Hornady LNL progressive.

[Finster101]

Thinking about getting one of the LNL progressive presses for two reasons. 1, they are available. 2, it looks to have fewer plastic parts and a more reliable priming system than the Lee Load Master. Anyone out there with one let me know how it's working for you.

James


Mod's I believe I put this in the wrong forum. Feel free to move it.

[Half Dog]

I have one that I use quite often. I’ve found the trick to minimal frustration is to keep it clean and don’t go as fast as you can. The sudden indexes tend to let the powder hop out of the case and into the priming system. Customer support has been great and I enjoy using mine.

[Multra]

Only thing I didn't like about mine was the priming system, I found it pretty unreliable and got hung up often even after doing all the little tricks on the internet.

[dannyd]

I have two about 100,000 between both. If you get one get the tools from these guys too help you setup.

https://www.bragginrightsprecisionre...2-c97162b75897

They are good machines and do take regular maintenance, but I owned a 550 and SDB from Dillion and they need maintenance too.

I use mine for the quick change bushings mostly only load 38 special and 357 magnum but I use 15 different bullets. So being able to change the seating die is great.


The small primer system works better than the large, but those new alignment tools fix that.

If you take your time you will have very little problems with the machine.

Customer support from Hornady as been just as good as from Dillion.

[dswancutt]

I guess you could say I like them as I have three, each dedicated to a specific caliber. The biggest issue is getting them timed correctly. Once you have that mastered, they run great. There are some great videos on YouTube that show how to properly set up the timing and if you are loading 45 auto or 9mm, there is a guy making tools to easily set up the timing. About every 1000 rounds or so I have to tweak the timing slightly to make it run smoother, but nothing major.
I have never had any priming problems but I think this is because I deprime offline when I stainless steel pin tumble my brass. The lack of dirt and grit makes it more reliable, well, that is what I tell myself.
Some people have problems with the powder drop, but I haven't. But, I have only used powders such as Power Pistol, BE-86 and Sport Pistol. All those powders meter well and hold a consistent powder charge.
All my AP presses are mounted on Inline Fabrication bases which I highly recommend.

[JimB..]

I like the red powder measure better, but I switched from red to blue because of the noise made by the bullet collator. On the LNL the collator runs all the time, on the mr bullet feeder it stops when the tube is full. It’s a small thing until you stand there for hours.

[dverna]

Lloyd Small hopefully comes on here...or PM him. After using a Dillon, he regretted getting the Hornady IIRC.

BTW, good customer service is nice but I would rather not need it. Waiting a couple of days for free parts sucks when you need to make ammunition. I bought the spare parts kits for my Dillon’s and have had to use them a handful of times. Not sure if Hornady offers one, but plan on buying it if they do.

The post above about tweaking the timing every 1000 rounds would be red flag for me, but I hate tinkering. Might not be as big a deal if not loading a lot.

[Green Frog]

Thinking about getting one of the LNL progressive presses for two reasons. 1, they are available. 2, it looks to have fewer plastic parts and a more reliable priming system than the Lee Load Master. Anyone out there with one let me know how it's working for you.

James


Mod's I believe I put this in the wrong forum. Feel free to move it.

Moderators, it would be a nice thing to move this thread to a forum in which it belongs, please. He’ll probably get more and better responses.

Green Frog

[Lloyd Smale]

bought two lnls when they were giving away a 1000 free bullets. They were cheaper then 650s and with the bullets much cheaper and i got just what a paid for. 6 months later the bullets were gone and i was stuck with two presses that i would have gladly swapped for one 650. Id hands down take a 550 over a lnl. I think of them as big burly lee progressives. You need to keep them spotlessly clean and the case feeder system is junk. The 650 is designed for a case feeder and works great. The lnl case feeder was more of an add on afterthought. It will fight you constantly. As will primer feed problems unless your as clean as a operating room. Not for a high volume loader.

[dannyd]

James, again it’s the Ford or Chevy thing.

Things to Think about.

1. Are you a mechanical inclined?

2. How many rounds are you going to load?

3. Do you like noise when reloading? ( case and bullet feeders)

4. Do you only load the same round all the time?

5. What is your budget?

If you were in North Florida today and visited my reloading room; you would see items from just about every manufacturer.

[farmbif]

ive had one since they made the change from projector to what it is now, I love it, but if powder gets spilled on shell plate you have to stop and clean shell plate and primer station completely. I don't have bullet or brass feeder and don't want them if I wanted to load ammo that fast I'd get a dillon 1050.
I have somewhere around 25 different shell plates for it and was attracted to the hornady because change of caliber is much less cost than the Dillon system.
once the timing was set up out of the box I have only had to make minor adjustment once, ive replaced a few springs and one primer slide, I try to take very good care of my equipment and it serves me well. I keep a full set of extra springs and have spare primer slides just in case.

[JMax]

I have a 550 and a 550B, one large primers the other small, I adopted out two RL300s that I bought in 1979 and 1982 that are still in service. They load and load and load 11 rifle and pistol calibers with minimum cleaning and tweaking. No need to change when things work. Each caliber has its own tool head that I have accumulated over the years to keep things simple.

[Winger Ed.]

I like mine except I don't care for the LNL bushing feature, so I JB welded them in like the old school pro-jector was.
LNL was made to compete with other companies that have a quick change die holding plate.
It's a good marketing feature, but its also a solution for a problem I really don't have.
A big plus for me was that it has 5 stations instead of four.

When I get it up for a specific caliber, I load up all of them I plan to shoot for at least a year.

[DCB]

I picked up a used LNL several years ago. It had some worn parts, the case feeder pivot ,and the large primer seater plug and shuttle was modified along with a few other parts. I call Hornady and they sent me all the parts I needed even though I told them I bought it used. NO CHARGE..
It does not have a bullet feeder, and like was stated you can not slam it from station to station with out up setting the apple cart, a can of clean air is a necessity if you spill powder.
and (dont for get to put the bullet in.)
I would buy another.. I owned a 650 many years ago and gave it to my nephew..

[dswancutt]

I would have to agree with most posters that the case feeder is more trouble than it is worth. I actually don't use the collator, I put 25 cases in the feed tube and it works great. It works well for me since I check my powder charge and overall length every 25 cases.

[Lloyd Smale]

I have a 550 and a 550B, one large primers the other small, I adopted out two RL300s that I bought in 1979 and 1982 that are still in service. They load and load and load 11 rifle and pistol calibers with minimum cleaning and tweaking. No need to change when things work. Each caliber has its own tool head that I have accumulated over the years to keep things simple.

550 is hard to beat for 95 percent of the loaders out there. Even someone like me that shoots ALOT. Factor in the time i waste with tweaking cleaning clearing primer problems and that cantankerous case feeder i can load as many rounds in an hour on a 550 as i can on my lock and loads. For the most part they sit idle and i use my two 550s. They are like the energizer bunny they run and run and run. Dont see the big difference on conversion costs either. Yup if you want to do it fast you need a die plate but the hornady shell plates are more expensive and you still need to get lnl bushings. Now if your talking a square deal or 1050 the dillion conversions are more expensive but in the big picture your spending about as much as a couple lbs of powder today and they last a lifetime. If cost is that big of a deal then maybe a lee hand press and some dippers are a better choice. I spend more filling my gas tank for the week then two conversions cost.

My guess is at least 3/4s of the hornady cheerleaders havent even pulled the handle on a dillion 550 or 650. If you did youd know. Now this is from a guy that actually owns 2 hornadys and 2 dillions. The pretty red hornadys with there case feeders impress the gun guys that dont know better that come and visit though. Truth be told its probably been over 2 years since i even pulled a handle on one of them. I sleep better because of it. The lee progressives have one advantage over them. There cheap enough that it didnt bother me to give two away (with fair warnings) and throw one in the pond out back.

Do yourself a BIG favor. If you think its time to step up to a progressive because your single stage cant keep up buy yourself a 550. NOTHING is more reliable and if you find someday its not fast enough then i tip my hat to you because you sure shoot some ammo and you will be able to recoup alot of your money selling it to step up to a 650. But my guess is like most of us who own 550s you will be so in love with it you will just mount the 650 next to it. If you want a true progressive get your self a 650 (now a 750) if you load on one for 20 years you will probably add 2 years to your life just in the fact your stress levels will be so much lower.

ill end this with one simple statement. Raise your hand if you sold your 550 and bought a lock and load and are still smiling. If your hands up your idea of shooting alot involves a couple hundred rounds a year

[JeffG]

I have a LNL. As others noted, be smooth in operation and keep the primer track very clean. If you get powder in there, it will start to protest.

[dannyd]

550 is hard to beat for 95 percent of the loaders out there. Even someone like me that shoots ALOT. Factor in the time i waste with tweaking cleaning clearing primer problems and that cantankerous case feeder i can load as many rounds in an hour on a 550 as i can on my lock and loads. For the most part they sit idle and i use my two 550s. They are like the energizer bunny they run and run and run. Dont see the big difference on conversion costs either. Yup if you want to do it fast you need a die plate but the hornady shell plates are more expensive and you still need to get lnl bushings. Now if your talking a square deal or 1050 the dillion conversions are more expensive but in the big picture your spending about as much as a couple lbs of powder today and they last a lifetime. If cost is that big of a deal then maybe a lee hand press and some dippers are a better choice. I spend more filling my gas tank for the week then two conversions cost.

My guess is at least 3/4s of the hornady cheerleaders havent even pulled the handle on a dillion 550 or 650. If you did youd know. Now this is from a guy that actually owns 2 hornadys and 2 dillions. The pretty red hornadys with there case feeders impress the gun guys that dont know better that come and visit though. Truth be told its probably been over 2 years since i even pulled a handle on one of them. I sleep better because of it. The lee progressives have one advantage over them. There cheap enough that it didnt bother me to give two away (with fair warnings) and throw one in the pond out back.

Do yourself a BIG favor. If you think its time to step up to a progressive because your single stage cant keep up buy yourself a 550. NOTHING is more reliable and if you find someday its not fast enough then i tip my hat to you because you sure shoot some ammo and you will be able to recoup alot of your money selling it to step up to a 650. But my guess is like most of us who own 550s you will be so in love with it you will just mount the 650 next to it. If you want a true progressive get your self a 650 (now a 750) if you load on one for 20 years you will probably add 2 years to your life just in the fact your stress levels will be so much lower.

ill end this with one simple statement. Raise your hand if you sold your 550 and bought a lock and load and are still smiling. If your hands up your idea of shooting alot involves a couple hundred rounds a year

I sold my 550 and purchased TWO LNL’s: yes I am smiling. If I can fix Helicopters I can run a LNL.

[dverna]

I sold my 550 and purchased TWO LNL’s: yes I am smiling. If I can fix Helicopters I can run a LNL.

I hate fixing things. I get frustrated doing an oil change. LOL.

[Ithaca Gunner]

I bought one of the first generation LNL AP's, got my 1000 bullets, did the upgrade to 2nd generation and learned quickly the priming system was not the best by far. Not that much of a problem, I prefer to size and prime off the LNL AP anyway, (for rifle anyway). Tried their auto case feed and found that complete junk, I'm working on adapting a 4 tube LEE unit. For handgun calibers the LEE Auto disc Pro on a LEE expander die works much better than Hornady's measure, (which I do like, I think it's one of the best measures on the market, just for small handgun charges the Lee Auto Disc Pro is better).

Yes, the basic press is good and for the money, I would buy another one. It's easy to set up and index's well. The priming system is reminiscent of something out of the 60's though. If you're loading with 15-20gr or more of powder, the measure that comes with it is great, less than that, use a LEE Auto Disc Pro with a LEE expander die. I was so disappointed with the Hornady case feeder I took it off and didn't try their bullet feeder, (the collator jammed quite often, other than that, it worked well).