Hornady Auto Charge

[caz41]

Anyone tried the Hornady Auto Charge. I searched and didn't find anything. Reviews seem to be positive and it is over $100 cheaper than the RCBS.

[nxfedlt1]

Anyone tried the Hornady Auto Charge. I searched and didn't find anything. Reviews seem to be positive and it is over $100 cheaper than the RCBS.

I tried it when it was first released as I was on the early preorder from Midway. I also have the RCBS unit, and find the accuracy of the Hornady to be +/-.1 worse than the RCBS.

I do think its faster, but I ended up giving it away if that answers which I prefer.

[roadapple]

I read too many negative reviews (in other forums) about it dispensing too much, about 3 out of 5 times. I decided to go with the RCBS. So far, it's worked really well. I hope this helps.

[Graham Smith]

There were a lot of mixed comments about it and I didn't want to pop for an RCBS, so I got a Pact and I've got mixed reviews myself as the scale seems to drift a little. That said, whenever it seemed to be drifting off, I checked the charge on a different scale and it was correct. It's possible that the Hornady has the same issue.

I suspect that the only way to be sure if the dispensers are accurate is to throw 10-20 charges and separately weigh each one.

[Intel6]

I saw the teething pains the RCBS unit went through years ago and now it gets great reviews. I decided I didn't want to be the T&E guy for Hornady and decided to go with the proven RCBS unit. It works great and I have been happy with it.

Neal in AZ

Edited May 4, 2011 by Intel6

[mizer67]

I'm on my third Hornady Auto Charge.

The first one died shortly after receipt. I believe the load cell was damaged during transit. Hornday replaced it, no charge, freight paid. No big deal.

The second one liked to drift. It settled and held on a final weight fine if the weight was positive.

However, I could never get it to hold a tare (even fully enclosed to isolate environmental factors, on a leveled granite slab, and with condidtioned power). My scale pan weighs -136.7 grains and the scale would drift up and down (usually down) over -.2-.3 grains over an hour loading session. If I left it unattended with the scale pan removed but tared, it would drift as much as 1 full grain over 4-5 hours. I returned it to Hornady and they couldn't identify a fault.

The third one that Hornady sent me has the same issue as the second with holding a consistent tare weight. As a result, it cannot be accurate to more than +/- .3 grains as the tare of the scale will drift up and down .2 grains during a loading session, and the scale is rated to +/- .1 grain.

It's not sufficient for loading match or BR rifle ammo in my opinion (my ES and SD attest to this), but for well developed loads it's probably fine.

In terms of over-charges, it's very tweakable for both overall speed, trickle speed and the point at which it starts to trickle. The same McDonald's straw trick used on the Chargemaster works here too to prevent overcharging from powders bunching up in the tube and dropping all at one time. It's consistency, or lack thereof, is my main gripe. Speed and overcharges are not. I can't trust the reading (for match ammo).

I also think the scale pan area was poorly designed for use with ball powder. Sooner or later little bits of powder work their way into the load cell area which holds the load pan, as it is not contained or protected except by the load pan itself. When little bits of powder get in there, it'll mess up your readings as well (per Hornady)causing drift, and it's nearly impossible to get all the little bits of ball powder out of there.

I'm still considering asking for a refund from Hornady, but I've been dealing with it as-is for now. I had high standards for this machine, as I intended to load match rifle ammo with it, if your expectations of needs are different, I'm sure it'll be fine. I still dispense with it and check weigh/trickle on another scale.

Edited May 24, 2011 by mizer67

[HawkerPilot]

I have used mine for about a week now with no problems. I check it with an RCBS 750 and a 5-0-5 and it seems pretty close. The dispense speed is fine.

I contacted Hornady before I bought it about the warranty which is a one year. I asked him about when these things fail shortly after the warranty runs out what will you do? He said, "As long as it wasn't dropped or spilled on we will take care of you." I don't have that in writing but I do think Hornady has made leaps and bounds in their customer service.

Edited May 25, 2011 by HawkerPilot