Hornady LNL Grrrrrrr!

[Jtarm]

Sounds like your primer shuttle is not moving freely. Make sure it manually slides easily just by pulling on it where the spring mounts to it.

That’s what I said there at the end, only I called it the “slide”.

[JimB..]

I’m about ready to just go get a turret, I think it would be faster and save me a lot of money on primers.

When I got my LNL the entire primer assembly was missing, the prior owner could never get it to work. I ordered all the parts and it seems to be working for me. In fact I’d take another, which brings me to mentioning that I have this Lyman 7station turret press and a spare turret if you decide to get serious. Might even have the priming parts for it.

[Walks]

COWBOY ACTION SHOOTERS are the ones who would blow up their guns using a dillon. They were feed the hype about "How easy it is to load on a dillon". Just put a case and bullet in and pull the handle. I know of one guy who said dillon told him the press would arrive ready to load. So he just dumped in some W231 and WSP's and started cranking out ammo. 1st round blew his sixgun to pieces, took 3 of his fingers with it. Cowboy Shooting started here in SoCal. At one time I could go to as many as 7 different matches within a hundred miles of my home. Shoot Cowboy every Sat&Sun. Taught a couple of dozen people to reload using a RockChucker. Most went on to purchase RockChucker kits, and then progressive presses. Only one of them ever blew up a gun. But he was an IDIOT to began with.

Too many people buy dillons with no experience in reloading, and dillon does nothing to find out if these people have any experience at all.

RCBS HAS HAD THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE RELOADING BUSINESS LOOOONG BEFORE dillon came along.

REDDING HAS TOP NOTCH CUSTOMER SERVICE TOO. THEY JUST RECALIBRATED A 15YR OLD SAECO LEAD HARDNESS TESTER FOR ME AT NO CHARGE, NOT EVEN RETURN SHIPPING.

HORNADY FIXED MY L-N-L 10YRS AGO AT NO CHARGE WHEN I FORCED IT AND BUSTED THE INDEXING SYSTEM.
I swear by my HORNADY. LOVE THE ACCURATE POWDER DROP SYSTEM. IN FACT IT'S SO GOOD, RCBS HAS COPIED IT.

I will always believe the dillon powder measure is an abomination. It's poor design and construction is why dillons blow up so many guns.

[Petrol & Powder]

You can't blame Dillon for having dumb customers. Every manufacturer has some dumb customers and they have no control over that.

As for the Dillon powder measure, I have several that have worked beautifully for years. I guess I just got lucky???

[sawinredneck]

COWBOY ACTION SHOOTERS are the ones who would blow up their guns using a dillon. They were feed the hype about "How easy it is to load on a dillon". Just put a case and bullet in and pull the handle. I know of one guy who said dillon told him the press would arrive ready to load. So he just dumped in some W231 and WSP's and started cranking out ammo. 1st round blew his sixgun to pieces, took 3 of his fingers with it. Cowboy Shooting started here in SoCal. At one time I could go to as many as 7 different matches within a hundred miles of my home. Shoot Cowboy every Sat&Sun. Taught a couple of dozen people to reload using a RockChucker. Most went on to purchase RockChucker kits, and then progressive presses. Only one of them ever blew up a gun. But he was an IDIOT to began with.

Too many people buy dillons with no experience in reloading, and dillon does nothing to find out if these people have any experience at all.


REDDING HAS TOP NOTCH CUSTOMER SERVICE TOO. THEY JUST RECALIBRATED A 15YR OLD SAECO LEAD HARDNESS TESTER FOR ME AT NO CHARGE, NOT EVEN RETURN SHIPPING.

I will always believe the dillon powder measure is an abomination. It's poor design and construction is why dillons blow up so many guns.

Seriously? Honestly, seriously? This is your issue with Dillon? I buy a Dillon that’s “setup” to reload and I don’t check to see the weight of the powder charge and it’s Dillons fault? They know exactly what powder and weight charge I want, because they are mind readers, and my gun blows up?
You can’t be this misinformed. NOTHING comes set up this perfectly! Buy a new computer and you’ll spend an hour setting it up then deal with the updates.
If you buy a press and aren’t smart enough to know you need to check the powder charge, well, I’m not terribly sympathetic to the outcome. Your a moron and probably shouldn’t own a gun to start with!
The Dillon powder measures work very well, if used properly.
Are you trying to tell us if you buy a Hornady progressive press it’s set up perfectly for everyone and every powder out of the box? Well sign me up for one, but I doubt that as well.

I apologize to the administrators, but this is the most ignorant post I’ve ever come across in over 20yrs of being on forums.

[hooterville]

I have a hornady LNL and I have made one adjustment to the pawls since setup and it runs smoothly with no hiccups , I hand feed cases and bullets and still manage to knock out a few hundred an hour and that is not running at full capacity as this old fart cant keep up with all that is going on , but I do enjoy the machine to knock out all the .45 acp and or 9mm I need for a weekends shooting.

[omgb]

Glad to hear it’s not just me.

I’m about ready to just go get a turret, I think it would be faster and save me a lot of money on primers.

Almost every time they get low the slide hangs and I have to remove the whole feed. Even though I slip a card under the tube when I lift it up, it’s impossible to do without spilling primers. I have a 250 grain bullet attached to the top of the plastic rod to keep up feed pressure.

The latest adventure is the rod that actuates the primer slide. Every time the ram goes up and the slide starts to pull back it pulls the rod out of the cup at the bottom.

Ideas, anyone?

I called Hornady and they sent me a couple of the brackets that attach at the top. Installed a new one to no avail.

The primer slide pulls back without much effort, so that’s not the problem.

First things first. Pull the shuttle. Now clean the raceway with brake cleaner. Feel for any burrs. If you feel one, polish it out with 1500 grit sand paper.
Second, clean the shuttle the same way and check for burrs. If you find some, polish in the same way you did above.
Third, take your case mouth chamfer tool and slightly ease or chamfer the top side of the primer shuttle pick up hole. You want a very slight chamfer.
Fourth, reassemble the shuttle and spring assembly. Check for free movement. Now, before you put the primer tube in, raise the press to the top of the stroke and see where the shuttle hole is in relation to the primer tube holder base. It should be dead center. If not, adjust by moving the cam wire in or out as needed. This is done by loosening the screw that holds the upper cam wire capture (black plastic piece screwed to the top of the press frame) Once it's centered, lock down the screw.
Fifth, make sure you are using the correct primer tube. You want the tube that is flat on each end, not the one with the pick up fingers on one end and the clovice pin on the other. That one is for loading your primers in the tube. Assuming you have the correct tube, note that the ends are different. The end with the milled step fits into the primer tube base you have bolted to the press. That step aligns the primer tube dead center with the pick up shuttle hole.

You should be good to go at this point. Oh, the cam wire. The flat end fits into the upper mount. The rounded end goes into the mount attached to the base of the press. If you swap them it won't work.

Check these adjustments out and see if things don't improve. BTW, you have to keep all dirt and powder out of the shuttle slot, especially where the slot apexes into the shell plate. Even one grain of powder or dirt will screw you so get a can of computer air and keep it handy.

[Drew P]

The primer tube also has a very small shelf turned on one end that needs to register down into the slide assembly.

[omgb]

That’s what I said. Was I unclear?

[Drew P]

Yes you we’re sorry. I missed the line about the step. It’s subtle and has bitten me a few times.

[omgb]

No problem. I just thought I was obtuse

[omgb]

With the mods and adjustments I listed I get 100% reliability

[Carrier]

With the mods and adjustments I listed I get 100% reliability

Did you drill the two holes in the case feeder arm to mount the pivot body bracket? I just installed the bracket with the one bolt to see how it would work.

[mwhite49]

Hornady must pay attention to the comments on the press and use those to fix things during production. I purchased mine at the beginning of this year, both small and large primer shuttles were smooth and already had the holes camfered too.

[omgb]

Yes, I marked the hole with a fine point sharply. Then I used my drill press to drill the holes perpendicular to the bar. Then I took my VLD chamfer tool and eased the four holes Tunis is so old the mounting bar is one long piece

[omgb]

You know Hornady listens. That’s why their customer service has improved so much

[parisite]

I have no use for a case feeder or bullet feeder; I have to load the case feeder and bullet feeder by hand first, don't I? So what's the advantage? My LNL press has always ran like a Singer sewing machine.

[calm seas]

omgb, thanks for the step-through on the primer setup, especially the tip on checking the shuttle alignment before inserting a primer tube - so simple a solution I overlooked it.
Drew P, can you explain a little more about how to modify the primer feed so a single grain of powder doesn't hang things? You mentioned it on page one.

First, grind two flats on the primer slide so you create small pockets where dirt can go without gumming up.

[Carrier]

I have no use for a case feeder or bullet feeder; I have to load the case feeder and bullet feeder by hand first, don't I? So what's the advantage? My LNL press has always ran like a Singer sewing machine.

I can’t speak about a bullet feeder but with a case feeder all I do is scoop a couple hundred cases in the bowl, turn it on and start loading. I would never be with out one again.

[LittleLebowski]

COWBOY ACTION SHOOTERS are the ones who would blow up their guns using a dillon. They were feed the hype about "How easy it is to load on a dillon". Just put a case and bullet in and pull the handle. I know of one guy who said dillon told him the press would arrive ready to load. So he just dumped in some W231 and WSP's and started cranking out ammo. 1st round blew his sixgun to pieces, took 3 of his fingers with it. Cowboy Shooting started here in SoCal. At one time I could go to as many as 7 different matches within a hundred miles of my home. Shoot Cowboy every Sat&Sun. Taught a couple of dozen people to reload using a RockChucker. Most went on to purchase RockChucker kits, and then progressive presses. Only one of them ever blew up a gun. But he was an IDIOT to began with.

Too many people buy dillons with no experience in reloading, and dillon does nothing to find out if these people have any experience at all.

RCBS HAS HAD THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE RELOADING BUSINESS LOOOONG BEFORE dillon came along.

REDDING HAS TOP NOTCH CUSTOMER SERVICE TOO. THEY JUST RECALIBRATED A 15YR OLD SAECO LEAD HARDNESS TESTER FOR ME AT NO CHARGE, NOT EVEN RETURN SHIPPING.

HORNADY FIXED MY L-N-L 10YRS AGO AT NO CHARGE WHEN I FORCED IT AND BUSTED THE INDEXING SYSTEM.
I swear by my HORNADY. LOVE THE ACCURATE POWDER DROP SYSTEM. IN FACT IT'S SO GOOD, RCBS HAS COPIED IT.

I will always believe the dillon powder measure is an abomination. It's poor design and construction is why dillons blow up so many guns.

Dillon is not blowing up guns nowadays. It is considered impolite to write in all caps. This forum is known for its courteous members.