I just wanted to give a "quick" update on my L-N-L with case feeder that I bought after
dbarnhart started this thread.
First, I mailed in the 'free bullets rebate' form last week and received an email this morning telling me that my "order" has been processed, so I have 500 .45 ACP 185gr XTP JHP bullets on the way.
So far I've assembled more than 1,000 rounds of .45 ACP and I'm LOVING this L-N-L. Some complain about the priming system but it works great for me and it's compatible with my older RCBS which also uses pick up tubes. I use the case entering the shellplate to gauge the priming step. As the ram comes down, the case feeder carrier pushes a case towards the shellplate. There's a momentary pause as the case at the priming station engages the primer. I then watch the case enter the shellplate as I seat the primer and can visually "see" when the primer is fully seated by the position of the case in the shellplate. This seems to give very good results when combined with the felt resistance of the lever. With the L-N-L it's so much easier to remove/replace the shellplate compared to my RCBS, another feature I really like both for cleaning/maintenance and changing over to a different cartridge. Also, the L-N-L is very smooth with its 1/10th indexing (I love that) and seems to have a lot of power to the extent that if I only seat and crimp it feels like nothing is happening. The Redding 10X powder measure is flawless on the press and the L-N-L is working exactly as it should. I've found it easy to remove/insert cases anywhere on the shellplate, it's easy to get back up and running when the primers run out, and the dies don't move in the bushings at all.
The case feeder isn't quite so perfect ... yet anyway. It worked great 98.0% of the time but has given me a little trouble. I was getting the occasional jam when a case would rotate when falling through the opening from the hopper into the plastic funnel. I noticed that the hopper opening was about 1/4" out of alignment with the funnel, and this was allowing a case to hit the leading edge of the funnel and rotate rather than drop straight down the tube. I taped a small piece of plastic over the leading edge of the hole in the hopper so that the case always clears the leading edge of the funnel. Confusing I know! I'll make something permanent soon but this "fix" improved reliability to 99.5%. The other issue is that very occasionally a case won't drop from the case feeder plate soon enough. With the sliding gate all the way open, two cases can drop at the same time. If the leading case (based on rotation direction) doesn't clear the case feeder plate in time, it will crash into the hopper and cause a jam. I extended the opening in the hopper by 1/4" so that it's aligned with the trailing edge of the plastic funnel and this seems to have fixed that issue. Reliability now seems to be up around 99.9%. I've thought about adding a thin angled piece of sheet metal to drive a case back up into the hopper if it doesn't clear the case feeder plate soon enough.
All in all, I couldn't be happier with the L-N-L. It's a really well thought out progressive that produces quality ammunition. Hornday's case activated powder drop linkage with quick change powder dies is the best powder measuring system available bar none. It's even better when used in conjunction with a Redding powder measure such as the 10X or BR-30. As for the L-N-L, I don't go crazy and try to set ridiculous production rates. In my opinion, this is where people run into problems. I produce about 15 quality rounds per minute, maybe a little more, which in theory is about 900 rounds per hour. In reality, with stopping every 100 rounds to pick up new primers, adding more bullets to the bullet tray, moving loaded rounds out of the inbox, making a cup of tea, petting the dogs etc., 300 rounds for a weekend's match takes a lot less than an hour and a lot closer to half an hour. That's more than fast enough for me.
Here's the L-N-L just waiting patiently for a chance to do what it does best.