Hornady Lock N Load Auto-Progressive Reloading Press

[JO JO]

Hornady Lock N Load Auto-Progressive Reloading Press,
what is the opinion on these are they a quality press ?
been thinking some day selling off my LEE turret and Redding single stage and going with one of these or a dillon 550 ,
Amazon has the Hornady on sale for 389 and free shipping ,

 

[DRAINSMITH]

I don't know I guess they are O.K.

 

[cfullgraf]

I have a Hornady L-N-L Progressive and a Dillon BL (Basic Loader) 550. Like them both but the auto index of the L-N-L is nice for higher volume loading. Also, the 5 stations of the L-N-L is an advantage.

I use the BL550 for more specialized loading.

Note, I got the BL550 instead of the RL550 because I do not use the on press primer system and I use a case activated device with an RCBS Uniflow or a modified Redding 10-X powder measures on the 550 instead of a Dillon powder measure. No need to buy stuff I would not use. The RL550 is a good functioning progressive press.

You cannot go wrong with either.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

The LNL progressive is an excellent press and Hornady customer service is equally good. If anything breaks they will send new parts free of charge. $389 is a bargain, they usually give some free bullets with presses and dies as well. It is not hard to load 3 to 4 hundred rounds in an hour once you get used to it. I load around 10 handgun rounds and 223 on mine. I wouldn't want to be without a single stage press for smaller batches and rifle loads that I am more particular about.

 

[bbqreloader]

Pandoras box opened once again..bet a 6 pager on this one.

 

[bbqreloader]

Hornady Lock N Load Auto-Progressive Reloading Press,
what is the opinion on these are they a quality press ?
been thinking some day selling off my LEE turret and Redding single stage and going with one of these or a dillon 550 ,
Amazon has the Hornady on sale for 389 and free shipping ,

JO JO, have had mine almost a year now. Depends on what you want to do with it. I love it, but with any COLOR press, they all have their little quirks that you have to tune in with.
I don't prime on mine, for various reasons. I did try it, but there was a lot going on and although it did work, I did not fit into the way I LIKE to do my reloading process (if that makes sense).
I will tell you that a lot of people did say to watch the HIGHBOY videos on the LNL. My only caution is that although he has some great tips, especially the primer set up. I think he had an older model that needed those particular tweaks he mentions.
I will put out there to pay attention to your dies. Mine had a tendancy to work loose, more specifically the powder measure and seater die. The O-Rings just were not thick enough to keep a consistent pressure during the reloading process. Someone mentioned that Hornady does offer shims in case you find that happening, I just searched and found thicker O-Rings.
All being said, I love mine and have added some extras to it. Inline Fabrication LED lighting and their ERGO handle.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I love my LnL. I have had it 9 years and loaded thousands rounds with very little trouble. Hornady customer service has been top notch. A time or two I broke a small part due to operator error. They sent replacements for free within about 3 days.

 

[nettlle]

Before I bought my Dillon RL550B I read hundreds of reviews on both the Hornady LNL and the 550. Both were rated so closely the only reason I chose the Dillon was due to a recommendation from a friend. I do like the Dillon. You can't go wrong with either.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Lack of auto index steered me away from the 550

 

[kingmt]

I bought one used & cheap. I fixed, ran, didn't like & sold it. I prefer my Pro1000 for most progressive work. Some is done on the Loadmaster.

 

[Blue68f100]

My LNL-AP is over 10 yrs old now, I think. Lost track of time. As mentioned with any AP press they all have there twerks. I'm probably one of a few that prefer to prime on mine. Once it is setup properly they run trouble free. The key is taking the time to get every thing right before you move to full AP. I've probably have loaded over 80k rounds on mine. Hornady does have their 500 free bullets Rebate going on still for the press and other items. I did add the brass feeder to mine 1 year later. The brass feeder is a little more touchy to set but they have upgraded it some since mine and reports a lot less issues now.

 

[jmorris]

Hornady Lock N Load Auto-Progressive Reloading Press,
what is the opinion on these are they a quality press ?

I put them well above the Lee but below the Dillon.

 

[carbine85]

I don't have the LNL press but one thing I can tell you is you will most likely always need a single stage press. I use a RCBS progressive press and still do a lot of reloading on the Rock Chucker.

 

[mstreddy]

OP, I don't think you could go wrong with either the Hornady or Dillon. I'm running Hornady myself. I have 2 LNLs set up on my bench. I'll also recommend you keep a single stage of some type to handle the small batches.
I have my original RCBS RC on the bench in between the 2 LNLs.

The various points to note when comparing the Dillon 550 to the LNL, 4 stations to 5, LNL auto indexes, Dillon uses the tool heads, LNL the quick change bushings.
Hornady has been very responsive when I've needed some replacement parts. There is a lot of info out there on tips and tweaks.
If you have any friends that have one system or the other, spend some time with them and take a "test drive" on each.

 

[Cannibul]

I have a LnL AP and a Dillon 650 XL mounted side by side on the bench.

That's the ONLY fair comparison. Both auto-index, both have the same number of stations.

The cost with a case feeder on both is about the same. The Dillon IMHO, pretty much requires a case feeder. My Hornady is very easy to operate without the case feeder. Quick caliber changes on the Dillon are a lot more expensive due to having to have a powder measure for each tool head. That's $113 for the toolhead and measure. Then $78 for the caliber conversion, $40-$50 for a die set, more if they are Dillon dies. Caliber changes on the Hornady require bushings at $4 each, die set, $34 shell plate and a metering assembly for the powder measure, those run $12. I find the Hornady powder measure much easier to adjust than the Dillon.

The Hornady only feeds a primer when needed. The 650 feeds a primer every pull of the handle. You'll be wanting a upgrade to the ski jump to prevent those excess primers from heading into the next county. That's another $30.

Both presses have their quirks. Both presses produce excellent ammo.

I'm going to be in the market for a third progressive, never should have sold that second LnL AP I had. The third press will be a Hornady LnL AP. That way I can set one up for small primers, one for large primers. I'll use the 650 for .45 ACP, 10mm and possibly .44 Mag.

 

[tcj]

I've hand my LNL AP for about 6 years now and loaded somewhere north of 70,000 rounds and am still very happy with it.

The only option that if I were to do over again I would change would be to not bother with the bullet feeder. I have it and so use it w/9 & 45 but unless I'm going to load a few thousand of the same round it's almost not worth it and is very noisy as well.

Now I have friends with both LNL's & 650's and to be honest if I only reloaded 1 or 2 calibers would probably go with the 650 as it "seems" to be able to run longer without hiccups than the LNL. But the cost per caliber conversion (assuming dedicated setups) is much higher than with Hornady. I currently reload 9, 45, 44, 38, 357, 308 & 30-06.

 

[RealGun]

Hornady Lock N Load Auto-Progressive Reloading Press,
what is the opinion on these are they a quality press ?
been thinking some day selling off my LEE turret and Redding single stage and going with one of these or a dillon 550 ,
Amazon has the Hornady on sale for 389 and free shipping ,

I like the press but usually use my Lee turret, since I don't commonly load more than 50 rounds at a time. Changing primer sizes on the Hornady, perhaps other brands too, is a bit of a chore (I prime on the press for handgun), and once outfitted with case feeder and some form of bullet feeder changing set ups becomes a bigger deal. I am now loading 223 and don't shoot a lot of it but am reluctant to disrupt the setup until I do run a bunch of reloads, probably the whole brick of primers, if I get more bullets..

 

[DRAINSMITH]

I too prime on all four of my ammo plants in the last four years I have had only two failures both were caused by the old style primer punch. After I changed it out I have not had a problem.
Now tcj, yes the bullet feeder is not "very noisy" it is unbearable noisy. But luckily there is a fix for that. A 9 1/4 pan lid cuts the noise level by at lest half.

 

[jmorris]

Quick caliber changes on the Dillon are a lot more expensive due to having to have a powder measure for each tool head.

You don't have to have a dedicated powder measure for each tool head, you also don't have to fiddle with setting/resetting the measure when swapping either.

This is how I do it.

 

[The Remnant]

I'll add a thumbs-up for the LNL, too. I bought mine in 2009 & at the time was also looking at a comparable Dillon but the price difference was too much to justify Big Blue.

I've found the key to keeping it running smoothly is to keep it clean. Little slivers of brass will get into the primer feed & mess it up. I'll stop about every 30-50 rounds & blow out any debris with some canned air. I also use Hornady's One-Shot to keep it clean & lubed. I found adding a powder baffle really improved the consistency of the powder drop but I think the new ones come with a baffle.

As with any press, be prepared to do some twiddling & tweaking but, hey, that's half the fun, right?

 

[Reeferman]

I too prime on all four of my ammo plants in the last four years I have had only two failures both were caused by the old style primer punch. After I changed it out I have not had a problem.
Now tcj, yes the bullet feeder is not "very noisy" it is unbearable noisy. But luckily there is a fix for that. A 9 1/4 pan lid cuts the noise level by at lest half.

Do you have pictures of the old and new primer punch?

 

[DRAINSMITH]

Do you have pictures of the old and new primer punch?

no but if you take the punch off and push it up from the bottom the punch shaft should not have a shoulder it should be straight. If it has a shoulder it is the old type.

 

[JO JO]

you guys have a point about hanging on to my Redding big boss single stage , I load for 223,308 and only one handgun 40sw perhaps I should also consider keeping the singlestage and looking at a square deal,
just thinking out loud , with the classic turret 4 pulls = 1 loaded round, the hornady or dillon 1 pull = 1 loaded round

 

[Blue68f100]

Here is photo I have showing the old and new. Old style on the left.

 

[Reeferman]

Here is photo I have showing the old and new. Old style on the left.

Thanks for the picture. Mine is like the one on the right.