Hornady Interlocks - very disappointed

Timney

Well-Known Member
Ive had a batch of #3045 Interlocks in 165gn BTSP for a few months now and just got around to reloading them. First thing I noticed is that the ogive shape on my newer batch has changed from the last batch. The new batch measure approx. 0.600 - 0.604 (yes I measured them all :( ) from the base of the bullet to the ogive, but the one I kept for measuring distance to my lands on the old batch of bullets was 0.624! A 20thou difference.

Anyway, I loaded up a batch of 20 having come to terms that I would have to probably recheck the accuracy compared to my last batch of rounds, I set the first completed round to a Comparator OAL to 2.225" then cracked on and seated the other 19. Only to find when I looked at each finished round there was an obvious gap to the cannelure from the mouth of the case on some, whilst others were set deeper into the mouth.

After a bit of investigation, it turned out that the overly large lead tip on the bullet was in some cases getting caught by the bullet seater die pin (RCBS dies), and in other cases there wasn't a problem, so I was getting variations of up to 43thou on my finished rounds.

I must say I am pretty disappointed with the quality of this batch, anyone had similar problems with Hornady Rounds?.
 
No. But I don't spend an inordinate amount of time measuring either. Lot to Lot they shoot fine but I load to Hornady's listed OAL and forget it.
What is the "Bullet seater die pin" that is catching the lead tip of the bullets?~Muir
 
Have you shot them?

Did you measure the variance in base to ogive on the previous batch, bet you would be surprised by the variance in some bullets

I must say I like Interlocks, they are accurate and perform well as they pass through deer
if they don't shoot that is an issue, if they do....

Stop measuring and shoot the damn things!
 
No. But I don't spend an inordinate amount of time measuring either.

...and neither do I (Normally) Muir, that's my point. I have my own favourite OAL just like you use the factory OAL, I measure once, stick the bullet in for the rest and Bobs your uncle. On this occasion the loaded rounds were all over the place, varying by up to 43thou, to the point that you could visibly see the difference in the finished round. The lead tip is like a square blob sat on the end, catching the seater plug at the "cup hole" on its way into the die. To me this is unacceptable, even for a non-target shooter like myself. The bullets are NOT the same shape as the older batch I had, to the point that you can see the difference in the shape when you put one against the other. As I said, the difference to the ogive is 20thou between old and new. Whether I was to use case overall length, or comparator overall length in my case it wouldn't matter as I would still end up with a massive variation due to them not seating properly with my seater die, although there is no way on gods earth you would get consistent results with case overall length either!
 
Quote Bewhers500 - Stop measuring and shoot the damn things!

See my previous reply to Muir! I "Loved" interlocks, now I'm not so sure!! Base to ogive on the new batch is not an issue other than the shape difference from previous batch, small difference on each bullet of 0.004 over full box. Only checked this to get to the bottom of my inconsistent results.
 
...and neither do I (Normally) Muir, that's my point. I have my own favourite OAL just like you use the factory OAL, I measure once, stick the bullet in for the rest and Bobs your uncle. On this occasion the loaded rounds were all over the place, varying by up to 43thou, to the point that you could visibly see the difference in the finished round. The lead tip is like a square blob sat on the end, catching the seater plug at the "cup hole" on its way into the die. To me this is unacceptable, even for a non-target shooter like myself. The bullets are NOT the same shape as the older batch I had, to the point that you can see the difference in the shape when you put one against the other. As I said, the difference to the ogive is 20thou between old and new. Whether I was to use case overall length, or comparator overall length in my case it wouldn't matter as I would still end up with a massive variation due to them not seating properly with my seater die, although there is no way on gods earth you would get consistent results with case overall length either!
If you can see the difference in ogival form with your naked eye they are a bad LOT of bullets. Take them back to the store or write to Hornady. They will replace them. Hornady has had some QC issues......Too bad. Interlocks are great.~Muir
 
Trade them in for some Sierra gamekings. Cheaper, better quality and have had less issues in the field.
 
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