HXP head stamp

[ADIDAS69]

Right, so i have been reloading 30-06 for a bit now. I harvested most of my brass from 70s era lake city surplus. Each round was put through the following process

tumble (walnut + Dillon polish)
anneal
re-size de-prime (full length, LEE)
swage (Dillon "super swage")
trim (2/100 less than MaxOL)
champfer
tumble (corn cob + flitz; i like ultra shiny cases)
prime (LEE hand Prime)
powder (Acc. 2495)
bullet (Mil Spec 175 grn; set to MinOL)

All of them feed beautifully save all those with an HXP head stamp. If anyone can tell me why this might be before i trim them even shorter please let me know.

Thanks

 

[Mike Irwin]

HXP is made by a Greek company, or maybe one of the Greek arsenals.

It's not known for being great brass.

Pitch it.

 

[Unclenick]

It's the from the Greek ball ammo the CMP was selling. Oddball three point primer crimp. I've got some of that ball I was going to experiment with, but haven't tried reloading it, thus far. From your description, it is overly work-hardened in forming, which makes it hard (a good thing at the head) but springy (a bad thing for reloading). I've noticed this before in other surplus brass. South American, maybe? It seemed to be drawn extra hard because it is extra thin and on the light side. That saves cost, but doesn't help reloaders.

 

[rg1]

I've had no problems reloading HXP brass. Note that it's probably fired in a
M1 Garand which often has a long headspace. While a bolt action chamber may have .004" headspace the Garand may be as much as .008". Dimensions are approximate. The point is if you're sizing your commercial brass which has been fired in a bolt rifle the shoulder has not been pushed out as far as the brass from a semi-automatic. With your die setting the HXP brass shoulders may not be pushed back enough and the spring back of the HXP brass may be enough that it might not chamber easily in a bolt rifle. Try setting your sizing die for firm contact with the shellholder and it should adequately size the HXP brass. I like the RCBS Precision Mic or Hornady's Headspace set for checking sized brass for headspace. There is no problems I know of with HXP 30-06 brass for reloading. Also watch the case heads and rims for nicks or slightly bent rims. Some Garands are hard on case heads and rims from extractors and ejectors. File smooth any nicks or dings before sizing.

 

[ADIDAS69]

They are primarily going through a Weatherby chamber and secondarily a H&R break action with a finicky ejector. I'll give spinning down the re-sizer a touch a try and give them a little extra kiss with the trimmer.

Normally i might not give so much attention to 25 pieces of brass but ammo availability is still pretty sad in Washington. The shops in the area have at least gotten hold of some 5.56. Real calibers at a decent price are still hard to find.

Thanks again Gentlemen

 

[medalguy]

I've reloaded several thousand HXP cases and experienced no problems. I resize and trim in a Dillon power trimmer, then clean up the edges, tumble and load, finally tumbling quickly again following reloading. I have shot them in an M1 and a 1919A4 with no feed problems. Try to run the die down as suggested and see if that solves the problem.

You might also want to get a case gauge to see if the shoulder set-back is correct. That can make a big difference.

 

[ADIDAS69]

Oi' Medalguy

Please do your best not to suggest crazy **** like rebellion against the government, staring down loaded gun barrels and Oh Yeah tumbling live rounds.

I don't really care if you want to burn down your house or cause yourself grievous bodily harm but please don't popularize the idea to the general public. They are not very bright and might be prone to mimicking such behavior.

 

[medalguy]

What's wrong with tumbling loaded ammo? This subject has been beat to death many times over on this and other forums. All commercial ammunition manufacturers tumble their ammo prior to boxing it up and many handloaders do the same. I've probably tumbled 50,000 or more rounds of loaded ammo through the years with no adverse probklems at all.

There have been arguments about the powder tumbling and reducing the surface area, primers being hit, and any other problem you can imagine. I think all that is imaginations run wild. Nothing wrong with tumbling loaded ammo.

Now, looking down the barrel of a loaded firearm is another matter.

Rebellion against the government is a matter for another forum.

 

[hodaka]

I pickup up a couple of cans of the Greek stuff from the CMP. I have reloaded and fired about a hundred or so with no problems so far. I have trimmed them with my Lee trimmer but I have not had a single problem with them. You can tell the difference between these and the LC brass though. The Greek seems closer to Federal brass in quality.

 

[flashhole]

I've had good success with re-forming HXP 30-06 to 25-06. I have to cull one from the heard every now and then but it has worked really well for me. One thing I started doing - I keep a sheet of fine emery paper on the bench and drag the bottom of the case head (where the head stamp is) across the paper when holding it normal to the bench. It removes any burrs that may be present and makes it a lot easier to read the head stamp.