LNL AP Press Questions

[J_McLeod]

I got my LNL AP from Graf's today and set up most of it. Didn't get to the Hornady powder measure, just used my Lee Auto disk since it already had the load I wanted. I was very impressed with it, and it mostly worked great. I like the priming system and the ease of removing cartridges from the shellplate. A couple of questions.

The shellplate frequently did not adjust quite right on the down stroke. I'd have to help it manually most of the time. It seemed to do this more often if I moved the ram slowly than when I moved it quickly. After reading the manual Hornady says not to mess with the adjustment so I'm hesitant to try it.

My Lee die set needed to be screwed in very deeply. Would a set or Hornady or other brand dies be easier to use?

Is it compatible with a Dillon Strong mount?

 

[john16443]

I received my LNL AP last week and have been using the heck out of it for 9mm and 45ACP. I also had to make a minor adjustment to get the shell plate to index correctly. It wasn't much and it was easy to do. All I did was follow the directions. My issue was on the up stroke, when it got to the top of the stroke if I moved it slowly, it wouldn't index correctly to seat the primers. I adjusted the left pawl slightly and have been fine. Since you indicate your timing issue is on the down stroke, you'll have to adjust the right pawl.

I use a combination of Lee and Lyman dies, and know what you mean about them being deep. I don't have issues, but I've heard that some folks have to put the locking rings on the underside of the press. I haven't had to do that.

I don't believe it is compatible with the Dillon strong mount, seen other posts about that around the net.

 

[777TRUTH]

Just got mine from Grafs a couple of weeks ago.

The shellplate frequently did not adjust quite right on the down stroke. I'd have to help it manually most of the time. It seemed to do this more often if I moved the ram slowly than when I moved it quickly.

Did you grease the bearings on the underside of the shell plate?

My Lee die set needed to be screwed in very deeply.

My Lee 9mm dies work fine in the in the LNL, They sit deep but the locking rings are where they should be. A thread or 2 is all that is needed.

Would a set or Hornady or other brand dies be easier to use?

I'm a little annoyed with Hornady dies.

The Hornady 9mm dies are going back to Grafs. My sizing die is defective or does not size as aggressively as Lee's. I have had problems with bullet setback. Measuring inside/outside diameter of shells before and after resize confirms Lee is .004 +/- .001 smaller after resize.

Hornady's directions say to set the decapping pin 3/16 below the die. This is to short to remove spent primer. A 1/4 inch does the trick.

Hornady's 9mm seating/crimp die does a roll crimp. You use a TAPER CRIMP on 9mm NOT a ROLL CRIMP forcing you to buy a separate taper crimp die.

I do like the seating die though and will order it as a singe die to use in the press for all calibers I reload.

On the powder measure I followed Hornady's directions and cleaned it up with their One Shot gun cleaner. Big mistake. Powder sticks to and clumps making measure throw inconsistently.

My solution was to clean metal with non chlorinated brake cleaner and wipe dry. Clean hopper with HOT soapy water and let air dry without a final rinse. Works great now and no static problems.

I also removed the red paint from inside the hopper and polished it up with 600 grit sand paper. One less place for powder granules to hide or stick to when changing powders.

I hope this helps.

Enjoy your press

 

[cfullgraf]

When I converted my handgun cartridges to the Hornady, I had some issues with the Lee dies being short. If the lock rings fit through the hole on the press, putting the lock ring on the bottom would solve that problem. I did not try it.

I did buy a couple Hornady die sets to replace some dies that were too short to work on the press. A few Lee dies but also some early eighties vintage RCBS dies.

I am not entirely pleased with the Hornady dies. As far as I can tell, you cannot remove the expander plug from the expander die for polishing or resizing if necessary. I have resizing die that does not resize the case enough. As said earlier, the seater dies work well and the ability to add a micrometer adjuster for a reasonable cost is a nice feature.

I have had no issues with newer and current vintage RCBS and Redding dies.

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

On your Lee dies and a Hornady LnL, both of which I had lots of experience with:

1. Remove the o-ring from the Lee die. Dillon lock rings work find without a set screw or an o-ring. So will the Lee dies.

2. Flip the lock ring upside down so you have more bearing surface to tighten the lock ring up with.

3. Set the die and tighten lock ring down. Make sure LnL bushing is locked into the press before doing this.

4. If die is set and is operating properly, you are done.

5. If die is too short, sell that Lee die set to someone with a single stage and buy a set of newer Lee dies, because they're a bit longer and will work.

Notice there was no mention of wasting any money on Hornady or any other brand die sets. If you choose to buy other brands, make sure it is because the task you are doing will be improved by that brand and type of die, not because of fit in the press.

I owned a ton of Lee die sets, all bought in the last ten years. All of them worked fine on my LnL. Older Lee sets from years and years back were made shorter, so if yours are older, they may not work. All that said, if your dies are set, the lock ring tightened down, you're good to go.

I hope this helps,

Dave

 

[777TRUTH]

Notice there was no mention of wasting any money on Hornady or any other brand die sets. If you choose to buy other brands, make sure it is because the task you are doing will be improved by that brand and type of die, not because of fit in the press.

Very true words indeed.

 

[dbarnhart]

>>>The shellplate frequently did not adjust quite right on the down stroke.<<<

You'll need to adjust the timing pawls. Turn the left pawl counterclockwise. Adjust it 1/8 turn at a time.

 

[J_McLeod]

Thanks for the replies. Good info about cleaning the powder hopper. I don't have any One Shot gun cleaner and don't want to get any. I went to Ace yesterday and forgot the grease, so I tried without it. I'll try some of that before messing with the adjustment. The Lee dies fit and work but I had to screw them in to within a few threads from the top of the press. All my reloading equipment is a year old or less.

I really like this press and will soon end up with more ammo than I can shoot.

Has anyone come up with a good method of monitoring the primer level? The best I can think of is putting in 5, then 10 at a time and putting marks on the white rod that supposed to go in the tube.

 

[mmorris]

On the right, LEE Sizer/decapper with inverted locknut minus o-ring.
On the left, LEE seat/crimp die with normal locknut installation (with o-ring).

Both in same set bought 2008. The decapper/sizer is the only one that I have to invert the locknut to use.

 

[777TRUTH]

I really like this press and will soon end up with more ammo than I can shoot.

That's the biggest problem with this press. I no longer have empty cases and I need more powder and primers to fill the cases I'm going to shoot this weekend.

Has anyone come up with a good method of monitoring the primer level? The best I can think of is putting in 5, then 10 at a time and putting marks on the white rod that supposed to go in the tube.

I put the mark @ 5 primers.

I could be wrong but I remember seeing someone that retrofit the Dillon low primer warning onto their LNL.

 

[BYJO4]

Adjusting the pawl is easy by following the instructions. Just 1/8 of a turn at a time. It doesn't take much. If you have any doubts or questions, call Hornady customer service while sitting at your press and they will walk you thru it.

 

[Blue68f100]

I had to adj the indexing paws when I first got mine. I think I have had to adj them once more when I added the brass feeder. Use small adj steps with these, a little goes a long way.

I have not had the problem that you mention about the Hornady dies. I find them better quality than RCBS & Lee. I use the Powder Through eXpander dies and not the expander die that comes with the set's. With these you do have to option of polishing them down smaller if needed.

I have the RCBS primer alarm on mine. Be aware if you do not use a custom made bushing on top the primer tubes you will/can loosen the plastic retainer and dump the primers on the inner tube. I use to put a flag on mine but took it off. I use a brass pusher with SP and LP caps on each end. When the last primer is used it locks the slide back. If I'm loading large quantity I reload the primers tube when the RCBS alarm goes off, 10 left. The only time I use my brass pusher is when I'm going to use all the primers in the tube.

Enjoy your press, the engineering is so elegant and simple which make it reliable with very few weak points.

 

[thorn-]

I use the rod-in-the-tube-with-the-flag to keep track of the primers left. It was - oh, about 3 cents worth of red tape and a coat hanger. Works great.

I also reload in groups of 100. When the bin of brass is nearly empty, I know I'm almost out of primers.

thorn

 

[Walkalong]

With the Hornady (Or Bonanza) lock rings, you can use the last thread at the top, which will salvage some dies that are "too short".

I have one die where I put an unthreaded spacer on which butted against the solid top, then ran a lock ring against it, which worked out.

So far I have been able to use all my dies on the LNL.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=5832383&postcount=3

 

[Walkalong]

Here are three more dies, two of which did not have enough threads.

Left: .40 FCD. The Lee lock ring just did have enough thread.

Middle: Lee .44 sizer. The Redding lock ring is not on any threads. It is just pushed up against the full diameter top of the die. The bushing is screwed up tight against it holding everything set.

Right: Lee .38 auto sizer. (.38 S&W). The lock ring is not on any threads. It is just pushed up against the full diameter top of the die, with a spacer pushed up against it. The bushing is screwed up tight against them, holding things together.

 

[twohightech]

I just jot mine LnL fixed and setting up for 223 my dies are hitting the shell plate to get them where they will seat and crimp is this ok to run with? Glad that the LEE powder disk will work. Going to set up for 45acp next. They have been sold out of shell plates for 9mm the last two times i have ordered something. I'm liking the press so far

 

[CHALK22]

From what I have heard, your dies are NOT supposed to touch the shell plate. It can cause the shell plate to warp/deform/crack. I know exactly what you are talking about, as I did the same thing myself when I started loading up .223. After the first loading session, I stopped using the LEE FCD, and really did not notice any change in bullet/accuracy, etc. I have been loading mianly V-Max w/o cannelure, but when I get back into FMJs w/cannelure, I might need to do a final crimp on the LNL SS. That might have just started another "to crimp or not to crimp" debate, but oh well. I crimp cannelured bullets.