Hornady roundball

[Walks with fire]

I just opened a box of Hornady .54 round ball and the quality is horrible. You can flake of a chuck of ball with your fingernail. The whole box is like that. I then opened 2 boxes of .495 Hornady round ball that I purchased at the same time but on these the ball had a raised ridge around it but it doesn't flake off. What garbage!

I had some issues with some of there cartridge ammo a couple years back and wouldn't buy another box of centerfire ammo from them as long as I live. I will never buy another box of their ball either.

So heads up on their quality control.

I also bought a Green Mountain barrel blank and the quality of it was horrible as well. The breech threads on it are horrible and the exterior of the barrel look like someone took a bench grinder to it. It's not the vendors fault and I hope I can return it. What garbage? I have a few of their barrels and was happy with them but it seems the new stuff is really bad.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Did you call and tell them?

 

[Walks with fire]

I am going to call right now.

 

[Walks with fire]

Not open on Saturday. That's great, I work 6 to 6 pm. so unless I call them from work (not usually able to do and no cell phone) I won't be able to talk to them. Going to send an e-mail though. The barrel vendor is the same deal but has no e-mail. The barrel is going back and no more GM barrels for me.

This kind of stuff really gets me ticked.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Where are you buying this "garbage"?

Have you tried to return it?

 

[coloradoclyde]

I see they have had a bunch of ammo recalls.... :hmm:

#sad

 

[coloradoclyde]

This kind of stuff really gets me ticked.

Keep your cool!.....

 

[Walks with fire]

I bought the ball at a gun store but I paid cash and don't have the receipt of course. It's been a long time and they wouldn't remember the sale. I like to have some extra ball on hand so I stock up a bit. It's not the vendors fault in either case and will still shop there but next time I am in I will mention it. I just won't buy any of the Hornady products anymore. Hornady got me once with some ammo and now with some ball. No more gotcha's.

I had seen that the Green Mountain's muzzleloader quality had slipped a good bit on some posts but since I had been extremely happy with their barrels in the past that's what I wanted this time. No more for me from them either.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I bought the ball at a gun store but I paid cash and don't have the receipt of course. It's been a long time and they wouldn't remember the sale. I like to have some extra ball on hand so I stock up a bit. It's not the vendors fault in either case and will still shop there but next time I am in I will mention it. I just won't buy any of the Hornady products anymore. Hornady got me once with some ammo and now with some ball. No more gotcha's.

I had seen that the Green Mountain's muzzleloader quality had slipped a good bit on some posts but since I had been extremely happy with their barrels in the past that's what I wanted this time. No more for me from them either.

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I have always considered Hornaday products to of the line in both modern and ml. I once won bench rest match at 100 yards shooting against genuine heavy bench guns using my TC 'hawken' with a Douglas barrel and out of the box Hornaday balls. Can't fault that.
Barrel blanks are often shipped with machine marks on flats. Building a rifle requires hand filing to smooth it out. Part of the process, not bad manufacturing. Custom barrels might come nice and smooth but they cost a lot more money.

 

[Walks with fire]

The outside of the barrel doesn't have any marks so to speak but a hump on one of the flats where the grinding operation is very poor. It could be filed out. The breech threads are extremely poor and packed with chips. Yes I know it needs chased with a bottom tap anyway but the quality is so poor for what I paid for that I don't want it. I didn't even bother to clean the bore and check for chatter or constricted areas with carbide pins. I have seen enough already.

As for the ball; they can be used for range work. Just very poor quality; I respected them in the past. I would be melting them down in a heartbeat if I had casting equipment.

I work as an Aerospace machinist and I guess I just can't stand to pay for this kind of quality. If the vendor won't take it back without a heavy restocking charge it's going to end up on GM's doorstep free a charge.

The quality of many products in this country is dreadful and there is little pride in some peoples work. They will probably stand behind their workmanship but that's not the point at all.

 

[Zonie]

I've used Green Mountain barrels on a number of the rifles I've built and the exterior of all of them required draw filing to remove the machining marks.

These barrels were made for gun builders so the exterior isn't finished like a drop in barrel would be.

The bores on the other hand were pristine although as with all brand new barrels, they did need some work with some steel wool to break the sharp edges of the rifling.

 

[necchi]

Bottom line;
Through 30yrs of shooting traditional round ball arms,,
I have found all of the factory round ball suppliers quality to be lacking and at times shamefully out of tolerance.
The only way to assure an acceptable consistent projectile is to cast your own.
There is start-up expense and a short start-up learning curve,, but casting your own ball or other projectiles is the only way, :wink:

 

[ZUG]

The outside of the barrel doesn't have any marks so to speak but a hump on one of the flats where the grinding operation is very poor. It could be filed out. The breech threads are extremely poor and packed with chips. Yes I know it needs chased with a bottom tap anyway but the quality is so poor for what I paid for that I don't want it. I didn't even bother to clean the bore and check for chatter or constricted areas with carbide pins. I have seen enough already.

As for the ball; they can be used for range work. Just very poor quality; I respected them in the past. I would be melting them down in a heartbeat if I had casting equipment.

I work as an Aerospace machinist and I guess I just can't stand to pay for this kind of quality. If the vendor won't take it back without a heavy restocking charge it's going to end up on GM's doorstep free a charge.

The quality of many products in this country is dreadful and there is little pride in some peoples work. They will probably stand behind their workmanship but that's not the point at all.

So I'm guessing you work for LM at Valley Forge? I worked at the East Windsor NJ facility then transfered to Sunnyvale CA in 98 (now retired). I use GM barrels and swaged Hornady RBs and never had an issue with either of them. I have been using both for a LONG time. I prefer to make rifles using GM barrels for their quality, performance and price - NEVER had a problem with them. But who knows - "stuff happens".

 

[coloradoclyde]

The quality of many products in this country is dreadful and there is little pride in some peoples work. They will probably stand behind their workmanship but that's not the point at all.

The majority of products in this country come from other countries....

What is the "point"?

 

[necchi]

The majority of products in this country come from other countries....

What is the "point"?

This is a topic about Hornady ball,, what's your point?
Any current experience with Hornady?

 

[ohio ramrod]

I have obtained two boxes of Hornady round balls as prizes. Both boxes varied from .002 to .003 from labeled size and roundness and varied by plus or minus 2 grains weight. I have personally reworked my molds and can cast balls to within .001 of round and plus or minus 1/2 grain. Which is why I cast my own rather than buy. :idunno: :idunno:

 

[Walks with fire]

I have several GM barrels and they are excellent barrels in my opinion. That's why I wanted a GM barrel for this project as well. I never had issue with any of them. Your right; stuff happens.

The barrel I received is workable to provide a good shooting barrel I am sure. I have looked it over real well here at home and other than the horrible threads and packed in chips it should breech ok. It appears to have very minimal run-out. It appears they used a plug tap and it leaves about 1/16" of un-tapped barrel to get it to seat. I don't know yet if a bottom tap will have enough radius to clean it up without shortening the lead a little bit. The hump in on the top flat isn't to bad and can be draw filed to look ok. I am going to put it together rather than ship it back. The tap they used had to be toast to look that bad. It is what it is. I have settled down a little since I first looked at it.

I also had used Hornady ball since I started shooting sidelock rifles back in the early 70's and preferred them to any others. When I opened the box of .54 .530 ball and found chunks of lead would flake off with a finger nail and leave a deep gouge where it flaked off I thought ok I got a bad box (lot #2150878) and stuff happens. When I got into opening other boxes of .495 (lot #2150842) I found them to have a raised ridge on them but it doesn't flake off. This is not the quality of ball that Hornady has been in the past. I will deal with it. I mentioned my issue so people would know to look them over when they buy them. Better to know now than later.

 

[Walks with fire]

I don't cast for the simple reason I live in an apartment or I would cast my own. I will move over to Speer ball and not look back. I don't shoot in matches and real tight groups are a non issue for me but I expect a certain amount of quality when I buy something.

As far as putting the barrel together goes I can do most of that at the shop I work in on lunch break and end of shift after clocking out. I couldn't get a slow twist .54 for the stock it's going on so I have to make one if I want one. The barrel actually looks pretty good; the main thing is it looks like it has minimal run-out, and the rifling looks good. Unless I find issues with the bore after running some deltronic pins and an air gage in it I will put it together.

 

[Walks with fire]

Quality control.

 

[hanshi]

I cast everything I shoot, in all calibers and don't buy ML ammunition. Reason is it's what I've always done since I got into BP nearly 55 years ago. My Lee molds, especially, are right on as are all but a couple of my Lymans, T/Cs, RCBS' and others. My Lyman .445" mold is actually around .001" to .002" undersized; but a .443" ball is still okay.

I do understand that it's not possible for some shooters to cast. But you can still save money by contacting commercial ball caster such as Eddy May in Ga.