Hornady vs Speer

[Enfield 1858]

I bought some Hornady .570 round balls locally,
and the total tolerance was about .008 to .010
and the balls were dull. I ordered some from Speer
and they are shinny and about .004 tolerance.
So I was thinking Speer was better. In the mean time I received another order of Hornady and they are shinny and about .004 tolerance.

The first box of Hornady must of been from a bad lot and older balls. I'll be buying all of mine over the internet from now on.
The things a greenhorn learns.

 

[BrownBear]

Over the years both brand's QC seems to have wavered once in a while. The only real difference I've found between them over time is that the empty plastic Speer boxes are handy for other stuff, but the Hornady cardboard boxes don't rattle so bad when you put stuff in them. If you need those plastic boxes, order Speer. If you'd rather have cardboard leftovers, order Hornady.

 

[50cal.cliff]

I have shot both and can't really see any difference. Except maybe the Speer were cheaper to purchase than the Hornaday!
You'll tend to find a small difference in weight but I think alot of that depends upon outside factors, that they failed to control at factory!

 

[jaf]

ok, I'll fess up, I am running out of speer .490 roundballs, which seem to be in short supply around here.
when i went to gander mountain, they had 100 count hornady for $12.00 and 100 no-names for $6.00.
I bought the cheap ones.
I have not opened them and still have the receipt. Is the difference bad enough to take them back?

 

[BrownBear]

Who knows? Those no namers just might be a heck of a bargain. No way to tell till you open the box. At that price, I'd sure shoot up the box quick to see if you need to rush back and buy a bunch more.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

ok, I'll fess up, I am running out of speer .490 roundballs, which seem to be in short supply around here.
when i went to gander mountain, they had 100 count hornady for $12.00 and 100 no-names for $6.00.
I bought the cheap ones.
I have not opened them and still have the receipt. Is the difference bad enough to take them back?

Competition and hunting isn't the place to find-out how they shoot! Try them at a controled practice session, with no other variables present. Then you'll know whether or not to RUN (don't walk!) back to the store for more of the half-price no-name specials!

Good luck and make smoke!

Dave

 

[Rikeman]

I have been buying speer, but I got a box of Hornady for Christmas and just got in to those my last shooting session. I noticed no change in performance.

 

[dallas10c]

I've used both and found no difference from the bench. I went to Dixon's Gunshop :bow: (great people) this weekend and was really tempted to buy a bag of no-names from them for $6, I think. Only thing I noticed on their no-names was that they had a visible sprue.

BTW...if you ever want to kill an afternoon...visit them...great people and all the supplies you could want.

And no---I'm not related!

 

[tx50cal]

I've used both and can't tell a difference. I think that the no name brand is like other products in this world. Do you really think that Remington or T/C make their own round balls? I am almost certain that they are private label items produced by the BIG guys.