OK Another Dillon v. Hornady LNL thread

Which Press and what does it do better?

  • Hornady LNL

    Votes: 37 48.1%

  • Dillon XL 650

    Votes: 35 45.5%

  • Other

    Votes: 5 6.5%
  • Total voters
    77
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A

atblis

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Neither here nor there
Poll. Which one, and what does it do better?

Alright. I've read the previous threads regarding this. I didn't see anything mentioned that was interesting.

I used to have a Dillon SL900 with case feeder. It was flat out awesome. It should be similar to the 650, and for that reason I am leaning towards the 650.

Some questions.

How well does the powder measure for the Hornady work? What's the deal with the quick change thing? Are those just bushings?

What's the indexing system like on the LNL? Is it easy to disable?

I usually have the most problems with the primer systems on progressives. Which primer system is better? I liked the SL900's primer drop (much better than MEC), but it appears to be quite different from the rifle pistol setups. What is Dillon's rotary system like?
 
LNL: got it because it offered the features that I was looking for: quick caliber changes, effective and safe design, and 5 stations. i really like the case activated powder drop. you can use it in a separate station or couple it with your expanding die. the bushings work great and my dies have remained setup properly. it also has a steel sleeve for the primer assay and the primer assay is positioned away from the reloader; a key safety factor in case of a kaboom. get what you want and what fits your pocket book. don't' let the blue haters/red haters sway you either way. you'll find very few comments about presses that are positive alone, almost everyone has to bash the other guys while they're at it.....especially when they have no experience with the other product. blue and red are both good products from my experience.
 
Well

I've already had a Dillon progressive and loved it, so a good bit of the hate won't phase me (plus I've read the previous posts so I know what I am in for).

Does the Dillon not have a case operated powder drop?
 
I've posted this before, If it is redundant I apologize now. It's just that I know how difficult it is to make "an educated decision" on this topic.

The Dillon has been on the market a long time and have great customer service, as a result, Dillon users are "foaming-at-the-mouth" dedicated to their blue presses. The Dillon's are EXCEPTIONAL presses and do an exceptional job in reloading. The guys that have Dillon’s are very satisfied. The competition to the Dillon is the Hornady Lock and Load Auto Progressive. Because most of the Dillon users are so satisfied I was swamped with comments like, "The Hornady L-n-L is Junk!" I asked if they had ever loaded on the L-n-L and 99.9% said no. When I did find someone that had experience with both presses, most liked the L-n-L and many had sold their Dillon's and bought the L-n-L.

IMHO the Dillon has one major shortcoming and most Dillon owners will agree if they are honest. The Dillon powder measure is sorely lacking in ease of use and adjustability. It meters ball type powder very well but flake type powder less so. And, extruded stick type powder is VERY troublesome and not all that accurate. To be fair, extruded powder is difficult in all powder measures. But, the L-n-L powder measure handles all types of powder MUCH better than the Dillon. The Hornady has nifty metering inserts that snap in and out of the powder measure. You can buy several different inserts for a specific load with out going thru the "trial and error" method of getting you powder charge set. They also have seperate rifle and pistol inserts. The really good news is that the adjustable metering inserts are about $9.00 verses about $50 for a seperate Dillon powder measure. Additionally, the Hornady powder measure can be emptied without taking the measure off the press. They have a drain feature that snaps in place of the metering inserts that is really handy. Makes swapping powder a snap without changing the adjustment of you powder die.
It is a pain to swap out the Dillon powder measure to another die plate. As a result, many owners have several powder measures on separate die plates for changing calibers. This significantly drives UP the COST.

Also, the Dillon gets filthy as the old primers are caught in a cup after they have rolled off the side of the press. The L-N-L spent primers are dropped thru a plastic tube and into the trash or bottle or whatever you want to use. The point is, the dirt off the spent primers does not foul the workings of the press. As a result, the L-N-L IS MUCH CLEANER TO USE THAN THE DILLON.

The primer system on all progressives is troublesome. However, if the Hornady is properly adjusted and kept clean, the system works VERY WELL. The key element is keeping the seater clean. A little high pressure air works wonders. Just use a can of air like that used in computers and photography.

The Dillon 550 has 4 die stations and the L-N-L has 5 stations. The Dillon 650 has 5 stations but, costs significantly more. Also, the Dillon 550 does not auto index, the L-n-L does. The Dillon 650 DOES auto index, but again, at more cost.

Next, the L-N-L uses a really slick bushing system for mounting loading dies to the press. It makes changing calipers and SNAP. After a die is adjusted for whatever you are loading you can remove the die from the press with an 1/8 turn and insert a different die. Each die has it's own bushing. The Dillon uses a die plate. The Dillon die plate costs more than L-N-L bushings. Another neat feature with the Hornady is that you can buy a bushing conversion setup and use the same bushings on your RCBS, Lyman or other single stage press and the L-N-L!

Additionally, the L-N-L seems to be built like a tank! The ram is about 2"+ in diameter and the basic press is similar in construction to the RCBS Rockchucker. I would say that a side-by-side comparison to the either the Dillon 550 OR 650, the L-N-L is at least as sturdily built. And, In some areas I think the L-N-L is better built. i.e., The massive ram, powder measure, and primer system. The head/top of the press is solid except for where the dies are inserted. The Dillon has a large cutout that is needed for their die plates. By just looking, it would seem the L-N-L would be stronger. But, of course, that may not be the case.

There is one piece that can get damaged on the L-N-L. There is a coil spring that holds the cases in the shell holder that can get crushed if you improperly change shell holders. That's the bad news. The good news is that they are only about $2-3 and they won't get crushed if you change shell plates correctly. The other good news is that this spring is the primary reason that while loading you can easily remove a case at any station. With the Dillon you have to remove pins in order to take a shell out of a shell plate.

You can load anything on both the Dillon and L-N-L from .25 ACP to 500 N.E. Realistically, I would say that people with progressive loaders mostly load pistol ammo about 99% of the time. After using the L-N-L for while I feel confident that my Grandkids will be using when I'm gone.

As far as customer support; It seems to be on par with anything Dillon puts out. They know that "Blue" is their major competitor and they seem to match anything that Dillon does. I've been satisfied, But I haven't needed much support, except for a couple of tech questions.

In summary, the Hornady L-N-L has all the features of the Dillon 650 but is cheaper. Changing calipers is faster and cheaper. The powder measure on the L-N-L is VASTLY SUPERIOR TO THE DILLON, at least in my opinion. I bought the L-N-L and am very satisfied. A shooting buddy of mine is a long time, dedicated Dillon user. He has three! After giving me a ration of "stuff" about my choice, he came over and used my L-N-L and sheepishly said, "That's a very nice setup!!"
 
Rabid, Foaming at the mouth Blue Press fan Here

:D I have 2 550s and 5 powder measures and I may be getting another 550 soon. I have also owned, not 1 but, 2 Hornady progressive presses.The first was a Hornady Pro-jector and the other was a 366 shotgun press. I bought the pro-jector after looking at it side by side with a Dillon 550. It was steel. It was obviously brute strong and, I like red better than blue. I could never get it too work well and I could never get any help from customer service. I had about the same experience with the 366. I actually thought about buying the LNL after all this and, having already purchased my first 550. Then I came to my sences and just bought a second 550. Do Dillons have problems, sure. I wish the powder measure had a knob instead of a screw. The primer system is prone to fouling and I am not particularly good at maintenance. So, why buy a Dillon. Customer service. I have had very few problems with them that couldn't be fixed by cleaning them but, when I got the wrong shell plate with my second press, their fault, they just sent me a new one the next day and told me to keep the other. I have never been one to just follow the crowd because they were heading in one direction, quite the contrary, but I have learned the hard way. When 90% of Cowboy action shooters were shooting Rugers, I bought AWA's. Then I bought Rugers. When 90% of CAS shooters were shooting Marlins and 73's, I was shooting Winchesters. Then, I bought Marlins and Uberty 73's.:D. The same for the shotgun, don't buy an old double and think it will hold up.:uhoh: Get a new double or the Norinco 97', I now own several of each. Now what does this have to do with which reloader to buy? Everything. These guys shoot a lot of ammo. Which do you think is the most popular machine? If you answered Hornady, wrooooong. Probably 75% use Dillon and I will bet the same is true of any sport that requires high volume reloading. By the way, If I ever buy another progressive shotshell reloader it will be a Ponsness -Warren, why because that is what the High Volume trap shooters buy. I am learning.:D
 
I owned a 550, hated it after using it a couple weeks. Had bad experiences with their customer service. Got rid of it. Got a Hornady LnL. I've been extremely happy with it. It's better than the 550 in every single way and frankly, isn't even comparable.

The 650 is more comparable, but costs sigifnicantly more, especially in extra powder measures bought. I think Waldog pretty well covered the details, so I won't spend any more time.

I don't hate the Dillons, but wasn't impressed with the 550 and even the 650 is getting dated design wise since the LnL AP came out.

A Projector press should be no more of a reason for not buying a LnL than a 450B is for not buying a 650. (Buddy of mine had a 450B and I loaded on it once, what a beast, a cheap beast, but a beast.) The LnL is a serious product improvement over the Projector. In fact, about every single issue the Projector ever had has been corrected in the LnL AP, to the point it's a better press than the Dillon offerings.

What would I buy if the Hornady LnL didn't exist? A Dillon 650. But then I'd have to buy a RCBS Uniflow or Hornady Powder measure with either a Hornady or RCBS case activated powder drop so I could just buy powder dies and not have to buy so darn many powder measures and to avoid having to adjust the Dillon powder measure.

Ultimately, you have to decide what features are important to you. I suggest instead of doing polls, you go take a hard look at each press and see what features each press you're interested has and then make a decision. You will not get a bad progressive with either brand.

Dave
 
If the 650 is within your budget, get one and don't look back. It really is a better (not cheaper) product. BTW the index can not be disabled on either press. In my experience, both hornady and dillon customer service is good, but hornady QC needs some improvement (3 out of 4 hornady shellplates I've purchased have gone back for replacement although I suspect most will have better luck than that). The worst that can really be said about the 650 is the basic caliber conversion kits are expensive at $70 each and changing sizes for the priming system is a little challenging at first; that's it.

The LNL-AP can only use Hornady taper crimp dies in the 5th die station (per the manual) due to interference with the ejector wire. Case ejection becomes an issue with smaller diameter cases. The typical "fix" (and recommended by hornady) is to have an ejector wire tweaked for each caliber. The LNL-AP only comes with a rifle powder insert (pistol size insert and drum sold seperately; included with all dillon measures). The LNL bushings work, but so do toolheads. Both powder measures work, but IMHO the dillon measure is better for pistol applications and the hornady for rifle applications (especially using IMR stick powder). There is no strongmount for the hornady unless you build your own.
 
THe powder measure thing

Are the powder measure inserts just bushings? Anytime you want to change the powder measure, do you have to change inserts?

What all do you have to buy for the LNL to get started?
Supposing I want to do 38Special/357Mag
LNL Press $370
+ what?

Bad experience with Dillon CS. That is odd.
My experiences
Me: "I tripped and fell while moving my SL900 and broke the..."
Dillon: "What's you customer number?...parts are in the mail"
 
Are the powder measure inserts just bushings? Anytime you want to change the powder measure, do you have to change inserts?

What all do you have to buy for the LNL to get started?
Supposing I want to do 38Special/357Mag
LNL Press $370
+ what?
Click to expand...

The powder inserts are removable from the rotor (drum) in the powder measure. The standard insert is similar to dillon powder bar in that you adjust a bolt/knob to change the setting. The rifle insert locks into the rifle rotor. Additional basic rifle inserts may be purchased for $9 each. Basic pistol inserts are supposed to be sold seperate from the pistol drum, but I haven't seen them for sale yet. The micrometer insert has a micrometer dial to return to a previous setting with precision (like a unique-tek micrometer powder bar conversion). Micrometer inserts are available for rifle and pistol drums for $27 each.

To do 38/357 on an LNL-AP:

press $370

pistol powder drum/insert $30 (if you can find one for sale, otherwise $40+shipping through hornady direct). You might be able to use the rifle powder insert for pistol loading if the charge volume isn't too small. I've done it once, but it is tricky/touchy to set and then lock the adjustment without losing the setting. The pistol insert allows much finer adjustment and smaller powder charges.

die set $20-$50

since 38/357 is not taper crimped, you may not be able to use the 5th die station (ejector wire interference). If you plan to use a powder check die, that will require seating and roll crimping in station #4. For auto calibers, a hornady taper crimp die is $17.

case expander insert $9 (not mandatory, but required if you want to expand the case and drop powder in station #2). This fits in the powder drop assembly. It's the same as a dillon expander funnel and replaces the expander die from the die set (leaving a die station vacant for a powder check die).

the press should come with 5 die bushings, but they are roughly $3.50 each for when you add additional calibers. It saves having to adjust dies each time you change calibers. 4-5 bushings are the equivilent of a toolhead.

the press will come with a powder die as part of the powder drop assembly, but additional powder dies are $16 each. It is convenient, but not mandatory, to have a powder die adjusted for each caliber (especially if you are expanding and dropping powder in the same station).

A powder check die is optional, but $25 if you want to use one.
 
"Are the powder measure inserts just bushings?"

I think you're talking about the pistol case mouth expanders. They drop into the powder dies, which is the bottom half of the case activated powder drop. They are basically like bushings, except they serve the function of expanding the case mouth. Dillon calls them powder funnels in their powder measures.

If you're talking about the powder measure rotor inserts, I've owned my LnL for 6 years. When I ordered it, I ordered the micrometer insert for the drum that came with it (rifle). With that drum and the micrometer, I've loaded every single caliber I own, from 9MM to 30.06. I've never needed or bought the pistol rotor or pistol micrometer. I would recommend buying the rifle rotor micrometer when you buy the press

"Anytime you want to change the powder measure, do you have to change inserts?"

You only need extra insert for pistol calibers. The case activated powder drop comes with all the inserts for rifle calibers.

"What all do you have to buy for the LNL to get started?
Supposing I want to do 38Special/357Mag
LNL Press $370
+ what?"

If you shop around, you can beat the price you listed by twenty or so dollars. Shellplates often fit multiple calibers, such as shellplate one fits .45ACP and 30.06 and a large list of other calibers. That said, you need to buy a shellplate for your caliber, a die set, Lock N Load bushings for your dies (I recommend just buying a ten pack of those if you're planning on adding other calibers later.) and a expander insert for .357. You wouldn't need the insert if you were planning on reloading rifle.

I'm not sure what stuff you have from reloading shotshell that will help with your reloading pistol, but there's some good information on accessories that make things more convenient in the new reloader sticky at the top of the forum. I'd read through that were I you.

About the Dillon customer service issue. I had two incidents, one was with my 550 when I was trying to get the priming system not to eat my primers and the other one was when I was trying to get some dimensional information about a Dillon product and the guy in both cases started giving me a rash of crap. I don't think it's typical for Dillon. I do think it was an isolated incident, but it does show any technical support or customer service can turn bad sometimes.

That said, that's was the "last straw" on the 550 I had. Looking back, I was new to progressives at the time and having difficulty getting the thing to work right, but I do think the one I got was a lemon (I now suspect a mounting hole was drilled in a wrong location, but don't have the press to confirm.), which shows you any manufacturer has issues and you can see this reading the forum here. However, I had no such issues when I got my Hornady LnL. The thing worked from day one and any problems I've ever had were handled by Hornady's warranty service. So bottom line for me, I like the Hornady products better due to their innovation, but think the warranty and quality is about the same for both presses.

As far as others that owned a 550, were happy with it, but then bought a Hornady LnL, have had problems with their LnL and are unhappy with their press, I note that even after several years, they haven't sold their LnL press on ebay and bought what they feel is the better press. If I felt the way they did and had all those problems, I'd certainly have gotten rid of my Hornady and had a Dillon 650 now, but they've kept their Lock N Load. Interesting, it can't be because of losing money, because either brand goes for top dollar on ebay, so minimal if any loss of money.

Regards,

Dave
 
Okay

I was asking about the powder measure inserts. I was thinking you had to change the inserts anytime you wanted to change powder settings at all (like mec powder bushings). It looks/sounds like they are adjustable like any powder measure but you can have one for each load.

It sounds like the price difference between the 650 and the LNL isn't as large as it appears. The Dillon comes pretty much setup for whatever caliber you initially order it for (both require dies). The LNL requires you to purchase some extra goodies.
Bushings $12 for 3
Shell plate $26
Expander insert (not required) $9
Possible some powder measure stuff ~$30

Whose selling the LNL for $350? $370 was the best I could find, everybody else is $380+
 
atblis,

I didn't see it mentioned but if you buy the press and a set of Hornady dies you qualify for 1100 (1000 for press + 100 for dies) free bullets. Check Hornady's website for more info. If you don't plan on getting a powder cop die then you won't need the powder-through-expander. You'll expand using the die instead. The press comes with a standard rifle metering insert and rotor. If you plan to reload pistol then you'll want to get the pistol rotor with insert. Additional pistol standard metering inserts are available from Hornady direct. It seems like no one else carries them.

--AJ
 
After lots of lurking and research, I've decided to order the Dillon 650 XL with the automatic case feeder. This press will be exclusively used for .308, I have a new FAL in the mill from DSA.

Wish me luck, KC
 
Widener's http://wideners.com/index.cfm still has the lnl ap for $299 on their website but showing out of stock. I just bought mine in November. I'd give them a call and see if they are getting any in and if that price is still good. I think you will be hard pressed (ha ha get it?) to find anyone with hornady presses in stock right now since they are giving free bullets with the presses. I bought $630 worth of dies, lnl ap, and lnl classic kit I just ordered an hour ago and will get 1900 free bullets out of the deal. They will cost me a total of $42.70 to ship but I'm not complaining.

Dave has mentioned that the lnl ap press is much easier to remove a case in process than what the dillon is. I have no experience with the dillon so I won't knock it. I have found that I do remove cases from time to time and I think that would be a good improvement. When loading rifle rounds, I use the powder cop die in 3 and I look into the case mouth through empty station 4. If I see a case that looks unusually low or high, I can pop the case out before I seat the bullet and weigh the charge. I usually dump the charge back into the case feeder (if all brass is already primed) or set the case on my bench and insert it in station 2 at the end of my run.

The only issues that I have had with my press have all been shellplate related I believe. I think in a few months as the old supplies of older plates dry up, this problem will go away. I bought 2 used shellplates on ebay and they were the old style. I sent them into Hornady and they sent me 2 brand new plates. They didn't really owe them to me because I did buy them used. My press does get a few hiccups but for a machine of this nature, you can't expect perfection for under $500 for any brand. A company could make a perfect press but nobody would buy it because of the price. There are so many people sitting on the fence of should I reload or not to make equipment costs more than what they already are. Higher prices would really cut into the amount of people getting into it.

I've loaded around 2000 223's and 1300 30/06's so far. I'm getting ready to start a run of 45 now. As far as changing the powder measure over, it is no big deal. Shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes. The bushing that goes into the powder drop comes out easy. Unhook a spring and loosen a screw on the linkage and pull the measure out and dump the bushing out of the powder drop. The measure comes with 3 bushings. One for large rifle, small rifle and handgun. The metering insert is what most people buy several of. If you have a dedicated load you can set the insert and forget it instead of changing it for each caliber. Still not hard to change it for each caliber. What is more time consuming is adjusting the measure for case heights. I think you will have this with any brand of press.

You can do anything with this press you want to do with only having to buy the shellplate and dies for the caliber you load. The rest is niceties.
 
I just went through this decision right after christmas . . .i was SOOOOOO close to buying a LNL but the threads on here about the through the expander parts not properly belling the case was just enough to make me buy another dillon. (I had a 550). I"m sure Hornady will eventually work out the bugs on those but my main reason for a 5 station press was to have one hole for a powder cop. (with separate crimp and taper dies). I couldn't find an expander at Hornady for 45/70 either.

That being said I'm sure the LNL is a great press, I just felt that the 650 was a little more "shaken out". I already had spare powder measures from my 550 so that wasn't an issue for me. On the negative side for the dillon the caliber conversions seem a bit steep, but you can shop around, and if you're willing to study the charts you don't have to buy all the parts and can save a good amount that way. The shell plate issue is the same on both presses. (one shellplate can fit multiple calibers, etc.)

Have a good one,
Dave
 
I understand that you can use different parts from different conversions without having to buy a conversion for every caliber but Dillon sure doesn't market it that way. After all, there should only be 2 sizes of buttons. Do you really need 50 of them? Hornady has 1 spring and it fits all of them. I can figure out in about 1 minute how many calibers will work with 1 shellplate by looking at Midways catalog and what shell holder number they have listed with the dies. I don't want to have to pull out manuals and books to figure out what conversions will work with what caliber. I have a feeling dillon is making a killing off of all their customers by selling them one conversion per caliber at $70 a pop for the 650.

I debated between the 650 and the lnl. After reading a lot about both of them on the internet, I decided on the lnl. When someone writes an article that recommends buying the cheaper of 2 products, it usually means something. Could be that person is getting paid but I don't think that was the case with the writer of the article. I wish I still had a link to it.
 
The only pics I've ever seen of primer detonations on progressive presses (other than Lee) were on Dillon 650's. The hornady priming system is more like that of of the dillon 550, taking one at a time from the tube to the shell, with a lot of separation between them if a primer gets crunched. Also, the 650 primer system is a pain to change over from large to small, unless, in typical dillon fashion, you spend a lot of extra money on a complete priming subassembly (like they want you to do for their powder measures). Finally, if you want to load one round at a time, turret style, the 650 will keep dumping primers on each pull of the handle, even if you didn't use the one you had, whereas the 550 and AP will not.

Andy
 
I have loaded .38, .357, 9mm, .40, 45 ACP, 45 LC, and .223 on my RL550's and I'm very happy with both of them.

If you want that 5th station, go with a 650.

The LNL is probably a good press, especially since most of it is patterned after the Dillon. :rolleyes:
 
dfmtoy,

I was on the line with Hornady tech support to find out about another product I'm buying and discussed the expanding issue with Hornady tech support. Understand I have significant experience with the older CAPD.

After discussing the expanding issue, I suspect the problem isn't a problem with the expanders, but a problem not understanding how the adjustment to the press is made. If the powder measure rotor isn't rotated full to the "up" position, one cannot adjust the expansion inserts for case expansion.

How can I say this with confidence about the new CAPD? Because I modified the old CAPD with a Lyman M-die to get powder through expansion before the new CAPD came out and dealt with how to adjust it then.

Regards,

Dave
 
Dave, I have no problem believing it could be an adjustment issue, or just a bad run, but at the point in time I was purchasing that was the one thing that kept me from pulling the trigger. I have no doubt that I would've been very happy with a LNL . . .it's really a Ford vs. Chevy debate as far as I'm concerned.

I have a feeling dillon is making a killing off of all their customers by selling them one conversion per caliber at $70 a pop for the 650.
Click to expand...

This could very well be true and I can't fault them if they want to make money as I have kids to feed as well. That being said, I have to say that everytime I've called in to order something their CS reps have been more than willing to walk the charts for me and just order the parts I needed and that was without even any prodding. I really like the fact that they don't seem to charge a premium for individual parts over what the conversion kit costs. It'd be pretty easy for them to gouge you that way if they were really greedy.

Have a good one,
Dave
 
What Dillon owners are buying to load rifle.

BigSoundRacing and anyone else buyinga Dillon,

Since you're buying a 650, I thought I'd show you what other Dillon owners before you have bought to load rifle powders on their 650 without dealing with the Dillon powder measure.

http://www.zjstech.net/~ddixson/DillonWithHornadyMeasure1.jpg

http://www.zjstech.net/~ddixson/DillonwithHOrnadyMeasure2.jpg

I think you'll notice the powder measure in that picture just happens to be Hornady red. Yep, that's a Hornady case activated powder drop and a Hornady Lock N Load powder measure sitting right in a Dillon toolhead. Both of which come with a Hornady LnL AP press.

I'm showing you this because the Dillon powder measure doesn't do well with stick powders and if you don't want to modify it, you'll have another option to load your .308 with IMR 4895 with a powder measure that'll fit your press. The RCBS Uniflow with their version of the CAPD works well also.

Regards,

Dave
 
Hornady actually has a manufacturing problem with their powder measure. The distance between the center of the rotor and the bottom of the threads is inconsistent. The fixture they use to manufacture the powder measure is being remade. The powder measure dimensions will be more consistent once that it done. It is expected that this process will be completed by the end of the month. I have been dealing with Ken and Greg in their engineering department. This most likely only affects people that have powder measures out of spec. I'm hoping this will be resolved by the end of the month.

Otherwise, the press is working pretty good. I have a problem with the ejector wire every now and then with 9mm and sometimes the spent primer stops the shellplate rotation. I have adjusted the decapping pin and it hasn't made a difference.

Personally, I think think all the major player's make great presses. I chose the Hornady because I think it is substianally easier to change calibers and the powder measure design seems that it would be more accurate. The thing that always bugged me with my 550 was re-adjusting the powder bar each time I changed calibers. The metering inserts with the Hornady are a dream.

--AJ
 
"Hornady actually has a manufacturing problem with their powder measure. The distance between the center of the rotor and the bottom of the threads is inconsistent. The fixture they use to manufacture the powder measure is being remade. The powder measure dimensions will be more consistent once that it done. It is expected that this process will be completed by the end of the month. I have been dealing with Ken and Greg in their engineering department. This most likely only affects people that have powder measures out of spec. I'm hoping this will be resolved by the end of the month."

Are you saying your powder measure threads are too short and you can't adjust the clamp on the powder measure to get spring tension? If so, you can do what some do if they use a Uniflow measure for the Hornady CAPD and add a brass or copper bushing as a "shim" below the powder measure. You can get the pipe to make this bushing in the plumbing department at Home Depot. That way you don't have to wait for the fix if your powder measure is defective. Here's a pic of the shim I'm talking about. Fella adapted a Hornady CAPD with a Uniflow on his 650, quite ingenious solution.

http://www.zjstech.net/~ddixson/Hornady powderdropbushing.jpg

The above "fix" aside, I don't understand why Hornady hasn't already replaced your powder measure with one that's in spec. If some are out of spec, but not all, surely they have one that's in spec and in stock.

"I have a problem with the ejector wire every now and then with 9mm and sometimes the spent primer stops the shellplate rotation. I have adjusted the decapping pin and it hasn't made a difference."

For the ejector wire, slow down just a bit as you're raising the press handle and give the round a little more time to come out. Also, check to see what generation shell plate you have for 9MM. Many vendors had the old style in stock and simply sold them, rather than returning them to Hornady for the new style.

For the spent primer issue, it sounds like you might have your shellplate rotation adjusted incorrectly and the case isn't centered over the spent primer ejection tube when the primer is ejected, thereby causing it to catch on the hole. To make this adjustment, you make very small incremental adjustments of the feed pawls at the base of the ram. Each pawl controls the amount of rotation for a single lift, up or down, of the handle.

Otherwise, your die isn't adjusted correctly to the shellplate. Once the primer is "clear" of the brass, it is being pushed and gravity is going to take it down the spent primer ejection tube unless it isn't lined up and it catches on the edge of the hole. If the primer decapping pin is pushing the primer out of the brass, the only place it has to go is down into the hole.

So either your primers aren't getting decapped or the shellplate rotation pawls aren't adjusted properly.

The various type of hiccups you're having with your press suggest you might not have the press adjusted quite right. I suggest going back through the press slowly and methodically checking the adjustments to make sure the shellplate is stopping it's advance so the spent primer and ejection holes are centered in the arc of the shell holders when the shellplate stops it's rotation. Look down through the empty die locations to view this. I'd also suggest having another go at adjusting the CAPD. Because if the threads are long and not short, you have enough length to adjust the upper clamp for proper rotation and to get the rotor to reach 'top" in order to expand the brass.

Hope this helps,

Dave

BTW, what you're posting here and what Hornady Tech. Support is telling me are two different things. When I worked technical support and we had a product with a problem, I would have known it and been willing to share that information with customers in order to get the problem resolved. So I'm suprised Hornady's Technical Support is not in agreement with what you're saying.
 
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