First session with brand new Hornady progressive, some glitches

[sasu]

I bought a Hornady AP Lock-N-Load progressive reloading press and did the first loading session with it today. I had some glitches but managed to solve them, at least to some extent.

Lock-N-Load(R) AP™ - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc

The first problem was that cases did not want to enter the sizing die without some coaching. The next problem was that the shell plate did not lock into correct position for priming unless I helped it with my finger.

These turned out to be due to incorrectly adjusted indexing pawls. I few minutes of adjustment and now the shell plate indexes without hesitation and thus cases enter the dies and primers hit the primer pockets.

Another problem was that the primer slide did not come back to priming position without a lot of twisting of the slide. This problem I solved by loosening the primer (primerer?) housing body screw and twisting the body and tightening the screw again, thus aligning the parts better.

The next worry was that the primer slide did not want to pick a new primer and returned empty about four times out of five. I noticed that a vigorous movement of the press handle when the ram goes to the top helps the next primer to fall into the slide. After adding some "shake" to the end of the lever travel the primer slide reliability rose to 100%.

I tried to use Lee dies but two of them could not be locked down enough to work properly, there were not enough threads on the dies. RBCS dies can be adjusted with no worries. My Hornady dies for this caliber are still on back order.

Now I do not wonder anymore why Dillon is the king of reloading presses. I have not had any such teething problems with my RL550B.

To add some more excitement to the process I used a new set of Lee carbide dies, with the red box and carbide paperwork. The sizing die required A LOT of muscle to work and it scratched the cases badly. The inside of the die was very dirty. Turns out a local gun shop had sold me a used die set as new, and some clever clown had replaced the carbide sizing die with a standard steel die. I bought the die set more than a year ago so will not go complaining. Live and learn.

 

[DRAINSMITH]

Go to post "tips and tricks" post #81 will show you how to time your press perfectly.

 

[johngalt]

To help the primer feeding problem, try putting a very narrow dowel rod down the primer magazine. The little extra weight will help it feed more reliably, and is also an indicator when it is empty.

If the nut holding the shellplate loosens, this can allow cases to tip slightly and not enter the die. Check the nut periodically.

My biggest problem is the primer slide is very sensitive to dirt. If the channel gets dirty, the slide can get hung up and not fully return to pick up the next primer. This can also happen if the primer punch gets dirty. When it gets very dirty, the punch sometimes doesn't fully return to flush and gets in the way of the slide.

 

[ameridaddy]

One of my primer punches sat a little proud, so I stoned in down a bit until flush. Then I found the slide & its channel had some burrs, so I stoned them too, and lightly chamfered the bore the punch and primer goes through. The primer feed, the most common problem I read about the LNL on the web, has been flawless ever since.

My first LNL jammed cases on the sizing dies, and after two trips back to the factory, where they put in new shell plates and adjusted the timing pawls, it still jammed shells into the sizing die, especially .380. They claimed the problem was my Lyman and RCBS dies; I bought Hornady dies, still jammed. I took it to a friend's machine shop, mounted it on a coordinate measuring machine, and found that the die bores' center lines and the shell holder center lines were .030" to .043" off one another. Sent it back to Hornady with the CMM printouts and drawings, they claimed it "only" needed adjustment and sent it back to me again. Still jammed. I called, told them I wanted my money back, and I was going to buy a Dillon and show the world the CMM reports. They sent me a new press. First batch, it jammed every 7-10 cases. Back to CMM, off .020" worst case. I gave up, just hold the ram handle to the left on every stroke, it works fine, but I'm not a happy camper. If I buy another, it will be a Dillon.

 

[jhnttrpp]

Thanks for sharing. It's helping me make a decision.

 

[springer99]

Guess I must be lucky. My LnL AP worked fine, right out of the box. Followed the instructions for cleaning the parts, greasing the ram, and removing any burrs from the primer slide and off we went. After a while, I did had to tweak the indexing pawls a bit to improve the indexing but that's about all.

 

[sasu]

There was a burr on the primer slide that probably was the cause of the occasional jams of the slide. I just deburred the slide but did not do any loading to prove it helped.

Otherwise the press seems to have settled to a smooth working routine now that the initial fine tuning has been done.

Still I have a Dillon XL650 on the shopping list. Maybe around Christmas time...

I have run out of bench space, though, having a Dillon RL550B, the Hornady AP, two Redding Turret T7s and an RCBS Rock Chucker. The more progressive presses I have, the less need there is to change calibers on them.

 

[ameridaddy]

Guess I must be lucky. My LnL AP worked fine, right out of the box.

I wish I had your good experience; I chose the LNL because the design is good and should work very well. The powder measure and primer feed are very good. The positive testimony of thousands of owners speaks for that. I obviously got a Monday morning or Friday afternoon machine, and five months of phone calls, three returns, paying shipping and beating my brains out trying to make the thing work wore me out. I gave up and made do.

 

[federali]

Problem Solving

As the OP learned, progressive presses need to be set-up (to use a phrase describing how to get a stringed instrument to play properly). On the negative side, I' read somewhere that Hornady plans to discontinue their progressive press but will support existing presses with spare parts for 15 years.

As for Lee: I once wrote to them to inform them that their pistol dies are a bit too short to be compatible with Dillon presses. My logic being that if their dies were compatible, they would sell more of them. I received a flippant, bordering on nasty, response from some desk jockey as to why it was not possible. Anyway, with Lee dies, you may put the lock ring on the underside of the die holder, at least with Dillon and probably with the Hornady press.

I've never owned Dillon dies but I understand that they are designed to minimize entry problems into the sizing die.

 

[bwxmas]

keep blaming the arrow..
I have both.
I would give the dillon away, before I would sell the LNL.
One tip I will give you is that the primer tubes have a notch on one side, if you put the primer tube upside down, the primers will hang.
Don't tighten the nut much, finger tight will do.

 

[stavey]

Hornady lock n load progressive = way too much tinkering.

 

[stavey]

Then there is something wrong with your dillon.
I've had both sold the lock n load when I decided I wanted to make ammo not tinker with my press. The lnl is simply NOT made to and will not produce like a xl650.

 

[sasu]

With my experience of a few thousand pistol rounds (357 Mag, 44 Mag, 45 ACP, 45 Colt) made on a Dillon RL550B and now a couple hundred made on a Hornady AP I can see there might truth to the claim that the Hornady requires more tinkering.

The Dillon has run without any tuning or tinkering. It likes to throw spent primers into the mechanism or on the floor instead of the collection cup. That is about all the negative I can come up with.

As to the Hornady I installed a few days ago... I had to adjust the indexing pawls to make the shell plate turn properly, that was not done at the factory. I had problems with the primer slide sticking in the outer position, honing its corners and the bottom side solved that problem. The primer slide sometimes missed picking a primer from the tube, I seem to have solved that by adjusting the primer slide guide rod further out so that the primer slide primer hole goes a bit further out than the primer tube hole. The primer slide is quite sensitive to the torque with which the primer tube shield tube is screwed on. More tests to follow.

The powder measure die seems to be prone to start turning and loosening itself off the press. I had that problem and tightened the lock nut but have not made enough rounds yet to see if that solved the issue. I saw a youtuber with a homemade wooden rod to prevent the powder measure from rotating which hints at this being a common problem. His rod locks the powder measure to the primer tube.

The Hornady Lock-N-Load bushings let the dies wiggle quite a bit laterally. I do not know if that is a problem or an advantage, but it seems you can make them fit tighter by replacing the bushing O-ring with a thicker one so I am going to visit a hardware store next week to try that one out.

I am very happy with the Hornady and I like tinkering with mechanical devices but it is still a fact that the Dillon has been more straightforward to set up and more reliable - for me. Your mileage may vary.

Based on these experiences a Dillon XL650 will join my happy family of reloading presses in a couple of months. And most probably a Dillon 1050 after that, too. I am a sucker for gadgets, especially high quality ones.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc20TejUdSY"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc20TejUdSY[/ame]

 

[RV4driver]

Hornady lock n load progressive = way too much tinkering.

This has been my experience. A "needy" machine, for sure. And, yes, the slightest angle at which you pull the lever makes a big difference as to how everything lines up for quick, efficient loading.

 

[DRAINSMITH]

Once again it has happened again. Another Dillon owner cannot just say his Dillon is GREAT but has to put down the Hornady. So one of four things has happened.
1. They just hate Hornady and are looking to put it down to justify their purchase of a Dillon.
2. Their mechanical ability stinks. It takes just a little more mechanical ability to adjust the press than it does to adjust the dies. If your pink toolbox comes with a large rock and a small rock, and you chose the large rock, you should have used the small rock.
3. It does take a little common sense to run any press. You do know if you lose your remote control for your tv and you need to turn it off you can push the button on the tv itself or pull the plug out of the wall, right?
4. Or you think that you can say anything on the web and get away with it.
Now as far as "The lnl is simply NOT made to and will not produce like the xl650." do I need to remind you I have had an open invitation to bet my 100% Hornady against any 100% Dillon for the last 3 1/2 years? So if you are anywhere near Omaha pm me I will be glad to take your press. And if you are not near Omaha and are on the West coast, I will be in Cal. on 15 April I could stop by. Or you and keep talking the talk instead of walking the walk and lose all credibility from the folk on this form.

 

[sasu]

We are talking about very small differences here so I would not take this discussion as putting down the Hornady press.

I like my Hornady, I have no regrets about buying it. I even ordered two more caliber change sets for it plus more accessories, it is here for the long run.

 

[DRAINSMITH]

We are talking about very small differences here so I would not take this discussion as putting down the Hornady press.

I like my Hornady, I have no regrets about buying it. I even ordered two more caliber change sets for it plus more accessories, it is here for the long run.

I was not referring to you. You are just a Hornady newbie and are a little frustrated. And that is totally acceptable. But you are using your common sense and figuring out what needs to be done and you are fixing it. I can already tell you will champion the Hornady.

I know a few things that will help you but you have not asked yet. When you can't figure it out you will ask, but figure it out by your self will not only teach you how it works but why it works the way it does. But when you do need help, I will help you any way I can.

Now if you go through all my post you will find two types of post 1. Is to help fellow Hornady owners that need help, and 2. Is to attack anyone that attacks the Hornady that does not know what they are talking about. My military training taught me not to fire at the enemy until fired upon. But once you engage the enemy ensure you take them out with overwhelming force.

 

[jhnttrpp]

We are talking about very small differences here so I would not take this discussion as putting down the Hornady press.

I like my Hornady, I have no regrets about buying it. I even ordered two more caliber change sets for it plus more accessories, it is here for the long run.

I thought the discussion had been very balanced up until now. I was learning about both the Dillon and the Hornady presses. The give and take on the forum helps the less informed make their decisions. Thanks

 

[handejector]

Now if you go through all my post you will find two types of post 1. Is to help fellow Hornady owners that need help, and 2. Is to attack anyone that attacks the Hornady that does not know what they are talking about. My military training taught me not to fire at the enemy until fired upon. But once you engage the enemy ensure you take them out with overwhelming force.

Uh, not hardly.
An internet discussion and a firefight don't exactly require the same level of intense commitment. If you can't differentiate between the two, this may not be the place for you.

from the Rules-
(anybody read these?)
2. Remember- opinions will differ. Get over it. State your opinion calmly, and allow others to state theirs. Discussion will be fine, but there is no need to take a thread into a verbal fistfight or shouting match.

3. Do NOT descend into personal attacks on a member.
Naiveté, or viewpoints different from yours are no reason to call a member an idiot or moron.
If a poster is obnoxious, report him and ignore him.
Do not feed trolls.
NO LYNCHINGS or MUGGINGS.
Learn to use the "IGNORE" feature for posters that ANNOY you. In your User CP, under Settings & Options, click Edit Ignore List.

I thought the discussion had been very balanced up until now. I was learning about both the Dillon and the Hornady presses. The give and take on the forum helps the less informed make their decisions. Thanks

I thought so too.
This ain't life or death.

 

[sasu]

Please calm down, gentlemen. This thread is about reloading which should be a relaxing pastime. Part of that enjoyment is sharing experiences, views and opinions, not all them to your own taste.

I do not mind "being engaged by the enemy" in a discussion like this. It is nice to see some people are very passionate about their hobbies and like to express their feelings.

It takes serious effort to be offended in a discussion about Hornady and Dillon reloading presses. But wait until I draw the Lee Load-Master into this thread.