Hornady LNL bushing issue -- fixed

[mstreddy]

Here's one for you...
My LNL AP was having issues with the resizing dies being pushed up out of the top of the press at top of stroke. I tried several different bushings and several different caliber/make dies. It was coming up a good 1/16" and even station 2 was having a similar issue, albeit at a smaller increment - maybe 1/32".

I determined that the female LNL bushings at stations 1 and 2 in the press were damaged. I could see the rough edge of the bottom of some of the tabs in the bushings.
and
I also had several pieces of steel that I now knew had come from the bushings lying around.


So, I called Hornady to report the issue and ask them if I should send the press in to replace the female bushings or, could they send me replacements. CS person asked me if I was comfortable swapping them out myself. I replied -- yes, and they sent me 2 new female bushings and an additional male bushing to use as the gripping tool (of course FREE). Received the parts today, and combined with my vise grips, quick work, and I now have a good tight fit in stations 1 and 2 again.

Thanks Hornady CS!!!

 

[beatledog7]

My experience with Hornady CS was also very good. I bent the decapping pin in my 9mm die on a sneaky Berdan case, and I called to ask which was the right replacement part (on-line data showed two possibles). I told them the damage was my fault.

Free of charge, Hornady sent me two pins and a fresh spindle, even though my spindle was fine. They even paid the freight.

I pretty much buy only Hornady dies now even though I like RCBS just as well.

 

[gspn]

Yep...I just had a good Hornady CS experience today. They replaced a part that broke on my LNL promptly and with no questions asked.

 

[solman]

+1 on Hornady customer service. They had replaced a part that I lost on my LnL press. No postage or cost to me. You can't beat that these days.

 

[tcj]

Another +1 on their service. Went though a couple of parts due to my inexperience and forcing of the press when first starting.

Never had them charge and always received parts (sometimes they included extras) within a couple of business days.

I did end up buying some spare parts just so that I wouldn't have any downtime due to my mistakes.

 

[918v]

So what's the lifespan of one of these female bushings?

 

[ngnrd]

I'm glad to hear you cured the symptom. Do you know the cause? If you just replace the damaged part, won't it just happen again?

 

[[email protected]]

I recently had to change the female bushing on my single stage press. The male started to twist out and I didnt notice it until I heard a snap. I got my new bushing in about three days

 

[BYJO4]

I don't think this is a common problem. Should it happen, it is easy to fix as noted above and Hornady will ship parts quickly to you.

 

[mstreddy]

So what's the lifespan of one of these female bushings?

I'm glad to hear you cured the symptom. Do you know the cause? If you just replace the damaged part, won't it just happen again?

Good questions... I bought the press used earlier this year, so I don't know how many rounds have been through it. The guy I bought it from here on THR mentioned some issues and broken/missing parts and a fubared priming system. I don't know if someone applied excessive force on the press prior to me. The serial number puts it in the late 2009/early 2010 date range for initial purchaser.
I know I've loaded around 2500 rounds on it since I got. I did notice a couple of those metal pieces of bushing lock tabs coming off. Were they stressed already? Don't know.
What could cause it? Maybe excessive slamming of the ram, maybe over torquing the dies/bushings, maybe design elements or metal work (cast vs machined)? I realize that the sizing (station 1) takes the brunt of the effort and maybe that leads to accelerated wear. I'll be keeping an eye out for any abnormalities and see how they hold up for the next several K rounds.

I posted this to make any other LNL owners aware of a (possible) issue and the solution. It was a very easy and quick fix. And again -- I'll say the Hornady CS team did right by me.

EM

 

[longdayjake]

I have found that some people are incapable of working on a machine without breaking it. And they always blame the machine. My guess is that the former owner was one of those types.