Is there a way ffor LNL AP casefeeder to work good

[98sr20ve]

Thanks Ben for having my back. If you're trying to load 1200 per hour, there's your problem!

It aint made to run that fast. I can comfortably run 500/hr on my lnl without problems. The hornady is as well engineered as the Dillon IMHO. The manual does indeed lack a little. What I'm saying is anyone who learned to load progressively on a rcbs piggyback or ammomaster has no trouble at all tweaking a lock n load to run 100%. I have had a 550 and a 650 and prefer the lnl. To each his own. I now have 2 lock n loads and 2 rock chuckers on my bench. After loading for 25 years, these work for me when Dillon did not. Remember, not everyone drives a F150 either even if it is the #1 selling truck in the US.

BTW I drive a Dodge too.

I can run 500 rds a hour on a Dillon 550 with out a casefeeder piece of cake. I bought the LnL and after that the 650 to go faster then that. The LnL just can't go much faster then just under 7 mins per hundered with out major issues. So yep. Everyeone is different. The 650 can do 5 min range easily. If I can load 100 rds in 8 mins on a 550 with out a casefeeder why would I put up with all the headaches of the LnL that will barely go faster with a casefeeder.

[Ed Robinson]

That is awesome 98sr. The Dillons fit you well. My experience with DIllon was not a positive one. I did not jump on here and bash Dillon about it. I quietly sold them and replaced them. There are aspects of the Dillon that I like. There are some I dislike. I wont delve into them for fear of another long debate. I believe the Hornady is a well designed machine. It has shortcomings and is not perfect but it works for me. I have about 30,000 rnds on my oldest press with very few serious stoppages. Most could be attributed to my mistakes, not the press.

[rtp]

Have recently ditched LNL AP case feeder due to chronic problems. Constants "twiddle" rquired to make it work. Replaced parts etc. load faster by hand feeding.

Currently considering a dillon press.

Same here. When it works it works well but more often than not I'm stuck fiddling or adjusting or un-jamming or....

Which caliber(s)?

Old or newer style case feeder?

Which problems, and what was attempted to correct it?

'Me too' posts are great, but not the most useful...

[rtp]

I think that Hornady needs to make some inserts for the funnel at the top, and some caliber specific drop tubes for the bottom.

Yeah, this would be nice. The drop tubes can be solved easily enough by us and a bit of thin-walled tubing, if it's an issue for someone.

I cut up some primer trays for the drop funnel and they work, but I wouldn't mind having some 'clean and proper' inserts, either. Not the end of the world, but I'd be thrilled to see them made available.

[rtp]

I'll give any one of you guys a hundred bucks for one of your PITA case feeders. I have 2 lnl's. One with feeder one without. Like to add another. Hell I'll buy all you want to sell for a hundred apiece. You guys shoulda learned to load on the POS old rcbs equipment I had. Don't think for a minute that a Dillon won't give you fits. I for one will never own another one. Main reason I have 2 hornadys. The lnl really is a great machine if you know how to set it up

So what you're saying then, is that either:

1. It's not properly engineered from the factory

or

2. That the manual is not adequate

Please post a video of you operating your Hornady loading at 1200 rounds per hour, or decapping/resizing at 2000+ rounds per hour.

Is every non-Dillon a pile-on thread now, or can people still actually help each other still?

Dillon's ski jump, powder measure, and shell plate shims/bearings are 'engineering perfection' then? (I've yet to see anyone go from a LnL PM to a Dillon, but more than a few the other way around, after all).

Most product's manuals are less than perfect. It and the accompanying videos are 'adequate' but miss some items, like adjusting the primer feed, probably others I'm not recalling as I haven't read the manual or watched the videos in some time...so what?

I don't think anyone was claiming 1200 rounds per hour, so basically...WTF?

I'm pretty sure if every LnL owner went into the Dillon section and answered every Dillon problem post with thread pollution, comments on the ski jump, shims, etc...you might get a bit annoyed, no?

On the other hand, it'd also be great to know when the couple of people that have had LnL APs and moved on...what year and for how long they actually had the press, along with actual details of the issues, what was done to try to correct, etc. Hornady does make silent and ongoing updates to their stuff, as witnessed earlier in this very thread with the changes to the case feeder. If you or sr20 had a LnL AP before ez-ject, or the older case feeder, those observations may be entirely invalid by now, or not..

[Ed Robinson]

Right on rtp. Some are gonna hate on the lnl. Some are gonna hate on Dillon. Those that are hating have probably never pulled a handle o the opposite color. I have owned 9 different presses from 4 makers. I feel my lock n loads are the best of all those designs I've personally tried including big blue. That's my opinion. We all have them. Hell if you want to load with those lee hammer die sets, by all means go for it. It just ain't for me.

[BostonBullit]

Have recently ditched LNL AP case feeder due to chronic problems. Constants "twiddle" rquired to make it work. Replaced parts etc. load faster by hand feeding.

Currently considering a dillon press.

Same here. When it works it works well but more often than not I'm stuck fiddling or adjusting or un-jamming or....

Which caliber(s)?

Old or newer style case feeder?

Which problems, and what was attempted to correct it?

'Me too' posts are great, but not the most useful...

40SW, 38Super, and 9mm.

I've had the case-feeder for around a year and a half, not sure if that's old or new style.

Problems and attempted solutions:

1. Cases drop from the gate, turn perpendicular (front to back), and jam (40SW).
   • I adjusted the metal gate to every possible position. no change.
   • I duct taped a piece of cardboard to the right side of the opening to cut down the window size. no change, my gate is not offset to the right like a lot of the youtube videos show.
   • I then duct taped a piece of cardboard in place to form a flap over the drop gate reducing the amount of room the case could have to flip around. This worked 90% of the time, it only jammed up if cases dropped from a few sorting plate slots in a row in which case it jammed in the funnel due to the reduced speed of the case caused by the flap
2. Cases drop from the gate and just logjam in the funnel (all calibers)
   • Same as #1
3. If a case comes around in the feed plate notch and another case is sitting on top of it, usually sideways, the case doesn't fully drop and jams against the loading gate (9mm)
   • I futzed around with the loading gate a bit without success so now I just flip the motor off and clear the jam.
4. Cases dropping down the drop tube and then falling off the ram (mainly 9mm)
   • I haven't done anything to try and fix this, I know the fix is to add a piece of PVC.
5. Cases manage to work their way under the sort plate (9mm)
   • This usually happens as the result of issue #3 in my list. the torque on the sort plate before I shut down the motor can cause it to lift and if there's another case laying sideways on the edge up by the top it slips under the plate.

on a more positive note I recently added the UltraMount stuff to the press, mid height mount, roller handle, and dual bullet tray on swing-out arm and that makes the reloading experience much nicer than stock. I highly recommend these items for your LNL (I have no skin in the game so to speak, just a happy customer).

[rtp]

Which caliber(s)?

Old or newer style case feeder?

Which problems, and what was attempted to correct it?

'Me too' posts are great, but not the most useful...

40SW, 38Super, and 9mm.

I've had the case-feeder for around a year and a half, not sure if that's old or new style.

'New style' has a black plate wrapped around the clear funnel, and the right hand slide of the slot ends even with the right hand side of the funnel.

Old style is a single clear plastic plate on front, and the right hand side of the collator slot may b 'clocked' too far to the right (which some people have re-clocked to orient more like the new style).

There may well be other 'intermediate' feeders, tough to tell.. ??

New style pic:

Problems and attempted solutions:

1. Cases drop from the gate, turn perpendicular (front to back), and jam (40SW).
   • I adjusted the metal gate to every possible position. no change.
   • I duct taped a piece of cardboard to the right side of the opening to cut down the window size. no change, my gate is not offset to the right like a lot of the youtube videos show.
   • I then duct taped a piece of cardboard in place to form a flap over the drop gate reducing the amount of room the case could have to flip around. This worked 90% of the time, it only jammed up if cases dropped from a few sorting plate slots in a row in which case it jammed in the funnel due to the reduced speed of the case caused by the flap
2. Cases drop from the gate and just logjam in the funnel (all calibers)
   • Same as #1

Yeah, this is where it would be nice to have caliber specific inserts, but it's solvable. For 9mm, I cut up a primer tray and 'notched' it to sit on the front face of the funnel.

For .223, I narrowed the funnel from side to side, with another carved up primer tray. Can't remember the last time I've had a funnel jam...now.

Pic below for .223 'insert.'

1. 3. If a case comes around in the feed plate notch and another case is sitting on top of it, usually sideways, the case doesn't fully drop and jams against the loading gate (9mm)
   • I futzed around with the loading gate a bit without success so now I just flip the motor off and clear the jam.

I've had this happen, but very rarely since adjusting the gate. In my case, I manually put a case into the slot, case mouth 'forward,' find the balance point of the case, then close the gate just a bit beyond the balance point. Not sure if anyone else has a better solution here?

1. 4. Cases dropping down the drop tube and then falling off the ram (mainly 9mm)
   • I haven't done anything to try and fix this, I know the fix is to add a piece of PVC.

I think this (thinner walled tubing, probably not PVC) and ensuring a stable, solid mount/bench is the best bet here.

Seems to mainly be an issue on shorter pistol brass?

1. 5. Cases manage to work their way under the sort plate (9mm)
   • This usually happens as the result of issue #3 in my list. the torque on the sort plate before I shut down the motor can cause it to lift and if there's another case laying sideways on the edge up by the top it slips under the plate.

I think you're right..solve the occasional feeding jam and this one goes away.

The only other comment I've seen from anyone on this one, is perhaps adding a plastic strip across the collator, at the right height to 'swipe' away any cases double stacked. Could probably get away with a single 'swiper' for most calibers being loaded, the point being to just allow one case height to pass, and any 'riders' approaching the collator gate to get knocked away. I haven't had this happen enough to look into doing it. I'm thinking velcro if/when I give this a shot.

on a more positive note I recently added the UltraMount stuff to the press, mid height mount, roller handle, and dual bullet tray on swing-out arm and that makes the reloading experience much nicer than stock. I highly recommend these items for your LNL (I have no skin in the game so to speak, just a happy customer).

UltraMount = Inline Fabrication, or someone else?

I've got their middle ergo handle, and eventually considering the swing-out bullet holders.

Wow, it's tough to split up quotes on BE properly.. :-/

[98sr20ve]

I have lots of constructive help earlier and in the past for these LnL owners. I know most the fixes as I have "been there done that". With the advise comes my frustration that the press just does not deliver. It was 5 months of hell.

Edited March 27, 2014 by 98sr20ve

[ben b.]

5 months of hell.

You've recovered nicely.

[98sr20ve]

5 months of hell.

You've recovered nicely.

It helped that Hornady went above and beyond to make me right. At the end I talked to a nice "marketing lady" and she said

"Send me your receipts and we will send you shipping labels. We will return ALL your money and just send the press back to us"

I never once got mad, I just had constant issues that they could not fix, even after getting a new frame. One guy at Hornady actually said "The Dillon has more leverage, I have a redesign but we can't change the press at this time"

Once I got all my money back I frankly didn't care. But I would prefer others not have my same experience. The 650 is simply a better designed press. It's all about the caliber specific case feeder parts and the design of the slider. PRIMARILY the LnL does not have any case retaining device, it also does not have a channel for the primer flow so the case doesn't rock as it's being pushed into the shell plate. The DIllon has all those things. That is why the caliber conversion on the dillon cost more. All these issues are worse in 9mm out of Glock then say .40 out of a STI.

[Dukecola]

RTP, can you please show a pic of the primer tray you cut to put on the face of the funnel for 9mm. I'm not having any problems with drops but it would be nice to have banked in case I ever do. thanks.

[rtp]

RTP, can you please show a pic of the primer tray you cut to put on the face of the funnel for 9mm. I'm not having any problems with drops but it would be nice to have banked in case I ever do. thanks.

Huh, I thought I did but doesn't look like it. Will see if I can take one and post it sometime this week.

It's pretty simple, more or less cut a 'V' from a primer tray that follows the shape of the funnel, then hack in a slot in the back of the tray, so you can slip it in the front funnel edge, The purpose is simply to reduce the front to back space so short cases don't have room to wedge themselves front to back.

[anaxagoras]

I'm getting fed up with my lnl case feeder that i'm about ready to sell all my Hornday gear and buy a dillon 1050. For the money I spent I want something that works right out of the box. My time is valuable to me which is why I went from a single stage to a lnl and then recently added the case feeder and bullet feeder.

Right now all i'm trying to do is universal decap in station 1 prior to wet tumbling a large batch of .223/5.56. I'd really expect to be able to fly through this and I can't. at least 80% of the cases are going into the shell plate cock-eyed. i've spent the last 3 hours playing around with the timing on the shell plate and the case feeder shuttle and i'm just frustrated. No matter what i do the case seems to go in at an angle and won't properly sit in the shell plate. If i was priming I wouldn't be able to, and as is the case doesn't get into the retention spring and pops out if i try to advance to the next station.. I went to google for help which brought me here now it seems that it may be the shell plates is out of spec, but Hornady won't admit it despite having different shell plate designs. I'll give them a call but really just want to vent my frustration at this product right now.

Edited May 2, 2014 by anaxagoras

[ben b.]

If you got a bad shellplate, there is jaq-shiite you can do to fix feeding until you change it. If the case retainer spring is pushing above flush at point of entry, cases will tip. The ledge at the bottom of the shell plate that pushes down on the case retainer spring needs to be square, with corners.

The bad one I had in .223 was beveled. It didn't work. Cases tipped because the spring was coming above flush. It did not happen with my 4 other shellplates, b/c they had the proper machining..

[anaxagoras]

after putzing with it some more, i switched calibers... .308 works fine... it must be the shell plate.

Edited May 3, 2014 by anaxagoras

[NinerRider]

Onagoth;

If you check Youtube (I didn't look at your videos), there's a guy who has a video posted of THREE different shell plate versions. Who knows, there may be more out there than three. There is definitely a problem or there wouldn't be so many darn revisions of the shell plate. Also, as the shell transitions out of the loading area, if it's not totally engaged in the shell plate it will roll over the spring and bend it. From there, the spring is on limited life. It's a poor design, and one of the reasons I sold my LNL.

*edit*

Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypEVuCCzv1U

Thanks for the video post it has answered a few questions I had.

[JohnRodriguez]

here is a quick tip on the drop tube extension that has been mentioned above. instead of using a piece of thin wall pvc, use a 12 gauge shotgun shell. just trim it to the length.

[Mush from PA.]

John R. - Thankyou!! the shot gun shell hull works great. I cut a notch to go around the "V" block.