has been that theres not a huge gain going from hornady to ADG so i personally wouldnt bother spending the money. I guess some rifles will be different to others but my experience has been as i wrote above, lost a few cases in the beginning but now all going well with hornady brass and a pretty small gain for me going to ADG.

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Originally Posted by Jus

Have searched up similar threads before, relating to the 7prc, people in the states have questioned hornady regarding their brass and it’s reloadability, to which hornady states in no uncertain terms it’s factory box ammo isn’t designed to be reloaded. Their reloading brass is however. Don’t what the manufacturing differences would be but that’s what the hornady reps say about factory loaded ammo

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I'd interpret that very literally. They mean they make the ammo to fire bullets at a certain velocity with a CEP of whatever. What you do with the leftover brass afterwards is none of their concern - the purpose was to provide ammo, and so long as it goes bang then it's fulfilled that function. It doesn't really speak to the quality or consistency of it one way or another. Whereas when you sell brass then it's obviousy to a reloader and suddenly that stuff matters.

The question should be whether the brass you buy bagged comes off the same production line and goes through the same QC as the brass that they load their ammo with.

no offence taken @Jus none at all
now its been brought up before re hornady factory loadings.....pretty sure it was a 7prc of very similar someone took a few rounds apart and found large differences in powder weights...... also different powders in different batches...from personal experience with mates .308w and superpreformance factory loads the ywere wickedly hot and inconsistant.
the only issue Ive had was with primer pockets being crimped and a simple twirl with case debur tool fixes that...
there is also more than one batch /type of brass in hornady factory rounds,different headstamps in same calibre but different batches
its been touched on before with quality dropping across the board with factories running at full capacity trying to keep up/maximise profits/make hay while sun shines..... suggestions the barnes monos were suffering same QC issues....
I lost 2 cases from box of winchester 22-250 factory loads with split necks..pissed me off as bought it specifically to gain brass....some of us do that. when youve already got lots of brass but want just a few more for a different load its not a silly way to get it.
other than for newer brass or a bargain,I havent bought factory loads for years.