New LNL AP

[ETexPops]

After reading everything I could find on the Hornady Lock n Load AP on this forum; I finally took the plunge and bought one. I had been reloading on a Lee Classic Turret for a couple of years and it served it's purpose quite well. I am retired and have a LOT of available time for reloading (and shooting) so never felt the need to upgrade. When I went to 147 gr lead bullets for my XD9 tactical the Lee wouldn't work too well on loads below 3 grs of Titegroup so I decided to with the LNL AP.

Absolutely love this thing. There has been a little learning curve with 5 stations working at one time versus the old Lee with one thing happening at a time. I've been going slow and only getting a round without a primer every once in a while. Powder measure is just as accurate as I had read it was and rigged a powder check in the Lee flaring die that works really well. Once I get through with all the 9mm's I guess it's time to set up the .45 ACP and start cranking them out as well.

Even though my friends who use Dillons think I am totally insane, I am convinced I made the right choice. I appreciate all the good info I found on this site that helped in my decision.

[Odawgp]

Welcome to the dark side

Hornady's LnL is the "apple" of the reloading world

[CocoBolo]

I like my LNL its a great machine, and I know it is as good as the Dillon.

http://www.sashooter.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=750&g2_serialNumber=2

[lvipscshooter]

I like my LNL its a great machine, and I know it is as good as the Dillon.

http://www.sashooter.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=750&g2_serialNumber=2

Congrats on the new press. I've loaded @ 10K on mine since I got it in March and absolutely love it. The only issue I have had was a bent primer carrier guide rod which was my fault. I have even converted a couple from "Team Blue". The LNL AP is every bit the machine the 650 is. Dillon's customer service may never be challenged, but this press "brings the heat!"

[Jman]

Got mine in Feb. for a Valentines gift ..them bought the case feeder for myself. Fills the bill perfectly.

[ETexPops]

May be a while 'fore I get the case feeder. Tight as I am with a buck it was a fight to turn loose the money for the LNL. Probably what pushed me over the edge was Graff's putting it on sale for Memorial Day for $375. Tough part was that the 550 was the same price. The AP part was what sold me. Bet it won't be too long before I convince myself I really NEED the case feeder.

[Jeff686]

case feeder is the cat's meow

[Mush from PA.]

Once you

GO - RED -

You

Will Never

be "BLUE".....

Sometimes, I just can't help myself.....

Edited June 16, 2010 by Mush from PA.

[lugnut]

I've had mine a a few years now.... it's been a fine machine and I've reloaded 10s of thousands of rounds. I really need to step up to get the case feeder...

[paul788]

When you get the case feeder, wrap a business card around the aluminum drop tube that drops the case in front of the slider. 9mm and other short cases can bounce off or just fall over. The card should just touch the slide and wrap around the case, trapping it against the slider.

4 years and multiple thousands of rounds. One mangled shell plate spring.

Paul

[jeep45238]

Once you

GO - RED -

You

Will Never

be "BLUE".....

Sometimes, I just can't help myself.....

O-H

I-O

[Hairtrigger]

I have owned Red for almost 25 years, I kept hearing how great the blue ones are and bought one but have sold it and kept my Hornady. So far I have sold 5 blue ones that I find at a bargain, use them for a week then sell off. I think that because I started on the red one the others seem awkward, I like putting the case and bullet in with my left hand and keeping the right hand on the handle. I absolutely hate the little brass buttons, a case retaining spring is so much more convenient for me.... just remove it before changing shell plates and install the new plate before installing the spring!

[GForceLizard]

I bought mine based on the color. The shades of the other presses just didn't suit the decor of my shop. Keep it clean and tweek the adjustments if it isn't loading perfectly. I'm load 9mm and 40SW on mine.

[Mattog22]

I like my LNL its a great machine, and I know it is as good as the Dillon.

http://www.sashooter.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=750&g2_serialNumber=2

Congrats on the new press. I've loaded @ 10K on mine since I got it in March and absolutely love it. The only issue I have had was a bent primer carrier guide rod which was my fault. I have even converted a couple from "Team Blue". The LNL AP is every bit the machine the 650 is. Dillon's customer service may never be challenged, but this press "brings the heat!"

I never dealt with Dillon's CS but from dealing with Hornady I think they are making the extra effort to have just as good if not better CS. I don't know what the part is called but it's the plunger with the spring in the nut that pushes the primer into the case, I had some problems getting primers seated deep enough so I glued a spent primer under it and made the plunger push deeper to the point that the extra distance travelled broke the tiny washer inside and the spring fell out. Completely my fault. I called and told them about the problem I had and they said maybe something happened to the plunger or somehow maybe it was slightly too short, but no hassle, sent me out an new piece and extra spindles, an extra retaining spring all for free even though I offered to buy them since I just wanted extra on hand. Works 100%. Excellent CS.

[DarthMuffin]

I've had my LNL AP for 4 years now and probably 10,000 rounds. One mangled case retaining spring and one "pulley" that came off the primer slide. Hornady support made both right without question. I know Dillon has world class support, but have you ever heard anyone complain about Hornady's support? It's just as good IMO!

My only problems are with the case feeder. With .40S&W about 1 in 50 will not fall out of the feeder and jam at the far end of the drop window, and about 1 in 200 will wedge sideways in the chute just below that. I haven't called Hornady yet to see what they say about it.

[Romey]

I struggled between buying blue or red as both are great presses so the deciding factor was auto indexing. I have had to call Hornady customer service a couple times for a part that was bent from my own user error and they sent me two new ones free even after I offered to pay AND a pretty cool Hornady poster. Another nice thing about Hornady is if you have a reloading question or whatever you can talk personally to the ballistition or the guy who actually engineered a particular powder or bullet and talk at long length about it. Not to mention their prerecorded messages are funny as heck.

[20nickels]

Love mine. Was looking for a Dillon 550 when I lucked into a factory reconditioned LNL. Changed to the EZ-ject subplate last year, big improvement with the .38's. The bushings are genious. I want to shim up a Lee Classic Cast to interchange my already set up dies with the LNL. Lately I've been using the RCBS lube die to quickly crank out rifle rounds on the LNL.

[ETexPops]

Just wanted to add that my Powder Funnels PTX came in today. Installed and with a little tinkering got it to working right. Now the 3rd station (Lee expanding die) will turn into a powder check station for the time being. Think I am through adding stuff until I bite the bullet and add the case feeder.

[bubbadoc]

That's the right attitude. You now have a good system that will run. Nothing else to do until the case feeder bug hits you.

Congrats on joining us on the RED side of the reloading room

[roadapple]

I hate to ask this. I have read many posts that hold the Hornady LnL AP in high regards. I have also read several that complain about the "poor machining, parts not fitting right, having to de-bur everything, paint inconsistencies and black divots in the castings". Can anyone tell me if these complaints are common? Or is it maybe the same person posting the same complaints on different forums, under different names? I am interested in the Hornady. I have used many of Hornady's products with no complaints. I want to configure a press with casefeeder for .223, and be able to change to other "small primer" calibers without too much difficulty. I like the looks of the Hornady LnL AP (though I've only seen it in print). I've heard some say that Hornady's first LnL AP's were great. They just had the issue with the ejection wire. They also stated that they think Hornady may have shipped manufacturing (of the press) off shore, and quality control has suffered greatly in more recent manufacturing. Can anyone clear this up for me? Thanks for the help.

Jim

[Waldog]

I have not heard of anyone complaining about poor quality control with any of Hornady's products. I have a LNL that is about 3 1/2 years old. I installed the new EZ-ject system when it became available. I have helped 3 other people with their LNL and I did not see any QA problems. The LNL is manufactured in Grand Island, Nebr. Call them and ask. If you ever find a QA problem, Hornady is exactly like Dillon, they will make it right at no cost.

I have used Dillon products and they load as advertised. I own the LNL because, based on my experience with both, I prefer the operation of the LNL.

Swapping from small to large primers takes about 2 minutes. Very easy to do. That is the beauty of the LNL system. You can swap out cartridges in 5 minutes or less. You won't see a LNL owner with for or five powder measures like you do with Dillon. It's easy to set up and adjust and overall is a better measure. At least in my opinion.

[jgedmond]

I bought a LNL AP in July and it worked perfectly right out of the box. I have no complaints with workmanship, quality of machining, paint, fit, or finish. I have only loaded about 1K 9mm rounds so far, but it has been flawless.

[noylj]

As I tell people who can't decide between Hornady and Dillon, after we discuss the price difference and the cost of caliber changeover. When they tell that they aren't that sensitive to price and they just want the best, I tell them to either get a Super 1050 or buy the Hornady and paint it blue.

If someone has a chance to look at various presses and try them out, I say to pay particular attention to the primer feed and seating. That is the one "problem" area that ALL progressives have. Of the presses I have tried, the Hornady is almost as good as the 1050 and is better than the 650 I worked with.

I just don't see the point to the 550, the SDB, or the Lee Pro 1000. I want 5 stations and auto-indexing, at a minimum, before I put down my hard-earned cash.

I hear people complain about case feeding with the .40S&W. The problem is with the case. It is too big for the small pistol feed plate and too short for the large pistol feed plate. It is the same with the sloppy fit in the .40/10mm/.45ACP ammunition boxes. It needs its own parts and not the "close enough in general" accessories it is stuck with.

[cookselk]

I just sold a few rifles that I don't shoot anymore to Cabela's. With the proceeds I bought a Glock 17L and received a $150 gift card. So I still had cash and I bought a LNL AP with case feeder to augment my aging (27 yr old Dillon 450).

Last year I convinced a friend to buy a 650 rather than the LNL. Currently I am waiting for the necessary parts to set up the LNL for 9mm and 40 so I have not been able to load yet. I have been playing around with adjustments and the machine in general.

I am guardedly optomistic about the machine, it has features that I like better than the 650 but some that I don't care for. It was simple to set up and is simpler to change calibers than my 450. I really like the LNL feature-I don't have room for a bunch of toolheads, the powder measure set-up (the bar on the dillon would bind with fine ball powders), the retaining spring (I'll keep an extra or two after reading some posts), and it's simplicity, especially that of the primer slide. My Dillon's biggest issue was primers jamming, or the slide not coming back all the way, etc. I don't care for not being able to confirm the presence of a primer in the LNL slide, and the case feeder's touchiness for dropping 40 cases.

I think I solved the problem with the 40 cases in the tube though. I took a piece of blue pvc pipe that is the same inner diameter as the larger upper aluminum tube and inserted it. Then I took the short leftover aluminum funnel piece that is normally used for rifles and dropped it into the long plastic feed tube. Now the cases don't tip over when they drop through or jam.

I am a little concerned about the PTX expander in the powder measure whether they will expand the case enough. I only have read about this issue and have not yet received my parts. I may go with the lead PTX funnel once it becomes available.

Overall I think I will be pleased with the press, I'll keep you posted.

[rocice]

cookselk, if your worried about the PTX, order one of the Powderfunnel units, works like a charm, I use it for 38, 9mm, 40, and 45acp.

I just started reloading 3 months ago and the LnL has worked great.