I Ordered the Hornady LnL AP

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dbarnhart

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I decided it is time to move up from the Rock Chucker to a progress press. After a lot of deliberation about my particular needs and preferences, I decided upon the Hornady LnL AP.

For those interested in a glimpse into my thinking, I've documented it here:

http://www.shootandreload.com/category/choosing-a-progressive-press/

The cheapest price I could find was at Sinclair (www.sinclairintl.com), BTW.

I'm now looking forward to depleting my stockpile of 45, 223, and 308 components.

So if the Dillon guys have the 'Blue Flu', then what do Hornady guys have? ;-)
 
The Hornady Lock N Load is a great press and is very beefy and well built. Make sure you follow the directions for setting it up and locate it on a Heavy sturdy bench in an area with lots of light.

I have a Dillon 550B I have loaded 60,000+ rounds on it over the last 11 years, .45 acp, .44 magnum, .357, 9mm. I also own a Hornady LNL ap serial number around 11,000. I have been loading .45 acp in it for 5 years now, about 20,000 rounds of .45acp, reserving the Dillon for small pistol primer rounds.

The Hornady auto indexs and the Dillon does not. I don't have a case feeder on the LNL so some of the advantages of the auto indexing are lost. I do find the ergonomics of the dillion to be more to my liking, mainly because without a case feeder you have to use your right hand to place bullets as the left places the cases, and this requires you to reach around the press frame.

BTW I reload rifle on a super rockchucker and only use the progressives for Pistol rounds.

Edited to be less offensive to the OP.

JMHO YMMV
 
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grafs is the same price with cheaper shipping... they even had it for 389 2 weeks ago when I ordered mine....

Its a great press!! I have really started to love mine...

BTW the priming system will be your biggest headache.... make sure everything is SMOOTH with one burrs before you really crank out the rounds because they will tend to stick... What I did when I got the press is CLEAN EVERYTHING!!!! I am talking every square inch bc the rust inhibitor the factory uses is sticky. Then before you reassemble to priming system check for burrs or sharp edges... lightly take some fine grit sand paper to them if them is and RECLEAN it... Give it a little lube and put it back together... Once its all together move the priming slide back and forth just like it would if the press was in operation but apply some down pressure to kind of "grind" it do this very quickly and don't push too hard just some to get a good grinding feeling.... After this you should be good to go
 
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Don't let people scare you about primin on the LNL, I have had mine for 3 months, loaded 4k rounds already, most of the time the priming is flawless.. Do keep it clean though and itshoukd work fine
 
The progressive press mounted priming systems and I do not get along, both Hornady L-N-L and Dillon SDB. No big deal as i prefer to clean my brass between resizing and reloading.

I can prime cases about as fast by hand as filling the primer tubes.

Lots of folks don't have priming problems.

I like the L-N-L for the flexibility. For resizing, I just install the sizer and expander. For reloading, I leave out the sizer and install the rest.

Get familiar with the effort required to operate the L-N-L. It is not great by any stretch, but it is consistent when everything is functioning as designed. Then, if something changes, don't force the press and find out what the problem is before continuing. You won't break anything or get things out of time then.

Watch out for double stroking during the trouble shooting and remove cases around the powder measure to prevent empty cases or double charges.

My biggest cause for jamming is the fired case not exactly lined up with the sizer die. The case mouth hangs on the die body. Another reason I separate the resizing and reloading process.

Take your time at first and learn the process. You will like the Hornady.
 
I now have 10,000 rounds loaded on my LNN AP with no problems including the priming of brass. It does take a little more pressure on the operating handle than I ideally prefer but does nice job. I don't use case or bullet feeders and can easily load 300 rounds an hour. Also easy and quick to change calibers which is important to me as I shoot 2 or 3 different calibers every week. For the money, this loader is very hard to beat.
 
>> CLEAN EVERYTHING!!!! I am talking every square inch bc the rust inhibitor the factory uses is sticky<<

Hornady has a YouTube channel with a 12-part series on assembling the LnL AP and getting it up and running. They place significant emphasis on first disassembling everything and cleaning the gunk out.

I already have my can of Hornady OneShot Gun Cleaner and Dry Lube sitting here awaiting the arrival of the press.
 
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I have also loaded thousands and thousands of rounds on my LNL AP without drama. Rifle rounds, pistol rounds, no problems.

I prime on the press.

CCI Primers, Wolf primers, Federal primers, large primers, small primers, magnum primers.... any primers, no problems!

I keep everything clean and use One Shot cleaner/lube on the primer slide parts.

Never adjusted the pawls, the press just works!

Its operation is so reliable, its boring, freeing me to make my own errors!

I dream of getting a Dillon 1050, but then fantasize about buying THREE LNL APs for the same money (or less) instead and leaving them set up for my most common loads, with the fourth (old) LNL available to do all the lesser-loaded calibers.

Maybe someday!

Bob
 
NoFishBob, BYJO4, REL1203, petrey10:

Thank you. I don't know which I am more anxious for: the arrival of the press or being able to send off the paperwork for the 500 free bullets. Man, I've got the component-hoarding disease really bad.
 
My 500 free 185xtp free bullets arrived tonight :). I only have had issues with CCI primers as they are just plain hard. I switched to federal or win or rem and they work great
 
I actually recieved my LNL AP tonight! I was so excited to get it YESTERDAY, but evidently there is flooding or something in ND, that cause the big brown truck to get slowed down. Boooo. Anyway it was here before I got off work today, and after doing my chores (costco run, putting baby to sleep) I got to take it out of the box and YIPPEE! I got it all setup to load .223, but I have yet to load any, that will be tomorrow I figure..... I weighed both the red and blue options, and they were both very close, but the way I figure it, for my money, if I am going to spend that much on a progresive press, the thing better auto index for me! I mean my Lee turret setup cost me under $200, auto indexes! Also the local sporting goods store carries Hornady parts and accessories, but Dillon is nowhere to be found....I also live about 5 mins from said sporting goods store, so if I need/want something now, I just go get it, shipping be damned!

P.S. I am also jacked about the free bullets! Already filled out the paperwork, and sending it off tomorrow! REL1203 how long did it take to get your bullets?
 
Given some of the above posts, my L'n'L must be defective ... I'm a little over 60k rounds and the priming has never had a problem that a squirt of compressed air didn't cure.
/Bryan
 
If the Dillon guys have "Blue Flu" I guess us Horady guys have the "Red Rash"!

Anyway, the key to priming issues on these presses seems to be burrs on the primer slide parts. If you deburr all of the parts and keep them clean, there shouldn't be problems.
 
Anyway, the key to priming issues on these presses seems to be burrs on the primer slide parts. If you deburr all of the parts and keep them clean, there shouldn't be problems.
Click to expand...

The problem is SLOP, the hole in the slide being a little too big or the press indexing being a little off, sometimes due to pawl adjustment sometimes due to the shell plate bolt loosening as you use the press.
 
One thing you can do to make the priming system run smoother in some instances is to replace the white fiberglass follower with a brass or something a little heavier... this really pops the primer in the slide hole....


But the biggest thing is to DEGREASE/DEGUNK it when assembling and THEN DEBURR... then just keep it dry lubricated and you should be good to go...

If you are worried about double charging (and anyone with progressive should be) you can use the RCBS lock out die... it works great and gives you some piece of mind...
 
the free bullets took about 6 weeks for me. the lnl is just a great deal over the blue guys i was looking at the dillon and the lnl and for the money it should auto index so i went with the lnl. you will love this press check out ultimatereloader.com he has great videos also his ergo handle for the press is nice to you may want to look into that. and the only prolbem i have with my primeing system is that it makes ammo to fast and i have to stop and refill
 
My first press was a Dillon. I'm cheap and a glutton for punishment, I tend to use what I have and live with the idiosyncrasies of the tool at hand. On a rare day in a Cabellas store I saw the LNL AP. and took a flyer. Two presses! My ancestors are rolling in their graves.

Reloading is still a tedious time suck, especially if you do a lot of load work ups, the Hornaday gets my vote.
 
Good luck with the LNL AP. Hopefully you don't have one of the many known priming problems on it
Oh can't forget, I hope nothing breaks as supply on parts is heavily backed-up and has been for a long time

Have fun with you LNL. I guess once they're set up, adjusted, de-burred, and the learning curve is over, they run well.
Click to expand...
Not really. Since Hornady is cheap and leaves LOTS of their steel parts un-plated you have to dry lube everything. The dry lube attracts dirt, powder, etc. like a magnet. The press requires constant cleaning and lubing. If you don't do this the press AND powder measure will rust quickly.

At least Dillon and RCBS plate all of their steel parts.

ANY primer feed has to be kept clean, the problem is with the 650, you have to take the shell plate completely off to get the primer feed off to investigate the problem, about a ten minute operation.
Click to expand...
This is false. You do not need to remove the shell plate. You can loosen it.
 
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I have had my LnL AP since the beginning of the year and have loaded thousands of rounds (.45ACP & 9mm Luger) and no complaints whatsoever. I did have some initial issues with Winchester LPP, have since moved to CCI for all primer needs and the primer feeding issues went away.

I've used the AP for processing (FL sizing) of rifle brass (270 Win, 5.56 NATO/.223 Remington, 7.62 NATO/.308 Win) without any issues.

Quick Low Cost Caliber changes are what sold me on the press. It is my first (did eventually get a single stage press for loading some 270 Win where I manually measure the powder and seat on the SS press) reloading press and wasn't that hard to learn how to reload on it.

I have zero regrets and the free bullets definitely were gravy on an overall good experience.
 
Same as Capreppy on the length owned and number of rounds.

It will take a bit to get setup, but once its up and you have the minor setup issues worked out, it'll be a good press. I suspect you'll thoroughly enjoy it.
I've only loaded pistol rounds with it, so i cant say how it will handle rifle rounds, but i know 9mm and 380 go pretty quick.
Ill test 45 here shortly but i have no doubt they will go quick too.

Enjoy your new press!
 
Hornady parts do rust quickly... I already got some rust showing in spots on mine and its only 3 weeks old... but you clean it and keep some oil on it then it shouldn't hurt functionality
 
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