First hand Review of the Hornady L-N-L AP vs Dillon 550B

[Colorado4wheel]

I have owned all three the LNL AP – 550B – Xl650. While they will all make more ammo then an average person could need. The lnl took the most time to fiddle with stuff during a loading session. I never made 200 rounds without having some little issue. The 550 is a lot more reliable. You do have to keep the priming system clean. By the time I hit a thousand rounds I would take the priming system apart and clean it. Then I was good for another thousand. The 650 is the most solid of the three and just cranks out rounds like nobodies business. Its easy to get two to three time the output with the 650 as the other two presses. The real issue is the price difference. If you can afford the 650 then it’s the best choice. If not get the 550. The LNL would be my last choice. It is fine as long as your not in a hurry and you don’t mind fiddling with the press as needed.

Hornady Lock N Load AP
The Lock-N-Load AP is an auto-indexing, 5-station progressive press that features the Lock-N-Load bushing system, which allows calibers to be changed very quickly. The Lock-N-Load is the cheapest press to equip with additional caliber conversions. During Automatic Indexing Each station moves 1/2 a stage on the upstroke and 1/2 a stage on the down stroke and the up stroke, making for a smoother function. This means less chance of flinging powder out of cases. The Lock-N-Load AP can be used with or without a case feeder. This allows you to start at a Dillon 550B price but to upgrade to a Dillon XL650 speed press at a later date. The earlier editions of this press were known to have issues and were more in line with Lee quality presses. With the new generation of presses Hornady is trying to go head to head with Dillon including matching their warranty.
One Hour Production Rate 500 with case feeder 800.
Cost $ $381.99 bullet feeder 279.99. 12 2010


The Dillon RL550B
RL550B is manual-indexing four station progressive press. The Dillon RL550B is the workhorse Dillon press line. It can load almost any center fire rifle or pistol cartridge. It has 120 caliber conversions available for it. In the Dillon line the Dillon RL550B is the most economical add calibers to. It has less expensive caliber conversions than other Dillon presses. If you were buying just one Dillon press and wanted the most bang for the buck, it would be a Dillon RL550B. According to Dillon more RL550s have been sold than any other progressive machine in the world.
One Hour Production Rate 400 - 500
Cost $376.00 12 2010

The Dillon XL650
The XL 650 is auto-indexing five station progressive press. The XL 650 was built from the ground up to be an auto-indexing press with a case feeder. The Dillon XL650 comes standard with a tube system for an automatic case feeder. The automatic case feeder is sold separately So the advertised starting price doesn’t accurately reflect the true price of a Dillon XL650. A fully set up Dillon XL650 cost twice what a Dillon RL550B cost but produces twice as much ammo an hour. The caliber conversions for the Dillon XL650 are noticeably more expensive than the RL550B and the LNL. For large volume reloading, versatility and ease of use a Dillon XL650 is hard to beat.
One Hour Production Rate 800 – 1150
I owned the 550 and decided it was time to upgrade to a higher production machine. After looking at the 650 and LNL on paper I decided to go with the LNL with case feeder. I bought the LNL with the intention of getting it set up and running good and then selling the 550. Instead the LNL went back. Then I bought the 650. It didn’t take any time to realize the 650 was the best of the batch and I sold the 550.
I bought the LNL thinking I would save some money over the 650 and in the end I ended up spending more in the long run.

Agree 98%. Only difference was I was just as fast with my 550 and no casefeeder as I was with my LnL with a casefeeder. ANY issue with a casefeeder that happens regularly totally kills your actual production rate. 650 is a great machine. 550 is a great machine as well. They just meet different purposes.

[Colorado4wheel]

hmmm....how so? On my hornady, I use 5 and could easily use 7. I figured the 1050 could handle that.

Current setup (will have to change it once my bullet feeder comes in):

1. Size/deprime
2. Powder/expand
3. Powder check
4. seat
5. crimp

Ideal setup:

1. Size/deprime
2. Powder
3. Powder check
4. Expand
5. bullet feeder
6. seat
7. crimp

It would also be nice to have more stations for more checks on

• Empty Case
• Primer Removed
• Primer Inserted
• Bullet in case

But this would be getting more into what a commercial production machine does. I think it would be cool to go out to the garage, fill the bullet hopper, fill the case hopper, fill the primer hopper, dial in how many rounds you want and push start.

It doesn't work like that. 1050's stations are mostly dedicated to certain specific tasks. This is how they go.

1) Case Insertion
2) Depriming/sizing
3) Swaging
4) Priming
5) Powder Drop
6) Powder Check
7) Seating
8) Crimp.

You can fiddle with it a little but it's not a blank slate that you can just change everything and do exactly what you want it to do.

[Cranium]

It doesn't work like that. 1050's stations are mostly dedicated to certain specific tasks. This is how they go.

1) Case Insertion
2) Depriming/sizing
3) Swaging
4) Priming
5) Powder Drop
6) Powder Check
7) Seating
8) Crimp.

You can fiddle with it a little but it's not a blank slate that you can just change everything and do exactly what you want it to do.

Yeah, I had forgotten about the dedicated swaging. Can't this be taken off during times you know you don't need it? If not, there would be effectively be no additional stations than my 5 station Hornady L-N-L if I knew I didn't need to swage. I'd still be in the same situation when adding a bullet feeder and have to make a decision on giving up a station and what function to lose or combine with another.

[coorsleftfield]

I had a LNL with casefeeder many years ago. I never liked it, and was happy to get rid of it and go blue.

Issues were as follows:

1. The spring that held cases to the shell plates separated/broke frequently. I had to frequently call Hornady for a replacement. Unlike the Dillon no-BS warranty, Hornady started charging me for replacement springs saying it was a "wear" part.

2. Auto indexing - Had to constantly mess with the paw adjustment. The shell plate would "jump" and not index smoothly.

3. Casefeeder - electric motor was loud. Casefeeder on the xl650 is completely silent.


I would be curious if any newer LNL owners can speak the the 3 issues above and let me know if Hornady has made some design improvements.

[pls1911]

Unless you're shooting A LOT, or supplying family and friends their ammo, the need for speed is simply non existant, as the Dillon 550 will casually put out more rounds than most folks have time to shoot.... .223 to 45-70, .25 auto through 454 Casull
I spend more time dinking with friends red presses then loading on my Dillon, which never gives me trouble...cause there ain't nothin' to break!
After 15 years of use, I choose Dillon 550b over all other progressives for these reasons:
-- The simplicity of non indexing design
-- The lack of complexity of unneeded case feeders
-- Virtually unlimited flexibility
-- Massive strength of materials,
-- Impeccable customer service
-- "Buyers Bill of Rights"

In summary, it's Dillon 550b for me, Simple, strong, and effective.

[Colorado4wheel]

I had a LNL with casefeeder many years ago. I never liked it, and was happy to get rid of it and go blue.

Issues were as follows:

1. The spring that held cases to the shell plates separated/broke frequently. I had to frequently call Hornady for a replacement. Unlike the Dillon no-BS warranty, Hornady started charging me for replacement springs saying it was a "wear" part.

2. Auto indexing - Had to constantly mess with the paw adjustment. The shell plate would "jump" and not index smoothly.

3. Casefeeder - electric motor was loud. Casefeeder on the xl650 is completely silent.


I would be curious if any newer LNL owners can speak the the 3 issues above and let me know if Hornady has made some design improvements.

Noisy Motor-Check
Indexing finicky-Check
Springs Wear out-Check

I had a buch of spares they sent me for springs. So I was fine for a while. Motor was very noisy. Indexing doesn't consistently lock into it's stop. I think thats part of the issues people have.

[Waldog]

I had a LNL with casefeeder many years ago. I never liked it, and was happy to get rid of it and go blue.

Issues were as follows:

1. The spring that held cases to the shell plates separated/broke frequently. I had to frequently call Hornady for a replacement. Unlike the Dillon no-BS warranty, Hornady started charging me for replacement springs saying it was a "wear" part.

2. Auto indexing - Had to constantly mess with the paw adjustment. The shell plate would "jump" and not index smoothly.

3. Casefeeder - electric motor was loud. Casefeeder on the xl650 is completely silent.


I would be curious if any newer LNL owners can speak the the 3 issues above and let me know if Hornady has made some design improvements.

1. Retainer springs last a LONG time as long as you don't kink it while changing shellplates. The retainer spring I am using now has about 10,000 rounds on it based on 2 empty cases of Montana Gold bullets and other assorted bullets. You break a retainer spring, call Hornady CS they ship it out for FREE.

2. I had to adjust the pawls when I first got the press. I have not touched it since. That was at least 20,000 rounds ago.

3. Based on my using a friends Dillon 650 with case feeder; the LNL case feeder motor is not any noisier than Dillons. What makes all the racket is the case being tumbled.

The only design improvement that I am aware of is getting rid of the ejection wire and improving case ejection.


Dillon raised the bar when it comes to CS. Hornady matches Dillon on every count. As are other manufacturers

[Colorado4wheel]

That 650 must have had a bad motor. The LnL motor is MUCH, MUCH noisier then the 650 meter. Even with no brass in the bowl.

[Cranium]

I have about 3000 (3142 if I were counting) reloads on my LNL.

Still on my first retainer spring with zero issues.

As with Waldog, I had to adjust my pawls after I had it running a little while and haven't adjusted them since and have had zero issues with it.

I can't speak of the noise of the Dillon but the LNL doesn't sound loud to me. The loudest noise is the cases tumbling.

[Model29-2]

I have about 3000 (3142 if I were counting) reloads on my LNL.

Still on my first retainer spring with zero issues.

As with Waldog, I had to adjust my pawls after I had it running a little while and haven't adjusted them since and have had zero issues with it.

+1 Although I am on my second spring. The way to mangle one is to not hold the shell plate still when you remove it. I put a hex key in the primer hole on station one and that holds the shell plate still and keeps it from backwards rotation. Its the backwards movement that pinches it where it goes into the "trough" where the cases feed in.

I adjusted the pawls when I first got it and haven't touched them since. Also I'm at about 3000 so far with no more adjustment.

[Cranium]

I'm now at 5200 reloads in my LNL. Added a bullet feeder to my setup and now this is the loudest component of the setup. I wish it has a shutoff switch when the tube filled up, but it does not so it runs continuously; which is disappointing. But reloading is quicker!

Still no issues with the pawls. I did have an issue with the primer system though. The guide rod that moves the slide as the piston is cycled somehow got bent out of shape when the primer feeder jammed. Not sure how the jam occurred but I had to bend the wire back into shape. It's had issues minor issues a couple times since and I had to tweak the rod some more but very minor over the past 2k reloads.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Interesting, I got my LnL in September 2010 and it did come with both rifle and pistol rotors and pistons as well as all the Allen wrenches needed on the press.

Thanks for the suggestion on the light milprileb. I do look into each case as I load and I don't have a powder cop. The additional time it takes me to look at the powder and watch the primer feed is minimal since I don't strive toward breaking any loading speed records. I've seen folks wire up little LED's to check the powder. Fortunately, I have good lighting in my garage so I can see into pistol cases and I can easily feel the powder shake when I complete each rifle round.

I like to use Lee Auto disk powder measures as you can see the disk come out and the powder drop into the case. I used these on my old Projector7 or whatever the sod of a thing was called. I had nothing but trouble with it and was so frustrated with it I actually got the gas axe out to destroy it one night. I stopped, unbolted it and threw it in the boot of the car and dropped it at the gunshop the next day.

I had a Dillon 550 which was ok, but conversions are expensive. I ended up sellign it to feed children or something like that. I have used several Lee1000s and still have two of them. Apart from the fact that they only have three stations, I have been very happy with them. They are a quirky machine, but once mastered they are a good little machine(thats pretty easy nowadays with YouTube! We have no factory help here in Australia). They also have a simple case feeder and the primer system works well if you set it up properly and keep a reasonable 'head' of primers in it. Some bullets like to be seated and crimped in a separate operation and I prefer taper crimps on 9mm and 45ACPs. I load on the Lee1000, then when finished, remove the case feeder (One nut) and put a spare tool head in with just the crimp die and run the loaded cases through and use this as a final inspection step as well.

I finally decided on a LnL AP as I felt that with the wide range of calibres I reload, it would be cheaper for the conversions, especially with the drop out preset inserts for the powder measure.

I ended up tripping over one in a crowded shop in Sydney. The owner apologised and said 'I wish someone would buy that thing, it is always in the way! (they have since moved to a bigger shop). A bit of haggling later and I walked out the door with it. That was almost a year ago. I haven't actually set it up as I need to get the shellplates, etc. I am still using the Lee1000s.

I must get the plates, etc for the LnL. I think I will still be using Lee Auto Disk Powder Measures as these are as cheap as chips and have served me well. I will be adapting a Lee case Feeder or building my own as the LnL Case Feeder sells for $AU586 here (The press is $780! I paid a bit over half that. They come with no shellplate, 3x LnL adaptors and a powder measure

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got two lnl case feeders and there quite a bit louder then the ones that dillon uses. The whole case feeder system on the lnl is less reliable then the 650s or 1050s are. Ive got three of them. two of my presses dont go out of time but my newest one allways does. So bad that i sent it back to hornady and although its not as bad it still does it. The springs are a minor thing. Just keep a few extras around and if you rotate them so that the bad spots arent lined up with a shell spot on the shell holder you get much more life out of them. Heck there free anyway so its a non issue. Say what you want. There a decent press but if you load the ammount of ammo i load you will soon find that the 650 is a better press. I wish i would have saw past the free bullets as there all gone now and bought 650s for a bit more money.

[SoCalLove]

I would like to repay the generosity of this board shown to me by commenting my experiences. I am lke the guy who stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night.... I own a Dillon 550, 650, Rock chucker, CO Ax press and just like great reloading presses. I like high quality and the Hornady LNL is a bargain for cost and features but should be viewed in relation to a Dillon 650 and not 550. The 650 and LNL are progressive SELF Indexing presses: they are a category unto themselves. The LNL could be a corvette compared to a Dillon 650 in the jaguar class of autos. Its more features than a quality comparison as the LNL will do everything a Dillon 650 does. Caliber conv. kits are WAY cheaper with the LNL. For Dillion: this is a 80 buck outrageously conversion cost.

Hindsight: I did not need the 650 as the 550 has always exceeded my needs ! I like Hornady dies and equipment and would have bought the LNL but frankly, could not shake my bias for Dillon presses. I would be just as well off though with the LNL. I though I needed a self indexing press.... flawed thinking as I dd not and it makes no difference if I push out 400 rds of 45ACP on 550 Dillon vs 800 rds of 45ACP on 650 Dillon in one hour. I can afford to spend 2 hrs ! Of course, as I said.... in hindsight I was just fine with 550 !!!

That all said: I used my C&R license (33 dollars for 3 yr license) and it saved me $150 off the cost of the 650 which then put the cost pretty reasonable. At that price I was almost the cost of a LNL but could go Dillon. I went Dillon 650 but I chose Hornady dies and am pleased as punch.

The versatility of the 550 is overwhelming and its the best overall progressive press in my opinion.

I was given a Lee turret press so I have been messing with it. Its slower but its capable of making same grade ammo as my 550 or 650 does. I set it up for 9mm last year with all Lee dies (carbide) and Pro measure and its flawlessly making match grade 9mm ammo for me. I say this as the Lee turret is a type of progressive press although, it feels cheap to use and is alien to my senses of what a great press / tool ought to feel like or be built like. Its performance is exceptional in making great ammo and I use it... but it drives me nuts as its positively not the BMW level tool as the 550 or 650 or a LNL .

I get 25% at Brownells, Midway and Grafs using that C&R License. Now that means last year it cost me $11 for the license and on the 650 press alone: I saved $150. On my dies for 650, I saved $15, on all the Lee die and mesure to outfit the gift Lee turret.... I saved $35 dollars.

Now you do the math and even if you do not chase C&R weapons , the value added to your wallet for gear, components and tools is significant and I recommend a C&R license. Over the last two years time, I have saved a ton of money.

C&R: Snooze you Lose !!!!!

Can you elaborate on how you were able to save $150 off the XL 650? I'm currently very interested in a Dillon 650, contact me if you are not using yours.

[Ozarklongshot]

The only thing I don't like about my 550 is that it's not 2 550's. Next equip purchase will be a second 550. I ran sxs with a lee 1000 for a while. didn't take long to sell the lee. (I do actually like a lot of lee products)

[Doby45]

Can you elaborate on how you were able to save $150 off the XL 650? I'm currently very interested in a Dillon 650, contact me if you are not using yours.

I get 25% at Brownells, Midway and Grafs using that C&R License. Now that means last year it cost me $11 for the license and on the 650 press alone: I saved $150. On my dies for 650

I think he explained pretty well that his C&R License saved him 25%..

[Morgan12]

The only thing I don't like about my 550 is that it's not 2 550's. Next equip purchase will be a second 550. I ran sxs with a lee 1000 for a while. didn't take long to sell the lee. (I do actually like a lot of lee products)

Well sorry to dig up an old thread but I had to comment on this. I recently purchased another used 550B with a ton of extras for a price I couldnt pass up two of theses things are very nice. I'm actaully gonna try to do a few more reviews like this one any body have any ideas I was thinkng of pitting my Browning Buck Mark Silhouette vs my 22A and my buddies S&W 41. or comparing bulk 22 ammo tearing it down wieghing it, chrono'n it, and firing it outa my 513T rifle, a 10/22, and a few other affordable 22's to see what does the all around best Somthing fun and cheap any ideas?If any one wants to help or bring a gun into the mix shoot me a PM summers commng and I gotta justify the shooting birm I built in the back yard to my wife

[Colorado4wheel]

Every time I use my 650 for loading I am grateful to not have the LnL any more. I needed to crank out 200 rds quickly today. Got it done in no time. Not a single hiccup either. The LnL was never able to do that. I have confidence in my ammo when I have a machine that isn't constantly messing up in some fashion. That LnL and it's casefeeder was a PITA.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Morgan,

Any chance of mov'in that berm over to Ideeeeeho. I got some cool ideas, but my leash isn't long enough to get to you.

One thing you might try is shooting both match (pricey) ammo and "off the shelf" ammo through a number of barrels.

My limited results, showed a friend's Savage target rifle ($300+) shot right along side my Clark Custom 77/22 w/ Walther barrel while shooting the good and big dollar match ammo.

But when we went to the "off the shelf" types, the Savage lagged way behind, while the CRuger just kept on shoot'in nice little groups for the most part.

My observation here is, and I know it should be a no brainer, that even though a lower level barrel may shoot equal or close to equal a better barrel with the very good ammo, the better the barrel the greater number of even lower priced offerings will shoot good.

Like I said, it should be a no brainer, but it would be interesting to see what the results are with more then just two rifles.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[r1kk1]

My 550B was fine until I started shooting a LOT of 25-20WCF. It had problems with the small bottleneck cases (.30Mauser pistol too) and the relatively fragile necks of the rifle brass. The LNL has had no such issues. Moral of story: don't try to load odd stuff on the Dillon, and you'll be fine. My really REALLY precious stuff gets loaded on the Co-Ax.

I don't have problems loading 32-20, 38-40 and 44-40 on mine.

take care,

r1kk1