Want to buy a Hornady LNL press

[kostner]

Have had my eye on the LNL for some time. Have two SDB's for 45 & 9mm and a Lee Classic for 3006, 5.56 and 3030. Have been a Dillon & Lee customer for 25 yrs. and happy with their products. Does anyone have any first hand experience with the LNL press. Would like to have only one press on my bench and wondered it this was it. Jim

[swcc22]

I have one works great one issue is finding shell plates for it right now and u wont get constant rifle loads out of the powder drop so when I load rifle rounds I hand meter but works great on my .40 I can crank out 100 rounds an hout u put the case and bullet feeders on it and u have an ammo plant 500 an hour I like it because I can load .40 because of the die bushings once u set the dies up u dont have to set them again then switch to .223 by taking the powder drop off and swaping dies then u want to go to .45acp change the primer feeder for small to large at the powder measure and the dies and adjust the measure for that load and ur loading .45 I love it pricey though 500 after tax at cabelas but hornady gives u 500free bullets after mail in for buying it

[swcc22]

Sorry fat fingers on small phone keyboard I will pay more attention to my posts before posting

[saleen322]

I have had one for a couple of years and they are great. With its 2" ram, it holds tolerance very well. It also has a very accurate powder measure even with small charges. I need to add that I also have a Rockchucker that I use for case forming and rifle loading. I was never a fan of doing rifle cases much bigger than .223 on a progressive, any progressive.

[dmazur]

I have one. It works great.

One issue is finding shell plates for it right now. Also, you won't get constant rifle loads out of the powder drop so when I load rifle rounds I hand meter.

However, it works great on my .40 -- I can crank out 100 rounds an hour.

You put the case and bullet feeders on it and you have an ammo plant which can create 500 an hour.

I like it because I can load .40 because of the die bushings. Once you set the dies up you don't have to set them again. Then you can switch to .223 by taking the powder drop off and swaping dies. Then if you want to go to .45ACP change the primer feeder for small to large at the powder measure and the dies and adjust the measure for that load and you're loading .45.

I love it. It is pricey though -- $500 after tax at Cabelas -- but Hornady gives you 500 free bullets after mail in for buying it.

(...see Rule 4 in Forum Rules )

[schmellba99]

I've had one for 4 or 5 years now, and like any other machine, it will have individual quirks that you'll need to get worked out. But they should be very minor in scope, and once you get them worked out, it should run like a champ.

The post above talking about inconsistent loads for rifle is completely opposite my experience. I finished up a run of about 3000 .223 rounds for my AR (using ball powder - H335), and checked my charge every 100 rounds. I was never more than .1 grain off on a charge the entire run. Some powders do meter better than others, but unless you are loading match rounds, the LnL will produce very high quality ammo if you do your part.

If I had to guess on how many rounds I've loaded on it, it would be in excess of 10k. No issues on my end with ball or flake powder (never used stick). My priming system gave me a few fits, but some improvements on the design on my part fixed those up quite nicely. Pistol and rifle rounds both get loaded on my setup without issue.

rajbican (or whatever his name is) will be along shortly to tell you how he hates the LnL and is all Dillon blue, so be prepared.

[rajbcpa]

Had one for 5months and could not get it to run. Hornady has serious quality control issues now.

I bought a 550 and have no issues.

Avoid hornady

[Whisper 300]

My experience mirrors schmellba99- I recently finished a run of 4k 223(yes I had the foresight and good luck to stock up on components prior to the insanity) and my total count on the LnL is in excess of 14k to date.
I had some minor issues when I first received it 3 or 4 years ago-it was an early model with the dreaded wire ejector-an admittedly lousy design. As soon as I saw the upgrade for the newer ejector system I sent in my shell plates to be machined and the unit is just about perfect for me.
Fast and cheap caliber change outs, very good powder metering, esp. with ball powders, I can hold .1gr tolerance on most powders and quite frankly for most of what I load that is very good. When I load precision stuff it gets single stage treatment in my Co-Ax press an powder is measured to the .02gr on the Gemtech.
Do I hate "red" like some other serial posters-NOPE.
Do I use "Blue" - Yes I have much Dillon equiptment.
I find that each has its pluses and minuses and I use what works for me.
The LnL works for me.

There are quite a few side by side comparisons that are posted on various blogs and forums and most are quite even handed-search out a couple and read.
Do your "due diligence" and decide what is right for you.

Gary

[David Bachelder]

There is a waiting period for the Hornady LNL. I have one on order at Midsouth and expected delivery is late June.

You can find one here or there but you will pay $450 to $700 for it. Midsouth sells them for $399.00

I have a RockChucker ... I can wait.

[kostner]

Thank you for the tip at Midsouth I'm on the list for a LnL. Thats a very good price of $419 to my door. Should order some shell plates can you think of anything else to add to the list?

[thealex]

I had one reloaded a few calibers and had nothing but problems. Indexing, bad powder drops, sizer hangups. I just couldnt get it to work consistantly. I just sold it. Bought a 650. The difference in quality is night and day. A

[JimDandy]

I'll never have just one press on my bench. The 300 RUM and 45 ACP are just too different- so the 300 RUM will go on the single stage, and the 45 ACP goes through the ammo plant.

If you want a LNL, I would most likely get the ammo plant. For hangun rounds, it's just too nice. Set up the LNL and case feeder first, get a feel for it, then set up the bullet feeder.

The Bushing system is nice, but has it's pitfalls too. It takes a little while to get a feel for a GOOD bushing install, and one that will allow the die to "creep" because you haven't locked it in right and tight.

The PTX (Powder through Expander) included in your bullet feeder die is also a nice bonus.

If you get an ammo plant, you'll want case feeder plates- divided by large/small pistol/rifle. You'll also want bullet feeder dies for your handgun choices. The bullet feeder is allegedly going to be able to feed rifle bullets eventually for something like the .223. I'm not holding my breath, but I'll do a little dance when and if it happens. OK, maybe a big dance.

I broke the plastic bracket on the primer guide arm thing-a-ma-bob and they mailed me two PDQ. Hornady customer service isn't lacking. There's a Youtube how-to guide for the whole ammo plant setup published by Hornady itself. If you want to see it, that's as close to try before you buy as we're likely to get.

[tobnpr]

Thumbs up...
Never looked back, 3-1/2 years now.

'Course, it would be nice to actually have something to feed it.

[dickttx]

I have had one for six months or so. No problems with it. Have never had to call Hornady. E-mailed them once to ask for some additional primer shuttle springs and received them in a few days.
I am currently loading 45 ACP and 38 Super. If I ever get back to shooting 9mm it will use the same shell plate as 38 Super, so the only thing I will have to change is the powder measure setting.

[jrdavidson]

I love mine. With a little engineering you can rig a gravity feed bullet feeder system pretty easy without investing in the mechanized case feeder. I'm 2 years in on mine and I've only had to adjust the pawls once to align the indexing. The manual is very clear so it wasn't but a 5 minute process.

Its built like a tank.

I load pistol calibers on the LNL and rifle on my Redding T7 turret (just because if I have to trim cases there's no easy workflow on the progressive for that.) If you have never-fired cases (or you size/trim separately) you can load rifle easily on the LNL.

I sure love my LNL, but understand there are people who like blue or green just as well.

[newrugersafan]

I enjoy mine, after reading the buy blue comments all the time I would like to try one just to see the difference.

I had some primer shuttle problems early on but a little work with a file cured that. I find that the powder measure is very accurate with ball and flake (Unique) powder but not so good with extruded powder like IMR 4831 so I just load those on my T-7.

My son came over a few days ago and loaded up some 38 special. He ended up loading 250 in 40 minutes with no problems of any kind. I told him to quit boxing it up that I was timeing him....he had already stopped to box about 150 of them.

Mine does not have a case or bullet feeder so it is a little slower then some.
We use it to reload 380, 9mm, 357 & 38 sp, 40 S&W, 44 mag & 44 sp, 45 acp, 45 colt and I sometimes load 204 Ruger on it but I usually load rifle on my T-7. We have tried 270 short mag on it but I don't like sizeing the larger rifle cases on it, it works but it takes more effort and seems like it could be hard on the press...I'm not sure about that just my opinion.

We have reloaded many thousands on it and the only thing I have replaced is the shell holder spring and Hornady sent me several free. I have no complaints.

Mike

[David Bachelder]

I'm looking forward to having the LNL. My buddy has one and he will guide me through assembly and tuning. He says he's already made all the mistakes so he is well versed in the LNL.

I also have a RCBC Rockchucker II, it will always have a place on my bench.

The intent is to use the LNL for straight wall pistol cases and the RC for rifle.

I only have to wait till the end of June

[schmellba99]

LNL's (or any progressive, for that matter), loading rifle up is just fine. I load .223 in mine without any issue.

I would not use it for a precision rifle or making match ammo, but for plinking ammo in high volume guns like AR10 and AR15's, it's great for better quality than factory at half the price ammo without a doubt.

[bbqncigars]

As I've said on other threads, I ditched my 550B when it munched too many precious 25-20WCF brass. The LNL AP has loaded many thousands of those now with nary a glitch. The Dillon also had an unacceptable appetite for .30 Mauser brass as well. The ability to have different powder measure rotors to quickly swap out for different loads is a bonus as well. With the Dillon measure, it's more of a 'bone us'.

[swcc22]

Ok for those who have stated u havr no problem with .223 ehat powder are u using I am having trouble with metering consistently

[Nathan]

Super press. I have has mine since 2002. I haven't upgraded, because of all my shell plates and don't need that much speed.

I have loaded rifle up to 300 WSM fine, but except for 223 and pistol, I prefer measuring powder off the press.

I have made very accurate, low runout ammo off this press. I'm happy!

[Petespacking]

I'm extremely happy with mine. A little fiddling getting all three calibers set up for quick changes along with a case feeder and I crank out ammo! After 5,000+ rounds I have done nothing but grease it and do minor adjustments. I bought several recommended spare parts and haven't used them yet. I'd buy the same press if I had to start over.

[Jokerxx]

I'm a newbie, I jumped in with the Lock n Load. The only issue I have is every so often a primer will not seat and I end up with a nice trail of powder. So try to watch the primer slide to make sure one went in.

[David Bachelder]

"Ok for those who have stated u havr no problem with .223 ehat powder are u using I am having trouble with metering consistently"

?

[Waldog]

For 223, any "ball" type powder will meter beautifully in the LNL. H335 is an excellent choice.