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Old June 12, 2002, 09:20 AM   #26
Steve Smith
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Perhaps the reason that there are unhappy PB owners is that they were expecting Dillon or Hornady LNL speed? If they'd never seen or heard how fast a true progressive is, would they still be unhappy?
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Old June 12, 2002, 10:11 AM   #27
BJordan71
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Steve,
IIRC speed wasn't the major complaint from the PB owner's remarks that I read. I stopped looking for info on the PB early on in my search because I found so many users unsatisfied with it. Plus, at that time RCBS was getting ready to release the PB-III so there was a lot of hype floating around and I just decided against it. If I hadn't adapted my Rock Chucker to LNL then the PB probably would have gotten a much closer look. Of course, if my usual luck holds in the purchase of my LNL-AP I'll get the lousiest example Hornady has ever produced.

Stay aware,
Stay safe.
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Old June 12, 2002, 11:47 AM   #28
Guy B. Meredith
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Re: " Less reloading time means more shooting time no matter the equipment you use."

It's all good. "

A very hearty "Amen!" to that. Think I'll take my lunch break at the range...

Last edited by Guy B. Meredith; June 12, 2002 at 09:21 PM.
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Old June 12, 2002, 09:16 PM   #29
grunewaj
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BJordan71,
Don't forget to let us know how it works out when you get you LnL AP. I'm sure Guy, and I (as well as others) might be able to give you some helpful tips.
Good luck,
Jim
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Old June 13, 2002, 06:29 AM   #30
BJordan71
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Thanks Grunewaj, I'll be sure to do that.

If "Brown" comes through and delivers by Friday, then Sunday will be the big day. I ordered .45ACP (#1) and .38/.357 (#6) shell plates so I'll be able to get something done. I've been "one-lung" reloading for a while so this is going to be an adventure. I told my dad I was buying a progressive and he just shook his head and muttered something ...

Thanks again for all the advice.

Stay aware,
Stay safe.
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Old June 13, 2002, 01:34 PM   #31
the duck of death
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I have reloaded aprox 35M on a Lock and l Load. A few things will help the press. Bevel one side of the die on stage 5 so it doesn't hit the bar that ejects the loaded round. Cut the groove in the black plate that holds the rod the primer runner rolls on and move the bar further back. Put a piece of brazing rod with a small weight down the primer tube. The way I did this, I drilled out the flash hole of a 7 MM mag case put the case in the protection tube, the primer tube thru the flash hole and the brazing rod in the primer tube. If you get the brazing rod the correct length you can tell when you are going to run out of primers. Some lock tite on the indexing screws if a good idea too. I know this seems like a lot but when done the press never misses and never gets out of time. AND this press is auto indexing, that's the big thing that kept me from buying a Dillon 550. The Dillon 650 does auto index but you have to get expensive Dillion parts when you want to change calibers.
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Old June 13, 2002, 01:55 PM   #32
Guy B. Meredith
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DOD,

The Hornady dies don't hit the case ejection bar/spring.

I used the RCBS taper die for quite a while and didn't think that manually ejecting the rounds was a bother, but now that I'm using the Hornady die and the bar I realize it really does cut time.

Beveling the die might do the trick.

If you have an older press, check with Hornady for an upgrade to the indexing mechanism.
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Old June 19, 2002, 06:08 AM   #33
BJordan71
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An update:

I got my LNL AP on Thursday; 2 days shipping from Nebraska to Georgia, not too shabby. I had too much of a "Honey dew" list over the WE to really wring it out but I did get it put in place, cleaned up, and my dies for 38 Special adjusted. I also did some calibration checking on the powder measure. Monday afternoon I ran a batch of cases though to get the feel of the primer seating and that's going to take some practice. After priming "all" of the cases (half a dozen had to go through twice) I adjusted the powder measure to throw 6.5 grains of Hogden HS-6 and set to work. Even after having to tweak the seating depth a few times, and checking for powder weight every 3rd or 4th case, I had 100 rounds loaded in less than an hour. Not too bad for a firtst outing. Once I get the hang of this thing it's going to be great. All in all I'm rather impressed with Hornady's AP and I want to again thank everyone who offered advice, especially grunewaj, topstrap and a few others who went "above and beyond"

Thanks again to all of you.

Stay aware,
Stay safe.
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Old June 19, 2002, 07:31 AM   #34
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BJordan71,

You're very welcome. I hope you enjoy your new press.

Jim
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The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office. Their principal device to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something they can't get and to promise to give it to them. Nine times out of ten, that promise is worth nothing. The tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B. In other words, government is a broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods.

-- H. L. Mencken
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Old June 19, 2002, 10:34 PM   #35
topstrap
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Good luck with your new press...

A note, I have exchanged a few e-mails with the Ken Elshof,
Engineering Supervisor at Hornady the past few days about some mods I did to allow my primers to be loaded more like the Dillon without having to take the priming assembly off. One of the things I did was put a small metal cap on top of the outer protection tube and his comment was that even a thin plastic covering over the tube during a primer explosion, it has never happened but when tested in a lab anything covering the tube cased a tremendous increase in pressure and the outer protection tube could burst instead of allowing the pressure to be dispersed upward...

Just thougt I'd pass this along, they are working on a retrofit for the L-N-L that will allow primers to be loaded without taking the primer assembly off and going thru that hassle. I took my cover off and still have the flaired inner brass tube that allows me to place my spare tube into the top of it and pull the spring clip and allow the primers to slide in and fill it without removing anything.

BJordan71, I'd be curious to know how your press loads 45's, mine would not at all and I think the shell plate was not machined correctly, someone else on here mentioned that also and the fella I talked to at Hornady said he's seem the same thing. Let us know how it does.

When it's working correctly it's a wonderful machine... a bit of tinkering now and then to make it smoother but once that is done you should be set for a long time. ANother thing I wish they had was a parts kit like I got for my Dillon 550-B. IT has all the parts that might break or get lost and it's not that expensive and it'll keep you going till a replacement comes, since they always go down on a weekend or a Holiday.

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Old June 19, 2002, 11:07 PM   #36
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Topstrap,

I load .45ACP and I have no problem with it. I did hear recently that some of the .45 shell plates were incorrectly machined. I don't know if those were early or late ones, but as I say, mine is fine (though I thought they should cut a wedge out of the "trailing" side of the slot where the shell goes. I think that would make ejection much smoother and easier, but that's a minor thing). I would assume that if you can't get it to work at all, that Hornady would replace the shell plate.

What are the symptoms you are having? I hope it gets fixed soon.

Jim
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Old June 20, 2002, 06:10 AM   #37
BJordan71
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topstrap,

I haven't actually loaded any .45ACP's yet but I did reset my dies for the LNL and everything seemed to be OK. Ejection, which is 50/50 at best with 38/357's was perfect with the 45's. It's looking like I'll be buying Hornady dies for my pistol calibers when finances permit as I had to make an insert for the Lee expander die to shorten the distance it would slide in the die body. Otherwise, there was just no way to get it down far enough to expand the case. I'm thinking seriously about making the primer mods you came up with but until I get comfortable with the primer setup I'm still using my RCBS hand primer. Old habits die hard and I've already used up my stock of 38 caliber bullets so it's not like I'm wasting time or anything. I'm also looking at the powder die mod that I read about. Being able to use a powder check die and a separate crimp die would make the process just about perfect. I'm really happy with my LNL-AP so far. Now all I need to do is take a second mortgage so I can afford bullets, primers, powder ...

Thanks again for the help.
Stay aware,
Stay safe.
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Old June 20, 2002, 10:39 AM   #38
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Stay with your hand primer and you will be much happier with the Hornady.
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Old June 20, 2002, 12:20 PM   #39
Master Blaster
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Of course you could have bought one of those blue ones and be in loading heaven, using the primer set up on the press and the seperate carbide seating and crimp dies.

So now you have a lock and load, and you need to redesign it so it works right, and you have to hand prime like on a single stage.

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Old June 20, 2002, 12:28 PM   #40
BJordan71
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Master Blaster,

That's "choose to" not "have to" hand prime. And besides, what good are high dollar toys if you don't have anything to tinker with?

Stay aware,
Stay safe.
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Old June 20, 2002, 10:06 PM   #41
David Wile
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Hey folks,

I have had a Hornady L&L progressive since they first came out, and I use it for both pistol and rifle cases. It is a great machine, and Hornady is a fine company. I also have two Hornady 366 progressive shotshell loaders - also great machines. No, I do not only have Hornady. I also have RCBS, Lyman, and have had others. Like any progressive machine, you have to learn how to use the L&L properly. No progressive is easy for any new reloader to manage, and they must be "managed" in my experience.

The Hornady L&L AP really should not be compared to any Dillon press other than the 650. The lower priced Dillons simply do not have comparable features. The 650 does, but it costs an arm and a leg more to purchase than the L&L. The only thing that has ever gone bad on my L&L was the shell plate spring, and, when called, Hornady sent me two new ones at no cost. It is a tough machine.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile
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