mactex
Member
I'm thinking about moving up to a progressive and these are the two I'm looking at. One of the criteria I'm considering is how hard it is to change calipers on each. Any comments?
Switching calibers Loadmaster v. Hornady?
- Thread starter mactex
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FieroCDSP
Member
Loadmaster is probably the easiest, depending on a few variables.
There are three types of case-feeder rigs: Rifle, small pistol, large pistol.
Large pistol is for 40 and up. Small pistol is for below 40. Rifle is obvious.
You also need the proper slider for the feeder. Again, small pistol, etc.
Shell-plates are basic. I use the same one (19s) for most of my loading which is 9mm Mak, 9mm Luger, and 40 S&W.
Turrets themselves require the loosening of a thumb-screw and a slight turn and lift. I only have one powder dispenser, so I have to switch it between turrets, but thats no biggie.
So really, to change a LM between the largest difference in common pistol calibers with a basic setup, you need to:
Change case slider
Change case feeder
Change turret (w/dies)
swap powder dispenser.
Change Shell-plate
Change primer feed.
At worst, the extras you'll need to buy after the initial purchase (you can get them pre-rigged for a specific caliber) are: proper shell-plate (duh), large(or small) primer feeder, large(or small) pistol case feeder (comes with appropriate slider), extra turret. Figure $80 for those, max.
I can't speak for the Hornaday.
There are three types of case-feeder rigs: Rifle, small pistol, large pistol.
Large pistol is for 40 and up. Small pistol is for below 40. Rifle is obvious.
You also need the proper slider for the feeder. Again, small pistol, etc.
Shell-plates are basic. I use the same one (19s) for most of my loading which is 9mm Mak, 9mm Luger, and 40 S&W.
Turrets themselves require the loosening of a thumb-screw and a slight turn and lift. I only have one powder dispenser, so I have to switch it between turrets, but thats no biggie.
So really, to change a LM between the largest difference in common pistol calibers with a basic setup, you need to:
Change case slider
Change case feeder
Change turret (w/dies)
swap powder dispenser.
Change Shell-plate
Change primer feed.
At worst, the extras you'll need to buy after the initial purchase (you can get them pre-rigged for a specific caliber) are: proper shell-plate (duh), large(or small) primer feeder, large(or small) pistol case feeder (comes with appropriate slider), extra turret. Figure $80 for those, max.
I can't speak for the Hornaday.
DaveInFloweryBranchGA
Member
I have a Hornady LnL and it's extremely fast and easy to change calibers on it. One of the easiest and fastest.
Regards,
Dave
Regards,
Dave
FieroCDSP
Member
'Ems fightin words, Dave. We can't both be the fastest. 
Griz44
Member
I load small and large pistol and large rifle. I use the Loadmaster. I have a turret set up for each, and complete primer setups for each. To do the above steps, it takes about three minutes if you are lazy and slow. (like me) No resetting of dies is needed, they stay perfect on the turret when it changes out. The shell plate has one knurl nut to hold it on, and the case slider takes one bolt to loosen get it it off. The primer feed is a slip in after the shell plate is off, so that takes an extra 10 seconds or so to change it. The real story is how inexpensive it is to set up for another caliber. I went ahead and got powder measures for all my tool heads, because at 18 bucks each, why not? You save more than than buying a set of Lee dies. One exception to the above list, the 40S&W uses the large case feeder with the small slider, kind of a hybrid mix for that, but the spare sliders are only 6 bucks.
The LNL is an excellent tool and initial purchase price gets offset with the free 1K bullet deal, but adding a new caliber after that will cost a lot more than adding a caliber to the Lee product. For me, it was economics. If money is no object, the Hornady or Dillon are both great machines.
The LNL is an excellent tool and initial purchase price gets offset with the free 1K bullet deal, but adding a new caliber after that will cost a lot more than adding a caliber to the Lee product. For me, it was economics. If money is no object, the Hornady or Dillon are both great machines.
Hunter0924
Member
Though I have not used the Lee press I do have a Hornady L-N-L progressive and it really is pretty quick to change calibers.
I do think the Hornady press will stand the test of time and use much better than the Lee.
The L-N-L feature is also handy if you want to remove just one die (or the powder measure).
I have an old Pro-7 built sometime in the mid 70s that still works great. I bought it well used many years back and it has never given me any trouble. The L-N-L AP was an upgrade for me and it is a well built soild press.
I do think the Hornady press will stand the test of time and use much better than the Lee.
The L-N-L feature is also handy if you want to remove just one die (or the powder measure).
I have an old Pro-7 built sometime in the mid 70s that still works great. I bought it well used many years back and it has never given me any trouble. The L-N-L AP was an upgrade for me and it is a well built soild press.
DEDON45
Member
I have a LnL... changing calibers takes me under 5 minutes, and that includes me setting the powder measure and testing a drop.
DaveInFloweryBranchGA
Member
"To do the above steps, it takes about three minutes if you are lazy and slow. (like me)"
I can change a LnL setup in about 2 minutes, if it takes that long. No screws, no pins, just twist and click on the dies are off and on. The only time user is the primer dispense, if you need to change sizes and it's a 30 second job (or less, if you're quick handed, I'm not)
"No resetting of dies is needed, they stay perfect on the turret when it changes out."
The LnL uses LnL bushings and there's not need to reset the dies on the LnL. Additionally, you can change out a single die without having to use another extra turret, because you have the convenience of the LnL bushings. Makes the system very flexible.
"The shell plate has one knurl nut to hold it on, and the case slider takes one bolt to loosen get it it off."
The LnL shellplate has one nut to hold it on and the case slider is mounted to the subplate below, so you generally don't have to remove it unless you're changing case size dramatically.
"The primer feed is a slip in after the shell plate is off, so that takes an extra 10 seconds or so to change it."
"The real story is how inexpensive it is to set up for another caliber. I went ahead and got powder measures for all my tool heads, because at 18 bucks each, why not? You save more than than buying a set of Lee dies."
Lee powder measures can be used on the Hornady as well. In fact, I use the Lee Pro Auto Disk for my pistol cartridges quite often, so you're NOT tied down to just the Hornady Powder Measure. This allows you a great deal of flexibility in picking and choosing dies, etc.
That said, the Hornady LnL powder measure is superior for use with extruded rifle powders such as IMR 4895 over the Lee measure. The measure is quick enough to setup for rifle (it's quick for pistol as well, but since I use Lee deluxe pistol dies, I use the Lee powder measures and leave them setup, cause they're inexpensive and work well. That way, I don't buy an extra expanding unit for the pistol calibers.)
Additionally, the LnL bushing system will always provide better runout for rifle cartridges over any of the die plate/turret setups, as it allows the case to center up in the die better than the die plate/turret systems do.
If you're loading both rifle and pistol, the LnL will do a better job, is a bigger, heavier duty machine, doesn't require any fiddling/adjusting.
All that said, unless I was doing a LARGE quantity of cartridges weekly, I wouldn't bother buying a progressive. Instead, I'd get a Lee Classic Turret press. It's easily as reliable as a Hornady or Dillon, with very quick/expensive caliber changeover and provides an easy 200 round per hour setup with none of the fiddling of the Lee progressive. A buddy of mine owned both the Lee Loadmaster and the Lee Classic Turret. He had both setup and running well. But over time, the Lee Classic Turret requiring no fiddling allowed him to change calibers, get loading and be done with the quantities he needed by the time he could get the Loadmaster settled down and running good.
BTW, I should say I have a LnL, but I also have a Lee Classic Turret. I really like both and have no prejudices against Lee equipment. But I have to say, my buddy, who has excellent mechanical skills, advised me the Loadmaster requires just too much fiddling for my tastes and evidentially, for his.
But if financial considerations are important and you need a progressive, the Loadmaster can get it done, if you are patient and have the time to fiddle a bit.
Regards,
Dave
I can change a LnL setup in about 2 minutes, if it takes that long. No screws, no pins, just twist and click on the dies are off and on. The only time user is the primer dispense, if you need to change sizes and it's a 30 second job (or less, if you're quick handed, I'm not)
"No resetting of dies is needed, they stay perfect on the turret when it changes out."
The LnL uses LnL bushings and there's not need to reset the dies on the LnL. Additionally, you can change out a single die without having to use another extra turret, because you have the convenience of the LnL bushings. Makes the system very flexible.
"The shell plate has one knurl nut to hold it on, and the case slider takes one bolt to loosen get it it off."
The LnL shellplate has one nut to hold it on and the case slider is mounted to the subplate below, so you generally don't have to remove it unless you're changing case size dramatically.
"The primer feed is a slip in after the shell plate is off, so that takes an extra 10 seconds or so to change it."
"The real story is how inexpensive it is to set up for another caliber. I went ahead and got powder measures for all my tool heads, because at 18 bucks each, why not? You save more than than buying a set of Lee dies."
Lee powder measures can be used on the Hornady as well. In fact, I use the Lee Pro Auto Disk for my pistol cartridges quite often, so you're NOT tied down to just the Hornady Powder Measure. This allows you a great deal of flexibility in picking and choosing dies, etc.
That said, the Hornady LnL powder measure is superior for use with extruded rifle powders such as IMR 4895 over the Lee measure. The measure is quick enough to setup for rifle (it's quick for pistol as well, but since I use Lee deluxe pistol dies, I use the Lee powder measures and leave them setup, cause they're inexpensive and work well. That way, I don't buy an extra expanding unit for the pistol calibers.)
Additionally, the LnL bushing system will always provide better runout for rifle cartridges over any of the die plate/turret setups, as it allows the case to center up in the die better than the die plate/turret systems do.
If you're loading both rifle and pistol, the LnL will do a better job, is a bigger, heavier duty machine, doesn't require any fiddling/adjusting.
All that said, unless I was doing a LARGE quantity of cartridges weekly, I wouldn't bother buying a progressive. Instead, I'd get a Lee Classic Turret press. It's easily as reliable as a Hornady or Dillon, with very quick/expensive caliber changeover and provides an easy 200 round per hour setup with none of the fiddling of the Lee progressive. A buddy of mine owned both the Lee Loadmaster and the Lee Classic Turret. He had both setup and running well. But over time, the Lee Classic Turret requiring no fiddling allowed him to change calibers, get loading and be done with the quantities he needed by the time he could get the Loadmaster settled down and running good.
BTW, I should say I have a LnL, but I also have a Lee Classic Turret. I really like both and have no prejudices against Lee equipment. But I have to say, my buddy, who has excellent mechanical skills, advised me the Loadmaster requires just too much fiddling for my tastes and evidentially, for his.
But if financial considerations are important and you need a progressive, the Loadmaster can get it done, if you are patient and have the time to fiddle a bit.
Regards,
Dave
Griz44
Member
Not if you cast them yourself. I cast my own, wind up costing less than .03 each. So a thousand is only 30 bucks. BUT - that's a whole different topic....
The LNL is a good machine, so is the blue thingy. So is the Green thingy. So is the Red or whatever color. Take a look at the budget, and how many rounds you need to make. The blue max thingy will make 10 zillion rounds an hour, do you shoot that much? I shoot 200-500 rounds a week, that takes me less than 2 hours to replace with the red cheap thingy. I usually spend a lot more time than that in the cave, and many times will only load a 100 at a time and then tumble, sort or read for a couple of hours and maybe do another hundred or so. Get what suits your style and needs. If you have a bunch of spare cash laying around and you like BMW race cars, go for it. Me? I like my Chevy (loosely interpreted as LEE LOADMASTER) and it saves me money, which is only one of the reasons I reload.
The point? Seems everyone has a favorite, and whatever you pick will wind up being YOUR favorite. Find someone in your area with the different systems and ask if you can come watch or help reload with them. Enjoy reloading, and enjoy the accuracy and savings and sense of accomplishment that comes with it. The only thing you can really do wrong is deciding NOT to reload.
BigJakeJ1s
Member
This article compares caliber changeover and other features of Dillon, Hornady and Lee progressive presses.
http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillonLeeHornadyComparison.pdf
Andy
http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillonLeeHornadyComparison.pdf
Andy
mactex
Member
Thanks for all the input guy/gals!
Sport45
Member
Sounds like it's minutes with any of the choices. For me I'd call it a statistical tie. If the time difference was measured in hours I'd let it enter the decision process.
But that's just me. Others may put more value on their leisure minutes.
But that's just me. Others may put more value on their leisure minutes.
That is the bottom line.
I have a few blue thingy's, a couple of green thingy's, a red thingy, and a really cheap red thingy. I also have a hand held red thingy.
* After a small debate with myself about deleting the "hand held red thingy" (My extremely innocent and naieve discription of my Lee hand press) since after reading it, could be interpretated as a whole seperate other subject and discussion all together, decided not to. If this was realtime, I couldn't take it back.
After much laughter, I will continue...
I love 'em all...
Sorry... I lost my train of thought after that
cheers
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Griz44
Member
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Aw, never mind. There's no way I can put thought to word without violating some kind of board policy...
Thanks LGB, That was a coffee spiller......
Otto
Member
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- May 14, 2007
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jmorris
Member
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If you are changing from say 45acp to 308, (use the same shell holder) had the dies preset in Hornady bushings and an extra powder bar for the measure preset; I’d say the swap would take 30 seconds. My complaint is the bushings are so easy to swap they try to do it themselves, should have put a ball detent in there somewhere.
DaveInFloweryBranchGA
Member
Otto,
There ain't no powder measure on that turret. He ain't got it done yet. (grin) Tell him to tighten up and git back to work.
Regards,
Dave
There ain't no powder measure on that turret. He ain't got it done yet. (grin) Tell him to tighten up and git back to work.
Regards,
Dave
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