THE ACCURATERELOADING.COM PRODUCT FORUM

Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
Hornady Lock n Load Auto Powder Measure
 Login/Join
 
One of Us
posted
I got this on sale to see how it worked. I give it a 6 out of 10 stars.

Basic description of the item and operation: This is an electric automated powder measure with built in scale. You fill the powder hopper, punch in the charge you want, and press enter. It dispenses the powder into the pan and stops when it has weighed out the proper amount. You then charge the case, and it automatically starts when you place the empty pan back on the scale. It works like a powder trickler with an internally threaded tube. The tube is spun by a motor, fast to start, then it slows when it gets close to the final weight.

Likes: pretty fast, easy to setup and use, makes changing charges very quick for load development, cleans out easily, holds plenty of powder for my largest cases (458 Lott, 416 Rem, 7mm STW), the scale matches my two balance scales grain for grain

Dislikes: overshoots by 0.2gr about 15-20% of the time using extruded powders (4831, 4350, etc), works better with spherical powder with about 95% success

I found that shimming the front up about 1/4" improved performance with the extruded powders. The speed of the dispenser and angle allow too much powder to trickle out in the final stage of dispensing. Ball powder works better since the individual grains are much smaller. I have not tried flake powder yet. I can say that it overshoots very consistently, so you can just set the charge 0.2gr low and go with it.

After shimming, I rechecked the scale to see if this negatively affected weighing of the charge. All of my test weights checked out dead on.

Overall, I am mostly happy with it. If I used it for volume reloading, it would get annoying after 30 rounds. You have to press enter to reset it if it overshoots, then it works in auto again. When it works, it is really nice.

I use it for when I change charge weight often, or when I only want to load a few rounds. It is much easier than resetting a manual powder measure or manually trickling up the load. Even with its warts, I like it.
 
Posts: 1480 | Location: Indiana | Registered: 28 January 2011Reply With Quote
  Powered by Social Strata  
 


Copyright December 1997-2023 Accuratereloading.com


Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia