• Watch Out for Scammers!

    We've now added a color code for all accounts. Orange accounts are new members, Blue are full members, and Green are Supporters. If you get a message about a sale from an orange account, make sure you pay attention before sending any money!

Hornady Autocharger...say something good about it.

boisepaw

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 20, 2020
211
38
Queenstown, MD
Remember what your mother told you...if you can’t say something nice...don’t say anything at all.

i have one and have never set it up. Lots of people bad mouth it.

I’d like to hear from people who actually use it, prefer it, and can tell me any secrets or tricks to getting the most out of it And to getting it set up.

The rest of you...listen to your mother!
 
Put a straw (one of those mk inserts) in it and some business cards under the front feet, run it on slow and it will actually drop decently accurate charges, but it’s like watching grass grow slow. I keep one around for ball powder ladder loads. My autotrickler/auto throw is the v2 and spills ball powder everywhere. The scale is quite accurate although most of the time it stops .1 short so I usually set it .1 heavy. It’s seems like one of those things, it works for awhile until you want something good. I would start saving for at least a charge master, but if you’re going that far you might as well go all the way to a lab scale set up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: E-Tool
With a McDonald’s straw insert and experience mine is running quite well.
I get maybe 5 overcharges in 100.
I get some respectable SD and vertical as well.
It’s not very fast though.
 
With a McDonald’s straw insert and experience mine is running quite well.
I get maybe 5 overcharges in 100.
I get some respectable SD and vertical as well.
It’s not very fast though.
I’m bout the same. Do you ever turn yours off? I leave both my Fx and Hornady on 24/7. Neither drift. Or do anything funky during calibration before use
 
I’m bout the same. Do you ever turn yours off? I leave both my Fx and Hornady on 24/7. Neither drift. Or do anything funky during calibration before use
I always turn mine off as I stow it in a cabinet.
I rarely see any drift if temp is stable.
I have traveled with it quite a bit and it’s seen some knocks.
It been good to me.
 
I always turn mine off as I stow it in a cabinet.
I rarely see any drift if temp is stable.
I have traveled with it quite a bit and it’s seen some knocks.
It been good to me.
Do you do anything special like let it warm up for 15-1hr? I’m on my second, the first one fell victim to clumsy bulldog puppy he ran by and got caught in the cord. It killed the thing and spilled a whole top full of 4350. He lucky I love him so much or he’d be at the glue factory as we speak.
 
Do you do anything special like let it warm up for 15-1hr? I’m on my second, the first one fell victim to clumsy bulldog puppy he ran by and got caught in the cord. It killed the thing and spilled a whole top full of 4350. He lucky I love him so much or he’d be at the glue factory as we speak.
I definitely warm it up for half an hour.
 
No straw, follow these instructions, it will sing like a top.
1591363989166.png
 
No straw, follow these instructions, it will sing like a top. View attachment 7343852


This guy :)

You need to read the manual (or in this case he read it for you!) I use mine only for pistol loads and run it alongside an RCBS ChargeMaster Lite, they tend to be about equal in the number of loads they dump. You have to tweak the Hornady (again read the manual, there are also some good YouTube Videos by Hornady on line that explain how to do this) and they work just fine. In fact, I would say the Hornady is a little faster than the ChargeMaster.
 
  • Like
Reactions: boisepaw
I have weighed 20 charges from my Hornandy on a old and very sensitive 505 and was quite satisfied with what I got.
Once you get it set up it’s only negative is it’s kinda slow.
I’ve had no problems getting good vertical at 2000+ yards
Last time I chrony’d my 190 hybrid load it was a 6 sd for 15 shots

In fact as soon as this cigar is done I’m going to be shooting at 1930

I bought my Hornandy a few years ago on sale and it was totally worth the $170 I paid for it
 
  • Like
Reactions: boisepaw
I use the Hornady Lock-N-Load Auto Charge and I plugged it in yesterday to warm up for throwing some charges today. The display still reads 0.0, so zero drift after almost a full day.

I initially had issues with it not returning to zero. Not anymore since making sure the phone was in the next room and the vents for air circulation are closed. The last few sessions I had the phone in my pocket so I don't think that was a factor. I have incandescent lights, not florescent lights. I've heard of florescent lights causing issues.

I also had maybe 10% overthrows until I set the speed to medium and switch to trickle 2 grains shy of target at a medium low trickle speed. For plinking ammo I just throw and load. For precision loads I set it to 0.1gr. short, take what is thrown and trickle up on a balance beam scale to be exact. The occasion overthrow is still at or under actual target charge weight. By the time I trickle up to the exact charge and pour it into the case, the next charge is ready.

I could possibly do it as fast with a volume powder thrower but with extruded powder, I might have to trickle more. With the Hornady I usually trickle in 3-6 granules to be exact.
 
  • Like
Reactions: boisepaw
I use the Hornady Lock-N-Load Auto Charge and I plugged it in yesterday to warm up for throwing some charges today. The display still reads 0.0, so zero drift after almost a full day.

I initially had issues with it not returning to zero. Not anymore since making sure the phone was in the next room and the vents for air circulation are closed. The last few sessions I had the phone in my pocket so I don't think that was a factor. I have incandescent lights, not florescent lights. I've heard of florescent lights causing issues.

I also had maybe 10% overthrows until I set the speed to medium and switch to trickle 2 grains shy of target at a medium low trickle speed. For plinking ammo I just throw and load. For precision loads I set it to 0.1gr. short, take what is thrown and trickle up on a balance beam scale to be exact. The occasion overthrow is still at or under actual target charge weight. By the time I trickle up to the exact charge and pour it into the case, the next charge is ready.

I could possibly do it as fast with a volume powder thrower but with extruded powder, I might have to trickle more. With the Hornady I usually trickle in 3-6 granules to be exact.

Thanks! Very heipful.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Howland
Thanks all for your help and thoughts. This weekend should be a time that I can try again to get it set up and make it work.

Wish me luck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Howland