LNL AP Accessories?

[Tim the student]

Surely this has been covered before (and probably recently at that) but I didn't see anything relatively recent. If it has, please point me in the right direction.

What accessories would you guys recommend?

Must have?

Nice to have?

A waste of money?

 

[noylj]

As far as I am concerned, there isn't much you need as Hornady includes a great measure.
You will want a shellplate and die set for each caliber. You will want to be sure to have enough die bushings as you will find they are great. You will want to have a couple of extra case-retaining springs. You should have an RCBS Lock-Out die in station 3.
I like Hornady New-Dimension sizing dies, Lee or Hornady seating dies (or Dillon or Hornady if you are loading lead), and any good taper crimp die (for roll crimps, get the Redding Profile Crimp die).
I found that I liked the Hornady Powder-Measure and PTXs, the Dillon powder-measure and their "powder funnels," and the Lee Pro Auto-Disk and the PTE dies.
I never needed a case feeder with it since it is very ergonomic.
If you are going to load bottleneck cases, then you will want a 6" caliper, a 1" micrometer, and a method to trim your cases. You can simply use the Lee trimmer and the Lee case length gages with their Zip Trim. I have not ever had to trim a straight-wall case in 35+ years.
You will want a nice brush (a lady's make-up brush or a shaving brush) to keep things clean. You have to keep a progressive clean and the Hornady is very easy to keep clean.
If you plan to load a lot at one sitting, get 4-8 extra primer pick-up tubes so you have them all loaded with primers when you start.
I found the Lee Pro Auto-Disk powder measure and Lee powder-through dies to works great when developing loads for handguns.
You will want to get a little grease gun to keep it lubricated (and some 30wt oil for the ram) and a little on the bottom of the shell plate.
Handling the bullets and cases with my left hand was always easy, but that darn primer tube seems to run empty every 10 minutes or so.
What the world needs is an inexpensive way to quickly and automatically fill the primer tube.
You will want to get a "dedicated" wrench for installing and removing the primer seating stem under the press. If the threads are rough, you can find someone to borrow a tap to clear the threads (this is true for most things in life, it seems any more). I have a bad back and neck and I can not bend down and look at the seating stem so I have to do it by hand.
For any progressive press, you want the bench with no flex in it. Any flex will show up with primers not seating properly and bullets not being seated repeatably.

 

[cfullgraf]

To add...

I have a Hornady powder drop die for each cartridge that I load. Then I do not have to reset the die when changing cartridges.

The micrometer heads for the powder measure are nice and Hornady's are not expensive. Record the number after a session and it it easy to return to that setting. If you plan on loading lots of different cartridges on the Hornady, it is less expensive than buying a plain metering stem for each cartridge. Of course, you could just use the plain metering stem and readjust it each time.

The drop tube for emptying the powder measure is a nice to have.

Lock-N-Load bushings for all dies are nice to have.

 

[32dgrz]

Get one of Adam's Balls. Much easier on the hand

 

[floydster]

So, where is this Adam's guy and his balls?

 

[moonman16]

Look at Ulimatereloader.com for a rollerhandle and other neat things. Powderfunnels.com makes an expander that does it all.

 

[Canuck-IL]

I have a Hornady powder drop die for each cartridge that I load.

At $20 - $22 per die, that's pricey and not necessary.

Easier (much cheaper!) to simply set the drop die for the shortest caliber you reload and use shims (washers or an extra lock ring) to raise the powder measure as needed for longer cases. For example, I leave my pistol drop die permanently set for 9mm and load 45ACP, 38Spc, 357 and 30 carbine by simply adding a couple of washers or a lock ring and washer to the 9mm setup. All you need is enough height to allow full rotation of the measure's insert with each case.
/Bryan

 

[cfullgraf]

At $20 - $22 per die, that's pricey and not necessary.

Easier (much cheaper!) to simply set the drop die for the shortest caliber you reload and use shims (washers or an extra lock ring) to raise the powder measure as needed for longer cases. For example, I leave my pistol drop die permanently set for 9mm and load 45ACP, 38Spc, 357 and 30 carbine by simply adding a couple of washers or a lock ring and washer to the 9mm setup. All you need is enough height to allow full rotation of the measure's insert with each case.
/Bryan

Less expensive, I'll agree. Easier, I'll debate that. A wash for the washers at best (pun intended) versus separate dies.

Anyway, the spacers are a good idea if cost is an issue. Currently, separately set up powder drop dies is my preferred set up and a cost I am willing to endure. From my industrial days in high speed consumer goods production, I like to swap out assemblies not parts when changing a machine over to a different product.

But, I'll keep the spacers in mind if I roll some cartridges onto the progressive that i do not load very frequently.

 

[rsrocket1]

Required extras:

One Shot Dry Lube Gun cleaner (not the one-shot case lube spray can that looks very similar) - mandatory for cleaning off the packing grease from the metals, especially in the powder drop assembly inside and out. Otherwise powder will stick in the powder drop and you won't get accurate charges.

A primer flipper tray - unless you want to pour out the primers onto a plate and flip them by hand so they are anvil side down for the pick up tube.

A grease gun to shoot grease into the zerk fittings. Simply spraying a lube into them won't work, you have to inject grease into the fittings.

 

[Canuck-IL]

Anyway, the spacers are a good idea if cost is an issue.

It gets to be after a while ... I currently load 12 and suspect there'll be more eventually. A few washers and a spare lock ring (btw, the RCBS lock ring is thinner than the Hornady allowing another increment in spacing...something like .321 vs .260 or so) and I can pretty much load whatever.
/B

 

[32dgrz]

Look here for Adam's Balls. (ANEAT) post #29
http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1286617
I don't know if he wants me giving his email out. If you PM him there he will get back to you.

They work great.
Even the Blue guys are buying them

 

[hdbiker1]

Since I only use the LnL AP for 2 calibers (.45 ACP and .223), I got an extra powder die, a powder cop die, a powder baffle, a dial caliper and an RCBS Precision Mic for .223. I also got a case feeder, which makes it all faster and easier. When processing .223, I use a universal decapping die and a Dillon RT 1200 trimmer. Really fast, but noisy from the shop vac.

 

[Tim the student]

How much does Adam charge for his balls?

 

[32dgrz]

10 bucks for most. Blue balls are more. I think 15 for the blues.

That's delivered price!!!

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

Most of the items I'd recommend are covered, but I'd also suggest the high-capacity catch (output) tray. I had to cobble together a support arm for the end of the tray farthest from the press because it would get so heavy it would bend the sheet metal support on the press itself far enough to contact the underside of the shellplate base plate. This would interfere a little with the downstroke of the ram, when the primer is seated.

When loading .40S&W or .45ACP, I can go well past 100 rounds before needing to empty the catch tray.

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

Another note: If you're reloading for semi-auto pistol, note that the Hornady New Dimension die sets come with a seater-crimper that provides only a roll crimp. I've had much better success by using the Hornady die for seating only, and using a separate Hornady taper crimp die. Before making that change, I was chewing up 45 cases pretty regularly. I also had problems with bullets getting seated even more deeply during stripping/feeding in my gun. Not any more, though.

 

[Tim the student]

Easier (much cheaper!) to simply set the drop die for the shortest caliber you reload and use shims (washers or an extra lock ring) to raise the powder measure as needed for longer cases.

Canuck, do you do that for going from pistol to decent sized rifle cases? I can't think of why it wouldn't work, but it doesn't seem like an ideal solution.