Hornady LNL

[Deputyhiro]

How many of you guys are running one of these things? I have had mine for 3 years or so. Maybe have 15k rounds out of it? 99% pistol rounds. 45, 40, 9mm. I have had constant problems with the LNL bushings working loose, and popping out when seating/sizing. That has been an annoying issue. I was loading some 45acp tonight, and was getting .009 difference in my seating depth. Hmmmm...... After some investigating, I found the the ram loose in the housing. Seems this thing is worn out. Not too impressed with Hornady right now. I will call customer service in the morning. I have never had a problem dealing with them, hoping this is no different.

[20mm]

Piece of junk, use a single stage like all the good snipers.

[mmcnx2]

I run both a LNL and a Dillion 650. I have over 40K through the LNL, all pistol. Call Hornady Customer Service they will take care of you.

[crbutler]

The excessive variation is why I got rid of my LNL single stage.

I use a RCBS single stage press for the hunting rifle ammo.

Usually a Dillon 1050 for .223

I also will run some limited run stuff on a Dillon 550.

I personally think that the bushings on the LNL, while convenient, are not all that precise; having said that, some folks have really good luck with it. I have the dillon stuff, and it holds tolerances for me, so I have no plans on switching.

[Ghost]

I use a LNL and a classic single stage. Both work flawless for me but I've only had them a couple years and done a couple thousand rounds.

Not sure it this will help you but I bookmarked it a while back in case I had issues. I haven't read it but I saw shims.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/414607_How_to_tune_the_Hornady_Lock_N_Load_AP_progressive_press.html

Call Hornady they will help you.

[Jackpine Savage]

I getting close to 15,000 through mine, all 9mm. The ram still feels tight, I've probably greased it 5 or 6 times. The problem I am having right now is high primers. I went 10,000 rounds with only one round that didn't go off. Then I switched primers and started using mixed head stamp brass and am probably getting 2 per hundred.

I've got the shims and need to tackle that project.

[andrewP]

The only problem I've had with mine is related to the spring-loaded rod that guides the primer slide. I think I somehow (crud/spilled powder in the channel, perhaps?) managed to damage my small primer slide, and the excess friction/binding that resulted has been causing the rod to pop out of its proper location, which leads to the slide not picking up a primer. It's annoying, but I can work around it reasonably easily. I probably just need to pick up a new small primer slide.

As far as the bushings go, I haven't had any problems with those, but I've only got a few thousand rounds through the press so far; I guess time will tell on that, and the ram. That said, Hornady seems to have a pretty good rep with regard to customer service/warranty stuff, so hopefully if something does eventually get seriously out of whack, it won't be too hard to get it taken care of.

[Deputyhiro]

No questions asked. They sent me a shipping label, and said send it back. We will fix it or replace it. I have heard nothing but good about Hornady customer service, just seemed too good to be true.

[Deputyhiro]

The only problem I've had with mine is related to the spring-loaded rod that guides the primer slide. I think I somehow (crud/spilled powder in the channel, perhaps?) managed to damage my small primer slide, and the excess friction/binding that resulted has been causing the rod to pop out of its proper location, which leads to the slide not picking up a primer. It's annoying, but I can work around it reasonably easily. I probably just need to pick up a new small primer slide.
.

Take the primer shuttle out and file the base around the primer hole smooth. Also, if the primer punch gets a little piece of powder in it, or just plain sticks it holds it up a hair and catches the shuttle. Had my issues with that too, but got it fixed for the most part..... Except the rouge powder grain that sticks the punch once in a while.

[azonesolutions]

Like all things mechanical, the LNL requires some maintenance occasionally. However I've loaded many thousands of rounds through mine and I'm very satisfied. The Hornady staff is always willing to make things right.

[b727capt]

I have about 20k thru my press, mostly handgun. The only die I have had work loose is my sizing die, and mostly with 9mm. I have never had any other dies back out. I have seen a spring type washer somewhere on the internet which was suppose to fix the problem. I don't know if it was made by Hornady or a third party. I decided to just re-tighten the die every couple hundred rounds.

[Bessy]

How many of you guys are running one of these things? I have had mine for 3 years or so. Maybe have 15k rounds out of it? 99% pistol rounds. 45, 40, 9mm. I have had constant problems with the LNL bushings working loose, and popping out when seating/sizing. That has been an annoying issue. I was loading some 45acp tonight, and was getting .009 difference in my seating depth. Hmmmm...... After some investigating, I found the the ram loose in the housing. Seems this thing is worn out. Not too impressed with Hornady right now. I will call customer service in the morning. I have never had a problem dealing with them, hoping this is no different.

I'm probably pushing close to 100k loaded on LNL. Mostly pistol. I've worked through many issues with the hornady but seating depth isn't one of them. Your press in't worn out it's just now probably getting broken in.

After quite a few rounds I had problems with my female bushing wearing out. I called hornady they sent me new ones which largely solve my problem. I also snug up dies with a wrench.

Answer me this. When you are checking COL are you measuring from your ogive? or are you measuring from the tip of the bullet. Even FMJ ammo is going to have variation, and since your dies are seating using the ogive, your over all lenght is going to differ.

This is what I use to measure my oal http://www.hornady.com/store/Bullet-Comparator-Kits/.

I find with moly coated rounds and lead that the measuring the bullet tip produced inconsistent results. You need to measure from the ogive to get any sort of consistency.

YMMV

[ZardozCZ]

I'm just getting started with my LnL. Had some learning curve bumps that are teaching me good habits to learn 'out of the chute' so to speak.

One question I have that I hope someone can answer regards indexing after the powder throw. I see the powder jumping in the cases and have had some spill out onto the plate, but mostly the level is low enough to contain it with the snap of the indexing. Is there anything that can smooth that out to keep the powder from jumping out with loads that fill the case more? The ball detents maybe could use a chamfer to give a more gradual drop rather than the sharp edge it currently has, but removing metal is rather one way. Just wondering if there's a known good method to reduce the snap.

I am going to glue a magnet on the back to hold a shim in place under the primer plunger. With the plate tightened securely, and shoving the handle with all my might, the primers are barely flush with the head, and I'd prefer it be a couple thou below the head. As the paint wears it will only worsen, so I figure holding shims there will be a good solution to this. Anyone doing this already?

I had to tweak the index pawls to get reliable indexing, they weren't right from the factory, two of 5 would go all the way but three just wouldn't without the dillon nudge. Tweaking the pawls (need to balance both to get it right) brought it into the sweet spot of working every time.

The LnL collet for the powder throw isn't quite snug enough, it can rotate and come unlocked. I'll bring one with to the hardware store and look for a thicker o-ring for better friction. The micrometer option is working well for me, taking notes will help me dial in loads more quickly. I feel it's worth the $ to reduce set-up hassles. I also didn't have the knurled knob tight enough and that backed out letting the arm swing loose. Used a pliers to go just a tiny bit tighter and that seems to be holding well.

So far I'm favorably impressed with the auto indexing. It is so much faster to produce a hundred rounds than the single stage, I know I'll be shooting more now that ammo isn't so expensive with my time. I'll have more time to shoot!

Oh, let us know if measuring off the ogive gives you any perceivable advantage. If the nose is off, likely the ogive is off too, maybe to a smaller extent. I'll stick with my calipers until I know better.

Thanks all for sharing.

[Jackpine Savage]

Adding shims under the sub plate (if your press needs it) is supposed to help with snappy indexing and primer seating depth. The AR15 link above covers this mod.

I had the same problem with the powder measure loosening up. I called Hornady and they grudgingly sent out some shims. I had already tried a new o-ring and that didn't solve the problem.

[Deputyhiro]

Answer me this. When you are checking COL are you measuring from your ogive? or are you measuring from the tip of the bullet. Even FMJ ammo is going to have variation, and since your dies are seating using the ogive, your over all lenght is going to differ.
YMMV

I am measuring from the tip, and I realize there is going to be a bit of difference. I am not too fussy about it, because they are just pistol plinking rounds, I do my rifle rounds on a single stage. But .012+ is a bit much. When I put the same rounds of varying OAL back through the seater a second time, it had them all within .002. I could see the ram tip sideways slightly when bearing down, I'm sure there was a problem.