Guys,

I'm brand new to reloading so please bare with me on this long email. I bought a Hornady LNL AP to reload for my handguns. The primary use will be for .40 S&W in an M&P pistol. I will also use it for .38 special and .357 in a revolver.

For equipment here's what I have coming; Nitride die sets, taper crimp die for the .40, shell plates, through the powder drop expander, powder cop, RCBS 505 scale, bullet puller, Hornady tumbler, RCBS media separator, and some misc. items. I have 3 reloading manuals, Hornady, Lyman and Lee for cross reference.

Here's some of my questions. How do you handle the primers on a progressive press? I figure I will tumble the cases with the spent primers in since they don't get removed until the sizing operation. Since it's a progressive, what about cleaning the primer pockets? I would have to pull out each case after the sizing/de-prime station and before the primer gets seated to clean, which defeats the purpose of the progressive press. I guess I could de-prime as a separate operation first and then tumble, but that seems cumbersome as well. What's the best way to handle cleaning primer pockets?

I'm also confused about case trimming. It isn't really addressed for handguns like it is for rifles. Do the handgun cases need to be trimmed? I bought the extra taper crimp die for the .40 since I understand it seats on the mouth and you don't want to use a roll crimp like what comes with the bullet seating die. As a side, why do they even set up the .40 bullet seating die with a roll instead of taper anyway? I guess to sell a separate taper crimp die.....Anyway, does the sizing die take care of the overall length or do you need to trim? I assume if the cases are different lengths you would get variation in the crimp. Not good I assume. I bought the through the powder drop expander to have a station available for both the powder cop and the taper die.

Any help on these questions will be much appreciated. Since I've been waiting for weeks to get all my stuff I figured I would do as much homework while I was waiting to get off to a good start. Are there any other necessities I should be looking at as well?

Thanks!
Rick

Guys,

I'm brand new to reloading so please bare with me on this long email. I bought a Hornady LNL AP to reload for my handguns. The primary use will be for .40 S&W in an M&P pistol. I will also use it for .38 special and .357 in a revolver.

For equipment here's what I have coming; Nitride die sets, taper crimp die for the .40, shell plates, through the powder drop expander, powder cop, RCBS 505 scale, bullet puller, Hornady tumbler, RCBS media separator, and some misc. items. I have 3 reloading manuals, Hornady, Lyman and Lee for cross reference.

Here's some of my questions. How do you handle the primers on a progressive press? I figure I will tumble the cases with the spent primers in since they don't get removed until the sizing operation. Since it's a progressive, what about cleaning the primer pockets? I would have to pull out each case after the sizing/de-prime station and before the primer gets seated to clean, which defeats the purpose of the progressive press. I guess I could de-prime as a separate operation first and then tumble, but that seems cumbersome as well. What's the best way to handle cleaning primer pockets?

I'm also confused about case trimming. It isn't really addressed for handguns like it is for rifles. Do the handgun cases need to be trimmed? I bought the extra taper crimp die for the .40 since I understand it seats on the mouth and you don't want to use a roll crimp like what comes with the bullet seating die. As a side, why do they even set up the .40 bullet seating die with a roll instead of taper anyway? I guess to sell a separate taper crimp die.....Anyway, does the sizing die take care of the overall length or do you need to trim? I assume if the cases are different lengths you would get variation in the crimp. Not good I assume. I bought the through the powder drop expander to have a station available for both the powder cop and the taper die.

Any help on these questions will be much appreciated. Since I've been waiting for weeks to get all my stuff I figured I would do as much homework while I was waiting to get off to a good start. Are there any other necessities I should be looking at as well?

Thanks!
Rick

Welcome to the forum, Rick!
It looks like you made a good choice in set up and have all the right stuff to go with it. I have 2 Hornady L-N-Ls. I keep one set up for small and one for large pistol primers. They are a very well made, user friendly loader.

40S&W is an easy cartridge to load on the LNL AP. I may recommend the smaller bore Pistol Rotor for future consideration owing to the small volume of powder dropped for your intended cartridges. The standard one works fine, I used it for many years, but the Pistol Rotor gives you more consistency and you are able to fine tune the load easier.

I don't worry about cleaning primer pockets for the cartridges you mentioned, and it's never been an issue. Sometimes 45ACP in my 625-8 requires it, but there have been some failures to fire issues with those anyway (an extended length firing pin took care of my problems). It is also rarely, if ever, necessary to trim 40S&W, or 38SP either. I may trim 357 Mag on occasion but only if I'm trying for highest accuracy hunting/target loads. If you over crimp 357 Mag you will wrinkle the case if the brass is too long.

The Hornady Taper Crimp die is a good choice. It works perfectly with the LNLs ejector wire and gives a good crimp. A T/C is necessary because the cartridge is designed to headspace on the mouth, not the rim.

Good luck with your new setup! Post if you have any questions. There are a lot of Hornady LNL AP users on here!

__________________
" I said, good DAY! "

Well, welcome to the forum!
Couldn't have come to a better place to ask!

Well, first, let me say that I have been using a Hornady progressive press for many years with great results, and I do wish that I had one of the newer ones with the case feed...anyway back to subject...

First, let me be the first one to say that .40 S&W can be a bit finicky at times to load depending mostly on components. Not saying that to scare you, but to not let you become discouraged.

First things first before you start into the loading...

Have you got your press set up already?
Don't forget to completely disassemble the dies and degrease them, or they won't work very well.

Also, one note on the shellplate springs- be careful with them. They certainly last a long time, but if you ever put a kink or twist in them while putting them on, they are worthless. Go ahead and call customer service and order some extras- usually they send them out for free, but I can't guarantee that.

Have them throw in a cartridge ejector spring as well...I bent mine and used expletives until the new one arrived. (I should have read the manual...but I didn't!)

Let's see...

Don't worry about using a trimmer on pistol brass...usually rounds like the .40 and .45 actually shrink instead of lengthen over their useage cycle. I have never used a trimmer on a handgun round under normal circumstances.

Auto pistol rounds use taper crimps, while revolver rounds usually use roll crimps.

The Hornady .40 S&W die set I have has a taper crimper in it. The only round I would think that would even use a roll crimper with .400" diameter bullets is .38-40 WCF, or rounds used in a 610 S&W.

That's just a few observations and suggestions.

__________________
Lost it all in a boat accident

I second VA's suggestion on the pistol powder rotor- it is the only way to get consistent charges thrown at small charge weights in pistols.

Plus, I'll add that not all brands of crimp dies work in the last station in conjunction with the ejector wire...but the Hornady branded dies always do.

__________________
Lost it all in a boat accident

I understand the new APs come with both rotors standard and, of course, they don't need an ejector wire.

Thanks everyone for the great info. I actually did order the pistol rotor and meter. Since I'll be doing handgun loads I figure I'll always be in the .5-17 grain loads and I figured it would be more accurate. Thanks for the advice. I'm glad I ordered it!

Do any of you guys use a digital scale as well to check a few rounds as you go? I thought about the new Hornady one that's supposed to be about $30 to randomly check some rounds. I was wondering if could be any good at that price....

Rick