Primers, Pockets and Once-fired Hornady Superformance Brass

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Orcon

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Note: This is for your information only, those who wish to opine about hand priming only need not apply. And yes, I've already searched the forum/internet to see if this particular issue has been addressed.

Hello folks,

I'd finally got around to case prep on some 200 or so 308 Hornady Superformance cases that I'd fired and been sitting on. All my Hornady Match brass was loaded and since weather has been rather unaccommodating to shooting I figured I'd load up some rounds for ... well, whatever.

I'd never reloaded factory Hornady brass before but it stood to reason that it couldn't be that much different from the match stuff I'd been used to. After the customary brass prep (coarse media, decapping, pocket cleaning etc) I was ready to prime that brass... or so I thought.

It should be noted that I prime on a Lee Classic...

I put my first case in and swung the Safety Primer feed arm into position and then lowered the ram. It stopped rather prematurely. I put some muscle into it and it didn't seem to move much further. I donned my eye and ear pro (just in case) and really gave her the onion, then attempted to remove the primed case...attempted. It was stuck, couldn't clear the shell holder.

At this point I grabbed the press like a strong man attempting to crush an oil can, hand at the back of the press and arm on the lever. Eventually I was able to clear the shell holder. The primer still had an absurd upset from the rim.

My next case I used my chamfering tool in the primer pocket as if I was dealing with crimped primers and they seemed to seat fine after that. As far as I knew Hornady didn't run with crimped primers, can anyone confirm this or am I doing something wrong?
 
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My understanding is Hornady was having problems with the primer pockets on the Superformance Match brass, primers popping out. This led to Hornady crimping the primer pockets. This is merely something I heard in passing so you may be onto the problem as in crimped primers. I am in no way sure about this.

Ron
 
Hornady doesnt always follow SAAMI standards. Examples. They have a Superformance warning on there website about using there factory ammo in some autos. Seen online , people claiming brass is shorter then the minimum trim length, so they can load there special bullets in some of there special factory ammo.
 
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Hornady doesnt always follow SAAMI standards. They have a Superformance warning on there website about using there factory ammo in some autos. Seen online , people claiming brass is shorter then the minimum trim length, so they can load there special bullets in some of there special factory ammo.
The brass in question was measured to the datum prior to shooting at 1.625 and maxed at 1.627 after. The brass per se is not in question nor is head space, merely the pocket design.
 
I would pull the brass off the shellholder after depriming and look at it. Compare with a sample that is NOT crimped. It should be relatively easy to determine if it is crimped or not. I have no experience with that 308 brass however and found no Hornaday 308 brass in my stash at all when I looked. It sure sounds like it is crimped by your description of the problem however.
 
It didn't look crimped at least not like some milsurp I've worked with in the past. However, when I ran a small screwdriver up the pocket walls I could feel the slightest bump as I approached the rim.
 
I had the same problem. I used the Superformance in my M1A with an adjustable gas plug. The ammo is otherwise too hot, but accurate. I was surprised at non military .308 having crimped primers. Good brass to reload, so I just used the Hornady primer pocket swaging tool. You can switch heads and pocket clean as well.
There are fancy tools for this, but for a few hundred cases an unnecessary expense.
 
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