Hornady: I appreciate your honesty...

[Sevens]

So some who have followed my exploits know that I have been working with .327 Federal Magnum (having fun with it) and besides the scarce brass issue, there are no component .312" jacketed slugs between 85 and 115 grains on the market. Sierra makes a 90gr JHC, Hornady makes an 85 and 100 grain XTP, Speer has a Gold Dot in 115gr and there are a few others -- but nobody has any in stock. N-O-B-O-D-Y.

Most component/ammo/reloading companies like Hornady have bent over backwards to try and answer to the demand of all things shooting, ammo and reloading since the Barackolypse of 2008, they have ramped up production, hired more staff, added shifts and they are doing all they can to try and deliver product which is in high demand.

I sent an e-mail off to Hornady yesterday letting them know that I understand that everyone is behind and everything is in demand, but I haven't seen any jacketed .312" slugs for well more than a year.

They got back to me this morning with this response:

Thank you for your inquiry. We have been experiencing unprecedented sales on many of our products making it difficult for us to keep up with production on many items. We apologize for the wait and inconvenience this is causing you. We are doing everything we can to produce and ship as fast as we can, however, it is never enough to keep up with the amount of orders we have had coming in. To meet the demand we have doubled our employment and have added additional machines and still can not keep up. We ask that you be patient with us during this time, we will produce and ship the product as soon as we can. Our current Production Schedule indicates that we plan to do a run of our SKU#32050 32cal .312 85gr HP/XTP bullets in about 130 days. We suggest that if you have not already that you place an Order with your local Dealer or a Mail Order Retailer for when they receive a supply from us.
Thank you again and we appreciate your patience and understanding.

Hornady Sales Team

Holy crap... they plan to make some in 130 days. That's 4-plus months before they make any of these.
Boy, I hope on day 130, they make 18 guzillion of them -- because at this cycle, it'll be 2016 before they have a "let's make .32 slugs" day come around again.

Now I know that .32 cal slugs are way, way, WAY down the list of popular items that consumers are demanding... 9, .40, .45, .224, .308 being at the front of that list. It's not like I think Hornady should halt the line and tool up for the 10 of us who want to load some screaming .32 H&R and .327 Mag. I do get that.

Like the subject line says... I appreciate their honestly, at least.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Very interesting....

I wonder if something as "simple" as bullet availability will sink a round that may have otherwise been successful?

[briandg]

A lot of people are unaware of the realities of manufacturing. Yes, they have to shut down lines and completely rebuild everything almost to switch a machine off of making 9mm jhp to a .32 jhp. Different cores, different jacket metal, different operations at so many places, boxes, labels, so forth. If they only run some bullets once a year, or even every two years, that would be realistic.

A great example is stained glass. One company makes black only ONCE yearly. Running black glass destroys their furnace lining. it is run only once a year, right before their annual shut down and rebuild of the furnaces. So, there are shortages.

The cigar shortage/boom of the 90s was a great example, too. Suddenly, everyone wanted cigars. The industry, however, was not positioned to make them. Good lord, it takes a year just to get the tobacco out of the ground!

There was not enough farm land, not enough people, not enough of anything.

It's a shame that these companies may be running 24 hour days, and still be unable to keep up with demand. They would have to invest millions of dollars into new equipment and facilities to do so.

[briandg]

btw, I think that the .327 federal ought to be a wonder weapon in a snub. I'd love to find out for sure, but I think that the thing should wound better, and penetrate deeper than even a top round .38. The .38 really is at that velocity level that every fps gained is a big improvement.

[oneounceload]

I wonder if something as "simple" as bullet availability will sink a round that may have otherwise been successful?

Remington had that happen with several cartridges due to that issue - in one instance, you had to buy a generic brass, then trim and fireform to size - (metallic silhouette folks know)

[Buzzard Bait]

In a way that may be a sighn of good things if it means more of us are shooting more and reloading more thats good
bb

[Rig Magician]

Sevens,
Would you be willing to shoot some 60 g XTP's. This place has 6900 in stock. Here is the link.
http://www.manventureoutpost.com/pro...B47%7D100.html

Mark

[Shane Tuttle]

If anything, I'd be even more willing to do business with Hornady that provides information regarding their efforts to meet demands and honest lead times. Yes, it sucks to wait. But you can't hurry quality...

[Jim243]

Sevens, it's time for you to get serious about reloading,


http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=115225

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=254640


Just get started.

Jim

[Edward429451]

...unprecedented sales...

This country is armed to the teeth right now and saving more! HAHAHAHA!

[Blue Grass]

I sent Hornady an e-mail about .224 50gr Spire Points and got about the same reply. They are slowly starting to become available. Eventually everything will become available again but we'll be paying a lot more.

[Sevens]

Would you be willing to shoot some 60 g XTP's.

Thanks for the tip, Rig -- I'm currently loading 71gr FMJ (.32 Auto) slugs in .327, just to make the little revolver go "pop." 71 grains is already lighter than light, I'm sticking with these just to make some shootin' ammo, I certainly won't go lighter. I'm pretty sure the 60 gr XTP's are also design for the .32 Auto.

Jim, thanks for the links on molds. Yep, had to look, I wasn't sure what you were going to direct me to! Casting for me, perhaps one day. If I wanted to go cast lead with the .327, I've got lots of commercially cast options. I'm just not ready to do that -- I plan to sling these pills at 1,500 fps and beyond, I don't really care to toy with lead in this one. (I do load cast lead in 9, 10, .38 and .45)

I agree with the other sentiments-- truly, I do appreciate the honesty they gave me by telling me the scheduled date. Just wish it were a little easier to swallow.

(HINT: to any small bullet manufacturer that wants to strike gold in an un-filled market: .312", baby!)

[Shane Tuttle]

Isn't there a company called Beartooth? A few years ago a fellow member steered me to them IIRC. He stated they carried .312" for a rifle of mine...

[jjohnson]

Jeez...... The laws of supply and demand are relentless, huh?

Yeah, Hornady's good for being really up front. Honesty's a good thing. It really would be a shame if a really cool cartridge bit the dust because manufacturing couldn't keep up with demand - the little .327 Mag seems to have a lot going for it.

It'd be nice to have a saddle carbine for it...... .32-20 was pretty popular back in the day..... betcha it'd be just great on small game and varmints.

[billcarey]

I have to give Hornady a thumbs up. Two weeks ago I bought a used set of their 32 long/HR Mag dies off ebay. When they arrived the alignment/crimp sleeve would not crimp...the seller made no mention of it. I phoned Hornady and got through without waiting. After talking a few minutes we discovered the sleeve had been modified by some unknown party. They are sending a new sleeve under warranty. I told them up front that I bought the set used but there were no questions asked except to make sure I was adjusting the die properly. I was expecting and willing to pay for the part so this was a pleasant surprise! I already have Hornady on my bench and customer service like this is what keeps it there.

bc

[Dannyl]

Hi,
I have used Hornady bullets for hunting (30-06) (and XTP in my EDC) for many years, always with good results in the hunting field.

Yesterday I managed to put two consecutive groups (180 Gr SST at 2600 FPS) that were sub caliber.

over here they are the best priced quality bullets, far cheaper than any other foreign make ( the local is simply inferior, and expensive to boot) and if you buy a bit in advance you can wait between the deliveries to the suppliers.

BTW, last year I used SST's for hunting the first time.
180 Gr' for an Oryx at 250M and 150 for a Springbok at 350 M (verified afterwards with a range finder), both hit their mark. The springbok fell dead where it was hit, the Gemsbok fell about 150 M from where he was shot.

So Hornady have got one more client that is going to stick to their bullets.


Brgds,

Danny

[Mike Irwin]

"Remington had that happen with several cartridges due to that issue"

Remington, overall, has a **** poor average at introducing new cartridges over the years, either from missing the boat entirely and coming in WAY late (the .280), misreading what the shooting public wanted at the time (.244), or whatever.

About their only unqualified success in the past 50 years has been the 7mm Remington Magnum.

[oneounceload]

Mike - I was talking about their BR series - some of the most accurate cartridges there are, but, especially years ago, getting brass was a royal PITA. I have a 7mm BR XP, and when I do my part, it is as accurate as anything I have ever shot.

[Mike Irwin]

Oneounce,

I knew exactly which ones you were talking about. But the BRs are just the tip of the Remington Cartridge Failure Story.

[mrawesome22]

If you see the picture on the box of Hornady .224" Match 53gr HP changed from a BT picture to a FB picture, you can thank me. LOL I e-mailed them about this and they said it was a mistake by marketing and the picture will be changing shortly. Sweet.

[barryhud]

I shoot quite alot of 327 32 mag and 32 long. At first I tried a number of jacketed bullets and then I got on to Missouri Bullets. Their 32 is a .313 rnfp in 100gr at $28 for 500. They work for me and I have shot 1000s of them.
Barry

[Sevens]

I've considered that, Barry... question is, can you send those at 1,500-plus FPS?

[RamSlammer]

Sevens, Here's a fix, it's a bit complicated, but should work.

The RCBS press-mounted collet bullet puller can be used to make a groove for a gas check on most any lead bullet. Read the review section here for details on how. . . http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=680804

Then, a simple Lee sizing die will crimp on gas checks which will let you push all the cheap MBC lead bullets you want at any speed .327 FedMag would ever handle. There are several other .313 dia. "off-the-shelf" lead cast bullets available to try as well.

For an even simpler solution, perhaps ask Brad at MBC to cast a few of those using their 18 bhn alloy. I don't know if it'll do 1500 without leading, but in .357 I have gone to 1350 without any leading signs.

[rc]

Well, I enjoy hot 32s also, but I would say that if you get the heavy 115 grain bullets you can put out a lot of energy at 1250-1300fps without much leading. If you want to know about pushing plain base bullets to these velocities ask the cast bullet rifle shooters. They will go 1600+ all the time. However, when the bullet has to transition through the revolver cylinder, it creats distortions at those pressures. Look up problems with the 454 casull using cast bullets. I would personally wait to get proper jacketed bullets before exceeding 1300fps. As far as bullets go, in a pinch I can cast my own. I have several moulds including the lyman 311 8 HP which throws a nice 110 grain hollow point. My favorite is the lyman 3118 wich throws a nice 115 grain flat point that is easier to cast and shoots good. rc

[James R. Burke]

The only Hornadys I shoot are the 110 grain V-Max, out of my 06. I have nothing but good to say about them. They really impressed me. Far more accurate then I thought they would be.