Anyone ever had a custom-made shellplate by Hornady for the LNL-AP system? Wondering about the quality of them. I'm interesting in taking up reloading .35 Remington and while Hornady makes a die set for it, they don't make a standard issue shellplate. Their solution is a custom-cut shellplate for $125 + S/H. I'm trying to decide if I want to get it or if I want to put that money plus a little more into a cheap single-stage, some sort of hand primer, and use the standard shell holder. OTOH, a cheap single-stage is going to be just that plus I don't really have the space to mount a second press at the table right now.
Custom-Made Hornady Shellplate
- Thread starter Airgead
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FROGO207
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You can buy a fair quality press for that, plus a little more will get you a better press IMHO. Better deal if you can find a used one for sure. So how many rounds are you planning to reload in a year?? That would be my deciding factor. You can just get a ram prime and prime on the top of the press with the standard shell holder, no need for a fancy priming tool but I like mine so much that it is all that I use. They are not that expensive either. The Lee cast iron "O" press will do what you want and then some. Mount the press you get on a length of 2X6 and clamp it to the bench when you need it, put away when done.
scythefwd
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you can get a lee classic cast for 125ish, you can get a used Rock Chucker II for about that too.
IF you make mounting plates, you can swap presses out quickly with nothing but wingnuts. You should be fully able to setup a single stage and one caliber for your 125 price of a single shell plate.
I own both a dillon 550 and a Lee classic cast, the lee sees more work than the dillon does, still. I use it for load development, running my collet puller, running my universal decapping die, primer pocket swaging...
IF you make mounting plates, you can swap presses out quickly with nothing but wingnuts. You should be fully able to setup a single stage and one caliber for your 125 price of a single shell plate.
I own both a dillon 550 and a Lee classic cast, the lee sees more work than the dillon does, still. I use it for load development, running my collet puller, running my universal decapping die, primer pocket swaging...
Yeah, I've thought about some sort of removable setup too. I guess I just don't really want to invest in getting and setting up a new rig. I guess that's somewhat lazy, but that's where I'm at right now with life. 
It would not be a lot of loading. It's for my dad's Marlin and it would mostly be for some practice/sighting in before hunting season and hunting. If it was 100 rounds a year it would be surprising - that's one of the reasons I wasn't terribly keen on the $125 shellplate. I have a #1 shellplate already. Oh, and I just realized I have a box of factory .35 rem somewhere in the safe I bought on a whim since it was impossible to find during hunting season. Guess I can try the #1 myself -- my dad has all the fired brass at the moment.
It would not be a lot of loading. It's for my dad's Marlin and it would mostly be for some practice/sighting in before hunting season and hunting. If it was 100 rounds a year it would be surprising - that's one of the reasons I wasn't terribly keen on the $125 shellplate. I have a #1 shellplate already. Oh, and I just realized I have a box of factory .35 rem somewhere in the safe I bought on a whim since it was impossible to find during hunting season. Guess I can try the #1 myself -- my dad has all the fired brass at the moment.I don't sling them at high speed or anything, making a round every few seconds, but have never had a problem with the cases tilting, missing the dies, or failing to eject.
Thanks, I'm not a speed reloader myself so that won't be a problem. I tried sliding a complete cartridge into the #1 last night and it looks good. Thanks for your experience - I think I'll start there and doubt I'll have problem either.
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