Hornady 041224 Lock-N-Load Neck Turn Tool, Red

Being meticulous I find this very well built and easy to use. It does a nice job. I wished this neck turn was available back in my haydays.

Easy to set up but here are some hints you may find useful.1) Make sure you use a brass expander before turning the necks. I used one from Sinclair. Make sure it does expand the neck a bit. For me this made neck fit snugly over the mandrel. You don't want the neck to flop around on the mandrel. A little sizing wax inside the neck is helpful for smooth operation.2) I used a cordless drill to drive the lathe.3) I removed the spring for the unit. I found that doing so makes it easy to hold the unit with one hand and the drill with the other. This way I did not have to bolt down the unit. Up to you4) Use Hornady shell holders. The way the brass is held to the spindle is that a "ram" protrudes through the primer pocket hole in the shell holder and then up against the brass. The primer pocket hole is too small in RCBS shell holders.5) Your results may vary. Variable speed drill is a must. I run the brass back and forth under the cutter. I found the neck diameter to even out nicely but you may see some cutter marks on the necks when done.6) I tighten the brass in the seat with the neck on the arbor. This makes it easier to make sure the brass is concentric with the arbor7) Stay away from the shoulders of the brass8) Use some form of cutting lube on the outside of the neck. It's good for the cutter and the brass9) Be reasonable on how much brass you remove. Too much and you risk split necks, and could be dangerous.

Assembly was somewhat easy. Some of the threads on the caliber specific mandrels, specifically the .30cal mandrel, were not 100% smooth going in. I was getting some chattering and a bit of metal shavings coming out of the other side of the threads as I was threading the mandrel in. I would advise doing a good cleaning/inspection before assembly. It only comes with .22, 6mm, 6.5mm, and .30 caliber mandrels. Whereas many other reloading tools cover a broader range of calibers for less money. For $170+ I would expect better. I do believe this product is slightly overpriced. If you don't already possess the proper Hornady made shell holders you will not be able to use this tool. At least it does accurately trim case necks.

This is my second Hornady bench-mounted lathe tool (I have the Hornady case trimmer, which uses most of the same parts), and it has similar quality control and design flaws.For starters, the cutting tool is not square to the mandrel! It is tapered by a couple of thousandths, which is unacceptable; it will trim your necks with a .002" taper! Instead of asking Hornady for a replacement and waiting 2 or 3 weeks, I dressed the cutter with a stone, and squared up the cutting edge to within .0005", which is OK but not perfect.Hornady must be doing some serious cost cutting, because they don't bother de-burring any of their parts. You'll want to spend some time de-burring and cleaning up various parts before assembling and using it, or you'll end up cutting your fingers every time you handle it.Like their case trimmer, which uses the same base and other parts, the fit and finish is lousy. There's plenty of wobble in the spindle, the spindle simply spins in the bare aluminum housing without any kind of bushing, and they don't bother installing a 15-cent grease fitting. It works "good enough" for now, but this thing will wear out over time.Also like their case trimmer, the spindle and other parts "look" like stainless or chrome plated steel like on quality shop tools from years past, but they are only machined mild steel, and will rust within a few weeks unless you keep them covered in WD-40.On the plus side, the depth adjustment mechanism works well, and each click gives a repeatable .0005" change in cutting depth. It's a PITA to set up, but once set, it seems to hold its settings well and makes repeatable cuts.I like that this tool is bench mounted, and it's super easy to use with a power drill or power screwdriver. It makes fast and repeatable cuts (although not perfectly square, so your necks will have a bit of taper!). Still, it beats using a cheap hand-held tool. The concept and basic design is good, but the lack of quality control and the out-of-square cutter is disappointing. I wish I'd spent a bit more and bought a Sinclair or Wilson bench-mounted tool instead.

But still a solid well made well engineered Hornady Product. The problem is that I do not have any other Hornady products so I had to buy shell holders as well.... but this is the best versatile neck turn tool for simplicity. Set it up, attach a drill and power on. It's not the Neck Turner that's awkward, it's the drill. I haven't look around but if I could find a tennis ball sized motor driver with a chuck on it and a pressure switch this setup would be cherry for use....

This tool works and is easy enough to understand. It comes with the most common collets, but you have to purchase some specific ones. I needed one for a .270 caliber, that will have to be purchased separate.