Hey Sport45,
"Why do you need to lock them in place? Seems to me you could leave them in the machine and just screw your dies in and out of them. What will it add, 1/4 turn each way?
For the first five years I owned my AP, I actually did use it the manner you described. I did not have any extra bushings and simply screwed the dies in and out all the time. I do not mind screwing the dies in and out. The problem to me comes when I am making final and fine adjustments to the expanding die and the seating and crimping die. To get the exact adjustment I want, I have to screw the die in a little bit at a time until I get the right adjustment. This process usually requires my moving the die in and backing it back out a bit for the finished setting.
With a regular single stage press, it is quite simple to move it in and out in fine increments. With the L&L bushing it becomes a pain in the neck to me. As long as you are going in, it is OK, but when you want to back it out a bit, the bushing then turns back and unlocks, and it makes it more difficult to do my fine adjusting.
Now, once you get your seating and crimping die set the way you want it in the L&L bushing, you certainly can lock the die at that spot and really change it in and out of the press thereafter. However, this is only true if your intention is to never change bullets and you have no intention of using that die in a single stage press again. As soon as you want to change bullets or use the die in your single stage press, you have to give up all your hard work of adjusting the die in the L&L bushing and start over again.
I constantly go back and forth between my AP and my single stage press, and I do not want to spend the money to buy extra die sets for each purpose.
After my first five years of using the AP, I did buy a bunch of extra bushings and found that I was leaving a bushing locked in place on some of my sizing/depriming dies. Once the sizing die is set, I don't have to readjust it if I make a bullet change or whatever. However, I still had the same problem if I wanted to use the die in a single stage press, and I do a lot of work on a single stage press. Prior to my moving in 2005, I had a shooting range in my basement, and I was constantly doing tests of different bullets and such that it was far easier for me to use one or more of my single stage presses rather than the Hornady AP. While I do not have a shooting range in my basement now, I still find I have lots of small jobs to do on the single stage presses.
After thinking a good bit about locking the bushings in place, I am considering locking the bushings in Stations 1, 2, and 4 and giving that a try. They are the stations I usually use for my dies. I usually charge my cases in Station 3, and I would want to keep that bushing in working order because it actually facilitates my changing powder settings by quickly removing the powder measure assembly. I never use Station 5 so I cannot see any need to lock it in place at this point.
I do not want to permanently change my machine, so I am not so inclined to drill and tap any holes to hold the bushings in place. I am still thinking this through, but I think I might be inclined to try locking them in with Lock Tite. I am also inclined to use the blue first to see if it holds since it can be removed easier with less heat than the red if the time comes when I want to remove them.
Some years before I bought my AP in 1997, I had a friend who had the earlier Hornady progressive version which I think was called the Projector. I thought that was a great press, and using his led me to prefer the Hornady over the Dillon. However, my buddy had a number of things he disliked about his Projector. He was a machinist by trade, and he made all kinds of cuts, welds and holes to his machine to make it the way he wanted it. His machine looked a bit like Dr. Frankenstein had put it together, but it really did work very well.
I am not a machinist, and I am more inclined to take pride in keeping my machine looking the way it did when I bought it. My machine has worked very well from the beginning, and that includes my original primer feeder, wire ejector, and other parts that other folks have complained about. Even my bushings work as they were intended. They are still original with the original "O" rings, but they still lock in place and stay in place without working loose like some folks have complained about. I think my idea of locking the bushings in Stations 1, 2, and 4 will make me happier using the machine, but it will not do anything that will permanently change it into a Frankenstein.
So Sport45, I hope that give you a better idea of why I want to get rid of the L&L feature on at least three of my five stations.
Best wishes,
Dave Wile
, you can loosen the set screw for quick removal of the bushing/die/PM/et cetera/et cetera/et cetera. Then you eat the bubblegum and salmon skin.
) 
