Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Recently purchased Hornady 165 gr IL SP

I recently purchased a large quantity of 30 caliber Hornady IL SP and in comparing them to the older Hornadys that I developed my load with I find that jam length in my rifle is quite a bit shorter additionally the weights on a sample of the new bullets varies by more than a grain whereas the older lot varied by half that

This is frustrating for several reasons. The new bullets at my prior OAL are 30 thousands past "jam" necessitating redeveloping a load and as the previous load was lightly compressed, just seating them deeper is not optimal

Have others found the new Hornadys lacking in QC compared to those of several years ago? These were not bulk bullets or seconds but hundred count boxes, btw

Thanks

They are a hunting bullet. They are more than sufficient for hunting accuracy. If you are splitting hairs with reasonably-priced hunting bullet, then maybe you need to follow the target-bullet-for-hunting crowd.

New, or old, I have never had issues getting Interlocks to shoot 1/2-1 moa in ANY of my rifles. You are over-thinking this and making a problem where it does not exist.

Tell you what, old bullets 15 thou off the lands shoot 1 moa and cases extract without the slightest difficulty. New bullets seated to the same depth are 15 thousands into the lands and I have to pry the bolt handle open

Pretty sure I'm not overthinking it

Compared to the old bullets are the new ogives fatter for longer after the break from the full shank diameter, and are the lead tips a bit more blunt and rounded?

Those are the changes that moved me off the 150 flat base Interlock. None of my rifles liked them as well as the older ones.

Hornady (and others) are chasing a market that some of us aren't really represented by as much. It's annoying alright.But I'm sure you can work up a good load that will replicate the way the former bullet was shooting.

Tips are relatively the same in appearance. Ogives are different in profile, as I had to adjust my seating stem .015" deeper to move the portion that the ogive "jams" at .030" deeper.

Hopefully, the performance is similar to the "old" product.

At least they haven't cancelled production of the bullet like they have some of their ILs.

I'm positive you're not over thinking this. I have 6-700 of these on my bench - my 308 loves them. I've noticed 0.020 difference in mine. I changed the OAL to ensure the bullet ogive was the exact same distance from the L&G. It appears accuracy is similar. But - I noticed 0.030 difference in the Nosler Partition 180 cal. I tried to keep the ogive- rifling relationship the same but accuracy suffered. Could have been some difference in bullet concentricity between differing lots of bullets but accuracy changed.

I'd try to keep the ogive- relationship the same and see what happens. Let us know what you find. Look at the positive - you get more trigger time either confirming or developing a new load

Hornady ogives do seem to change from time to time. I've always had good luck just keeping the ogive to land distance the same. As a matter of fact I don't even keep my reloading records by OAl anymore. When they went to the different taper i always felt bad for beginning Reloaders because where they put the cannelure was just plain wrong......if people seated by the canelure i can only imagine how many people were jamming the rifling.

My experience is the same as Kracky's - dealt with this on Hornady 308/165 grain IL's years ago - varying ogives. You just have to check each bullet lot to ensure you are not spiking pressure due to being in the rifling with too hot a charge. Has also happened over the years with other brands - new tooling, new machine = slight difference in the bullet.

Both bullets are 165gr Hornady flat base bullets but out of different boxes/lots. The seating stem is set the same. The cannelures have a different location on the shank.

After the production change the 150's I mentioned earlier didn't respond to seating depth adjustment well enough to equal the performance of the older bullets.

I had the same thing happen in 6.5mm with their 140 grain interlocks.

2006 lot = Very good accuracy (just shy of MOA for 5 shots)
2010 lot = Ogive moved +0.38". Still have 1/2 box left as I haven't found a decent shooting load.

I'm in agreement with you and mathman. Hornady really chaps my hide recently. That's one of the reasons I have almost all but switched to just using Nosler partitions. Seconds from SPS of course and they are even cheaper than most Hornady interlocks as well...

I've been lucky with the 170 FPs for the .30-30, the new ones seem to have changed shape, they aren't quite as blunt as they used to be, but shoot as good as their older counterparts.

Here is a 165gr Hornady Interlock fired from a 300WSM- mv 3030fps(58.3grs after recovery).I shot 4 whitetail does 125-130lbs,100-125yds all square in the shoulders as per ranchers request.All 4 bullets stopped in the offside shoulder,zero exits,both shoulders extremely bloodshot.Had I shot tight up against the shoulders and through the ribs the results may have been complete pass through and not as messy.They are very accurate bullets,but seem to be just a little too soft,shedding nearly 2/3rds of their weight with a lot of bone/flesh contact.

They changed the ogive location about 4 years ago if my memory serves me right.. I had to work up new loads and adjust seating depths for the newer bullets. I've also heard they are not as tough as before. One of the reasons for switching back to Nosler partitions. Like I said, Hornady really chaps my hide. However, I'll be using some oldstyle 225gr. interlocks in my 338 win mag, on my elk hunt this year. I haven't bought a new box of interlocks in a few years. Hornady should listen up to some of us real hunters and re-think what they should be offering in their line-up. Get rid of the fu cking pos plastic tipped sob's and pull your (Hornady) head out..

That does not look like soft to me. A standard bullet hitting bone and looking that good, is a good bullet in my opinion. They are not a premium. I'll bet a Partition would have lost as much weight.

Which powder are you using. Extruded powders can take a lot of compression with no ill effect.

With any of the stick powders,just seat the bullets 30/1000ths deeper and rock on. I would put a couple over a chronograph to see exactly what is happening.

One of the best loads I ever worked with was 63 gr H4831 behind a 190 Hornady btsp in a 30-06. Now, that is a compressed load.

Especially considering 300 WSM velocity. A mid-weight standard cup/core bullet whizzing along circa 3000 fps through two shoulders, this and a lot of bloodshot meat is what I'd expect.