Has anyone tried the Hornady Lock-N-Load Auto Charge Powder Dispenser?
- Thread starter dwm
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Oliveralan
Well-Known Member
It works pretty well with flake powder and very well with ball powder. For pistol and plinking ammo it works fine. But for long range work where ES/SD and sub half-moa accuracy at long range is required, it doesn't cut the cheese. Make sure you put in the baffle however, that greatly increases consistency.
Sure have. I originally bought a RCBS chargmaster and it worked, but with large powders like Varget it would over throw about half the time. Its like when it would get down to the last few tenths the thing would spin too much and drop more powder than it needed.
Now onto the Hornady. Little story about how I got it first. I went and competed in my first 1000 yd BR comp last month. Ended up winning factory gun class!!! Anyway the Hornady guys were all there (awsome people by the way!) and they had some door prizes they were giving away. I ended up winning a Hornady Lock n load charge.
Now onto how it works. After being agrivated over the $325 RCBS unit, I imediately took the hornady down to my reloading room filled it with Varget and punched in 30.0 and hit dispense. 30.0 exactly, tried again 30.0 exactly!!! I loaded up 30 rounds of varying amounts of H4895 to try in by 6BR this weekend only had 2 over throws. I calibrated the scale and tested a couple times agaist my ballance beam scales and it seems right on to me.
SO I'd say give one a try and see how you like it! I love mine so far.
Now onto the Hornady. Little story about how I got it first. I went and competed in my first 1000 yd BR comp last month. Ended up winning factory gun class!!! Anyway the Hornady guys were all there (awsome people by the way!) and they had some door prizes they were giving away. I ended up winning a Hornady Lock n load charge.
Now onto how it works. After being agrivated over the $325 RCBS unit, I imediately took the hornady down to my reloading room filled it with Varget and punched in 30.0 and hit dispense. 30.0 exactly, tried again 30.0 exactly!!! I loaded up 30 rounds of varying amounts of H4895 to try in by 6BR this weekend only had 2 over throws. I calibrated the scale and tested a couple times agaist my ballance beam scales and it seems right on to me.
SO I'd say give one a try and see how you like it! I love mine so far.
Check the youtube video review. Looks like it works pretty slick! I'm leaning towards getting one.
YouTube - Hornady Auto Charge Review (Part 1)
YouTube - Hornady Auto Charge Review (Part 1)
CentreHit
Well-Known Member
Well I went ahead & got mine today and I am so glad I did! 
I really, really like it! It is very easy to set up an use. Very simple & straight forward. Works great!
Very accurate and way quicker than a scale & trickler. It is nice knowing that each charge is exactly the same as the last one and exactly the same as the next.
I don't see myself loading without one again! Best new reloading tool I have ever bought! Hopefully it will last for years to come.
gun)
I really, really like it! It is very easy to set up an use. Very simple & straight forward. Works great!Very accurate and way quicker than a scale & trickler. It is nice knowing that each charge is exactly the same as the last one and exactly the same as the next.
I don't see myself loading without one again! Best new reloading tool I have ever bought! Hopefully it will last for years to come.
gun)
ShootnMathews
Well-Known Member
Just wondering how people are liking these. Thinking of ordering one. $169 on sale right now.
Barrelnut
Well-Known Member
I've been using one for 4 years with no problems. I like it. Works fine for +/- .1 gr. If you use small stick powder like Benchmark it dispenses really well. Use big sticks like Varget is hars a harder time and will throw about two-three out of ten over and you just dump it back in the top and hit the button again. I use mine a lot to throw about .3 Gr under, then trickle up on a Gempro 250. I like this set up a lot.
NoFences
Well-Known Member
I just got one also . Watch the Hornady video , read the instructions and let it warm up as directed. I had to move mine to the slow mode to eliminate the occasional over throw. You can even slow it down further as directed on their video. I'm happy with the purchase and I would recommend it to friends and family. It sure speeds things up for me.
ShootnMathews
Well-Known Member
Got mine today and set it right up and ran some test loads through it, testing each one on my balance beam scale. I was pleasantly surprised at how close each load was. They seemed + or - less than .1. I did notice one important thing. The loads it throws are about .2 grains less than my balance beam scale. So I'll have to do some experimenting to see if I need to up my charges to keep my grouping and drops the same. My beam scale is just a cheap lee one so I'm not surprised to see it not accurate.
ShootnMathews
Well-Known Member
In my last post I stated that my new auto charge loads were light on the beam scale that my hand loads are made with. Out of curiosity today I weighed 5 loads on my beam scale at 50.2 grains which is my 6.5-284 load. I cross weighed all 5 of those charges on the auto charge's scale. They must have weighed about 50.45 grains because all 5 loads teetered between 50.4 & 50.5 grains before settling on one or the other. So now I guess I'll load a group at each of those with the auto charge and see which one shoots best.
