HORNADY LOCK-N-LOAD AUTO CHARGE
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:28 am
With the comments on USA Customer relations this appears to an appropriate time to up date you on my purchase last August from Sinclair's.
In the last month or so I have started re loading after a couple of months dormant. During this time the unit has been sat in dry conditions.
First thing I noticed, and this is because I now realise the importance of getting it spot on, is that it will regularly / mostly dispense .1 or .2 grains over the requested weight.
This requires tipping a small amount back and trying again. I am getting good at guessing this!
I now set the required weight .1 under and this appears to get a better average on the actual weight I want. I have to be careful though to be paying attention to the reading just in case it does get one .1 under.
Messing about is obviously adding to the amount of time it takes to do each round and with the competition seasoning approaching I need to be spending less time loading.
Another common occurrence, is that it will get near to the target weight and then stop. Make a few grunting noises but not actually dispense anything.
I have noticed some small bits of rubber in the thrown powder and wonder if an elastic band rive belt is causing the problems. To get the unit working again I have to add a small amount of powder and it starts working.(This does not confirm my rubber band train of thought). It is like the machine is having a "Blond" moment and needs a gentle reminder as to what it is suppose to be doing.
Again this all adds to the time taken etc.
Lastly and a little concerning,
I have noticed that it has a habit of stopping exactly 1 grain under the required amount. For example, my load this week is 47.5 it will regularly stop at 46.5.
Clearly if I am not paying attention this will cause an under weight round to be loaded and points will be dropped on the day. Not unsafe in this instance but one wonders what could happen for pistol calibre shooters.
All my loading to date has been with Viht 550.
So an email has gone off to Hornady 10 Min's past, out lining the issues and questioning if their is a fix.
My thoughts are that it is a soft wear issue (No I have not messed with it), I will let you know what comes back,
DM
In the last month or so I have started re loading after a couple of months dormant. During this time the unit has been sat in dry conditions.
First thing I noticed, and this is because I now realise the importance of getting it spot on, is that it will regularly / mostly dispense .1 or .2 grains over the requested weight.
This requires tipping a small amount back and trying again. I am getting good at guessing this!
I now set the required weight .1 under and this appears to get a better average on the actual weight I want. I have to be careful though to be paying attention to the reading just in case it does get one .1 under.
Messing about is obviously adding to the amount of time it takes to do each round and with the competition seasoning approaching I need to be spending less time loading.
Another common occurrence, is that it will get near to the target weight and then stop. Make a few grunting noises but not actually dispense anything.
I have noticed some small bits of rubber in the thrown powder and wonder if an elastic band rive belt is causing the problems. To get the unit working again I have to add a small amount of powder and it starts working.(This does not confirm my rubber band train of thought). It is like the machine is having a "Blond" moment and needs a gentle reminder as to what it is suppose to be doing.
Again this all adds to the time taken etc.
Lastly and a little concerning,
I have noticed that it has a habit of stopping exactly 1 grain under the required amount. For example, my load this week is 47.5 it will regularly stop at 46.5.
Clearly if I am not paying attention this will cause an under weight round to be loaded and points will be dropped on the day. Not unsafe in this instance but one wonders what could happen for pistol calibre shooters.
All my loading to date has been with Viht 550.
So an email has gone off to Hornady 10 Min's past, out lining the issues and questioning if their is a fix.
My thoughts are that it is a soft wear issue (No I have not messed with it), I will let you know what comes back,
DM