What kind of power are you using? My main powers are CFE Pistol and Benchmark, and I leave it in the hoppers. I have not had any problem with is shrinking, or discoloring the hoppers.

I use about everything for handguns. 4756, N320, Bullseye, N310, 2400, W231, CFE Pistol, #'s 2,5, and 7, on and on. Hornady told me not to leave powder in the hopper when I sent back the measure for the hopper mod. I told them I didn't. Only while actually loading. I just flipped the hopper a few weeks ago, it was shrinking and getting loose.

Stu

I load the way you do. But for me I load 150-200 rounds at a time just to keep the mind from losing focus and getting careless.

Hornady did mention the shrinkage problem over time with certain powders attacking the plastic. I knew that this could not have been my problem since I had the press less than three weeks. Like you, I don’t leave the powder in the measure. I empty it after each session. I must have jarred it loose in handling. Generally, I wipe down the powder measure hopper before loading with a used dryer sheet to cut down static electricity. Maybe, I loosened it then. Still, it should not have come off.

I haven’t done the case test to check for bench movement but I’m sure my setup is very solid. Still, if it was loose it may not have taken very much to topple it with all that heavy moving metal perched high up on a pole. The Lee Drum Measure setup is considerably lighter and lower which should help with any small movement or vibration, if any.

Again, they know about these problems and do nothing. Why use a plastic as a container that is adversely affected by the very product it is designed to hold? Why not secure the hopper positively instead of relying on just friction? Why should I have to polish parts to assure reliable functioning? Makes no sense other than penny pinching. I agree with Carrier in that I would pay the extra 20-30% premium to have these problems solved. Things like this can be a real turn-off for someone new to the hobby. It can also be dangerous. Problems lead to mistakes and mistakes in reloading can be catastrophic.

No press is perfect whether they are painted red, blue, or green. Each has it pluses and minuses. I’m sure once I get through these teething problems I will have a first-class set-up that will more than meet my needs. But after cleaning spilled powder from my work area, I’m pretty perturbed about being Hornady’s QC. It was a mess!

For those that might like to see the modification from Hornady, I just snapped a photo.

Stu

So simple. How much could that add to the overall cost of the press? Frustrating!

Good suggestions on this thread.
My single stage and LnL AP are rock solid on the bench but I took a slightly different approach.

For the LnL, I mounted it on a 2"x6" with carriage bolts and fender washers from the bottom. I routed a recess in the bottom with my Dremel tool so that it sits flush on the table (Half a Gorilla Rack from Costco bought in the 90's). The 2x6 extends the width of the bench to the wall and I used bookcase brackets anchored to the studs in the wall. This requires a lot less heft on the wall attachment because the distance from the front of the table to the wall is much greater than the distance from the front of the table to the downforce twisting of the press hanging over the edge of the table.

My Lee Breechlock Challenger press is mounted in a similar fashion but I only need a 2x4 for that mount.

When adjusting the pawls, make very small adjustments of 1/16th of a turn or less.

When the OP says the Lee dies take a lot of force to size/deprime a case, are you doing 9mm? That's a tapered case and many chambers are not tapered meaning you will need a lot of force to resize 9mm. Some advocate a misting of Hornady One Shot case lube on the cases. I just live with the fact that 9mm will be a lot tougher than true straight walled cases.

The hopper will get discolored over time. In 6+ years and over 60,000 rounds (almost all with pistol powder and a lot with high Nitroglycerin double base powder), my hopper is very smokey on the bottom half. I usually load only 100-200 rounds at a sitting and empty the hopper after each session so I never fill the hopper more than half way.

Recently, I used a rolled up overhead transparency sheet to line the inside of my hopper and while it may be too late to prevent the discoloration, it did add a bonus. I taped around the bottom of the hopper with transparent tape and what it did was make the fit of the hopper to the powder measure real tight. That will prevent the spill disasters experienced by some.

I have now made several hundred cartridges in 44 Magnum, 45 ACP and 45 Colt.

The primer feed has been trouble free except for the last primer. The primers feed perfectly without the plastic rod, i.e. on their own weight, except the last one which requires gentle encouragement with the plastic rod.

Yesterday I installed the powder through expander for 45 ACP. It is a nightmare to setup. To get proper belling and still have the powder measure rotor go all they way up is a wicked balancing act. To achieve it I had to move the collar on the powder measure as far as the PTX Powder Measure Stop adjustment screw allowed, and even then the belling is barely enough. I fear the day when I have to set it up for another caliber and possibly loose these 45 ACP settings I struggled with.

The Powder Cop die is nice, the one that shows the level of powder in a case with a white O-ring peeking out of the die. I use that and in addition I look into every case before putting a bullet on top. That results in double checking the powder level for each cartridge - I like that.

Two 45 ACP cases had the case mouth gouged in the powder through expander die, so bad that I had to discard the cases. Very odd, what could be causing that? I am using Hornady dies now.

One problem is my own fault. I have an office chair on wheels and it runs away when seating a primer so I have to hold on to the press when pushing the press handle for primer seating. Too lazy to change the chair yet.

I had an almost identical experience. After 2-3 weeks of tinkering and multiple calls to Hornady I returned the press and bought a 650. Problem solved!

I only take powder measure out to clean press or setting up dies if I have to. I use a powder drain insert Hornady Item #050125 to drain the powder.

Did you send the measure to Hornady and they did it? Those look like dash or upholstery snaps.

Yes, I sent the measure body to Hornady and they did it.

Stu

Looks like that might be useful. My tube popped out once and dumped a bunch of bullseye all over. The tube was loose, I wrapped some strapping tape around the tube to add some friction.

__________________
Common sense isn't so common.

I got a new hopper back from Hornady after my first one fell off. I tried to install it and it was so tight that it would not fit in the measure body. I was afraid of breaking it. Another call to Hornady.

I explained to Hornady my problem and frustration and asked them if they would pin in a new hopper like yours was done. The technical representative said they don’t do that and never did. I told them I had pictures. Nope not done. Go figure. I’m sure they did it. This representative also told me not to use silicone caulk to secure a loose hopper like the last representative did. The hopper should just be held by friction alone. The Hornady technical support staff are not working from the same play book.

I sent the measure back to Hornady for them to install the hopper. It also included a letter and your picture and requested that they do the same thing. Right now, I’m using my LEE Auto Drum Powder Measure and expander. So simple to set up to bell the case mouth and very accurate with WW231. It looks cheap and is. It’s relatively inexpensive at $50 with expander die. But looks can be deceiving. It works great. I’m not sure even if I get the Hornady measure working again I want to bother with setting it up with the PTX expander. I had enough frustration

I’ll let you know what happens.

They used to put those lock buttons on the older H 366 shotshell loaders. I think I even have a 266 out in the grudge that has them.

Now I have managed to set up the Hornady AP LnL progressive press so that there were no glitches in my last session, just an uninterrupted flow of 45 ACP rounds falling into the box.

I've had the same run around when phoning Hornady when a guy by the name of Seth wasn't available. I just hang up and phone back to talk with him. There is also a retired LEO that works the phones as well but can't remember his name he is also very good. Seth has treated me very very well and has never given me any grief.

Sweet, I knew you would do it. But, now I think you need to get the case feeder.

Now you do know after you get that running perfectly I will recommend the bullet feeder right? And then the deluxe control panel.

The one thing I would like to know is if you still plan on getting the 650?

Sure, I need to satisfy my curiosity and try out the Dillon 650.

As to case and bullet feeders and control panels, they cost quite a lot of money and so far I have not seen them providing that much value. But don't tempt me!

As someone cleverly wrote: "I shoot to support my reloading habbit."

Fair enough. I had the same curiosity between the 650 and the L-N-L also. But fortunately, I had it before I bought my first press.

But all I ask of you is to do a fair test. Run a plain L-N-L aginst a Plain 650. You will find out that the 650 is designed to run with a case feeder, where the L-N-L can be used either way. The L-N-L and 650 that are properly set up with the press and case feeder run about equal. But once you add a bullet feeder to the L-N-L it will blow away the 650 due to the fact that Dillon does not make a bullet feeder.

I found the case feeders to speed up my reloading to more than twice as fast as without. I'm not a crank them out nut, just a pleasant cadence of dropping a new round into the bin box. Also saved a lot of shoulder wear and tear on the double reach, a case and a bullet. That's important at my advanced age. :~) With a handful of bullets, no shoulder movement for some time.

Stu

The case feeder is a welcome addition for me. Bullet Feeder? They are ok if all you use are plated or jacketed bullets. But I do many cast bullets and the feeders don't work so well there. Yeah I know you can gewt plated fairly cheap and can also coat bullets with paint etc etc. Just either more expense or more time. The Mr Bullet feeder works so much better than the Hornady also...but I can do just fine putting the bullets on the cases and don't really need the extra "speed" of reloading with a bullet feeder

I finally got back my powder measure from Hornady. They did not make the change to pin the hopper to the measure like they did for stu1ritter as I hoped. This is so very disappointing.

In the meantime, I’ve been using the LNL AP press with the LEE Auto Drum Powder Measure and expander die. What I have now works great and probably leave it that way. Otherwise, I would constantly be checking the Hornady measure’s hopper and I don’t need the frustration of having to set up the complex PTX expander. Yet, I have almost doubled my output over my LEE Classic Turret Press. The LCT is a great press but not as fast I would like. After much research and limited hands-on testing, I cautiously upgraded to the Hornady LNL AP even though it had some mixed reviews. It had all the features and options I needed without needless extras. It looked like the best fit for the price. Despite not being as trouble free as I hoped and the disappointing customer service, overall, I believe it has given me what I wanted.

Hornady would have a great product if they focused more on quality control and customer service. It’s a good press for the money but has some negative reviews because of quality control issues. The press isn’t perfect. Obviously, I’m not happy with some design features such as the way the hopper is secured to the powder measure body and the overly complex PTX expander. I’m sure others can add to this list. Simple things make a big difference in how one feels about the press. Quality and support are on the top of that list for many and is reflected in people’s opinions. Parts should not have to be polished nor complex adjustments made on a new press. These should be done at the factory. The consumer should not have to rely on the luck of the draw on whether you get a good one or not. They all should be great.

Every press has its issues. None are perfect even those painted blue. But having a press work without problems right out of the box goes a long way in developing brand loyalty and makes some of the design quirk’s tolerable. Even blue has their share of design faults. Listening to some of the comments people make about blue, one could almost believe that Moses carried one down with the tablets from Mount Sinai. Any manufacturer would envy such loyalty. Blue earned it because they focused on providing quality products with great service. However, blue was just not the right fit for my needs. Everyone’s needs are different. Hornady had just the features I needed at a reasonable price. It is also a good press once it is set up right. Unfortunately, it just takes some time to get there and their customer service has left a bad taste in my mouth. If red wants to level the playing field and be great, red needs to take a few pages from blue’s playbook.

I have NEVER had a problem with customer service. But that is probably the way I deal with them. The first time I called and they answered the phone the first thing I said was "How the hell are you kids at Hornady". A little moment of silence and the answer was "Pretty good. How can I help you?"

Now every time I call I ask the same question. On my third call after I asked the same question the answer was "Pretty good. How is Smitty?" Well after a small giggle I told her I need to buy a part. I told her that I had just gotten the new pocket primer swage tool and I had forgotten to take the V-block off and smashed the hell out of the spring in the case slide assy. She said No problem that they would send one out. I told her No I wanted to pay for it because it was my fault. She told me not to worry about it that it will be sent out at no charge. I then told her that I would not give her my address. That is when she told me "Not only do we know your name, but we also know where you live." Two days later in my mailbox was a complete case slide assy.

I own my own business and I know that I can do the best job for some customers and give them a free horse and carriage ride, and someone will bitch about the view of the horse's ***.

Now as far as the Blue press working right out of the box is true. But in order to do this, they had to make it idiot proof. To do this they use a detent ball 10 times the size of the Hornady detent balls. Well, this is stealing from Paul to pay Peter. It will help in getting the timing better but it also causes Dillon jump / jerk / bounce. Call it what you want but it is where the plate snaps into place and knocks power all over. Oh, this too can be fixed.

I would like to know why so few have problems with the hopper. Is it because you lay it down pushing it sideways? Or do you turn it upside down and tap it on your power to empty it? When you are the cause of the problem it's not the Micky Mouse Quality Control, it's Goofy. Goofy is the guy staring back at you in the mirror every morning.

drainsmith, the bottom of the hopper shrinks from the solvents in the powder and becomes loose in the housing, no tapping required.

Stu

Have a LnL with the same problem. Essentially just the wrong material for the powder tube. Should be a ten cent fix for Hornady by changing the tube material. Many of the powder tubes discolor... have never had any other tube do what this one from the LnL has done

O.K. I believe you guys. I probably just use a power that does not affect my hoppers. But I was just pointing out that many have found out that most of the time folk have a problem, it was self-inflicted. Including myself.

Now I may not be the sharpest tool in the tool shed, but I do know how to use them. I would simply fix it myself and then take a photo of the fix and send it to Hornady. They are not going to fix a problem that they don't know about. But I do know that they have implemented some of my suggestions. Now let them know what powers you are using. It may be the key to the problem.

I have found that all powders(I have used anyway) affect the powder hoppers/tubes to some degree. The Hornady tube is somewhat thinner and is affected by many handgun powders....probably bullseye the worst Ball powders seem to affect the plastic the least. When I was a P-W distributor I bought extra powder tube material because people left the powder in the machines even though the P-W had a powder drain feature. Eventually the tube would become very dark. We can buy a replacement tube even in places like Lowe's etc. that is affected by the powder less than what Hornady uses. IF it is not the exact same size the way to make it fit is to chamfer the tube and then put the end in a pot of boining water for a few minutes then press fit it into the powder measure. I think the thing that may irk many owners is that the company can use a better material rather than the crapo stuff they use. The tube material Dillon used is pretty good RCBS too Hornady's sucks and the plastic Lee uses is even better. I looked at the ol Hornady 266 in the garage and the shot and powder measures are both drilled and tapped at both sides to keep the tubes in place. Shotshell loaders seem to have more vibration /shaking than metallic and shot everywhere is a big pain...BIG pain. Fixing the powder measure problem is simple. But for the cost of the machine really should not be necessary. The Ammo plant I have is finally working ok. But then it is not as problem free as my 650s. some primer glitches every now and then auto advance slightly off a bit at times. But it does work. It makes the Lee Junkmaster look as bad as it really is. BUT the Lee machine's real problem is mainly the priming feature. And the previous poster is correct. For the most part most progressive suffer from operator error. But ...well y'all know what but means

I’m the first to admit my loose hopper problem wasn’t shrinkage caused by powder but by handling. The measure was brand new. The first thing Hornady wants you to do it take the measure apart and give it a complete cleaning. I followed the procedure as they described in their video. Also, I dump the powder from the measure by removing the measure from the press and dumping it back to the cannister. All this is normal handling. I treat the measure with care and don’t throw it widely around. This is the same process I used for more years than I care to count with powder measures from LEE and RCBS without any issues. I expected the same with the Hornady measure. That was my mistake. Never have I had the hopper fall off during loading or have one shrink over time. The worst that happened is that the plastic hopper may get a little stained after many years of use.

Hornady tolerances are wide. The original hopper after it fell off wouldn’t stay in securely. It was very loose. I’m not sure what held it place initially. Did some of the One Shot cleaner effect it? Maybe I don’t know. I tried to avoid spaying One Shot on the plastic. The replacement hopper they sent I couldn’t get it to fit in the measure if I used a pile driver. It was too large. I sent the measure back with the replacement hopper. When they returned the measure to me, it was with a third hopper. I guess Hornady couldn’t get the replacement hopper to fit either. This is systematic of other tolerance and finish issues with the press.

I can’t believe Hornady doesn’t know about some of the quality issues with this press. It’s all over the internet. All you need is a simple google search. YouTube is full of fixes and tips including screwing the hopper to the measure. They just choose to ignore them which is a real shame since many of the problems are quality related and so simple to fix. It’s a lot more than a loose hopper.

For my hopper problem I also sent them the picture stu1ritter posted along with letter describing my concern and a request to pin the hopper in place. They ignored it, not even a note. Customer Service is far more than just sending replacement parts under warranty. The quality of the support should also not be based on who answers the phone. I got two contradictory recommendations for the same problem. They need to take a page from an IT support desk – scripted known solutions for problems. By chance, in another concurrent tread on this forum about a problem with a 550, DIllonHelp responded to the tread telling the poster about some videos to help solve their problem and to call in when they are at the press to walk them through any issues they may have. I’m sure Hornady would walk you through it over the phone as well, but following a tread on a forum is certainly going the extra mile.

Yes, I do expect the press to work right out the box. Just as if I bought a brand-new car, I don’t expect to take it home and put it on blocks to work on the brakes. I knew, however, going in that I may have some issues to fix from my research. And I did and not just the hopper. I had problems with priming, shell plate and even the treads that held the handle in place had to be deburred. I just wish I didn’t have too and that is my main gripe. It’s a good press but it could be a great press.

Would I buy the press again? Yes, it now is working fine. Would I recommend the press to someone relatively new to reloading? No.