So I ran across this the other day and I wanted to give it a shot. First, let me cover a few things that many here probably already know all to well...
1. Why in the world is the Horndady powder drop threaded on the inside, when they just shove a plastic tube in? This has always bothered me...
2. Why in the world do we use plastic hopper tubes that get extremely maddening amounts of static on them????
So, I've been brain storming for a while how I could replace the plastic thing with some kind of glass. I was trying to think up a way to get a glass tube, then use some type of matched threaded brass parts to secure it to my powder drop. Been thinking on and off for a long time, but never saw anything that was like "That's my solution right there." I've tried the dryer sheet trick (kind of workable, not a great solution) and other things, but never loved it. So, I ran across this the other day:
https://dramworx.com/
Holy cow, this looks promising. At $45, the standard replacement hopper for the Hornady was a bit more than I wanted to throw down, but I figured what the heck. I've had the last two months of shooting matches get canceled or conflict, so I've got some extra cash. Well, it showed up today. I haven't used it yet, but hope to this weekend. Here's my unboxing...
First and foremost, I'm super surprised at the shipping package. Big for a hopper, so there's some care given to making sure it gets home without being broken.
Continued good packaging...
Once I got it all unwrapped, I was immediately taken by the heft of the unit. This guy does not use thin pyrex, it's hefty. The hopper is secured to the threaded collar with some type of glue. There's no play in it at all, but I didn't try to rip it out (I did buy it, after all, I don't want to break it)
Close up of the threading (finally, the female threads will get used!)
The lid on the top doesn't fit as snugly as the plastic cap over the original plastic hopper. The weight of the machined aluminum (I'm making a guess with the material) holds it down, while the o-ring keeps it from rattling around. I only leave the lid on when I'm not reloading and it's empty, so I'm not too concerned about it being super tight.
Size comparisons -- the new hopper has a smaller internal diameter, but it's taller. It's advertised as being close to the original volume. I typically only load ~100-200 rounds at a time, so I don't need a 8lb reservoir...
The baffle is snug -- as you can see, I scratched the inside of the mount when I removed it to clean it. It should do the trick, none the less.
And here's a comparison of the original Hornady baffle (right) and the DramWorx baffle (left). You can see here the smaller inner diameter again. The original Hornady will not fit in the DramWorx hopper.
Assembled
Once I drop some CFE through it, I'll follow up.
