Happy with my Hornady Lock 'n Load powder dispenser

[watercam]

For anyone interested, started using the Hornady electronic powder dispenser this week with very good results. It has three charging speeds depending upon the type of powder used. Even on the slowest setting (which changes as the unit teaches itself how fast it can throw charges without overcharging) I was getting 15-18 second charges with Varget with +/- .05 grain accuracy (i.e. charges weighed 47.0 to 47.1). Just enough time to take a charged case, seat a bullet, put it in the box, pick up another case and pour. About every 25th charge or so it may overcharge by 0.1 grain (advertised accuracy to 0.1 grain - always over, never under - if it goes more than 0.1 grain over target charge weight, as in 0.2 gr., it tells you). No problem, pour a couple of granules back into the hopper, replace the pan on the scale, hit 'enter' and trickle what you need. Still much faster than my manual thrower/trickler system (which I will keep). In addition, unit automatically zeros itself before every charge is thrown.
In short, works as advertised, every charge that I weighed on a balance beam scale to check was accurate, priced well. After 1000 rounds loaded, very happy with it!

 

[jonbearman]

On our website they tried all the electronic dispensers and the results are in ,that rcbs is supposedly the winner.I am glad that you posted how happy you are with this machine .This way others that cant afford the rcbs can and will buy the hornady unit.Glad you are happy and it give's me something to think about now.

 

[FTRinTexas]

jonbearman - what site are you referring to?

 

[jonbearman]

Our site under equipment tests.

 

[bozo699]

watercam,
Thats nice to know, I have two of the rcbs machines and am not satisfied with either one of them. May consider giving the harnady a try.
Wayne.

 

[jonbearman]

Wayne you should send them back to rcbs and state what the problem is and they should fix or replace them. Just a thought.

 

[bozo699]

jon,
They just don't work to the standard I think they should for the cost. The company I work for owns rcbs as well and I get huge disscounts and could return the two I have but like I said they work, just not to my likeing. Thanks .
Wayne.

 

[watercam]

Wayne,
Did you try the piece of straw trick with your RCBS? I believe it is a short piece of straw inserted into the trickling spout so that it protrudes about 1/8". Supposed to make the unit more consistent.
I am content with the Hornady unit even with the odd overcharge simply because it is so easy to deal with - press ENT, pour out a couple of granules, replace pan to scale, trickle until charge weight is ideal, charge case, replace pan and off it goes by itself. Takes about 3 seconds at most and it does not overcharge very often.
Mike T.

 

[louielouie]

Just got mine today. I've read that the larger McDonalds straws could be a good fit inside the dispensing tube. Even H4831SC still may clump at the end and push the limit over so the straw might get the kernels to 'line up' before falling out.
I'm also gonna wipe the surfaces with a mild soap solution to minimize static cling. Don't forget the fine print about being able to adjust the 'trickle' time if the SLOW setting isn't slow enough. The hardest part will be keeping it away from other electronic devices in my house

 

[bozo699]

louielouie,
Have you tried dryer sheets for the static? They work good for me.
Wayne.

 

[shot410]

I have a Pack and it works perfectly. 30 gr of Varget about 18-20 seconds. And it's either right on or one tenth of a grain less than what is programed. I have no complaints. And it's the cheapest of all of them.

 

[louielouie]

OK, I've got a little time with the LnL & H481SC: a 0.35" length of McD's straw roughly halfway in the threaded portion of the dispenser tube is helpful with consistency - other lengths and depths not so much. I also dropped to the 'slow' dispensing speed and added 0.6 ~ 0.8 grain of final trickle time to reduce overcharges. BOZO699, wiping the interior with the dryer sheet certainly helped with cleanup.
When dispensing was completed and if the display read 0.1 over the desired value I could pick up the tray then place it back and it would read the desired value. 0.2 over would sound the warning beep and display 'OVR'. I think this was a 'good buy' but as all things, your mileage may vary.

P.S. The Cabela's in Lacy, Wa has one PACT dispenser & one PACT scale in the Bargain Cave for $100 ea as of the 18th.

 

[bozo699]

louielouie,
I am glad the dryer sheet thing worked for you, it has for me as well.

watercam,
No I havn't tried that yet ( the straw) but I have read and heard about it and don't know why I havn't yet? But thanks for the reminder,..I will try it on my next few days off. Not a McDonalds straw though I won't perchase a straw from a franchise that purchase's there beef from south america. Do you think one from say burger king will work as well
Wayne.

 

[louielouie]

OK, resurrecting this thread one more time: bought some 'match' bullets and thought I would weigh them. Basically 139.8gr to 140.2 with a couple heavy 'fliers' after lots of warm-up, multiple calibrations, etc.
Then I took a bullet of 140.0gr and "zero'd" the scale to it so I would just have a + or - value for which bin to put them in. Of course, the 'fliers' were still 'fliers' but now all the others that were just +/- 0.1 grain now read "0.0" ???

I know this tool isn't "lab grade" but I want to use it an a consistent manner. Should I "zero out" my target load (ie. "-43.2") and make the "target value" 0.0? I have since discovered that the LnL will not dispense in this fashion.

BUT you can hold down the 'CAL' button until "SET" appears and then use the SPEED or UNIT button to change the dispensing speed (not the TRICKLE time) from 0.0 to approx 0.8 that seems to be working for me (this button sequence was not listed on the HORNADY website). There is one other setting that we can probably adjust - I just haven't figured out what it is and what the impact is yet.