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Old February 13, 2012, 09:54 PM   #1
1Hobie
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Hornady Concentricty Tool

Anyone ever use one of these? I try to make all things work well while reloading but once in a while my loads have a bit of run-out. Yes, I know that this tool might be a band-aid but bear with me and share your experience with this tool with me.

Please only reply if you have experience with this tool. I'm not looking for "yes but you need to try the Sinclair...". I'm not being rude but I've experienced those kind of posts in other topics that take on a path on their own.

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Hobie
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Old February 13, 2012, 10:52 PM   #2
45ACPete
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Hornady concentricity tool

I have one--bought it when I was told that mediocre accuracy with my cast bullet 30-06 rounds was probably due to excessive runout. The Hornady tool is touted as being able to correct excessive runout. My experience was that correcting the runout on my cast bullet loads resulted in wild inaccuracy! Never tried the tool with jacketed bullets. I believe it does have value in simply indica-
ting whether or not there is runout.
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Old February 13, 2012, 11:05 PM   #3
1Hobie
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Hmm. Thank you. I'll be interested how this all plays out.
The thought plickens.
I love tools but I don't want to throw good money after bad.

Regards,

Hobie
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Old February 14, 2012, 12:21 AM   #4
jepp2
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I have used the Hornady tool and the Sinclair tool. I much prefer the Sinclair tool. The difference is the basis for the measurement. The Hornady tool uses the head of the case as the basis for runout measurement. The v-block tools like the Sinclair use the case wall as the basis.

You can also measure case neck runout with the v-block system, which is essential for concentric loads. I prefer measuring bullet runout using the case wall as the basis.

The Hornady tool does allow you to correct runout, but my experience is that doesn't help accuracy.

Either tool can help you determine if you are setting up your dies to minimize bullet runout, and to evaluate if your sizing and seating is producing the best accuracy or not. Without a way to measure, you are just guessing.
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Old February 14, 2012, 08:33 AM   #5
wogpotter
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They work, if used correctly & even allow you to locate the source of the run out.
However they don't "fix" anything they just give you the information that you do/don't have a problem.
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Old February 14, 2012, 09:35 AM   #6
hounddawg
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I have one and check all my handloads. I usually find 1 in every 25 with more than .002 runout. If you are into competitive shooting it may make the difference between a X and a 10 or a 10 and a 9. If I shot strictly factory ammo I would say it is worth it for sure, but if you have good dies and they are adjusted correctly most of your ammo should be well within tolerance anyway.

I have also used my Wilson trimmer and a dial indicator on a stand, that will work also but you can't do much to correct it. The Hornady uses a "brute force" approach but it does work. The Neco and some others will tell you thgat you have a problem with a case but the only thing you can do is pull the bullet and start over or use it as a fowling round
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Old February 18, 2012, 08:05 PM   #7
1Hobie
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Bought it anyway

Yep, couldn't help my OCD self. First of all, it's very well constructed. Nice looking instrument. I didn't like not being able to sit at my bench and see the dial indicator at an angle. So, I mounted it to a board and tilted the whole thing 90 deg using a small hobby vise I had. This enables me to look straight at the indicator at eye level while sitting down.
Now to the nuts and bolts of using it. It's easy to set-up and use. However, using my RCBS casemaster tool which does use v-blocks, I would see substantial differences(more indicated run-out) in run-out than from the Hornady unit. Hmm. But by first measuring the round using the RCBS, then putting the round in the Hornady, I can "tweak" the round to where I end up with virtually no run-out indicated by the RCBS. Less than .002 in most instances. As an side-note, I found some badly loaded rounds that the neck was bent. Time to re-visit my sizing procedures. Not many but enough to pay lots more attention. The strange thing is that the batch was all processed at the same time on the same equipment.
In conclusion: Is all this worth the expense, time, and trouble? Probably not for my Sport. For my .308, maybe. As I have time to actually shoot these tweaked rounds, I'll post back and report the un-altered info.

Hobie...with obviously too much time on his hands.
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