I am known to be a bit of an extremist. If shooting an AR-15 is fun, wouldn’t shooting an AR-10 be more fun? I actually enjoy both, but I do shoot my DPMS LR-308B quite a bit. That means I’m loading 308 Winchester quite a bit, and that’s what this post is about: loading for the AR-10 (or other 308 Winchester rifles) with the Hornady Lock-N-Load AP and the new Hornady Lock-N-Load Rifle Bullet Feeder.
Here’s the setup that I show in the video (see further down in this post):
- Hornady Lock-N-Load AP 5-station progressive reloading press
- Hornady Lock-N-Load case feeder
- Hornady Lock-N-Load Rifle Bullet Feeder (with 30 Cal conversion kit installed)
And here’s the die stations used in this setup:
- Redding 308 size/de-prime
- Powder measure
- Hornady Powder Cop
- Hornady bullet feed die (also seats and optionally crimps)
- Redding 308 crimp die
With this setup, you’ll fill up your completed cartridge bin in a hurry!
And here’s a video where I walk you through the process of final setup and progressive loading of 308 Winchester ammunition with this setup:
So far in this series I’ve given an overview of the Hornady Lock-N-Load Rifle bullet feeder, showed loading .223, walked through the installation of the 30 caliber conversion kit, and demonstrated loading 308. I think next it’s time to show this bullet feeder on other presses… Stick around!
Do you have experiences you’d like to share about the Hornady Lock-N-Load Rifle bullet feeder? Please leave a comment!
Thanks,
Gavin
Dear Gavin,
Thanks for the great blog post. They are quite helpful and informative. Would you comment on the uniformity of the rounds produced as well as additional precision-related measurements such as concentricity?
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Ben
Gavin,
Thanks for a great review, I look forward to seeing the bullet feed system used on other presses. I use an RCBS Piggyback for 223 and would like to fit the feeder to that press. Do you know if the die can be used without the hopper using a length of tube as a resevoir?
Ivan
Thanks for the great job on the entire AR-10 series! I do have a question however – Have you done any more load development work on the AR-10 since the article which talks about 40 grains of XBR? Thanks in advance for your reply and your efforts with the blog!
I was looking into the Dillon presses until I first saw the Hornady ammo plant. at least Hornady makes a complete system. Dillon doesn’t even make a bullet feeder?
its’ really too bad that the pistol feed system is not adaptable to rifle bullets(and vice versa). hornady needs to make a kit that can use the pistol or rifle feed plates interchangeably. now if I want to reload .308WIN, i’ll have to spend another $500+. 🙁
STRIKE 1.
a very poor decision to make the customer buy the bullet feed kit for .22 caliber, and then make them buy a separate kit for the 308WIN. IMO, they should offer a kit with your choice of caliber.
very poor marketing and poor customer service, IMO. 🙁
STRIKE 2
I’m still on the fence on the Hornady Ammo Plant, even more so now that Hornady has released its’ rifle bullet feeder that isn’t interchangeable with pistol bullets.
thanks for all your hard work Gavin. Keep up the great work! 🙂
Allen,
If you haven’t already, check out brianenos.com for a through discussion of the Dillon systems. They are very insightful.
Ben
Hi there!
Thanks for taking the time to put this video (not to mention your entire blog) together. Since you are sizing & de-priming cases before charging them with powder, had you already trimmed the cases before putting them into the case feeder?
Looks like you have to use way more force on the lever than I do when reloading 308, I sit in a chair and use one hand and it is very easy,dont know why your press is running so much harder than mine?