Hornady LNL AP Press Questions

[Jack's My dog]

Thinking about making the step to a progressive press for 9mm to start and other calibers to follow. I have been looking a bit at the Hornady LNL AP and have been watching some of the YouTube videos about the problems with the unit.

While I know that everything on the internet is always true and Joe-Bob from Youtube is clearly infallible, I was wondering if any of you guys use this press, and if you have had any issues with the press that could not be rectified by proper adjustment, and was not clearly the result of manufacturing?

P.S. I didn't notice notice any issues when I perused the site searching, Hornady and Progressive.

As always thanks for any input in advance.

[Jackpine Savage]

I think I'm coming up on two years of loading 9mm on my Hornady, I am happy with it. I have close to 10,000 rounds through it. This was my first press and first reloading experience.

I had one problem early on, a primer didn't seat all the way and I broke a pawl trying to force it to advance. Hornady send me a pawl and an extra plus a couple of retainer springs, no charge.

I think I found a solution to the one slight gripe that I have. The shell plate jumps a little and spills a few flakes of powder now and then. There is a thread over on AR15.com about adding some shims under the shell plate. Sounds like it really smooths it out.

Let me know if I can answer any questions.

[azonesolutions]

I started reloading about 45 years ago and have been using the Hornady LNL for 7 years now with a round count near 50,000 rounds. I really like the quick change over between the calibers I load in quantity (9mm, 40 s&w, 45 acp, 38/357, 223). Very satisfied with it and the Hornady support when I screwed up. Take your time and go slow. Application of force when something binds will result in a broken part. Call Hornady and they will ship you free replacement part(s) ASAP, but being in tune with the machine prevents having to deal with the down time.

[flanjan]

I've had one issue with primer seating stems getting gunned up an locking up the press. It broke some stuff because I forced it. After talking with hornaday they informed me that I had the old style stems, they replaced large and small primer seating stems and slide trays. They also sent me all the parts for the rest of the stuff that broke. Their CS is amazing. The press is pretty nice, I run a case feeder with mine. I can really cruze on this thing. I load .380, 9mm, 10mm, .45 auto and .223 on the LNL AP exclusively.

[andrewP]

I've got one too, and while I haven't had it as long as the other guys who've posted so far (only had it since the summer), my experience so far has been quite positive. No problems to speak of, and the only real gripe that I have is that it can be hard to get the right amount of torque on the bolt that holds the shell plate down. In my experience, if you tighten it per the instructions, it tends to loosen with use, but if you go too much past what the instructions say to do, it binds. Just takes some fiddling with it to figure out what works best, I guess. Other than that, I love the thing, especially the quick change bushings. Personally, I just couldn't justify going for the Dillon options when the Hornady existed; it's about like getting a 650 for the price of a 550, plus as a bonus, I've read many accounts of people claiming that the Hornady powder drop is more accurate/consistent.

[Jackpine Savage]

I did have the same problem with the shell plate loosening. I picked up a wavy lock washer in the metric section at Menards, it solved the problem.

[stesch_s10]

I too have had my little problems with the Hornady. But it is a machine and all machines needs some tuning, care and maintenance. I love mine.

[andrewP]

I did have the same problem with the shell plate loosening. I picked up a wavy lock washer in the metric section at Menards, it solved the problem.

I suppose that keeps just a little bit of extra tension on it - good idea. I'll have to try that once I start emptying some brass again if the weather gets nicer.

[b727capt]

I have had mine for 4 years and have run 30k through it without any problems. I load 7 different pistol calibers, and 4 different rifle calibers. I can load 100 38spl in 12 minutes. I would highly recommend the Hornady.

[JFettig]

tighten the shell plate better - insert your sizing die, run the ram to the top now tighten.


The reason they had problems at first was the ejector, they fixed that years ago. I still run the old ejector on mine but I've modified the shape of it to work quite well

[Jack's My dog]

Any of you guys have experience with the Dillon xl650 as well? The LNL AP and XL650 seem to be the to progressive presses that get the nod the most from my reading. The Blue koolaid folks are pretty convincing to be honest, but I have had good luck with my Hornady single stage press, and the quick change bushing system looks like it would really work well with the LNL.

I was starting to get the feeling from my initial research that set up had a bit to do with the issues reported, and you guys have confirmed it. Funny if you dig a little further even the Blue machines have their issues from time to time.

Thank you for the responses.

[Erud]

The 650 is certainly not trouble free. I have one and it's a great press, but I only use it for high volume pistol stuff and occasionally .223 if it's for other people to use. It is sort of a PITA to change over, and minor problems can sometimes take a while to figure out. For everything else(including 1000 yard match ammo) I use a Dillon 550. It's not as fast as the 650, but it's a lot simpler and more versatile. With a few minor modifications, it produces ammo as good as any single stage press. No, I am not joking.

Unless speed is your only concern, I'd seriously look into a 550 before you make your final decision.



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[dronning]

.... For everything else(including 1000 yard match ammo) I use a Dillon 550. It's not as fast as the 650, but it's a lot simpler and more versatile. With a few minor modifications, it produces ammo as good as any single stage press. No, I am not joking.
Unless speed is your only concern, I'd seriously look into a 550 before you make your final decision.

I have to agree with Erud on the 550, I have a 1050 (with case and bullet feeders) which I use to load all my pistol match ammo. Takes about 15 min to change over if you change primer size and use the inline swager. My 550 (with a case feeder) I use for load development and rifle match loads. The changeover on the 550 is very fast and if you use the quick change kit you can do it in 2-3 min, 5 min with a primer size change. FYI the 550 case feeder will work with .223 rounds, check over at Brian Enos website for the info.

[noylj]

If I didn't have three Dillon 1050s, I would still have at least ONE Hornady L-N-L AP.
The latest ones are even better. The EZ-ject works great. The new primer seaters can't get stuck by a kernel of gun powder any more (the new ones have a post that is reduced in size so particles can fall through and not get stuck--may not be perfect, but definitely better), and the press comes with spare parts. Totally excellent.
NO other press can change caliber as fast or as inexpensively. For a Dillon, you need a toolhead to get close, and they aren't cheap.

[Jack's My dog]

Thanks for all for all of the reply's. Picking which progressive press to go with is not easy.

I am wondering if it is possible to disable to the hornady's auto index feature and run it manually if one chooses to do so?