Stevcom Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Newbie here trying to get comfortable with the Hornady LNL AP my wife got me for XMAS. So far so good but I do have one burning question that I am probably too slow to figure out myself. What is it with the quick change bushings? I mean I spend a lot of time trying to either get them to stay where I want them or to come lose. When I am putting in new dies and setting them, or trying to take them out, the bushings always want to either move when I don't want them to or won't stay tight. Is there a tool that I need to have that I did not get with the press that will help? Maybe I am the only one who has this problem. I like the idea with the bushings but it seems you need to have some way of holding them in place when working the dies into position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babaganoosh Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 You gotta hold them tight while you adjust the settings for your dies. They are round, but I always thought it would be nice if they had wrench flats on them, or at the least a knurled surface. Make sure you totally degrease your dies and any other metal part you got. Once you tighten the lock ring down you should be good to go. The bushings might be a little annoying until you get used to them, but once you have the settings on your dies locked in, you will love em. You can pop them in and out of the press for caliber changes very quickly. One thing I do suggest is that you polish the primer slide area and both the large and small primer slides. It takes a few hundred rounds to break in the machine. It gets a lot smoother after every couple hundred rounds. If you are having any problems at all setting up send me a PM. I'll gladly lend you any of my knowledge. I've got mine adjusted very well and the timing of the pawls is perfect. If you are off by even a little bit it causes problems. Did you get a casefeeder? Post some pics of your setup. Feel free to PM anytime with questions. Here is a few pics of my setup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old506 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 My Powder Bushing kept coming loose after a few hundered or so rounds. I called Hornady and they sent a shim that stopped it. You may want to call and ask for some shims? They (of course) wouldn't take my money either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CocoBolo Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I'don't get it. I put the bushing in, then with a cresent wrench on the die lock nut snugg it in, nothing moves and nothing comes loose. Yes and you need the wrench to get it out as well. Keeping powder out of the primer slide stops almost all the problems with the primer slide. How deep do you seat primers? ALL THE WAY!! A good solid jab on the ram till it goes all the way home. Keep a small parts brush handy and when powder gets on around or under the shell plate brush it off, it rides on the shell retaining spring right to the primer slide area. Make sure no lubricant of any kind gets into any part of the powder measure or the drop tubes or ptx die. I wash mine out with brake cleaner when changing powders. Brake cleaner works good on the primer punch and slide to get rid of powder etc. I've only loaded about 60K on mine, I also use 2 xl650's but the LNL is my favorite, only 1/100th of the things to go wrong or adjust, simple is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevcom Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Thanks for the reply's, I have been reading these posts for some time in preparation for using the loader so many of the points and suggestions were already on my "things to watch for" list, especially the primer feed and keeping it clean. Thus far I have only had one problem with the feed due to some powder making its way into the slide, I am keeping some canned compressed air and a nice new 16.00 big art brush handy to keep everything cleaned out. Starting out it seemed I had way too many things to keep an eye on but now I have learned some of the key items to watch and take preventive action on. Funny story, after I got the press my wife and I went to Cabelas so I could buy a lot of the extra reloading goodies I needed, the "reloading expert" there who was assisting us wanted to know if I had reloaded before and I said no, my wife chimed in and said, yes you have, and I then admitted to reloading some shotgun years ago on a Lee Loadall (I also have a Possness (cant remember the spelling))anyway, he tried every way in the world to talk me out of the LNL progressive as that it was to complicated for a beginner and that I would "shoot my eye out", (she bought the press from Cabelas)anyway, everything he recommended I get was "old school" which was not a problem but I just wanted everything digital, had to argue my way into getting what I wanted. No, I do not have the case or bullet feeder as I wanted to take my time with the press and not try to do too much to quickly. I have a birthday coming up in April and hopefully I will be comfortable enough to add the case feeder then, right now it is on the top of my wish list, but honestly, I am having a lot of fun just loading like I am right now. We are loading 9mm and .380 auto as this is what we are shooting to get ready for our CHL here in Texas. After I bought my wife a new .380 and me a 9mm it was not long before I remembered how much fun it was to reload and so I became as excited about that as I did the shooting. Seating the primers properly? I have learned already that the key word is "feel". After having about a half dozen rounds come through without a primer and dealing with the lose powder I decided I better learn how to feel the primer seating properly. After paying more attention to the feel of the seating push I have not had another problem. I made sure that I cleaned everything before I started using any of the components or dies, don't think I have had any issues due to lubricant residue as of yet. I did add the RCBS lock out die and I like it so far. Thanks for the photos, I like your setup, will try to take some of mine this weekend and post. I think Hornady has a lot going for it with this loader and I do like their support but I do believe they need to improve the design of the quick change bushing to allow for some type of wrench to be applied to help hold it in place with working with and setting dies. They hard to hold and they do move around when you least desire, I have been using a cresent wrench to tighten the lock ring down, but still, I think it could be improved. OK, thanks again for your comments, I really appreciate it. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GForceLizard Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 If there is spilled powder, I use canned air around the shell plate when the ram is fully up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98sr20ve Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I think Hornady has a lot going for it with this loader and I do like their support but I do believe they need to improve the design of the quick change bushing to allow for some type of wrench to be applied to help hold it in place with working with and setting dies. They hard to hold and they do move around when you least desire, I have been using a cresent wrench to tighten the lock ring down, but still, I think it could be improved. OK, thanks again for your comments, I really appreciate it. Steve They move under the powder die. Get the shim. Some are too tight. Nothing you can do but use a lock nut on your die and use a wrench on the die to get it moving when you want to remove it. Lock nuts are your friend on a LnL. Just like Dillon 1" rings are nice on a Dillon. I too think Hornady should have some flats on the things. Make life easier. I also don't understand why some are nice and loose and work easily and others are a PITA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnbore Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I think Hornady has a lot going for it with this loader and I do like their support but I do believe they need to improve the design of the quick change bushing to allow for some type of wrench to be applied to help hold it in place with working with and setting dies. They hard to hold and they do move around when you least desire, I have been using a cresent wrench to tighten the lock ring down, but still, I think it could be improved. OK, thanks again for your comments, I really appreciate it. Steve They move under the powder die. Get the shim. Some are too tight. Nothing you can do but use a lock nut on your die and use a wrench on the die to get it moving when you want to remove it. Lock nuts are your friend on a LnL. Just like Dillon 1" rings are nice on a Dillon. I too think Hornady should have some flats on the things. Make life easier. I also don't understand why some are nice and loose and work easily and others are a PITA. I have never had any problem with tightening these bushing down to the die. What I use are channel lock pliers to hold the "round" part of the bushing and then using either the right sized wrench or a large cresent wrench carefully adjusting the die down against the bushing. I have one die/bushing that sometimes loosens up on me but what I did was I simply put a mark using a felt tipped pen on the side of the die/bushing and the top of the press and I just visually check it before and during the reloading process. Sounds like I can call and get a shim but it's not a huge concern to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noylj Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I have never had a bushing move, except the powder die. If you look at it, there is a lot of weight up high, so that bushing takes more of a beating then the others. This is particularly true if you load 9x19 and don't use any case lube. I simply looked for a bushing that was tighter (possibly a slightly larger O-ring) and have had no problems in several 1000 rounds. I say, give Hornady a call for the shim, so they know that there is a recurring problem. Also, I agree with CocoBolo--when you tighten the lock ring down, it automatically tightens the bushing also. Then, the die and bushing are as one. Always have a dummy round in the die when you tighten the lock ring. This goes along with those who worry about COL exactness--have the shell plate full of cases when setting up the dies--with a bullet in the seating die. Maybe Lee has the right idea with their "lock" for their bushings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I used a thicker O-ring to stop bushing movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobb Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Yeah I like the lee bushings a little better myself they are knurled on the outside and have a divot for a spring loaded lock, very nice. The only thing that sucks is I now have a Lnl and a lee bushing press, oh well. As far as the topic goes, I agree with others once you tighten the lock ring to the bushing they essentially become one, and if you like you can tighten them down via the lock ring. I haven't had an issue with them coming loose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobb Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Just thought I would add a pic of the business end of my bench, oh I know you might be wandering but no I didn't clean it for the pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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