Hornday LNL AP

[mwhite49]

Not sure if anyone else has issues wth the case feeder but I do. I'm assembling this today. And the stand for the case feed is past flimsy. It came in 2 sections that must be bolted together. Sounds easy enough, but the ridiculously inner spacer is past cheap. It is a V shaped piece sheet metal that was not made big enough. Now when bolted together it wobbles. I'm going to to make a long spacer that joines the 2 pieces together and add 2 more bolts.
Has anyone else had an issue like this?

[Lloyd Smale]

sure do. The case feeder is a pita. You want to get spoiled and really hate it load on a 650 or 1050 with a case feeder. Ive got two lnls with case feeders and half the time I have the case feeders disabled because they actually slow me down. Difference between a lnl and a 650 is the 650 was designed right from the git go to use a case feeder. the lnl case feeder was an afterthought.

[dannyd]

Put it together per the instructions and it will work just fine. Everyone seems to have a different experience I have loaded 10’s of thousands rounds with it and no problems. Most of the problems I see are because the instruction book is new and not used.

[rancher1913]

Mine is finiki but works as long as I keep it lubes and adjusted. Would love to drink the blue koolaid but the kids bought me the lnl, I would feel guilty not using it

[JimB..]

Pay attention to the direction that the little V thing goes, I recall doing it wrong and correcting it helped. Have only loaded a few hundred rounds with it, so still too early to have an opinion.

[mwhite49]

Pay attention to the direction that the little V thing goes, I recall doing it wrong and correcting it helped. Have only loaded a few hundred rounds with it, so still too early to have an opinion.

Your right, I had that little V shaped connector in the wrong way. Now it's fixed, no more wobble.

[Lloyd Smale]

tell me you NEVER get a case hung up in the case feeder window or NEVER get an upside down case, or Never have to help a case into the shell plate, or NEVER have a priming problem? You've never had to tweak the timing??? this aint my first rodeo. Ive been loading since 1972 and have owned about every brand of press made. If you haven't seen a problem on your hornady (especially the *** case feeder system) then you either got the only perfect one ive every heard of or haven't used it enough. I own two of them with case feeders and theybe been used ALOT. Just once go and watch someone load a 2000 rounds on a 650 and then come back and tell me how good our lnls are.
Put it together per the instructions and it will work just fine. Everyone seems to have a different experience I have loaded 10’s of thousands rounds with it and no problems. Most of the problems I see are because the instruction book is new and not used.

[dannyd]

tell me you NEVER get a case hung up in the case feeder window or NEVER get an upside down case, or Never have to help a case into the shell plate, or NEVER have a priming problem? You've never had to tweak the timing??? this aint my first rodeo. Ive been loading since 1972 and have owned about every brand of press made. If you haven't seen a problem on your hornady (especially the *** case feeder system) then you either got the only perfect one ive every heard of or haven't used it enough. I own two of them with case feeders and theybe been used ALOT. Just once go and watch someone load a 2000 rounds on a 650 and then come back and tell me how good our lnls are.

I work on the LNL’s all the time it does everything you said, but my 550 and SDB had problems too. I to have owned about every piece of reloading equipment in 30 years. But I like to work on the gear shooting is boring but reloading is not. The 650 is a nice piece of gear, but not for me the tool heads in a 550 cost almost as much as a 650 setup and ready to go. I only shoot 38/357 but now I have 14 seating dies, so changing them out is easy. Buying 14 tool head would cost a lot with Redding dual ring sizing dies. What amazes me is people pay 4 times what LNL cost and say it works better really. I also have 5 powder measures from the LNL easy to change out. Dillon gear is very good but it didn’t happen overnight.

[jbohio]

ditto dannyd

[Preacher Jim]

I never have those problems with my LNL because I hand feed the beast and love it. only thing I have that feeds cases is my star reloader.
you can call me old fashioned but I enjoy using my hands to feed cases and set bullets.

[tinsnips]

I have a LNL and Dillion both have there own little problems. I like to reload so overcoming problems is just part of the deal. Leaving the v block a little bit loose helped me a lot.

[mwhite49]

Well mine is now together and sdt up to load some 308. I deprimed 1,500 cases on my old Rock Chucker, then tumbled them. Then i used my new primer swager in tbe LNL. wbat a great tool that is. I'm just waiting for the large rifle plate for the case feeder, I now have them all. It also helped me to look over that manual, and I still had a Brain Fart and pulled out the little cardboard piece that said Don't Remove. I wrestled that spring 4 times before the light came on. Now the case feeder works as advertised.
If you get one don't mount it to far into the bench, if you do you will have to cut a notch in your bench for the Cam Wire. Yes I did, and that was after adding a plywood section under the base to raise it up a bit. Oh what fun. I was going to use my high In Line Fab mount but I did not have enough overhead clearance.
I'll post a picture later.
Thanks for your help.
Mike

[Lloyd Smale]

I will totally agree with you that hornadys powder measures are hands down better then dillons and are probably the best on any progressive press. It real nice to buy exta stems and keep them set up in the charge weights you use most and just pop them in and go. I'm one less then you though. I have 3 in presses and an extra one mounted on the bench. I also like the lock and load die collars too. Like you said its nice to be able to swap out a seating or crimping die fast. But I sure don't see how comparing it to a 650 is comparing it to a press that costs 4 times more. its more like a 1/3 more. Even a 1050 is FAR from 4 times more.
I work on the LNL’s all the time it does everything you said, but my 550 and SDB had problems too. I to have owned about every piece of reloading equipment in 30 years. But I like to work on the gear shooting is boring but reloading is not. The 650 is a nice piece of gear, but not for me the tool heads in a 550 cost almost as much as a 650 setup and ready to go. I only shoot 38/357 but now I have 14 seating dies, so changing them out is easy. Buying 14 tool head would cost a lot with Redding dual ring sizing dies. What amazes me is people pay 4 times what LNL cost and say it works better really. I also have 5 powder measures from the LNL easy to change out. Dillon gear is very good but it didn’t happen overnight.

[rototerrier]

I tend to agree. I do have to fiddle to get it perfect per caliber. Once I get it set up, my only issue seems to be the occasional case not quite getting into the shellplate. I think the technical term is "tipping".

1) I figured out if I spray just a smidge of hornady case lube on the cases before throwing them in the hopper, I never ever get a hung case up there. I mean never ever. Not exaggerating. If I don't lube them, I'll get cases hung up there quite often. I guess it just makes them slippery enough that they slip over the little metal thing they get hung up on.

2) I fabricated and installed a wiper and that resolved all upside down cases. Again, not exaggerating. I never ever get an upside down case.

214464214465

A guy sells these things somewhere. I saw it and just made one myself. I just use a little electrical wire guide with double sided tape and some stuff 1/8" fuel tubing. This keeps the cases from riding up and around the edges which is the cause of flipped cases. Now, only cases correctly oriented ever make it around to the top where they can drop down. Super simple and cheap fix.

3) I'd say I get tripped up with 1 in 500 45's and much more often with 9mm not making it properly into the shellplate. Bigger 45 cases are much more reliable. 9mm can be a PITA sometimes. That part sucks and the only thing I find that solves it is finding that perfect cadence and sticking to it. Sometimes I get to going too fast and that seems to be when it tips and doesn't go in. If I go smooth and steady it's fairly reliable. I've also found that adjusting it to where the case just barely makes it far enough into the shell plate helps. By not making it shove all the way in and leaving just a little gap, it still catches and rotates around and is less likely to tip and get hung trying to enter the shellplate properly.

I know, we shouldn't have to deal with this kind of stuff and everything should work perfectly, but all in all, I'm very pleased with it and don't mind an occasional hiccup.

[fabricator21]

Mine is also very finicky, mostly in the feeding die. Hornady has great customer service but was no help

[Steve E]

I have a Hornady LNL AP and really love it, I don't have the bullet or case feeder though. I upgraded from an RCBS Piggy Back II which was great but each machine had their particular way of working. Once adjusted both machines operated great. When I ever add a case feeder to the LNL AP that might be a different story though.

Steve........