Just got my hornady lock and load back from hornady

[joed]

I've had problems with the Dillons with certain powders too. All you can do is try a different powder. Unique will cause problems in any of the Dillon presses I've owned, I no longer use it.

Primers were a problem when I first got the press. A progressive has to be mounted so it doesn't move or you will have problems. Another issue with progressives and I don't care who it's made by, is keep the primer feed area clean. Dirt from the spent primers will cause trouble.

Sorry to hear the LnL didn't work out for you. I looked at them before buying Dillon and passed.

 

[k4swb]

I don't care who it's made by, is keep the primer feed area clean. Dirt from the spent primers will cause trouble.

This is something I have had no reason to worry about, at all. The way the Hornady LNL AP is designed I do not get any primer crud anywhere on my press.

 

[noylj]

As a person who has used a Hornady progressive since they first came out (Pro-7 or Pro-Jector or whatever), and bought a L-N-L about 4 years ago, I can say that I have not had any problems with any of the Hornady presses.
The only problem I had with my L-N-L was that the very last primer would never drop properly and the slider would stick. Fixed this by using a Dillon primer rod.
The only other problem I had was during a move, the cam-wire that controls the movement of the primer slider was bent. Hornady sent me a new one and a replacement for the black plastic part that connects the cam-wire to the top of the press. When I knew I had a replacement coming, I bent the cam-wire until it started working again.
The "blast-shield" for the primer tube should be pressed/rotated towards the press when tightening the bolt, so the primer tube lines up with the slider.
Any one complaining about the Hornady priming system needs to condemn the Dillon also. They are all the same basic idea and alignment is everything.
Never had any problems with any brand of primer and I never found a powder that metered better with a different measure (though I have found ALL measures to have their days when I just can't get a consistent drop), and found the Hornady to be a bit better than the Dillon.
Nothing is worse though than customer service blaming everything on other components (think they all learned this from the computer industry) and, unless the instructions warned you NOT to use a certain company's product, they should be responsible for fixing it.

 

[joed]

Gasitman, you're going to be one of a few that has used both presses. Most have only owned one brand and defend it to the end. I'd rather hear from those who have owned both what their opinions are.

I look forward to hearing about the Dillon when it's up and running.

 

[EddieNFL]

I've used both the LNL and 650. No complaints, but I prefer the 650. Still have a old Projector, but as mentioned above, can't get parts.

 

[joed]

I like hearing from people that have owned both. The Hornady LnL is very popular and a lot of people are buying them. Throw in bullets and it really looks great.

Never had a Hornady myself. That's not saying that I wouldn't own one if I came across a deal. I've had 3 Dillons and they were pretty decent. One of my reasons for picking them was how long they've been in the auto press business.

 

[noylj]

I have used Dillon and Hornady.
As my prior post indicates, I have spent the better part of my life with a Hornady AP.
The 550B. It has been a while. I hated the lack of auto-indexing. For me, it just seems much safer to have the press auto-advance. Secondly, as I remember, the empty case goes into the station to the front of the press on the right side. I do remember NOT liking having to feed the cases in with my right hand. Also, the SDB and the 550B just seem cramped. The dies are all very close to each other and seeing into a case is not easy.
The 650: a really nice press if you have the case feeder. In this case, the empty case are fed into the machine at the right rear. Without a case feeder, you either have to take your hand off the press and reach over to place it to be fed into the shellplate or you install the case feeder tube and every 20-25 cases you stand up and re-fill the tube.
I really appreciated my Hornady after that. I never really desired a case feeder on my Hornady.
However, then I tried a RL1050.
My son now has my Hornady and I have a couple of 1050s.
Now, if Hornady would just come out with a 6-station press, I might go back.

 

[SpringfieldM1A]

I did not read through all the posts but id like to throw in my 2 cents. I own a 650 bought last year and i can already notice some flaws. My lil bro owns a hornady LNL so i got to compare them both.

When i reload 357 on the dillon and the plate indexes it will sometimes jerk and powder will come out of the cases. I just ease it along slow simple fix. i notice sometimes the primers will not fall into the bin, not sure of the problem as it does not happen frequently. when cases get low on the feed tube sometimes they will not "feed" into the press. These are some negatives to the press but there are some huge advantages the dillon has. i absolutely love how you can change the entire setup by removing two pins and sliding everything out then replacing with a new tool head. once you set everything up and play with it changing to a different caliber is no problem at all. I havent used many types of powder in there powder measure but so far it is within +- 1 gr which is very acceptable for me.

I have not had a ton of experience with the hornady LNL as i have with the dillon but one thing i notice that i did not like is the quick change system. it seems to have some "flex" in it which i dont like. seems quicker to change the entire tool head on the dillon and it still feels solid.

Overall i prefer my dillon and so does my lil bro. once i get some money i plan on buying more tool heads and using it basicly as my main press for everything from pistol to rifle. My advice to you is if you have a friend that has a dillon check it out you just might like it.

 

[Hairballusmaximus]

I went with Hornady simply based on rep and price. Helps also that local shops carry nothing dillon related. I have had lots of issues...nothing I havent been able to figure out...but I have had a few frustrations.I know you already got rid of it but I think the problem was hornady didnt finish machining the primer slide. I got a replacement and it flat wouldnt feed. I called hornady and they told me all kinds of stuff but that it wasnt them. They didnt finish the 'bevel' in the mouth of the slide and the primer were getting flipped or it just would lock back and I would have to remove entire feed assembly and start over. I used a carbide cutter tool with a round end and put the bevel in and then polished the beveled area and it now works flawlessly.


This is only one of a # of things that didnt work right when I first got the press but that is another thread.

 

[DiMora]

I am the new owner of Gasitman's Hornady LNL-AP. It was gone through by Hornady and everything appears to be in good working order.

I have it up and running (S&W .40), and so far it is working well. I am using CCI primers, Lee dies, and the Hornady PTX (Powder Through Expander) adapter on the powder measure...and so far I have not had any issues save for a slight variation in thrown charge...although my powder level did vary in the hopper. I will try adding the Lyman Powder measure baffle that Gasitman threw in for me and see if it makes it perfectly consistent...I am using Hodgdon HP38 powder.

I did have to re-align the primer feed tube slider wire so that the hole in the primer shuttle indexed correctly with the opening in the feed tube...but after that the primers are feeding perfectly.

Gasitman, I am anxious to see how you like your new Dillon in comparison with your LNL experience. Thanks for a smooth transaction, and I hope we both end up being happy with our respective machines.

FWIW I tried a Lee Loadmster before this - and I could only tolerate it for less than 700 rounds...it is junk. The auto-disk powder measure works great, and the dies are nice, but the press was junk...primer issues...indexing issues...etc.

 

[okeybug]

I had an old Projector press. It was flawed with a bad primer mechanism. If I used a Lee Auto Prime to do my primers on, the Hornady was OK. The problem is Hornady changes designs so radically that there is no way to upgrade. Dillon on the other hand has been making the same presses for years. You can upgrade from their basic 500 to their latest 550 with all the goodys. I've got a Dillon 550 and 650 and love them.

 

[DiMora]

I had an old Projector press. It was flawed with a bad primer mechanism. If I used a Lee Auto Prime to do my primers on, the Hornady was OK. The problem is Hornady changes designs so radically that there is no way to upgrade. Dillon on the other hand has been making the same presses for years. You can upgrade from their basic 500 to their latest 550 with all the goodys. I've got a Dillon 550 and 650 and love them.

The LNL AP is the same basic design it has been since it came out, and all the new mods can be retrofitted to the old units, including auto case feed, powder through expansion (PTX), and the new powder measure stop adjustment.

I just ordered the stop adjustment; I think that will solve my case neck flare issue and allow me to remove the dedicated flare die I am using...the powder baffle has made my charges consistent now.

Priming and indexing were flawless last night for 60 rounds (that was all I did...just wanted a small test run before the powder measure stop arrives) then I'll make 500 or so and report back.

 

[Claude Clay]

because of L n L recent rebates many students wanted to be trained on it.

a great many of all brands ( progressive) need some tweaking. but the LnL seems to
need the most. and an experienced hand to do it. sadly, if it does not run proper upon its initial set up, someone new to re-loadind is likely in for a bad time.

lots of good advice here--my 2 cents is ; if you haven't bought a lot of extras yet, sell it ( accept a small loss) and buy blue (sq deal if all you ever gonna load is pistol, 650 otherwise).

 

[rsrocket1]

so far I have not had any issues save for a slight variation in thrown charge...although my powder level did vary in the hopper. I will try adding the Lyman Powder measure baffle that Gasitman threw in for me and see if it makes it perfectly consistent...I am using Hodgdon HP38 powder.

The LnL Powder measure does come with a baffle, didn't you get one?

I get very consistent drops with Unique, H335, Rx7, Varget (the only powders I've used so far).

Did you completely disassemble the powder measure and degrease everything according to the instructional videos?

 

[k4swb]

I just ordered the stop adjustment

What is this?

Never mind, I figured it out.

 

[cfullgraf]

The LnL Powder measure does come with a baffle, didn't you get one?

My L-N-L powder measure that was included with my L-N-L progressive purchased in late 2009 did not include a baffle.

I made one.

I learned last year that Hornady was including one in the progressive kits. I wrote them wanting to buy one but they sent me one for free.

 

[dannyd]

my press works

my AP worked great out of the box. Owned a SD and 550. The best thing about a AP is you can change seating die. I load 9 different bullets for 357, all I need to change is one die and ready to go.

 

[EddieNFL]

my AP worked great out of the box. Owned a SD and 550. The best thing about a AP is you can change seating die. I load 9 different bullets for 357, all I need to change is one die and ready to go.

Use the same powder charge in all nine?

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

Use the same powder charge in all nine?

I'm sure he probably doesn't, but I'm glad you mentioned this. That's something else that is WAY easier to change on the AP than on a Dillon: the powder throw.

Andy

 

[rsrocket1]

If you have more money than time, you can buy another powder measure metering assembly for $10. Simply press a button and slide in the new preset plunger in the LnL powder measure. So no, not just change one die, change one die and the powder measure dial and adjust the height of the powder measure for the new case. Still, it's all pretty easy.

 

[morrow]

The Dillon powder measure isn't perfect, but it's vastly superior to the Hornady one. The Hornady one is the exact same design with a few minor modifications to a very old rotor style powder measure. The Hornady one IS built well but will ONLY function good if you put ball powders that meter like water in it. If you put any flake, stick, or extruded powder in the measure, you're going to have problems. Don't try to use stuff like Varget in the Hornady powder measure, use TAC.

 

[noylj]

I am sorry, morrow, but I totally disagree.
I have three Dillon 1050s with five Dillon powder measures for different cartridges. I like the simplicity of the Dillon, but the Hornady was much more consistent with extruded and flake powders than the Dillon and NEVER leaked.
I find the Dillon's to be adequate, so I am not going to order Hornady's to replace them, but they sure aren't superior in any way, shape, or form.
To me, the Dillon is just a large Lee Auto-Disk with an adjustable charge bar that actually works. In fact, I often run a Lee Pro Auto-Disk on my 1050 when working up loads (the Dillon is a very touchy measure to dial in a load and you can spend 30 minutes trying to move the bolt just enough but not too much) as it is simple, consistent, and quick to change charge weight--though I have NEVER gotten an adjustable charge bar to work in any of my Lee measures.

 

[9X23WIN]

I'm a great fan of Hornady and have 4 of their shotgun progressive 366s and a single stage metallic loader 00-7. But my experience with their older progressive model (Projector) was bad. Never could get it to operate smoothly (primer and indexing problems) and eventually ended up throwing it in the trash. In hindsight, I should had kept it for single stage use, or at least sent it back for repairs.

 

[jeepmor]

I had to round over the edges of my large primer plate ever so slightly with a chamefering bit where the primer drops in even after fine adjustment of the guide rod. I also used a jewelers file to debur some mold flashihng on the primer loader to make them move smoother.

I never had an indexing issue on my machine, but you might check this also if the primers don't line up consistently. Everything moves/wears a little as you break the press in and these are typical tweaks required. As it settles in, adjustments usually drop to zero until you switch out from large to small primer stations and vice-versa. Sometimes the difference in good and lousy operation is simply moving the part back and forth within it's tolerance/slop under the mounting bolt.

hope this helps,

jeepmor

 

[DiMora]

I sent it in because I could not go more than 20 rounds without some kind of failure. Mostly with the primers either not going in properly, turning, or not going in at all. Also the powder measure would stick in the up position, thus why I got the squib load a few months back. So I bought a rcbs powder check die.

Anyways, they send me a letter and guess what, they blame all my problems on.........................everyone else. Yep, they tell me not to use the 700x powder since it is flakes and not grains, that is why the powder measure is bad, and also not to use Federal primers as they are not cut to spec. Really? I know, I know, Dillon right, well I do not have the cash to replace everything.

Anyone else have these issues with their L-N-L?:banghead:

Well, for what it is worth, guys...Gasitman's LNL AP is working flawlessly for me.

I had inconsistent charges and primers weren't feeding right when I un-boxed it, so as I mentioned earlier in the thread, I had to tweak the alignment of the primer shuttle so it indexed correctly with the primer feed tube, but after doing so it is operating flawlessly. I just cranked out 75 rounds non-stop...zero issues...perfect priming...consistent charges (I checked every 5 rounds just to be sure since this press is new to me)...I couldn't be happier. I will definitely be adding the case feeder now that I know it runs reliably. Soooooo much better than the Lee Loadmster!

I can't say how it stacks up vs. a Dillon, but I can say that the indexing, priming, and powder throw consistency is now spectacular with the baffle in place, the cap in place, and with Hodgden HP-38, CCI primers (small) in .40 S&W.

Once I added the baffle, tapped on the sides after filling with powder, and threw 10-15 charges into a catch-cup and then dumped back into the hopper to "purge" the system, the charges became very consistent.