Hornady LNL AP Question!!

micksis86 · January 17, 2010, 10:47 PM

I just bought my Hornady LNL Ap. It's my first progressive press and i'm having a little difficulty with it. My main question is with the retaingin spring on the shell plate does it follow the shell plate all the way around in the rebate or does it go down into the recess at the top of the ram at station one. I've found the EZ eject system works better and it's easier to put cases into the shell plate but the spring doens't provide enough support to station one and station 5 so my cases are going into the resizing die and seating die crooked and are therefore hitting the rim of the die.

Also what sort of difference from charge to charge do you guys get when using powder throwers and the hornady lnl ap powder charger.

Thanks

PeteF · January 18, 2010, 01:10 AM

The spring holds the cases in in all spots except 1 where it goes down into the recess.

When you first put the spring on cycle the action so that the shell plate rotates through all stations at least once. That sets the spring in the right place.

Once properly adjusted the powder measure works very consistently. Recent loading session all of my checks were dead on.

Crashbox · January 18, 2010, 02:39 AM

When I first place the case retaining spring on I turn the plate by hand a couple of times while pressing the spring into position where it dips down in the vicinity of station one.

I get the occasional misaligned case on the first station as well, usually once or twice every 100 rounds, sometimes more, sometimes less. It seems a lot of it was due to the press being a bit out-of-time. It has been my experience in the past two months I've owned my LNL AP that it does have a somewhat finicky personality but it's a very good machine IMO. If it is happening every time then something is amiss, e.g., out-of-time, out-of-spec shellplate, improperly mounted shellplate, base warpage, etc.

As for the consistency of powder charge throws, I have found mine to be almost always within 0.1 grain; very rarely, the 0.2-grain discrepancy. Thoroughly cleaning the powder measure of every trace of anti-corrosion coating from the factory is an absolute must for consistency. I REALLY wish the pistol metering insert was larger so I could load full-tilt rounds in my .357 Magnum cases; I wind up using the rifle insert for such and the consistency is not quite as good. I've only used easy-to-meter powders in my powder measure, though- TiteGroup and 2400 so far. Flake powders such as Unique may not fare so well...

For what it's worth, I'm quite new at this hobby and started with a progressive but I'm glad I did- I've learned an awful lot from the challenges I have faced.

January 17, 2010, 10:47 PM	#1
micksis86 Senior Member Join Date: June 16, 2009 Posts: 420	Hornady LNL AP Question!! I just bought my Hornady LNL Ap. It's my first progressive press and i'm having a little difficulty with it. My main question is with the retaingin spring on the shell plate does it follow the shell plate all the way around in the rebate or does it go down into the recess at the top of the ram at station one. I've found the EZ eject system works better and it's easier to put cases into the shell plate but the spring doens't provide enough support to station one and station 5 so my cases are going into the resizing die and seating die crooked and are therefore hitting the rim of the die. Also what sort of difference from charge to charge do you guys get when using powder throwers and the hornady lnl ap powder charger. Thanks

January 18, 2010, 02:39 AM	#3
Crashbox Senior Member Join Date: November 3, 2009 Location: Lynden, Washington Posts: 199	When I first place the case retaining spring on I turn the plate by hand a couple of times while pressing the spring into position where it dips down in the vicinity of station one. I get the occasional misaligned case on the first station as well, usually once or twice every 100 rounds, sometimes more, sometimes less. It seems a lot of it was due to the press being a bit out-of-time. It has been my experience in the past two months I've owned my LNL AP that it does have a somewhat finicky personality but it's a very good machine IMO. If it is happening every time then something is amiss, e.g., out-of-time, out-of-spec shellplate, improperly mounted shellplate, base warpage, etc. As for the consistency of powder charge throws, I have found mine to be almost always within 0.1 grain; very rarely, the 0.2-grain discrepancy. Thoroughly cleaning the powder measure of every trace of anti-corrosion coating from the factory is an absolute must for consistency. I REALLY wish the pistol metering insert was larger so I could load full-tilt rounds in my .357 Magnum cases; I wind up using the rifle insert for such and the consistency is not quite as good. I've only used easy-to-meter powders in my powder measure, though- TiteGroup and 2400 so far. Flake powders such as Unique may not fare so well... For what it's worth, I'm quite new at this hobby and started with a progressive but I'm glad I did- I've learned an awful lot from the challenges I have faced. __________________ Four Rugers, three SIG Sauers, assorted rifles. NRA, GOA and SAF Life Member.

January 18, 2010, 01:10 AM	#2
PeteF Junior Member Join Date: August 19, 2009 Posts: 4	The spring holds the cases in in all spots except 1 where it goes down into the recess. When you first put the spring on cycle the action so that the shell plate rotates through all stations at least once. That sets the spring in the right place. Once properly adjusted the powder measure works very consistently. Recent loading session all of my checks were dead on.