Hey Offhand,
As far as I'm concerned, you may say anything you want here. However, besides being flat out wrong in content as well as immature in your attitude, your response provided nothing of value to Balrog's questions and only encourages other immature folks to start the same old child like arguments of who's press is better. Get past the childish stuff.
Hey Balrog,
My L&L AP is one of the first L&L AP presses Hornady made in 1997, and it sounds like my case activated powder dispenser is a bit different than yours.
I don't know what the difference in bushings would be, but a few years ago, it seemed there were several folks who made the same complaint about their bushing coming loose in use. I remembe some folks changed or added rubber O-rings while other folks added teflon tape to the bushings. I may be wrong, but I think some of the bushings at that time were not made properly, and folks who contacted Hornady may have received some replacements. I have not seen anyone complaining of loose bushings for a while now, so I assume whatever the problem was, it was corrected by Hornady. I do know the bushings should lock in place and stay there until you physically turn them back out. Like I said, my press is from 1997, and I am still using the same bushings and have never had to replace any O-rings. I suggest you contact Hornady as well as search past threads if someone else here does not have more definitive information.
As far as you case activated mechanism goes, your description of how it works sounds like Hornady made some changes over the years. Mine has no screws holding the linkage arms together. If you go to Page 13 of the Hornady L&L AP user manual, two drawings of the case activated linkage and powder measure are there:
http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/manuals-current/metalic-reloading/LNL_AP.pdf
In the larger drawing, the upper body is shown seperate from the lower body, and you can see a single linkage arm that connects the two bodies. Near the bottom of that arm is a single cut that appears to slide into a screw knob on the lower body, and I assume that the screw know is what is coming loose for you.
My older case activated system has similar upper and lower bodies, but the connecting linkage arm works differently. First, my arm has two cuts near the bottom, and either one can be used depending on how you want to adjust the mechanism. Secondly, there is no thumb screw on the lower body of mine. There is just a pin with a mushroom head. I slide one of cuts on the linkage arm onto the pin, and it stays there without any screw holder. Obviously the newer ones are different than my original one. Again, I suggest you contact Hornady about the problem.
My L&L AP from 1997 is all original parts other than one shell plate case retainer spring that was replaced, and it works perfectly. I know Hornady has made some changes to fix some things that people have complained about, but those changes should work as well or better than my original parts. If your bushing and your case activated powder measure are not working properly, call Hornady and explain the problem. I cannot believe the will not be able to fix it for you.
Best wishes,
Dave Wile