Hornady Lock N Load Case Prep Center (Review) pics

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Hey guy’s I decided to spend a little money to simplify my life. I recently purchased the Hornady lock N Load Case Prep center from a local store. At first glace it appeared to fill all of needs without to much overcomplication and space..

<span style="font-weight: bold">Here’s how Hornady puts it.. </span>
The Hornady Lock-N-Load Power Case Prep Center is the first tool on the market to combine all the necessary case prep tools and a power trimmer into one convenient unit, saving valuable real estate on any reloading bench, as well as precious time during the case prep process. The Lock-N-Load Power Case Prep Center includes a power trimmer, chamfer and deburring tools, primer pocket cleaner and five neck brushes.

<span style="font-weight: bold">This is how I put it</span>..

Power case trimmer (yeah me!) Haaa
1. Drill press / Horizontal design ensures that no brass shavings get into the case’s
2. Micro adjustable to 1/1000” or .001
3. Trims casing from ¾” to 3 ¼” long
4. (7) Pilots included in the following calibers (22, 6mm, .270, .30, .38 and .45) All other pilots will need to be purchased separately.

Basically it provides you with everything you’ll need to properly trim your brass with the exception the of (Shell Holder)!.. NOTE: I was told it uses only (Hornady) shell holders.. IDK but whatever..


<span style="font-weight: bold">The Second thing</span> this tool does is provides you with is a complete (power) case Prep center / all in one brass prep station. That’s right no more turning anything by hand, and lets face it guys, at 45 yrs old my hands, fingers and writs are not what they used to be, Hahahaa.

Prep Center functions Includes:
1. Chamfer / Deburing bits
2. Primer pocket cleaner / brushes (Large and Small) included
3. Neck brushes (5) included

Optional items that are available for purchase:
1. Primer pocket uniformer
2. Primer pocket reamer
3. Flash hole deburing tool

This is what I got for it..

<span style="font-weight: bold">The BAD</span>

/ Things I didn’t like about it.
1. It came BROKE!. OMFG.. Hornady!!.. what the hell.. I was shocked! This new toy / tool just cost me $400+ and it’s was never put tother right!.. (please) see pics for WTH?? Total embarrassment for the American worker / NO QC and I will be calling them Monday Morning.. I was truly expecting something that is Dillon quality.. I’ll let you be the judge for yourself..
2. There are NO.. Reference marks to accurately let you see how you are adjusting your cut on the case length.. I don't like this!.. Maybe I’m missing something here? It’s new, it’s late, I’m a little pissed it came broke and yes at this point I’ve been drinking little. But I just don't see it, it’s all trail and error until you get it set. IDK it hard to tell if I’m just bitching / being picky at this point so I’ll stop here.
3. The shell holder plate or the upper part does not match perfectly with the cutter.. Hahahaa.. IDK.. I again maybe I’m just being picky? Maybe I was expecting a little more quality out of it.. Again it off a small bit, and yes the pilots will guide the brass mouth on the cutters, but again shouldn’t it be press quality here?
4. Well at this point.. I’m just not impressed / it’s not Dillon quality, it just above “Harbor Freight” quality..


<span style="font-weight: bold">The IDK </span>/ Things I’m still out to lunch on.

1. I don't know how long this machine is going to last with Plastic gears? Again WTH Hornady… Are you’re designing things to brake?? I wish they would have used Metal gears.. See pics of what I’m talking about..
2. I’m a big guy (6” 2’ – 210 lbs) with big hands and I’m having issues with space.. I need to figure out how to place all of the prep dies and still have room for my hands to fit.. Again I think it’s just late and the booze, but again IDK? I might end up losing the chip catcher tray to gain extra working room.. It’s TBD..


<span style="font-weight: bold">The Good </span>/ Things I liked.

1. It’s all power and it’s really easy on the hands, well that is until you get your knuckles scraped up from touching one of the other moving bits.. Hahaa
2. It’s easy to switch between calibers
3. It’s relatively quite.. I was expecting it to be much, much louder, late night prepping sessions will / should not be a concern..
4. Small footprint. It does not take up a lot of room
5. I like the large T trimmer handle


On to the pics..

 

[Linkpimp]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

New toy..

New toy is broken and lose..

 

[Linkpimp]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

Got to fix it.. What… Plastic gears… Booo.. Booooo..

Everything is tight now but it’s still lose due to the design.. IDK what they were or weren’t thinking here..

Ok.. This is how I should have gotten it..

 

[Linkpimp]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with


Here’s everything it came with

Here is what it looks like with all the prep station area used.. See not a lot of room…

Anyway.. That’s what I got.. I’m going to be putting it thought it paces all day tomorrow to see how it runs and performs in the real world.. ie my garage.. Hahaha..

Link..

 

[Buckoman]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

I love mine too. As for adjustment, each of those lil notches on the bottom of the handle represent .001. Make a lil dot, arrow, or whatever as a reference point. Mine too came broke. It needed a new fuse cause the one in it was destroyed for some reseason.

The only this that would make it better is if there was a way to turn necks at the same time or somewhere on the unit. There's got to be a way to design a pilot/cutter for that.

 

[vman]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

Seems pretty nifty but after seeing the components I would be slightly weary of its long term use... i dunno im no expert on manufacturing components.

Are those gears made out of delrin you think?

Sorry to hear both of you guys had DOA equipment, everything I own thats made by hornady has been ok however none of them are electrical.

 

[427Cobra]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

Here's what I think, it cost too dam much, I wouldn't worry to much about the plastic gears, they run cool and quiet and would probably last longer than pot metal gears, the quality seems sub par because your unit showed up broken, reloading gear should last a lifetime, I can trim chaffer a 260/308 case every 5 seconds with my Giraud, yes it cost more but its faster and built like a tank, Dewalt cordless drill can do the rest faster also, and most of us already have a cordless drill so its price is a moot point, my suggestion is send it back and get your money back and of course get a Giraud.

 

[308isgreat]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

Alrighty then.......I'll take this item out of my shopping cart!

 

[Linkpimp]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with


Ok team.. Here’s where we’re at..
I’m putting everything (old issues) aside, as today is a new day and a new opportunity for Hornady to step up to the plate and perform..


I started out with my 300 win mag brass as this is my precision caliber and I’m trying to produce the best round I can (as we all are)..

I read all of the above comments and used one piece of brass as my test piece, practiced / worked on the trimming length which is 2.610”.

Once the depth was found it was easy to look it up and forget about it. I was happy at this point Hornady got it right!.. Once you set the depth it good to go..

It is a little slow.. But that’s ok.. Just know that it’s a little slow..

I’m sorry but my worst fears came true as I soon realized that Hornady did not design this machine for the benchrest / precision shooter’s. It kill me to say it, but somebody has to..

Rant over on to the pics..

Every piece of brass looked like this, once it was tight in the color.. The DAM things don't line up!... WTF…. Hornady.. How many of these have machines did you put out ?? You do know we don't want these right!.. You better start stepping up the plate or you hell, just save us the trouble and lower of our expectations and rename yourself (harbor freight tools).. I’m sorry but this is not acceptable.. I’m sorry.. Second rant over.. I’m sorry I’ll let it go.. Hahahaa.

All of my (twice fired / new – just worked) brass’s very in length, the same piece of brass now / anyone of them measures from 2.610 – 2.613 in total length.

Again Hornady.. (Were is the QC??) I’m guessing that this machine was made in China and you just slapped your name on it right? Will I also find out the paint used on it also contains lead?? Woo.. Another rant.... sorry guys I was expecting more from Hornady.. huge let down..

“In Reality”.. Since I’m using the pilots to guide down the brass on the top of the cutter, it never meet the cutter evenly.. This is extremely frustrating.. and yes.. even if I lower the handle and cover the bass top on the pilot and then tighten it down, which you would think at this point, that I’m good to go write?? WRONG.. Once I lift up the handle, it the shell casing still flexes back to the right..


But I’m trying to keep an open mind and I want to hear what you guys think? Am I being to picky here?. The brass is off and will always be off by .002-.003 off, is this something that you can / would live with? Wouldn’t you have expected more from Hornady?


As for the prepping stations.. Everything functioned as one would expect, it was / is a light tight for the person with large hands, so just note that..

Anyway team, that’s all I got, I’m going to be cleaning it up this evening and I’ll be taking it back tomorrow looking for a full refund.. As this machine uniformity does not meet my requirements for precision reloading..

Thank you all for your time and I help you found this information helpful..

 

[Moose72]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

Very Nice review.. Thanks for taking the time to post your toughts on this machine..

 

[vman]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

Thanks for the review.

Shame that a refund is the end result BUT is good to know for the rest of us

 

[Linkpimp]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

your more than welcome.. I looked for a review before I purchased it but as usually the only ones out / that I could find were from the Manufacture. Hahaa and we all know how those go.. Hahahaa..

I actually got some great “words of wisdom” from another gentleman over on glocktalk (yes they have a reloading section too)… Anyway I was informed that I should step back and call Hornady CS.. This gentleman was getting brass measurements .0005 after his trimming was complete and suggested that my machine is out simply out of alignment..

Well hell if I can get that kind of measurements than I’m keeping it.. So basically I’m going to take some good advise, and give Hornady another chance.. We’ll see what they have to say in the AM..

Thanks again for your time team

Link

 

[AXEMAN]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

i would be worried about the pilot misalignment stretching the necks out as it spun it around the pilot. sure you could neck size the brass back down but its one more added stress to the brass. nice review, i keep seeing these in a catalog and kinda drooling at the thought. i just do not reload in a volume that would need one. yet, lol. thanks for keeping us informed.

 

[Nessal]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

Wow, I was actually looking into one of these. I have a bunch of Hornady products with the most recent addition of a LNL AP. But this has got me thinking twice. I guess I will keep doing everything manually by hand for now.

 

[Handloader]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

I put an RCBS three way cutter on mine...works fine, but the Case aligns like yours in the picture...I'll call Hornady.

 

[Handloader]

Re: Hornady lock N Load Case Prep Center (review) with

Just got off the phone with Hornady....They said to lower the case down onto the pilot, THEN lock the collet down for a square trim. I had to do this with the hand crank trimmer, before I bought the Case prep center...Just a FYI