AA Brass compaired to Hornady

[Tedward]

I was just looking for some brass to have on hand for loading. Midway has AA Brass for $75 a box of 100 and Hornady for $36 a box for 100.

Is the AA that much better or does it not matter? Are they just charging for the name??

[Michael]

AA Brass is Lapua brass. Longer lasting than Hornady brass.

[Allen]

The Hornady brass is $36 for 50, not 100, making them close to the same price, though the AA brass is better. It is made by Lapua as far as I know, and is known for making high quality brass, but don't ask me why the Lapua brass is so much more than AA???

[dammitman]

i was actually just wondering about all this myself. powder valley has the hornady brass for 31.75 per 50. no lapua in stock and they dont carry AA brass. but i have yet to fire any of them enough to see the longevity of any thing. i have weighed several types and the hornady and the lapua are the same weight. i wish i could load 10 of the diferent types and fire and load and fire and over and over to actually see how much better one is than another. i have a feeling that the hornady would be so close, you probably lose it before it wears out. i dont actually always have a range to shoot at and lose alot of brass in the grass. i plan to pull the bullets from the wolf ammo i bought awhile back and load and test it for use in the woods where i know i will lose it.

[bwaites]

Hornady is good brass, but softer than Lapua/AA. AA's brass is exactly the same as Lapua, with a different headstamp. LBC is exactly the same as Hornady, with a different headstamp.

AA's price is better because AA doesn't mark it up as much and buys directly from Lapua. Lapua passes from Lapua to a distributor to the market, sometimes going thorugh another distributor before it gets to the stores. Everyone adds their markup.

I get 15+ loadings on Lapua/AA brass, and have a fair amount of brass that has 20 reloadings. I tend to lose 5-6 pieces per 100 each time I load after 15 or 16 reloads. I usually lose Lapua/AA brass to split necks.

I get about 5-6 reloads on Hornady brass with the same loads before the primer pockets loosen up.

I see minimal, if any, difference in accuracy between the two,

[Tedward]

The Hornady brass is $36 for 50, not 100, making them close to the same price, though the AA brass is better. It is made by Lapua as far as I know, and is known for making high quality brass, but don't ask me why the Lapua brass is so much more than AA???

Got it, must be going blind looking at to many numbers... Your right on the price so might be the quality but the price difference isn't that much different but the Lapua is $25 more per 100 and out of stock.

I just miss read the quantity....

[Tedward]

Hornady is good brass, but softer than Lapua/AA. AA's brass is exactly the same as Lapua, with a different headstamp. LBC is exactly the same as Hornady, with a different headstamp.

AA's price is better because AA doesn't mark it up as much and buys directly from Lapua. Lapua passes from Lapua to a distributor to the market, sometimes going thorugh another distributor before it gets to the stores. Everyone adds their markup.

I get 15+ loadings on Lapua/AA brass, and have a fair amount of brass that has 20 reloadings. I tend to lose 5-6 pieces per 100 each time I load after 15 or 16 reloads. I usually lose Lapua/AA brass to split necks.

I get about 5-6 reloads on Hornady brass with the same loads before the primer pockets loosen up.

I see minimal, if any, difference in accuracy between the two,

WOW, reading your stats I think your saying you get 3X more reloads out of each case of Lapua/AA which as a dollar value much better buy. Really much better. Not to take into account the few damaged cases but it the primmer pockets fail that early, the couple bucks on AA brass is well worth it.

Lapua/AA @ $75 x 100 cases is .75 cents each. @ 15 reloads is .05 cents each. 1000 x .05= $50 Lapua/AA is a Better Deal by far
Hornady @ $72 x 100 cases is .72 cents each @ 5 reloads is .14 cents each 1000x .14= $140

Just the bottom line so just food for thought, I'll but the AA Brass at Midway.

Thanks for the input....

[Tedward]

i was actually just wondering about all this myself. powder valley has the hornady brass for 31.75 per 50. no lapua in stock and they dont carry AA brass. but i have yet to fire any of them enough to see the longevity of any thing. i have weighed several types and the hornady and the lapua are the same weight. i wish i could load 10 of the diferent types and fire and load and fire and over and over to actually see how much better one is than another. i have a feeling that the hornady would be so close, you probably lose it before it wears out. i dont actually always have a range to shoot at and lose alot of brass in the grass. i plan to pull the bullets from the wolf ammo i bought awhile back and load and test it for use in the woods where i know i will lose it.

Well I was tired of picking brass up and don't like it in the yard so I made the Brass Snatcher, Snatch up the Brass before it hit's the Grass.

My neighbor using my Wylde with my Brass Snatcher. Works great and if i put 60 rounds thru any of my uppers from my 556, Grendel or Beowulf, every piece is just taken inside and dumped into the appropriate bucket. No bending and picking up or looking for brass.

It took 4 to 5 revisions but got it finalized the other week. I was thinking of selling them but they cost me $80 to make and got in trouble for trying to sell them on another forum so just sell to friends if requested. Did some bags in Mossy Oak, Digital Cammo and Black. Also moved the mounting bracket to the side of the hand guard and use a 9:00 position picatinny piece to attach it. I don't have any of those pictures but will soon when I post some new pictures from the range.

[CPT.CRAZY]

For what its worth I had my first Hornady brass fail today, My count on it is 11 reloads on it, the primer pocket is still tight but it had a split in the neck.

[babaganoush]

For what its worth I had my first Hornady brass fail today, My count on it is 11 reloads on it, the primer pocket is still tight but it had a split in the neck.

Using what load, if you don't mind me asking?

[GFbobcat]

Are you annealing? I usually do it every fourth reload.

[Lead Chucker]

Im still using my first 100 Hornady cases but the primer pockets are lose & i have split 8 or 9 necks. I have over 300 Lapua cases & been using 100 of them. I am transitioning to all Lapua. I just like it better, the primer pockets seem to hold up better.

[Whelenon]

Can't speak to the Hornady brass but I have 200 AA(Lapua) brass with three reloads through them. Lost 6 pieces that wouldn't fit into the chamber gauge because of the dreaded belted magnum syndrome, that was due to some heavy loads during load development. After this last cycle of reloads I was checking length and for the first time had to trim back 37 pieces. Other than some dents and dings from shooting the AA brass is doing fine. Primer pocket are still tight and other than the 6 belted cases no sign of problems

[Sputnik]

Well, I am a bit confused. I today reloaded a box of 50 Hornaday brass (Hornaday headstamp) and 50 of 200 Alex-A headstamped brass I got from Midway USA last week. The Alex-A brass weighed 145 gr; 4.5-5.0grains lighter than the Hornaday (150 gr). The Alex-A brass had the small hole, but how is one to tell if it is the Lapua brass that sells on AA online for $72/100, or the other brass that is also headstamped for Alex-A that sells for $60/100 ( the description says Hornady make it)? I thought the Lapua brass would weigh more. Somebody said Starline makes brass for AA too. Anyone else have same results? I haven't received my order of Lapua brass from AA yet, so I can't weigh it.

PS: The weights of the casings included the primer. I suspect the brass Midway has , if not Lapua, it is the other brass that is made with the Alex-A headstamp. AA online says it is made by Hornaday too?

[Drifter]

Sputnik- Reference this info previously shared by bwaites:

AA's brass is exactly the same as Lapua, with a different headstamp.

LBC is exactly the same as Hornady, with a different headstamp.

AA's price is better because AA doesn't mark it up as much and buys directly from Lapua. Lapua passes from Lapua to a distributor to the market, sometimes going thorugh another distributor before it gets to the stores. Everyone adds their markup.

Also, here's a link regarding some of the physical differences between Lapua and Hornady:

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2012/02/hornady-6-5-grendel-brass-first-report/