Happy Birthday to Me HXP Score

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STENFIELD	Happy Birthday to Me HXP Score	Lead	[-]
Posts: 92 (05/31/09 03:40 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Tags : None Today I turned 40! I was not looking forward to it until I noticed in the local paper that a gunshow I Usually go to was having 1 this weekend. So my Son in Law and I went in and I was telling him how prices have sky rocketed. It was a decent show I picked up some slings I needeed a bayonet for 1 of my Ishy's and I wanted a decent scope for a rifle I picked up awhile ago got an old Tasco Pronghorn with rings for $20.00. There was this 1 dealer I have bought a few rifles and a lot of mmo off of I saved his table for last I was looking att his ammo and I stroke Gold 71 HXP it was pricey but I bought it anyway along with 20 rds of SA Ball and some old Kynoch 7X57mm then My wife, Daughter and son in law had a nice meal at Red lobster My wife HatesSeafood but for me she took us anyway all in all a pretty damn good 40 Birthday.
Jacks308		#1	[-]
Posts: 830 (06/05/09 05:44 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	That sound like a great day for sure ! I remember the HXP ammo very well , as long as I treated it right the cases lasted a very long time for reloading . May you have many more good days like that one . Jack
m1 talker		#2	[-]
Posts: 6781 (06/05/09 06:49 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Well, happy birthday to you! I am a bit older, just 50% older the end of this month when I turn 60. But I am a big fan of the Greek HXP stuff also. I have never heard one single complaint about it, other than its lack of availability and the cost of it nowadays. Consider yourself lucky to find what you managed to find. Curt
STENFIELD		#3	[-]
Posts: 93 (06/05/09 08:24 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Thank you Gentlemen for the wishes. Yes I remember in the early 90's my shooting buddy and I were getting 50 rds on stripper clips for $10.00- $12.00 a bandoleer the stuff shot great! I was even happier when I looked in the casing and realized it was boxer primed. Shot my first deer a 7pt with a handload of mine using HXP brass!! I paid $20.00 for 20 rds this time and I know I should have bought more.
temperflash		#4	[-]
Posts: 396 (06/06/09 10:03 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I have 40+ rounds of HXP, and have yet to fire any of it. I picked up a 48 round box for about 12 bucks many years ago. I gave five rounds to a friend to try out in his No.5 and pulled and sectioned one bullet to see what it looked like. I plan to use the remaining ammo in my No.1 Mk III exclusively, so as to make it easier to avoid getting reloaded ammo mixed with that I use for my No.4. According to a post I saw on the CMP forum HXP is manufactured on Winchester supplied machinery and loaded with an Olin Ball type powder. The one I broke down had Ball powder for sure. Cases have the yellow look of Winchester/Olin brass as well. The case looks and feels sturdy compared to commercial Winchester .303. Commercial cases have proven flimsy in the past, but that may have been a substandard lot. I had short linear cracks, sometimes on first firing, and those cases were very thin at the point where they cracked. The cracks occurred in five different rifles that never had any such problem with other brands of .303. I figure they were drawn poorly leaving a thin spot.
bradtx		#5	[-]
Posts: 1568 (06/09/09 10:32 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Temperflash, Commercial cases tend to be thinner brass than military, with few exceptions. Remington cases were specifically asked for when a friend made some reloads for me as he felt they're less brittle than Winchester (which he reloads often for other calibres) for use in the often generously chambered L-E. I segregate my reloaded ammo by rifle also. A few years ago I used the last of my HXP to find a commercial ammo to compare it to. UMC won hands down for a Mk.VII substitute. S&B 180 gr. is just as good so far, I just haven't tested many different lots yet. Brad
temperflash		#6	[-]
Posts: 398 (06/09/09 12:30 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	S&B cases work fine if the rifle has good headspace, but stretched and cracked on third firing till I replaced first bolt head then bolt body of my No.4, the bolt that came with that rifle was non matching and badly corroded anyway. These were from the early lots that had a radius at the bottom of the too tight primer pocket which would detonate primers while seating. I had to ream and polish the primer pockets and anneal the necks to reload these. I've heard later lots had a pocket more suited to US commercial primer dimensions. I've used Remington cases almost exclusively since then, I bought 100 unfired cases years ago, still have all of them except a few that got cuts on the necks due to a bad magazine lip. I figure on using the HXP cases with the No.1 Mk III only and will test the first ten to destruction before using the rest. Five I'll fire once as is, and the other five I'll pull the bullets and reload with a medium pressure H4895 load under 175 gr Matchkings for first firing, mark those cases and compare how long the cases last. Then I'll give the fishing line or O-ring method a try with five cases and test those to destruction as well. Might as well keep a book on this to gather useful information. I would not buy Winchester cases, but I have a few first fired in this No.1 and some unfired Winchester commercial cartridges the previous owner gave me. I may as well see what these will do if they aren't defective like the earlier batches I've tried. The fired cases look okay but I haven't examined the inside that closely yet.
m1 talker		#7	[-]
Posts: 6802 (06/09/09 01:05 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I think Winchester cases are the most delicate cartridges made. Brand new once fired rounds of 6.5 Swede show neck splits, whereas Remington cases look just fine. I have heard it was the difference in thickness of the brass, but I would be more inclined to think it was better annealing of the Remington brass is why. Curt
temperflash		#8	[-]
Posts: 399 (06/09/09 04:13 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Could be a change in the alloy, or just a different supplier of one of the metals used in the alloy, and not changing the drawing procedure to suit the metal as it is now. I looked up Olin Brass and found they've been doing an increasing amount of business in Asia, like everyone else these days. I'd always heard that the more yellow brass is the more likely it is to crack, and Winchester brass is mighty yellow compared to R-P brass. Some European Brass has a grey look to it, whether the metal itself or a surface treatment I couldn't say.
Carl Gustav		#9	[-]
Posts: 3430 (06/14/09 10:16 PM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I have about 950 rounds of HXP in my stockpile. I got it in the late 90s and forget what I paid for it but I'm sure it has appreciated in value. Enjoy your youth, Stenfield!! Carl
STENFIELD		#10	[-]
Posts: 94 (06/15/09 09:54 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	At The price I paid you have $950.00 worth of ammo
Dan44		#11	[-]
Posts: 172 (06/17/09 08:35 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	One of these days I'll dip into this stuff, I still have 1k of SA and 500rds of MEN then 650 of 70's Yugo till I get to the Greek. All one has to do is keep an eye out for local sales. I found this close to me two years back.