Brand loyalty....But

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DRAINSMITH

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I own a Hornady Ammo-plant and I have been able to get it running perfectly, but I do know how Hornady could make it better right from the start.

Let's start with the press. I see 3 minor problems the first is the timing of the press. This could be fixed by having a timing plate with 1 small hole in it. Then on the top of the press between station 2 and three have a hole drilled straight down to where an alignment punch could be dropped straight down with the ram up into the hole on the timing plate making the dies perfect. Now with a hole drilled into the subplate the same alignment punch you could drop it down through the timing plate into the subplate making a perfect alignment for the primer punch.
Now for the second problem, the primer assembly. The first thing is the primer slide needs to be finished better.
The next thing is getting the primer to drop perfectly. This could be done with the alignment punch for the timing. The end of the punch needs to be the exact diameter of the primer housing body with a small nub at the end the same size as a primer. Drop the end of the alignment tool down the housing body and with the nub just off center move the primer slide to where the alignment tool will drop and tighten it down.
Now for the third and final problem. Even though I don't have this problem I have seen presses that do and that is the primer punch dimple. This could be taken care of by drilling straight down at the dimple and tap it and install a set screw.

Now to the case feeder. Once again three problems. The first problem is the pivot body has a tendance to cant to the left. This is because it only has one bolt holding it. With a piece of angle
iron double bolted to the pivot block and double bolted to the lower case feeder stand it would take care of this problem.
The second problem is the case feeder funnel is made to use on both pistol and rifle. A small spacer that could be inserted to block half of the funnel for pistol would make it work perfectly.
The last problem is the gap between the case feeder plate and the case bowl for pistol this could be fixed with a piece of plastic to take up this gap that could be adjusted out of the way when loading rifle brass.

O.K. now, let's address the bullet feeder. Once again three problems. First, This sucker is loud if you put a lid on it it will cut the sound down by half.
Second. This sucker is really loud. A bullet stop switch on the feeder tube would help a lot.
Third a piece of clear tube that would go into the bullet die would be very helpful.

Now, the Delux control panel, I can find only one thing I would improve on. And that is the wiring harness. The connection that plugs into the switches is very thin. I would add heat shrink tube to it to give it a little additional strength.

Now, I am driving over to the Hornady plant this spring and hopefully, I can address my suggestions to the R&D.

O.K. what suggestions do you all have for your brand?
 
Well I have a Dillon 650XL, so I don't have any suggestions to improve it.
 
Why would you want something that you have to make so many improvements to?
All fixes cost less than $20.00
I have a Dillon RL550C and I got exactly what I paid for.
Sorry, you made the wrong choices.
Well I have a Dillon 650XL, so I don't have any suggestions to improve it.
.Dillon 650 are known for primer donation in the primer tube. No problem Dillon users love the excitement! The 650 is known for the Power jump. No problem Dillon users love cleaning up the press! It takes less than ten minutes to adjust a Hornady, but it takes at least a half hour and a special tool to adjust the Dillon. No problem Dillon users love to waste time! To clean and lube a Hornady it takes less than ten minutes. To clean and lube the Dillon it takes at least a half hour. No problem it's only time! Would you like me to go on? I can.

Come on boys and girls this post is designed to help folks.
 
I own a Hornady Ammo-plant and I have been able to get it running perfectly, but I do know how Hornady could make it better right from the start.

Let's start with the press. I see 3 minor problems the first is the timing of the press. This could be fixed by having a timing plate with 1 small hole in it. Then on the top of the press between station 2 and three have a hole drilled straight down to where an alignment punch could be dropped straight down with the ram up into the hole on the timing plate making the dies perfect. Now with a hole drilled into the subplate the same alignment punch you could drop it down through the timing plate into the subplate making a perfect alignment for the primer punch.
Now for the second problem, the primer assembly. The first thing is the primer slide needs to be finished better.
The next thing is getting the primer to drop perfectly. This could be done with the alignment punch for the timing. The end of the punch needs to be the exact diameter of the primer housing body with a small nub at the end the same size as a primer. Drop the end of the alignment tool down the housing body and with the nub just off center move the primer slide to where the alignment tool will drop and tighten it down.
Now for the third and final problem. Even though I don't have this problem I have seen presses that do and that is the primer punch dimple. This could be taken care of by drilling straight down at the dimple and tap it and install a set screw.

Now to the case feeder. Once again three problems. The first problem is the pivot body has a tendance to cant to the left. This is because it only has one bolt holding it. With a piece of angle
iron double bolted to the pivot block and double bolted to the lower case feeder stand it would take care of this problem.
The second problem is the case feeder funnel is made to use on both pistol and rifle. A small spacer that could be inserted to block half of the funnel for pistol would make it work perfectly.
The last problem is the gap between the case feeder plate and the case bowl for pistol this could be fixed with a piece of plastic to take up this gap that could be adjusted out of the way when loading rifle brass.

O.K. now, let's address the bullet feeder. Once again three problems. First, This sucker is loud if you put a lid on it it will cut the sound down by half.
Second. This sucker is really loud. A bullet stop switch on the feeder tube would help a lot.
Third a piece of clear tube that would go into the bullet die would be very helpful.

Now, the Delux control panel, I can find only one thing I would improve on. And that is the wiring harness. The connection that plugs into the switches is very thin. I would add heat shrink tube to it to give it a little additional strength.

Now, I am driving over to the Hornady plant this spring and hopefully, I can address my suggestions to the R&D.

O.K. what suggestions do you all have for your brand?
Having dealt with hornady, rcbs, and Lee presses, I suggest you apply for a job in the engineering department, publish your success, and then I'll be interested in overspending on red equipment, until then I'll buy Lee and get what I pay for, hornady and rcbs have been disappointing per price point lately and riding the coattails does not fly with me, I sure hope they listen to you cuz even based on their lnl single stage, they have gotten lazy and it's sad.
 
I have 1) Lyman T-Mag, 2) 2 Rockchuckers, 3) RCBS Partner Press, 4) RCBS Case Trimmer (2), 5) 1-Lyman & 1-Hornady Vibratory Cleaner, 6) Hornady Bullet Puller, 7) RCBS Swager, 8) 2 Electronic, and 1 Manual Micrometers, 9) 2ea 5-0-5 Scales, 10) 1- 250 Electronic Scale, 11) Several Cheap Electronic Scales. Bullets, Brass, Primers and Powder for a LOT of ammunition.

I am planning to add a new caliber, the S&W 460, I am led to believe it is a .452 bullet diameter. If that is the case, I have several .452 Molds and can make my own Hollow points.

Is there anything to add? I can't think of anything.

dg
 
Based on the recommendations and endorsement by Tim (TM)Taylor and Heidi I own a BINFORD 2700 Deluxe Automated Press and it is flawless in every-way and has a auto correct feature that monitors it 24/7 and tunes/cleans itself .

In a recent survey it was found that 99% of Dillon owners also prefer Glocks
 
Rule3, Where can I find information on your Press, thus far I have not found anything.

\Thanks/
dg
 
The 650 is known for the Power jump

That's true. When it indexes the shell plate comes to an abrupt stop as the ball detent underneath snaps into place. If you're loading near case fulls of powder it can slosh out and make a mess.

A couple of fixes I've read about include:

1. Clip a coil off the spring to reduce the upward force on the ball detent.
2. A guy on ebay sells a kit with a weaker spring and "low mass" ball (plastic instead of metal ball bearing)
3. Take one of the locator pins and grind a groove into the head to accept an O ring. This O ring contacts the cases as they index and slows down or buffers a bit of the snappy-ness of the shell plate. That's the fix I went with.
 
I have two RCBS Reloader Special presses and a recently-purchased RCBS Rock Chucker (my retirement gift to myself). I wish the Reloader Special had compound leverage and a better spent primer catcher, but can think of no suggestions I would make to the Rock Chucker.

Single Stage Forever!
 
For sure the LNL case feeder pivot assembly. Kaldor is 100% right about it.
 
I own a Hornady Ammo-plant and I have been able to get it running perfectly, but I do know how Hornady could make it better right from the start.

Let's start with the press. I see 3 minor problems the first is the timing of the press. This could be fixed by having a timing plate with 1 small hole in it. Then on the top of the press between station 2 and three have a hole drilled straight down to where an alignment punch could be dropped straight down with the ram up into the hole on the timing plate making the dies perfect. Now with a hole drilled into the subplate the same alignment punch you could drop it down through the timing plate into the subplate making a perfect alignment for the primer punch.
Now for the second problem, the primer assembly. The first thing is the primer slide needs to be finished better.
The next thing is getting the primer to drop perfectly. This could be done with the alignment punch for the timing. The end of the punch needs to be the exact diameter of the primer housing body with a small nub at the end the same size as a primer. Drop the end of the alignment tool down the housing body and with the nub just off center move the primer slide to where the alignment tool will drop and tighten it down.
Now for the third and final problem. Even though I don't have this problem I have seen presses that do and that is the primer punch dimple. This could be taken care of by drilling straight down at the dimple and tap it and install a set screw.

Now to the case feeder. Once again three problems. The first problem is the pivot body has a tendance to cant to the left. This is because it only has one bolt holding it. With a piece of angle
iron double bolted to the pivot block and double bolted to the lower case feeder stand it would take care of this problem.
The second problem is the case feeder funnel is made to use on both pistol and rifle. A small spacer that could be inserted to block half of the funnel for pistol would make it work perfectly.
The last problem is the gap between the case feeder plate and the case bowl for pistol this could be fixed with a piece of plastic to take up this gap that could be adjusted out of the way when loading rifle brass.

O.K. now, let's address the bullet feeder. Once again three problems. First, This sucker is loud if you put a lid on it it will cut the sound down by half.
Second. This sucker is really loud. A bullet stop switch on the feeder tube would help a lot.
Third a piece of clear tube that would go into the bullet die would be very helpful.

Now, the Delux control panel, I can find only one thing I would improve on. And that is the wiring harness. The connection that plugs into the switches is very thin. I would add heat shrink tube to it to give it a little additional strength.

Now, I am driving over to the Hornady plant this spring and hopefully, I can address my suggestions to the R&D.

O.K. what suggestions do you all have for your brand?
I have a Hornady as well and the priming system sucks. I have simply moved priming off of he press and prime all my cases first and then pull the decapping pin out of the sizing die. I think the dimple in the press body is not allowing the primer to always seat fully.

Second their micrometer. they need to color fill all the lines and numbers, I think they are now doing this on the top half of the micrometer in newer versions!.

While i really like the lock and load bushing system I do get a little lift in my sizing die. Do you see that as well.

Ive learned not to be brand loyal, in the beginning I bought everything Hornady, I think I felt that if I needed to call them for help it would make my life easier, alot of their stuff is great some of it is crap!
Thanks,
Dom
 
There is no perfect press or equipment, they all have various downsides. Which ones can you live with?
 
I do not reload the insanely amount that most of you do, maybe 300 t0 400 rounds in a weeks time, just enough to go to my weekly sessions. But I do things in stages like clean the brass one day , size it the next day , than prime it while watching tv, than load my rounds the following day. All this is done on a single stage press the Forster. I’ve read to many stories about mechanical problems that occurs with all the different types and brands of presses. For me I am in ho hurry and it is quite enjoyable without the frustrations many go through. Maybe everyone should go back to basics, sort of like stopping to smell the roses, and just use a single stage press.
 
I have two RCBS Reloader Special presses and a recently-purchased RCBS Rock Chucker (my retirement gift to myself). I wish the Reloader Special had compound leverage and a better spent primer catcher, but can think of no suggestions I would make to the Rock Chucker.

Single Stage Forever!
I'm wondering if a hydro assist would help. But when I do go to Hornady I am going to send a letter to every other manufacturer to let them know what their user wants.
Domfather I will add your wanting color filled lines to my list.

Now what most folks don't know is that the manufacturer really do want to make us the customers happy. But if they think everything is "Mary Poppings" you know "perfect in every way" they won't change a damn thing. I intend on letting them know.
 
Having dealt with hornady, rcbs, and Lee presses, I suggest you apply for a job in the engineering department, publish your success, and then I'll be interested in overspending on red equipment, until then I'll buy Lee and get what I pay for, hornady and rcbs have been disappointing per price point lately and riding the coattails does not fly with me, I sure hope they listen to you cuz even based on their lnl single stage, they have gotten lazy and it's sad.
I heard that you need an education above a High school diploma to get a job as an engineer. At my age, that's not going to happen, and besides, I couldn't afford that large of a pay cut.:neener: But I will give my ideas away for free. I don't need the money.
 
It will be quite interesting to see how engineering takes your suggestions. I got a pretty good guess how it will go.
 
It will be quite interesting to see how engineering takes your suggestions. I got a pretty good guess how it will go.
I know for a fact that once they get an idea it takes about two years to be implemented.I guess they have to look at the problem fix and see if it would really help and to see if it would cause an additional problem. They also have to see if it would violate any patent.

I do know that if you don't know about a problem you are not going to fix it.

When I was in the military and became the "boss" I had an open door policy. If you wanted to come to me and complain about a problem I would hear you out. But if you came to me with a problem and a fix I would listen to you.
 
Just a few Lyman presses (4) here.Cpl turrets and a cpl single stage.Not a whole lot to do but pull the handle.Maybe a way to change articulation angle?Anything else we'd build in the machine shop and wouldn't be something I'd "expect" from a manufacturer.Lyman has dropped the QC "ball" on their moulds though,so bad that most serious castors just won't take the risk.
 
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