New version of the Hornady LnL AP coming out

[BigJakeJ1s]

This is a pragmatic move on their part, to slow the rush of requests for replacement parts so they have enough to build new presses with. Fewer users are likely to take the time/expense to ship their press back than would simply call and ask for a new subplate and shell plates be sent out.

Maybe after the initial rush is over, they will start sending them out.

Andy

 

[jim4065]

Gave an order to Mid-South for a new AP this last Monday. They're out of stock there - and most everywhere. The lady at Hornady said they weren't shipping any of the old style ejectors so that's why the holdup. Guess I'd better call Mid-South to be sure they understand that unless I get the new mod, I won't accept the press. Hate to be that way, but what the hell...........

 

[tmang69]

I want Ezject and I want it now!

I called Hornady today and was told the same thing. The upgrade will be $100 including the sub plate and two shell plates (your old shell plates must be sent in for the exchange) +$10 for each additional plate. The upgrade will not be available to customers until late February as well. I did ask if they could just mail out the part (sub plate) and let the users that want to upgrade their presses themselves do that. The answer was "they can't do that" and when I asked why the Hornady rep (very nice lady by the way) could not give me an answer. Bummer.

Contacted MidwayUSA today to see if the Hornady sub plate that they sell (when it is in stock again) will be the new designed "ezject" plate. Midway phone person had no idea. Anyway, I'm hoping that when Midway gets in a new supply of sub plates that it will be the new designed plate. I can always sell my existing shell plates on Ebay and I think come out ahead and without having to ship my freaking press in the mail by upgrading the press myself. I've had to replace no less than 5 cracked hubs so I could do this blindfolded. By the way, with dealer discount, the Midway price for the Hornady sub plate is currently 69.99 with a due date of Dec. 5. I plan on calling back to see if someone there can confirm if this is the new one or not.

 

[Wayne02]

I was checking the parts list. Looks like all that's required is a subplate and, of course, shellplates. The 223 shellplate I just got is the new design. I see, comparing, that old shellplates could be modified on a lathe in a heartbeat. Maybe they'll have a trade-in program for existing users. Otherwise, it's way too expensive to replace all my shellplates.

That's good news that the old shellplates can be modified on a lathe as I'd hate to have to send in all my plates or buy all new plates as I have a few of them.

So all I need to do in addition of modifying my shell plates is buy the subplate from somewhere?

 

[Jetsurgeon]

Last week I purchased a new sub plate for reloading .223 Rem from Midway, I believe it was #16 (but its not in front of me right now).

Anyway the plate that arrived was the new version of the sub plate.

Hope this helps....

Happy T-Day.


Jeff

 

[Knucklehead2]

I would use caution trying to groove the old shellplates in a lathe due to the hardness of the ones I own. Hit them with a file and you will see what I mean.

 

[xm15]

Any news as to when these will be shipping to dealers?

 

[rdc0000]

This is about right. First it was purchase the inside the powder expander bushings to get powder at station #2 and allow the use of the powder cop die. Then it was upgrade to the new powder linkage to get that to work correctly(last month!!), Hornady said. Now another charge to fix another BAD engineered design the ejector wire. Have to set a washer on the priming point to keep from gouging the press and to get a good primer seating. Have to have a wire down the primer tube to make the primers feed. You must chamfer the primer hole and smooth everything up to get it not to jam. Also, you need a air compressor to blow the dribbled out powder pieces to keep the priming mechanism from failing. And guess what there is no alarm for out of primers or for the powder cop. This thing is an exercise in how not to design a progressive press.

I'm a fool for staying with this piece of junk trying to get it worked out. I should have sold it the day I saw a re-engineering of the powder linkage, that was a big clue

Yes it's my first post also. I can't believe you people still think this thing is a winner. It is not.

 

[RUDY850]

Then it was upgrade to the new powder linkage to get that to work correctly(last month!!),

Must of missed this. link to information on this

 

[mallc]

I'm blue

I was thinking about adding a LNL to the bench. Now I'm thinking there must be a reason they give you 1000 free bullets to buy their press.

Maybe I'll buy another 650 instead.

Scott

 

[mrwilson]

I have none of those problems. Maybe you got a lemon...or your just trolling.

 

[Walkalong]

If they were that bad, no one would buy them, 1000 bullets or not. Lots of happy LNL owners, and some of us old Projector owners too.

 

[kasTX]

I have none of those problems. Maybe you got a lemon...or your just trolling.

Based on my LNL AP experience, he isn't trolling. I had to polish the primer feed to get it to work, and it still is only about 95% reliable. I gave up on the automated powder drop, because it has the bad habit of dropping powder all over the press. I haven't invested the time to figure out why. The piece of metal that holds the bin was the wrong shape, and could not be mounted to the press until I cut away some of it. The brass doesn't line up very well with the dies in some calibers. And don't even get me started with that stupid ejector wire - when it isn't flinging brass across the shop, it is binding up the press.

Others seem happy, so I suppose I got a lemon. Once they get the replacement program up to speed, I'll send it back and see what they have to say.

 

[Iron Sight]

OK you Dillon people.........Lets hear the total truth.

I bought a Hornady LnL AP guess about 6 months ago.

Mainly for .45 Auto & 38 special. Have probably loaded around 3000 rounds with the tool.

Primer system wouldn't set primers deep enough for me. I de cap, re-size & hand prime all my rounds separate from the Hornady LnL AP.

Ejector system works about 90% Have learned to live with it and if a round sticks on ejection my hand comes up and clears it. I did polish the shell plate as learned on this forum.

The powder dispenser has worked fine 100% of the time. Pistol rotor metering assembly installed. Of course it has to be re-set between 38 special and 45 ACP case lengths. It did loosen once until I added a rubber band along with the O ring to the Lock N Load Bushing.

Customer phone service has been great.

Bought some re-loads done on a Dillon a while back. Primers not set to my satisfaction, some cases deformed looked like over crimped? Rounds that would not fit my shell guage.

OK you Dillon people.........Lets hear the total truth.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Well, that's why they make different brands of most everything.......

I recently replaced my worn out Pro-Jector with a new LNL press. The old blued .38 Special shellplate moved right from the old press to the new one and works perfectly. The ejector works well, with only an occassional round hanging up, probably about 1 in 500 or so.

I've only loaded 3,600 rounds on the new press, but so far I'm very happy with it, and I'm using RCBS dies, with a Lyman crimp die in the 5th station.

I don't prime on any progressive press, since I consider priming a precise step in making new ammunition, but just for kicks, I did load 100 rounds with the LNL press doing the priming and it was well within tolerances, and all 100 rounds went off as expected.

I find it interesting that some people will swear off a certain brand due to one experience. I've had some pretty rude dealings with Dillon, but I still buy and use some of their tools. I've talked to them at the SHOT Show several times and they are brusk and rude, unless you have invested your life savings in their equipment.

At those same SHOT Shows, I've talked to the people at Lyman, RCBS, Hornady and Redding, and they have all been pleasant and helpful. While I don't limit myself to any one brand of equipment, I also don't exclude any one brand, since they all have a few things they do better than the others.

I got a good deal on my LNL ($299.00 + shipping), and I received 1,000 Hornady .44 XTP bullets for the cost of shipping. In essence, I got the press for free. My old Pro-Jector is back at Hornady right now for a complete rebuild, and when it gets back, I'll then have two progressive presses on my bench, along with my RCBS Rockchucker, my Hollywood Sr. and my Magma Casemaster Jr.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[rdc0000]

If they were that bad, no one would buy them, 1000 bullets or not. Lots of happy LNL owners, and some of us old Projector owners too.

All the problems are documented here

I'm talking engineering design flaws. Not merely inconveniences.

BTW, I like how my responses are all gone, but the rude trolling comment and this one essentially calling me a liar is still here. Thanks Highroad what are you a California company? Nice.

 

[rdc0000]

I have none of those problems. Maybe you got a lemon...or your just trolling.

Let's clear up a few things. I bought the LNL AP 2/2005. I've been trying to get this thing to run reliably for 3+ years. I've given it a fair trial and without the fixes in the link above I would not have gotten this far. It's your money, spend it how you want. I'll be talking to Hornady about my problems. No use wasting my breath here as this site seems to be heavily censored.

 

[jfh]

rdc0000: Your early comments were probably deleted because they changed the subject of the thread. "Staying on the subject" is important at this site, no matter which forum.

Another problem that leads to post removal can be attitude issues in the off-subject text. You might also want to consider avoiding sarcasm; one catches more flies with honey than with vinegar.

FWIW.

Jim H.

 

[nksmfamjp]

Is there some reason why we think this new system is better than a properly tuned wire? I'll hold off. I can see it taking a while to get the angle of that doodad right for all cartridges.

 

[ReloaderFred]

rdc0000,

This is called The High Road for a reason. Most of the posters believe in an honest exchange of ideas and information, without a lot of sarcasm, venom or accusations.

It's easy for an anonymous, faceless poster to hide behind an alias and post all kinds of rants. This forum tries to avoid that, and has been pretty successful, which is why I use it more than the others, including the two I'm a moderator on.

If you would tone down your posts, and have an open mind, and accept the concept that others may have had different experiences than you, then you'll find this a good forum, as it has a lot of good information. There is a lot of experience here, and a lot who have just started out reloading. The exchange of information is helping those just beginning, and the old timers are also learning from each other.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[freonr22]

i have only been here a short time, and i believe this is an excellent forum! where else is there this much information? from bullets to smithing, to restoration... totally unparalled

paul

 

[SteveW-II]

rdc0000, feel free to start you own thread if you want to have a discussion about the quality or otherwise of the LNL AP. That way any opinions you want to voice may stay in the thread.

My only intention in starting this thread was to let any prospective buyers of a LNL AP that there was a modification in the pipeline. That's all.

I don't own a LNL AP or work for Hornady, but have been considering buying one.

 

[snuffy]

OK you Dillon people.........Lets hear the total truth.

And what total truth might that be? That the dillon comes out of the box already set-up with the caliber you ordered, then you read the manual, it works! No fiddling, trimming, polishing, cussing, calling anybody to fix a badly designed machine.

Here's my collection of LNL complaint/problems links;

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=306454

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=384290

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=362320&highlight=LNL

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=391909

Just to remind me to never consider one of them for purchase.

 

[raz-0]

Here's my collection of LNL complaint/problems links;

yeah, and people complain.

The dillon 650 is perfect right? Try going someplace liek the brina enos forum (LOTS of dillon users), and searching on 650 primer. The 650 has all sorts of problems with the primer system, has had several part redesigns to fix it, and eveyone seems to think dillon poops sunshine.

Dillon makes a great product. They stand behind it. But probably more importantly, there are a lot of users willing to tell how they got around their setup issues and problems.

What I don't yunderstand is why so manny dillon fanboys can't just shut the hell up while someone uses another brand.

Check your own links, and you'll see that most of the problems revolve around the same quirks, and MANY of them involve people who when their press doesn't operate smoothly just push harder (hey guess what, that can and has broken dillon presses as well). Heck, one of your links has someone complaining that case feeder is noisy. Like the dillon is quiet? It's a bunch of brass in a tub being rattled around, of course it is noisy.

Some things dillon has gotten smart about, like their how to use the 650 video. Hornady's dopcumentation is rather no-frills, something that leads to a lot of the frustration folks encounter.

 

[snuffy]

What I don't understand is why so many dillon fan-boys can't just shut the hell up while someone uses another brand.

I didn't start it, somebody implied there's issues with the dillon 650, same as the hornady POS.

OK you Dillon people.........Lets hear the total truth.

This thread, like a host of others, has degenerated into a red versus blue fight. It happens each time anything like this is brought up. I'm surprised someone hasn't said their lee loadmaster is better than the H machine. Some are------------.

I've never had a single problem with my 650 primer system. Other than the fact that you have to remove the shell plate to change sizes. But you have to anyway if you're changing calibers.