I Ordered the Hornady LnL AP

[dbarnhart]

Dear Dillon Disciples,

Do you understand that you are not doing Dilllon any favors? Some people find your eagerness to denigrate everything not painted blue to be obnoxious and rude. One of the reasons I bought something other than Dillon is that I do not want to be associated with a group treating everything else so disparagingly and I do not want to be thought of - guilt by association - as one who does so. I do not want people thinking "Oh gawd, not another Dillon Disciple" about me.

I'm sure you firmly believe Dillon is best-in-class, but I can tell you from first-hand experience it is possible to do so with a little less hubris.

Years ago, I build an airplane (http://www.davebarnhart.com/rv6) Those of us who owned and built this brand of airplane firmly believe it's unquestionably the best in the world. However even when speaking among ourselves with no one else listening you would never hear "XXX is cheap", "YYY is crap" , or "Go Van's or don't bother". To owners/builders/buyers of other brands, we were helpful and supportive, almost to a fault. As a result, we were not only held in the pinnacle of esteem in our little universe, it reflected very positively upon the manufacturer and helped them grow immensely because people wanted to be a part of such a welcoming and supportive little community.

I started this thread to share my joy and excitement of buying my first progressive press.

 

[Blue68f100]

I have had my LNL-AP for over 3 yrs now. I even did the conversion to the EZeject system and was well worth the effort. I have run over 15k through my press with no major issues. The first thing you must check is that indexing is correct. If it's off it impacts everything else. The primers system as/will worked flawless as long as you keep it clean. You must also make sure the sled is not over traveling. If it does it will have a tendency to hangup and not pick up a primer. If you let spilled powder and brass shavings get down in the primer feed slot it will cause alignment problems. Before they started shipping the poly rod for a primer weight, I was using a brass rod with a small and large primer cap epoxied to the ends. It's only needed when you drop down below 10 primers. That is when it some times does not drop a primer into the sled, if your going at a good pace. You grease the press when the ram is up. This fills the grease ring on the ram. I find that the shell plate has a tendency to loosen up due to the snapping of the detents/indexing. So check this regularly. Use 2 pieces of brass to hold the shell plate while you tighten the bolt. When it loosens it will cause your brass to tip, which causes misalignment with the dies.

As with any thing mechanical it may need adjusting from time to time. But mine has stayed locked on for indexing. The brass feeder is very touchy to settings. But one you learn what the twerks are it works well. I have a RCBS Low Primer alarm on my press, by means of a custom adapter since I have PTX on station 2.

For the money this press is hard to beat.

If you do a lot of change over you can buy extra Powder mount dies so you only need to switch over the upper/powder dispenser.

Tip: If your switch between small and larger primers, just pull the sled back so you can grab the spring, unhook the old and in with the new.

Enjoy your new LNL-AP

 

[BYJO4]

I have not had any problem with rust. About once a month, I spay a little Hornady One Shot on a rag and wipe off the press. Also, if you find that your powder measure die bushing tends to back out as you operate the press (this is very common), call Hornady Tech Support and they will send you a shim that completely solves the problem.

 

[dbarnhart]

Fellow LnL-AP owners: You have no idea how much I appreciate the advice and tips.

 

[REL1203]

Dbarnhart, I got my XTP in about 5 weeks

 

[Gryffydd]

I do not want people thinking "Oh gawd, not another Dillon Disciple" about me

Seriously. I'd have a hard time deciding to buy a Dillon just because of how many times I've seen Dillon fanatics crash threads, pull them off topic, and make ridiculous statements. "Buy a Dillon" has literally become a parody of itself. It makes me roll my eyes almost every time I see it.

 

[levsmith]

Dear Dillon Disciples,

Do you understand that you are not doing Dilllon any favors? Some people find your eagerness to denigrate everything not painted blue to be obnoxious and rude. One of the reasons I bought something other than Dillon is that I do not want to be associated with a group treating everything else so disparagingly and I do not want to be thought of - guilt by association - as one who does so. I do not want people thinking "Oh gawd, not another Dillon Disciple" about me.

I'm sure you firmly believe Dillon is best-in-class, but I can tell you from first-hand experience it is possible to do so with a little less hubris.

Years ago, I build an airplane (http://www.davebarnhart.com/rv6) Those of us who owned and built this brand of airplane firmly believe it's unquestionably the best in the world. However even when speaking among ourselves with no one else listening you would never hear "XXX is cheap", "YYY is crap" , or "Go Van's or don't bother". To owners/builders/buyers of other brands, we were helpful and supportive, almost to a fault. As a result, we were not only held in the pinnacle of esteem in our little universe, it reflected very positively upon the manufacturer and helped them grow immensely because people wanted to be a part of such a welcoming and supportive little community.

I started this thread to share my joy and excitement of buying my first progressive press.

AMEN!!! That is EXACTLY why I bought the LNL AP over any dillon. I have owned the LNL for about a year now and loaded a couple thousand rounds of 9mm and 380 and I love it! I followed the setup videos on youtube when I first got it and haven't had any problems with rust or primer feeding. I have had to adjust the timing of it once because it was just slightly ahead and would catch the brass on the die, but once that was done (which was super easy), it has run perfect since. Take your time cleaning it when you first get it and I'm sure you'll be happy. Oh and like someone else said, the 500 free bullets is icing on the cake of this sweet setup!

 

[snuffy]

You LNL lovers can have this thread all to yourself. I deleted my comments, I'm sorry to have told the truth, um, er I mean to have ruffled feathers.

Come one, come all, join the LNL admiration society.

 

[cfullgraf]

You LNL lovers can have this thread all to yourself. I deleted my comments, I'm sorry to have told the truth, um, er I mean to have ruffled feathers.

Come one, come all, join the LNL admiration society.

Sorry to hear that you have deleted constructive comments.

I bought a Hornady after lots of research. After 29 years of single stage loading, i felt the the Hornady fit my needs better than the Dillon 650. It was a tough decision but i like the Hornady. Sorry, the 550 with its lack of auto index was not in the running.

With all the "Dillon is best" comments, I bought a Dillon SDB. While not in the same category as the Hornady L-N-L or the Dillon 650, it is a Dillon. I like the SDB and will load a few cartridges on the SDB instead of the L-N-L. But, I will have dedicated presses for those cartridges and will not grade change the presses.

I find i have problems with the priming systems on both presses. They are not as reliable as what i feel they ought to be, one failure in 1000 is too many in my book considering the lack of primer inspection available on the progressives. I prefer to clean cases between resizing and reloading so it works fine for me to prime by hand. I know that 100 percent of my primed cases sent to the progressive for loading are properly primed. But that is a limitation i am happy to accept.

Dillon makes a fine product and if it floats our boat, go for it...

 

[Shmackey]

I would not trade my LnL AP for any other press. The only trouble I ever had disappeared when I realized that Winchester large pistol primers are out of spec. I wasted a few hours polishing parts and tweaking things on the press when, really, the press was fine all along. Every other type of primer runs like butter.

I've got a few thousand rounds through mine now, and all it does is run like a top.

 

[Master Blaster]

Last night I recieved, and installed the new Pawl on my LNL. It was pretty easy to adjust and get it up and running again, took 10 minutes. I also figured out why it broke, and this is something for LNL owners to be aware of. As I was running some .45 brass through making the adjustment, I noticed the shell plate rotation sticking then heard a spent primer drop into my collection can as the shell plate came free. I checked my decapping and sizing die, and the decapping pin had ridden up in the collet enough that the spent primers were not being fully extracted on every round. I think a stuck spent primer jammed the shellplate and when I forced the handle a bit it caused the pawl to break. I adjusted the decap pin down a bit, I can't recall doing this in several thousand rounds.

Another caution for a new LNL owner, if you are using the small hole pistol insert in the powder measure, be very careful using large flake powders like Unique, or trailboss. The small cavity can suffer from bridging and can give you a squibb load. Also from time to time I have caught the rotor sticking and not dispensing a charge of powder. This happens when the Bushing holding the measure in the press backs out during use (can be cured with teflon tape wrapped around the LNL bushing), and has become a bit fouled with powder residue.

Enjoy using your LNL, like any progressive press you have to pay attention to adjustment and maintenance to keep it running smoothly.

 

[dbarnhart]

>>if you are using the small hole pistol insert in the powder measure, be very careful using large flake powders like Unique,<<

Thanks. I've heeded the advice of the more experienced LnL owners and have ordered the RCBS Lockout Die along with the press.

 

[Crunchy Frog]

When I was choosing a progressive press I eliminated the Dillon 550 in favor of a five station press so that I could use a powder check or lockout die. I bought the LNL and the RCBS Lockout Die.

I've read comments saying that a powder check die is not necessary with the LNL because the case activated powder measure prevents squibs or double charges. As some other replies above point out, things can happen. The Lockout Die monitors the powder level and stops you dead if there is a problem, whether you are watching the die or not.

 

[MCMXI]

dbarnhart, I've been reloading on the same RCBS PiggyBack II progressive for more than 15 years and have decided to add another progressive so that I can leave the PB set up for a single cartridge. There were really only three presses in the running including a Dylon 650, Hornady L-N-L AP and the RCBS Pro2000 with auto-indexing. At this point I'm 95% sure that I'm going to buy the L-N-L because I load for quite a few handgun cartridges and use different bullets/powder for the same cartridge and want to be able to change over quickly. Also, I like the die bushing system on the L-N-L and much prefer Hornady's powder system. I like the fact that I have the option to add a case and bullet feeder in the future. The only thing I don't like about the L-N-L is the color!! I guess a can of green paint could fix that.

P.S. I've watched all of the Hornady videos for the L-N-L and really like how fast it is to change shellplates and priming system. My PB II is a lot slower. Add in the speed to change dies and I bet I could change from .45 ACP to .223 Rem in less than 5 minutes.

 

[dbarnhart]

1858: It sounds like your needs and mine are a lot alike. I load for 45, 223, and 308 so i need caliber changes to be fast and relatively inexpensive. I was really close to deciding on the Pro2000, but the few 'yes but...' issues I had with the Pro2000 were all addressed nicely in the LnL AP.

 

[MCMXI]

Yes, sounds like it. I don't load 2,000 to 5,000 rounds of one cartridge at a time. My weekend matches require 150 to 200 .45 ACP, and on some occasions the same in 9mm Luger if I'm shooting single stack and production, as well as 150 rounds of .223 Rem if we have a 2-gun match. The biggest issue for me is that I typically want to load up 100 rounds each of .45 Colt, .454 Casull, .44 Mag and .357 Mag along with 200 rounds of .45 ACP, 9mm Luger and .223 Rem. This means numerous die, shellplate and priming system changes along with numerous powder changes. The L-N-L just seems to be the best option for me. I will definitely buy the case feeder but since most of my pistol shooting is with lead bullets, the bullet feeder isn't an option. The more I watch the Hornady videos, the more I like the L-N-L. The only question in my mind is the indexing system. I hope that it's rugged and problem free. The priming system is very much like the one on my PiggyBack II ... only better. I'm convinced that the L-N-L will get me to where I want to be and it's not about the money, it's about matching the press to my needs.

 

[Walkalong]

Add in the speed to change dies and I bet I could change from .45 ACP to .223 Rem in less than 5 minutes.

Easily.

 

[Master Blaster]

What will take time is changing the powder measure over unless you have a second dedicated powder measure preset, for the correct insert to measure the different powder and amount, and you also have the case activation linkage and that part, already installed in the LNL bushing, since the two cartridges are completely different heights. You will also have to change and adjust the case feeder if you have one of those, and the shell plate as well. But you will learn that it take a little more than 5 minutes (half an hour at least), when you get the press and have to change it over. Its no different than any other press in that regard.

 

[Master Blaster]

>>if you are using the small hole pistol insert in the powder measure, be very careful using large flake powders like Unique,<<

Thanks. I've heeded the advice of the more experienced LnL owners and have ordered the RCBS Lockout Die along with the press.

I use the rifle insert because of this problem, and also need to have a baffle installed in the powder measure to maintain consistant throws . Even if you have the lockout die, its a pain in the tush when you have to stop what you are doing and manually remove the underloaded case dump the powder, and leave a empty station, to re-index the case every 5 or 10 or even 20 throws. You can also use W231, SOLO1000, Titegroup, or Bullseye instead, depending on the cartridge and bullet choice.

I talked to the folks at Hornady about this 3 years ago and suggested an insert with a hole size in between the current rifle and pistol inserts, AFIK it hasn't happened.

 

[Walkalong]

What will take time is changing the powder measure over unless you have a second dedicated powder measure preset, for the correct insert to measure the different powder and amount, and you also have the case activation linkage and that part, already installed in the LNL bushing, since the two cartridges are completely different heights.

True, and I do not know how long that takes, as I have my Redding measures set up to use on my LNL. I only have to change powder bushings sometimes, which takes all of 20 seconds or less.


http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=104118&d=1251246707

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=104122&d=1251247315

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=510241

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=464088

 

[MCMXI]

What will take time is changing the powder measure over unless you have a second dedicated powder measure preset, for the correct insert to measure the different powder and amount, and you also have the case activation linkage and that part, already installed in the LNL bushing, since the two cartridges are completely different heights.

I converted a Redding 10X and BR-30 to work with Hornady's case activated powder drop on my PBII. Both powder measures have their own linkage along with quick change powder dies for each cartridge that I reload for. All I'd need to do is buy L-N-L die bushings for each powder die and changes would be fast. With my current set up, it doesn't take much over a minute to change over the powder system to a different cartridge and that includes having to unscrew/screw in the powder dies. The Redding powder dispensers have micrometers on them so that helps with speed too.

You will also have to change and adjust the case feeder if you have one of those, and the shell plate as well. But you will learn that it take a little more than 5 minutes (half an hour at least), when you get the press and have to change it over.

Changing the shell plate system on the new L-N-L with EZ-ject is considerably easier than my PBII and swapping it over should take all of 30 seconds. You have a point about the case feeder so that's something I'll have to figure out.

Its no different than any other press in that regard.

Overall though, based on what I've read and seen (friend's 650 and Hornady's videos), going at a comfortable pace I think the L-N-L is better suited to those of us that reload for numerous cartridges in smaller lots compared to those that crank out 5,000 rounds of one cartridge over a weekend. Add a bullet feeder to the L-N-L and it'll keep up with the 650 so there is room for growth.

I think I'll need to expand my reloading room at some point because I have a feeling that I'll end up with a couple of L-N-Ls and my PBII. I'll probably leave the PBII set up for .45 Colt/.454 Casull since the priming system, shell plate and Redding competition seater die are common to both. All I'd have to change is the sizing, expanding and crimp dies and swap out the powder die. That won't take long at all.

 

[MCMXI]

Walkalong, thanks for the links to your powder dispenser and EZ-ject sub plate modifications .... that information might prove to be very useful. I like your illumination upgrade too.

 

[dbarnhart]

I plan on buying a Quick Change Powder Die for each caliber ($24 each) and that should speed the process up considerably. I'm probably going to also buy a metering insert for each of my common loads (only 3 at the moment). If I had many common loads I'd probably buy the micrometer metering insert just once and record the reading for each load.

 

[MCMXI]

If I had many common loads I'd probably buy the micrometer metering insert just once and record the reading for each load.

That's what I do with the Redding 10X and BR-30. I'm currently making up four different loads for .45 ACP using two different powders so the micrometer metering chambers make it easy to dial in the exact load in seconds.

Redding 10X

Redding BR-30

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Congrats on your purchase. I loaded on a Rock Chucker for nearly 2 decades before wising up and buying a progressive. I really like my L-N-L. For the most part my Rock Chucker has been gathering dust, except for a box or two of rifle rounds a year....Well, it gathered dust until yesterday, I did sit down and work up some .44 Magnum rounds with it. As soon as my L-N-L .44 shell plate gets her, she'll be back to collecting dust.