Hornady Brass Problem

So I have been loading for about 20years and never ran into this problem was wondering if anyone else has or has some logical input. Or I just messed up today lol.

I bought some 1x Fired (Bolt Gun Supposedly) Hornady HS 6.5CM LRP brass from another forum.

The Process:

1. Universal Recap Mighty Armory small pin.
2. FL Resize with Hornady FL Bushing Die (.290) Bushing all the way until the die stopped on m Foster Co-Ax and would not go no further down. Do a few grab my 6.5cm chamber like glass nice and smooth no problems bolt drops like hot knife thru butter as normal.
3. Trim Wilson Micro Case trimmer. 1.910
4. Clean Flash Hole
5. Chamfer
6. Debur
7. Wet Tumbler 1hr
8. Food Dryer 1hr


I stopped at 8 the rest is mute point.

I grabbed after point 8 a projectile and just tried to set it on top and it went into the case neck with no issues almost 1/8 inch. I thought hmmm weird so I tried a few more same issues. Went into my bench grab my 6.5CM Lapua Brass which I have been using for 2yrs and loading exclusively in my RPR, Tikka T3, Buddies Barbara, and a Savage didn't have any issues and I didn't move the die or change anything went thru 100rnds of Lapaua brass not a singe one had this issue bullet stopped at the boatail. I load my Lapua Brass the same exact way as above same equipment just adjust seating depth for different projectiles (ELDX, Match Burners, Sierras, Lapua, Berger). I have only also load exclusively Lapua 6.5CM SRP brass in any 6.5.

So I was like hmm I ran all the hornady brass then thru my annealeez annealer and out of 350 pieces I still had about 20 that would not resize at the neck. I have never had this problem with my Lapua Brass so I'm not sure if its the obvious changes in quality or what. Prior to running it thru the annealer and noticing this issue I already fully prepped 150pieces of brass that were ready to load. Out of this 150 only 110 the bullet sat on the top the rest it went into the neck. I then annealed the 40 with all the remaining brass about 200pieces and had about 10percent the 20 above still not make it.

I even turned the necks (K&M Neck Turning Setup) on about 5 of the about 20 rejects of the hornady brass after they were annealed and tried and they still would not hold the bullet correctly after I resized them again. I used an expander mandrel to push everything to the outside first, turned the neck and then resized same as the rest above.

1st Image is the case where it goes all the way in. Once it stops though at that point a super hard push and it would not move further FYSA.

2nd Image is the case when the bullets sits and stops just above the base PERFECTION.

3. Image shows the same bullet top line is the case that it goes into Image 1 stop point and lower line is image 2 stop point.

Doesn't the hornady neck bushing sizing depend on the case neck thickness? Have you done any measurements of the neck thickness and diameter before and after sizing?

The bushing sizes the necks to .228 so once the bullet is seated it’s at .290 the bushing allows you to adjust the neck tension on bullets or for tighter chambers. The thickness is different I have the gauges the only way for me to even get them close would be to neck turn everyone of them and even the five that I did do still had the same problem ith the same neck diameter

Pulled this from the Hornady bushing setup page:

One way is to measure the outside diameter of the neck of a loaded round. Subtract .002 to .003 (or your preferred neck tension +.001) from the neck diameter to determine bushing size. This allows brass spring back and a neck tension of .001 to .002.
Example: Loaded neck diameter is .334 - .002 = .332 neck bushing.


Another way to determine brass neck thickness is to use the Hornady® Neck Wall Thickness Gauge (No. 041223) or a ball micrometer to measure the neck thickness of a case. Take that measurement, multiply by two, add bullet diameter and subtract .002 (or your preferred neck tension +.001). Example: Neck thickness is
.013 x 2 = .026 + .308 bullet = .334 - .002 = .332 neck bushing.


It is recommended to have neck bushings a size above and below the target bushing size. Brass may spring back more or less depending on unforeseen factors.

Click to expand...

To me, it sounds like the hornady brass is thinner in the neck. Lapua brass is great but is thick. If you have additional bushings, try a smaller bushing. I typically go smaller with the bushing during resizing and then use an expander mandrel to set the neck tension as my last step in brass prep. This way you are not basing it off of the outside diameter of the brass. With your .290 size, you are anticipating a neck thickness of .013 which is on the thicker side.

Are you using an expander in your resizing die? If you dont have a smaller bushing, I may have some you can borrow to try.

I see two things. First, the necks on both are being sized too much, creating the dreaded "donut" where the neck meets the shoulder.
Second, brass thickness on cases is not the same.
I suggest following 85MikeTPI's advice. I know it is a pain to have to change bushings between lots of brass but, sometimes you just have to.

Swaim13 said:

To me, it sounds like the hornady brass is thinner in the neck. Lapua brass is great but is thick. If you have additional bushings, try a smaller bushing. I typically go smaller with the bushing during resizing and then use an expander mandrel to set the neck tension as my last step in brass prep. This way you are not basing it off of the outside diameter of the brass. With your .290 size, you are anticipating a neck thickness of .013 which is on the thicker side.

Are you using an expander in your resizing die? If you dont have a smaller bushing, I may have some you can borrow to try.

Click to expand...

No the expander is out completely. I will have to grab some I only have the .290 which is amazing with my Lapua brass.

dist1646 said:

I see two things. First, the necks on both are being sized too much, creating the dreaded "donut" where the neck meets the shoulder.
Second, brass thickness on cases is not the same.
I suggest following 85MikeTPI's advice. I know it is a pain to have to change bushings between lots of brass but, sometimes you just have to.

Click to expand...

I would believe the donut theory but on all the cases i neck turned it would have removed any donut if any. And my Lapua brass has no donuts and I have fired that 6x times already. I thinking it had the donut chambering would also be an issue and would cause the bolt to stick wouldn’t it

I’ll order up some new bushings and see what happens the ones went to my scrap bin already lol so I will have them for the next time. Appreciate the thoughts on this. I will scrounge up some other HS brass at the range and see if I get the same issues with that also.

85MikeTPI said:

Pulled this from the Hornady bushing setup page:

Click to expand...

Brass is .014
Bullet .264
Total 292- z002 is .290

deerassassin22 said:

I would believe the donut theory but on all the cases i neck turned it would have removed any donut if any. And my Lapua brass has no donuts and I have fired that 6x times already. I thinking it had the donut chambering would also be an issue and would cause the bolt to stick wouldn’t it

Click to expand...

The "donut" is formed on the inside so, you would need to ream the inside of the neck/shoulder junction to remove it.

Yes the k&m does the inside a the same time as the outside won’t the mandrel while cutting I’ll have tongetnunlazzy and take a pic of it

Found a factory pic

deerassassin22 said:

Brass is .014
Bullet .264
Total 292- z002 is .290

Click to expand...

Maybe I missed it in the earlier posts but is the neck thickness the same on the lapua and hornadycases?

Thoughts . . .

In my experience, using a .289" bushing gives a LIGHT bullet hold with both Hornady and Peterson 6.5CM cases. Going up .001" (.290") may lead to failure to grip the bullet properly (moves with finger touch), and in some cases, the bullet sliding partway in without a press (like your Image 1). Neck turning to reduce neck thickness will, of course, accentuate this, necessitating an even smaller diameter bushing. I don't use Lapua for 6.5CM, but Lapua cases for any other cartridge usually have the thickest necks by a thou or more (but still good stuff).

While your turning mandrel is reaming the insides of your necks, you obviously still have a constriction (donut). How deep into the shoulder are you turning? And/or how deep are you resizing the necks? When you resize "all the way", how far back are you moving the shoulder? Can you resize a smaller portion of the necks? This may eliminate the donut being formed each time you resize far down the neck.

Edit: I use a +.008" Redding Competition Shellholder when FL resizing Hornady 6.5CM cases.

deerassassin22 said:

Found a factory pic

Click to expand...

Interesting. Looking at the pics, I am wondering how much brass is left in the neck/shoulder. Looks to me like you have a pretty deep indent in that area.