Questions for Hornady LNL owners, bench/press setup, etc.

[TStorm]

LNL arrived Friday and I've started putting this together. Have to go get some brake cleaner to get the oil off the powder drop parts and dies. Suggestions for this welcome as well.

Questions for Hornady LNL owners....

1. How much room to set up to either side of press/where to position on bench? I have seen Dillons where the operation was "two sided" as the left hand fed a case and the right hand placed a bullet (? it has been a while). The LNL appears to be a left-sided operation for case and bullet placement. What's your preferred press operation? Can I favor the right side of the bench for press placement? Bench is my workbench that is getting reloading as a new duty.

2. What's the preferred die/powder drop placement in stations 1 through 5? I don't have specific taper dies or a powder cop (yet). The instructions are not very specific here since the 5 available stations give more flexibility.

3. What do you do for primer monitoring? Small wood dowel? Buy a Dillon alarm? I saw the recent post on the shotgun shell gizmo with Radio Shack buzzer. Not sure I'm capable of rigging my own alarm.

Damn this looks like fun! Giggidy Giggidy!

Thanks in advance!

 

[ranger335v]

"1. How much room to set up to either side of press/where to position on bench? "

Typically, a right handed person will be happiest with the press set to the right end of the bench and with 14 to 20 inches of clear space to its left for placing components, etc. Many of us are quite happy with a small open space to the right side of the press, maybe 6 to 10 inches.

 

[rigger]

1. I set mine up on the right hand side of my bench. You don't need access to the right side when reloading. You do need access to right side to change primer punch. Mine is about 6 inches from the end of the bench but I don't have a wall on the right side.

2.I put sizer-deprimer in 1, expander in 2, powder measure in 3, seater in 4, and crimper in 5. If you don't have a separate crimper I'd just leave 5 empty.

3. I use a 1/8" rod with a piece of tape on it to monitor primer level. You probably wouldn't need to as you can feel when it there is no primer to seat. It does come in handy to help get the last primer to feed when it hangs up.

 

[pinkymingeo]

1. For pistol it'll be all left handed. Your right won't leave the lever. I just started loading 223, though, and I'm sizing, then tumbling before primer/powder/bullet. I'm doing those two-handed ala Dillon.
2. Use the RCBS lockout die. Puts your mind at ease.
3. Wooden dowel marked for the last primer. When you reach the last one, remove the dowel before it feeds and you won't jam. Otherwise the last one always hangs up.