Hey Folks,
I have been using a Rockchucker since they first came out in the late 1960s, and I purchased a Hornady L&L progressive when it first came out about 1997. I am completely satisfied with my L&L as far as operational use.
The primer system works fine for me, but I had to really study it carefully to know how it works and to keep it clean and adjusted properly. I, too, use a wooden dowel to put pressure on the last few primers in the tube, but that is nothing new since I used to do the same thing with the primer feeder on the Rockchucker. I have the wooden dowel marked to show when the last primer is used, and that is also useful.
In the nearly forty years I have been reloading, I have mostly purchased RCBS and Lyman die sets. I have found that some of my RCBS and Lyman die sets do not work well in the L&L press since its top is much thicker than other single stage presses. Hornady dies have a longer body which easily reaches through the L&L frame. Now, do not get me wrong. I am not saying that none of my RCBS and Lyman dies work in my L&L. I am saying that a few of my old die sets were a little short for the L&L, and that newer Hornady dies will fit and adjust a little better.
For the first several years that I had my L&L press, I really did not use the L&L function. I simply adjusted each set of dies whenever I changed sets. In the past year or so, I started to buy extra L&L collets to use with the dies I use exclusively on the L&L, and I have to admit it is a good quick change feature for the sizing dies since you do not change them once they are adjusted properly. I still do not use them for my bullet seating dies very much since I find I frequently make adjustments to the seating dies.
I still spend far more time on my Rockchucker since most of my reloading is usually small batches of test rounds, and I do not mind it a bit. Unlike some folks, I enjoy the time I spend at the reloading bench even more than the time I spend shooting the finished rounds. To me, I guess, shooting is just the process of finding out what my efforts at the bench amounted to.
I like my L&L quite well, but I would never get rid of my single stage metallic press. I also have three Hornady 366 progressive shotshell presses (12, 16, & 20 Ga), and I find I still cannot bring myself to give up my single stage MEC presses.
Best wishes,
Dave Wile