Just ordered a Hornady LNL AP

[drklynoon]

Gliden, LOL yeah the ebay shell plates are ridiculous. I read about the primer shuttles as well and that just makes sense to me. I'll be smoothing mine up as well. I know what you mean about saving nickels to upgrade. I'll be doing the same thing. For dri-lube, did you use the one-shot or did you use something more hardware store available? I'm planning on washing everything with dawn but am unsure about what dri-lube to use if I can't get one-shot. I haven't made up my mind about the powder cop die yet. I don't know which is better, the RCBS or the Hornady. I'm also considering making some PTX expanders but that won't be for a while.

[Gliden07]

Gliden, LOL yeah the ebay shell plates are ridiculous. I read about the primer shuttles as well and that just makes sense to me. I'll be smoothing mine up as well. I know what you mean about saving nickels to upgrade. I'll be doing the same thing. For dri-lube, did you use the one-shot or did you use something more hardware store available? I'm planning on washing everything with dawn but am unsure about what dri-lube to use if I can't get one-shot. I haven't made up my mind about the powder cop die yet. I don't know which is better, the RCBS or the Hornady. I'm also considering making some PTX expanders but that won't be for a while.

I used the Hornady One-Shot Dri-Lube because it was a no brainier, Hornady said it was approved for there machine (obviously). You could probably use Brake cleaner and some Teflon or Graphite type spray lube on all of the metal components? My only concern would be the Powder Hopper plastic; would the Brake cleaner haze it or mess it up I bet Tuner cleaner would work good too (if you can still find it?)? That's why I used what they suggested mainly. I think the dish detergent is a good idea but your gonna defiantly wanna put some kind of lube on it for rust protection. As far as the Powder Cop die goes jury is still out on Hornady or RCBS, I liked the idea of the Dillon one (audible alarm)and I have seen modified versions made to work with LNL but there expensive to experiment with IMO. Anyway on my way to school keep me updated on your progress!!

[TheCelt]

I have both the Dillon 650 and the Hornady LNL AP and I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite. LNL AP is a lot easier to set up when changing calibers but I do like the Dillon priming system a lot better. Because the primer seating ram is under the shellplate in the LNL AP it will occasionally get a piece of trash in it causing it to fail to retract from the shellplate and jamming the system. it's easy to clean though and if ya don't bend the guide rod by going to fast it won't harm anything. I do have a seperate powder system (one for pistols, one for rifles) because they require different funnel tubes. I love both of these presses!!!!

[drklynoon]

Press came in this afternoon. Everything looks to be here. The only issue was the powder measure hopper was not installed square so it has some scratches on the outside of the tube. It's no big deal though. I disassembled the powder measure and washed it. I've read through the directions but have too much to do to go to the shop and go any further with it tonight. I'm all kinds of happy.

[wool1]

Was in Cabela's in St. Louis yesterday and they had some shellplates in stock. Sorry, I didn't look which ones. I have the 4 or 5 I use and just noticed them in passing. Might be worth a call to them.

[41 mag fan]

One thing I did was to bend the guide rod. My sm primer arm got stuck and I forced it without knowing....if it feels tight, don't push it, stop and look to see whats binding. Quick call to Hornady and I had 2 sent to me the next day.
One thing on my primer tube, I leave the screw loose, otherwise it wont let the slide move freely.
Best thing I ever did though was buy the case feeder. To easy to get messed up, case, bullet, pull handle, case, bullet pull handle. Least bit of distraction, you forgot a case, then you forgot a bullet.

[drklynoon]

Wool, I lived in Belleville for 7 years. I miss it there sometimes. Here in Valdosta GA we have a gander mountain and they do not carry much in the way of reloading supplies. I've never tried to call an individual franchise store to see if they would ship something to me. I may give that a try.
41 mag fan, I'll try and be real careful when initially setting it up. Good tip on the shuttle. My small primer shuttle seems to have a small ridge around the bottom of it so I'll probably break that edge but other than that it's pretty clean. They even sent me two extra retainer springs and an extra primer wire attachment piece.

[metho]

I love my hornady lnl when it's not breaking. I've broken 2 primer shuttles, 2 pawls and the indexing wheel. Hornady did replace everything that has broken but I have since ordered a spare part of each piece that can break from midway just to have on hand.

[drklynoon]

Metho, I hope to not have those kind of problems with my press. I would think that if you are breaking indexing paws and the wheel, you may have an alignment issue. Maybe the ram is not centered correctly from the factory or something.

[drklynoon]

An update, I assembled my press and mounted it today. I ran 50 .32 H&R Mags through it. The powder measure is awesome. I love it. I had a little hick-up in the indexing to work out though. Intermittently would not index all the way to the next detent. I re-lubed the balls on the shell plate and tried again, it was better but it still needed help finishing it's index on the top and the bottom stroke. This may have been due to my handle speed being awfully slow. I adjusted on the index paws after I was done with the 50 and it seemed to act right but it seemed right before I started loading as well. Its no big deal or anything just a little adjustment and experience with it should cure this hitch. The primer system worked flawlessly. I also started to build a cabinet to go over my bench. It is a shelf right now. All in all a great day.

[VHoward]

Awesome. Minor glitches happen to all the brands.

[bbqncigars]

I love my AP, especially since the ergo roller handle was installed. Mucho easier on the rebuilt right shoulder. FWIW, good lighting over the shell plate really helps detecting any anomaly in the powder drop.

[drklynoon]

Yeah I have a desk lamp that is next to my press but I am considering the led kit and swing out two tray system from In-line Mfg.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I love my LNL AP. Belleville huh? I am about 20 minutes from Belleville.

[drklynoon]

Yeah I was stationed at Scott AFB for seen years. I loved it there and would move back in a minute. I go back periodically to see friends and can't believe how much it has grown.

[Bonz]

I ordered my Hornady LNL on Jan 21, still on backorder at BuffaloArms, waiting patiently...

[Oreo]

1. If the shell plate spring breaks its not really broken. The ends thread together.

2. Buy at least a 10pk of both the die bushings and the hornady lock-rings. You'll use them eventually. Hornady makes the very best lock-rings. I've replaced all the ones that came with my dies with the hornadys.

3. Go to powderfunnels.com and order yourself a universal PTX. Works way better then hornady's caliber specific PTXs and cheaper too.

4. Hornady ships their press with the "rifle" rotor in the powder measure. That will work for loading pistol ammo but charge weight consistency will be poor for some powders (unique). Buying the "pistol" rotor helps a lot in this regard.

5. Hornady also makes a "bench rest" rotor that is better for rifle cartridges up to .30-06. But to get the rotor you have to buy the whole "bench-rest" powder measure. When you get to a point that you want a second powder measure buy the bench rest version. Its only a few bucks more. Then you'll have all three rotors which is handy. Also, buy the "case activated powder drop" linkage and you'll be able to swap in your second powder measure just like the rest of your dies which is very convienient when switching from loading pistol rounds to rifle rounds and back.

6. Another solution to the die bushings working loose is to replace the O-rings with slightly thicker O-rings. Cheap & it works.

[drklynoon]

Thanks oreo, I'm a big fan of LEE lock rings but I must say the hornady ones seem to be pretty nice. I don't shoot much jacketed at all so the universal expander from powderfunnels wouldn't really work because it is a case mouth belling tool rather than expander and I hate sizing my boolits with my case. I switched the rotor out immediately for pistols because that is what I am going to use the press for. I also see no need for the micrometer insert if I buy the standard one for most of my calibers. I've got a couple powder measures now and am thinking about getting rid of most of them and buying another hornady specifically for rifle, I appreciate your feedback on the benchrest rotor. I may do that. The only thing I load for in rifles that may be too big would be 8X56R. Everything else should be in the benchrest rotor's wheel house.

[kostner]

Ordered a Hornady LNL from Midway but the whole world is on back order. Took the advice of a few LNL owners and order ten bushings and a pack of springs. Looks like my order will grow again with the addition of dry lube. Have two SDB's and a Lee Classic Turret but the LNL just caught my eye and just have to have one. If it works out I'll sell the SDB's to pay for the new press.

[drklynoon]

Mine works pretty well; however, I am still having some issue with the case eject of .32 H&R mags. I'm going to move my seating die to the last station and I think this will cure it. I softened the transition point for the spring and it got better but it still hung up on three positions of the shell plate. My .45's are not doing this so it may just be an issue with the light tall cases and the shell plate for the .32. I really like the operation of the press and would recommend one for most experienced re-loaders. The only other beef I have is the shadow over the traditional seating die station this makes it hard to visually check the powder. Some guys use a led system to fix that. The powder measure is great and I have not had any problems with the primer system at all.