Hornady Lock-N-Load Auto Charge Powder Manager Item #: HN050068

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  • hikfromstik
    Warrior
    • Oct 2016
    • 190

    #16
    Hornady scales are crap . I'm about to order a a&d ej or the fx . I'm so sick of double weighing and having to pick up and set down to get the best 2 out of three . Most of the big name scales are not trickle friendly. My creedmoor still shoots good with a +- 0.2 variable, but my gendel doesn't do well. The gempro 250 is a little better ,but be careful were you buy ( eBay ) , some are refurbished or returns . It took me a while after I started loading to figure out my scales were the problem. I thought I was doing something wrong until I had to reweigh some poured powder in cases . They were up to 0.3gr off . In each 5 round group I would always have 2 or 3 clover leafs then 2 or 3 flyers . Now after learning how to use these cheaper scales I'm getting better groups . Do a test to see if your scales are trickle friendly . Pour 10 rounds in order then go back to the first one and reweigh all 10 again starting from 1st to tenth . If they stay the same then you have a good scale. If anyone is really into reloading and has some extra money link at the A&Dfx120 with auto trickler ,it's the sheihot

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    • kmon
      Chieftain
      • Feb 2015
      • 2095

      #17
      On the chargemaster the Brass or Aluminum inserts work better than the straw, though a little more expensive. Or make your own out of a piece of brass like Riverrider did. Will let him explain that one or I can find his post on another forum and copy it here if he wants

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      • usmcm16a2
        Warrior
        • Aug 2015
        • 538

        #18
        I purchased a Dillon, buy once cry once. A2

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        • Cornbread
          Warrior
          • Dec 2015
          • 288

          #19
          Originally posted by hikfromstik View Post
          Hornady scales are crap . I'm about to order a a&d ej or the fx . I'm so sick of double weighing and having to pick up and set down to get the best 2 out of three . Most of the big name scales are not trickle friendly. My creedmoor still shoots good with a +- 0.2 variable, but my gendel doesn't do well. The gempro 250 is a little better ,but be careful were you buy ( eBay ) , some are refurbished or returns . It took me a while after I started loading to figure out my scales were the problem. I thought I was doing something wrong until I had to reweigh some poured powder in cases . They were up to 0.3gr off . In each 5 round group I would always have 2 or 3 clover leafs then 2 or 3 flyers . Now after learning how to use these cheaper scales I'm getting better groups . Do a test to see if your scales are trickle friendly . Pour 10 rounds in order then go back to the first one and reweigh all 10 again starting from 1st to tenth . If they stay the same then you have a good scale. If anyone is really into reloading and has some extra money link at the A&Dfx120 with auto trickler ,it's the sheihot

          All the cheap scales use strain gauges. They all have issues with trickling to one extent or another. The A&D is a magnetic force restoration. They don't drift due to temperature and they respond to trickling much better. But they are pricey. Honestly for most powders a good measure will probably get you close enough for general purpose loads. For accurate hunting loads I find myself trickling on the ohaus scale. It's slow but accurate. Electronic scales give you the advantage of speed but you will sacrifice preciscion unless you spend some money. This video shows the differences.

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          • hikfromstik
            Warrior
            • Oct 2016
            • 190

            #20
            That's a good comparison demonstration. I borrowed my friends rcbs beam scales to see if that was my problem and sure enough after I re- weighed accurate I was getting consistent groups . There is methods to get better results with Hornady scales ,but it time consuming. Expect velocity spreads in the 20fps+ with cheap electronic scales . I also don't recommend buying used electronic scales . They are either worn out or drift , but some may be fine .
            Last edited by hikfromstik; 12-14-2017, 05:53 PM.

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            • Cornbread
              Warrior
              • Dec 2015
              • 288

              #21
              Originally posted by hikfromstik View Post
              That's a good comparison demonstration. I borrowed my friends rcbs beam scales to see if that was my problem and sure enough after I re- weighed accurate I was getting consistent groups . There is methods to get better results with Hornady scales ,but it time consuming. Expect velocity spreads in the 20fps+ with cheap electronic scales . I also don't recommend buying used electronic scales . They are either worn out or drift , but some may be fine .
              I believe every reloader should own a balance beam scale. I have a 30 year old Rcbs made by Ohaus still going strong.

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              • Arkhangel5
                Warrior
                • Apr 2016
                • 229

                #22
                I have had an eye on the Hornady thrower for exactly 1 reason. The Auto throw feature, meaning when you return the pan to scale, it will dispense the next charge.

                I currently run a Pact Dispenser, and an A&D FX120i, with an Omega trickler.

                My Pact is nearly 10yrs old and used only to throw the base charge, which is then trickled to target charge with Omega and FX120i. The Hornady would only save me the act of pushing the button to dispense

                I have been using a FX120i for the past 4 yrs. Upgraded from the GemPro 250 which was an upgrade over the Pact. The Gempro is as accurate as the FX120i, the only difference being when weighing to the kernel, the GemPro takes ~10secs to register, the FX120 ~2-3 secs. That is the $300 difference in price. Plus the FX120 self calibrates at start up.

                My experience.
                SY

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                • kmon
                  Chieftain
                  • Feb 2015
                  • 2095

                  #23
                  The balance beam I us is n old Herters I got from an estate sale about 25 years ago and it was old then. Still works great I can zero itout at zero and weigh 10 gr and 50g chck weights andit is spot on. It is slow but it works. To be fare to the RCBS I can throw charges for larger cases in the 50 to 80gr charge weights and load them up and shoot good groups just check every 5th I check to make sure things haven't drifted.

                  With the Hornady I was rocking and rolling one day loading 6.5-284 with 51.5 grains and after a while noticed there looked like more powder in a case. There wad the powder from that throw was over 53gr. I pulled the bullets from over 30 loads and never powered that Hornady up again.

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                  • Mad Charlie
                    Warrior
                    • May 2017
                    • 827

                    #24
                    Nothing to do with Hornady, I am not exactly in love with most of their equipment that I have used over the years, but I bought a scale from Peregrine Monolithics. It is trickle friendly and gives me the same values when weighing the same item multiple times, something my Gem Pro 250 would not do. I returned it. I use the RCBS check weight set to check any of my scales before loading, and the Peregrine scale is right there, so is my Chargemaster. Randomly checking charges thrown from the Chargemaster on the Peregrine scale, I am getting the same values within .02 to .03, that's 2-3 hundredths of a grain, not too bad really. I have four scales around here, two beam scales and two electronic scales, they get checked against each other every now and then and always match up within +/- .1, the Peregrine is the only one I have that reads to .00, so I am now using it for highest precision loads. For everyday practice loads and hunting loads, the Chargemaster has been a champ for me. No mods other than the straw and the most drift I ever get is .1, I just pick up the pan and set it back down and it zeros back out.

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