Defective hornady checks? Anyone seen?

I use lots of hornady check. I also use gator, Vulcan and Lyman. I've really never seen a bad commercial check.

Picked up a box of 22 cal hornady checks..was gas checking some .224 55gr I cast up. Dumped a pile of checks out of the bag into a jar lid like I do and was using them. Just doing a small batch of 100 projectiles as a test. I stopped when I hit the 4th bad check. They look like they were torn when they were made..rim separated in a half moon shaped tear separating rim from base. That's right out of the box.. Not after installation.. I contacted hornady..sent pics and lot number..havnt heard back.

I'd hate to have a gas check she'd a rim in the barrel of my 223 bolt gun..then the next shot ring my barrel.

Had the same thing with some 6.5 Gator checks, after hand-sorting I had 374 torn checks. Issue was never resolved, no bad checks replaced. Hope Hornady does right by you on them. Oh BTW, look closely and you will probably find a quantity that show "stretch marks" where they didn't tear but pulled up on one side of the check.....those will give you fits with fliers in your groups.

I'll look, thanks.

Sad to hear about gator not replacing those checks. I'll post back.

Wow...That's too bad. I hope Hornady takes care of you.

Seems like everyone is just shoveling product out the door these days and not paying as much attention to QC as they used to.

So far havn't heard back.

Just got an email back from hornady tech support. Said they are sending my pictures over to their plant manager(s) to see what they said.
Didn't mention replacing my bad checks or anything yet.

I'd hate to have one of those checks she'd a rim and have it stay in the barrel and then ring my barrel on the next shot. I'm basically having to inspect each check with a magnifier before use...thats going to get tedious and time consuming doing that 900 more times..

After my last exchange with them mentioning the possibility of a check shedding a rim and then ringing a barrel on the next shot, today I got an email that they are warranty replacing the box.

Fantastic. That's all I wanted. Good checks.

Can you post a photo of this defect for our clarity.
Shaune509

Wish I could... This site won't let me unload pics from my phone. If you pm me an email address or cell number I'll text or email you a pic if you can post them.

lets try this. using my computer from work to see if I can upload a copy of the defective checks.


Attachment 287415

An alloy failure?

Perhaps.. I was running thru my mind what could cause this. Bad material.. perhaps a sheet wasn't annealed. Perhaps a lubrication failrue and the material ripped. Perhaps a forming punch or die needs a trip to the shop to be dressed.. or perhaps a new punch was fitted that is a few hundred thou out/big?

Don't know. But all of the flaws coming out of that box look exactly like the few I have pictured. Like I said.. it's holding on to about a 4% failure rate or so. If there are multiple machines making each size check, then I would guess 1 machine is the one throwing all of the defects.. and it is doing it on a repeatable basis. That or the metal stock fed to them.. that machine got the bad roll of stock that wasn't lubed or annealed.. etc.

Looking at them and putting a mic on them.. the side that tore is also a little tall. makes me wonder if something in the die was making the material catch and drag.. stretching it thin. like a spot of surface rust. But all the defects look like those examples.

For a few days the hornady emails back and forth to me were just 'oh we havn't seen this' etc.. I kept waiting for them to do the right thing and just warranty me some checks without getting dramatic.. finally I gave in and mentioned that it would be a shame if a check came apart leaving a rim in a barrel for the next round to hit and ringing a barrel. Directly after that email came the warranty email. Amazing how people don't step up to do the right thing till someone brings up expense or liability. Kinda sad actually. IMHO... on the first email they should have offered to replace and then marveled over the failure on their own time.

I know 4% failure sounds low.. but think about this... Imagine if every tray of primers you opened had 4 bad ones in it.... that would be totally unacceptable...

I've got a few boxes of Hornady .338 checks that have very uneven sides. I tried sanding them down even but then they didn't go on right and came off easy. I'm not complaining though, because this what caused me to look into paper patching. Superior performance, almost free and I don't have to worry about shortages or running out. Slower to apply but after load work up, I don't need many for high velocity hunting rounds. For slower rounds, it's powder coat and plain bases.