Just got my hornady lock and load back from hornady

[jpdavis423]

I had a Hornady LNL progressive for about a month - returned it and bought a Dillon 650. I don't remember any priming problems. I had trouble getting it to eject completed rounds. I think they have fixed this within the last year. The old system had an ejector wire that I had to continually adjust and even then it was bad. It also interfered with the last station so that unless you used Hornady dies it was only a 4 station press.
The other two issues I had:
They had (at that time) no powder thru expander for .32.
Their service dept. was not open on Saturdays. When I was able to talk to them, the service dept. was fine but they could not fix a design problem.

The Dillon has been great - not perfect - but almost. I can easily load 1,000 rounds at a time without a hiccup. With the Hornady I never got past 10 - 20.

Jeff

 

[nofishbob]

With no disrespect intended for the OP, DiMora's experience with this press confirms a suspicion that I have had: Many times "unsolvable" problems with things like reloading presses can be solved with a fresh look at the problem and maybe a different set of skills.

I always wonder, in cases where I have the same equipment as someone posting a problem, if I could take a look at the press, etc, fiddle with it, and make it work as well as mine does.

Then I think that maybe there are deeper problems and that my experience would be worthless.

DiMora's post was the first I have ever seen where one poster could not make a press work, and then we get a report that the new owner was able to work out the kinks.

Excellent!

Bob

 

[Gryffydd]

Many times "unsolvable" problems with things like reloading presses can be solved with a fresh look at the problem and maybe a different set of skills.

A big plus one there. Even the Lee Loadmaster can be made to run pretty much flawlessly with the right kind of attention.

 

[GaryL]

With no disrespect intended for the OP, DiMora's experience with this press confirms a suspicion that I have had: Many times "unsolvable" problems with things like reloading presses can be solved with a fresh look at the problem and maybe a different set of skills.

x2

I've said the same thing here a few times - that all machines have their quirks and for some people they are show stoppers and for others it simply gives the machine some personality.

 

[DiMora]

A big plus one there. Even the Lee Loadmaster can be made to run pretty much flawlessly with the right kind of attention.

I could have fixed the Loadmaster, but I had already sheared off one of the black plastic primer sliders @ about round #500...and then when it failed to index and sheared off the pin on my "unbreakable" universal Lee decapping die...I walked away, slept on it, and decided to tell Gasitman I'd take his LNL and ditch the Lee.

The Lee, IMHO, has three major issues:

1) The shellplate carrier does not index precisely...and that metal rod that gets pushed with the lever does not have smooth action...causing quick rotation of the shell-plate carrier.

2) The quick rotation of the shellplate (See #1) spills powder, and that spilled powder gets into the primer slider.

3) The primer slider jams up and breaks due to #2.

The Hornady has none of those issues so far...it appears to index correctly every time, the priming system is working great, and the half-turn with each up and down-stroke of the lever means no powder is spilled.

 

[Gryffydd]

While the Hornady is definitely better, and I'm glad I replaced my Loadmaster with it, I have to disagree with your assessment of the quick indexing on the Loadmaster. With a properly adjusted carrier and good lubrication you can ease the shellplate into the next station as slowly and gently as you like on the Loadmaster, perhaps even moreso than the LnL on which the shellplate snaps into the detents, which you can't control.

The real problem with the Loadmaster's indexing is the little plastic flipper that doesn't like to actually run up and down that crazy Mousetrap course on the frame of the press.

The primer feed system kind of sucks with all those plastic parts, but if you spend some time polishing all the parts it can work OK. Not having to fill primer tubes sure is nice.

 

[noylj]

I owned the Pro-7, the Pro-Jector, and the L-N-L. I bought the very first model (may be one of above). I was happy with all of them, but could see the advantage to the new ones. In many cases, Hornady managed to upgrade my press and shellplates for minimal cost.
Never had any primer issues other than aligning the primer stem to the drop tube. Sort of liked the old system where the primer stem was on an arm that rotated over to pick up a primer. One could visually verify that a primer has been picked up.
The only thing that I could never get to work was the case ejector. Then again, I saw no advantage over just flipping it out with my finger as I loaded a new case and placed the bullet to be seated. I have a Hornady taper crimp die that is impressed from the wire ejector. Some managed to bend it and it to work. I never could and didn't feel any need for it anyway.
The new EZject system looks like what they should have had years ago.
My 1050s eject fine, though sometimes they too sort of "stick" and the round get ejected quite vigorously. This what would happen with the old Hornady's. The case would get stuck in the shellplate and when it finally let go, it would get tossed out quite vigorously.

 

[DiMora]

I owned the Pro-7, the Pro-Jector, and the L-N-L. I bought the very first model (may be one of above). I was happy with all of them, but could see the advantage to the new ones. In many cases, Hornady managed to upgrade my press and shellplates for minimal cost.
Never had any primer issues other than aligning the primer stem to the drop tube. Sort of liked the old system where the primer stem was on an arm that rotated over to pick up a primer. One could visually verify that a primer has been picked up.
The only thing that I could never get to work was the case ejector. Then again, I saw no advantage over just flipping it out with my finger as I loaded a new case and placed the bullet to be seated. I have a Hornady taper crimp die that is impressed from the wire ejector. Some managed to bend it and it to work. I never could and didn't feel any need for it anyway.
The new EZject system looks like what they should have had years ago.
My 1050s eject fine, though sometimes they too sort of "stick" and the round get ejected quite vigorously. This what would happen with the old Hornady's. The case would get stuck in the shellplate and when it finally let go, it would get tossed out quite vigorously.

The EZ-Ject works great so far.

 

[scotch827]

I purchased a Hornady Lnl last fall. It is my first progressive. At first I did have problems ( learning curve ) The biggest thing was the primers and that was solved by polishing the primer tray with a dremmel and spraying graphite lube on it.
Every time I refill the primers I use an air can to clear any debris away and spray some One Shot Lube on the powder rotor.The powder rotor will start to stick after a few hundred round if not lubed. I also replaced the washer used to secure the shell plate with a star washer. The bolt would work loose with the standard washer. I also had to adjust the pawls when I received the press.
I have run over 2000 shells after figuring everything out and have no problems other than one primer misfeed. This evening I ran 200 45 acp's thru in about 40 minutes and was not rushing anything. I am very happy with the press. I always enjoyed single stage reloading for my rifles but now it seems so slow and tedious.

Scott