Tips for using the Hornady Lock N Load AP (LnL) Progressive Press

[Theunsb]

Thank you alfsauve started assembling mine today. Your write-up much appreciated.

However feel unsure why the V metalplate insert into the powder feeder, seems it is not letting powder through consistantly.

Advice please seems I have to tap the side of the container very often or the powder below the plate runs "out".

[alfsauve]

Theunsb,

The "V" plate is called a Baffle and is very important.   RCBS and Redding have them as well as Hornady.  Problem with Hornady is their manuals and support page aren't quite up-to-date and don't show the baffle or explain it's purpose. A search of reloading forums will show  a lot of people use a baffle of some sort.   Here's one discussion:

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2511043/m/64410236?r=15410236#15410236

Powder measures without a baffle will typically tell you not to let the tube get down to less than 1/2.  The reason being that as the reservoir of powder decreases the weight of the powder on the bottom is reduced.  The measure will throw lighter charges if the powder gets too low.

The baffle holds up the weight of the reservoir keeping the pressure on the metering gauge the same until the level of the powder gets to the level of the baffle.


Not to insult, but make sure the baffle is inserted as shown in the picture below.



FIXED LINK for the time being

Here's another type of baffle used in some shotgun powder measures:








  

[777Braveheart]

Alfsuave,

Awesome post! Thanks! I am brand new to reloading. I just bought the LNL AP and have been buying supplies and reading all I can before I start to use it.

I noticed you are in Marietta. I live north of you in Dawson County. Would you be interested in giving me some lessons on this thing and/or possibly coming to help me get going on mine? I know everything is not free. I'm prepared to pay you for your time and knowledge.

Thanks,
777Braveheart

[alfsauve]

I noticed you are in Marietta. I live north of you in Dawson County. Would you be interested in giving me some lessons on this thing and/or possibly coming to help me get going on mine? I know everything is not free. I'm prepared to pay you for your time and knowledge.

Thanks,
777Braveheart

Answered in PM. 

[Solus]

I love this place.

[Sponsor]

[DixonCreekDrifter]

Good morning,

Never doubt the value of good information.  Got the LnL ap when I started shooting cowboy action.  Loaded thousands of 45 Colt rounds before I decided to try the press on the other pistol cartridges that I shoot.  Even after a year of reloading I found good advice in the post about setting up the press.

The spent primer drop tube was at first guided into a trash can. Got tired of tripping over the trash can, digging good brass out of the trash can, looking for a good primer that spilled into the trash can, finding dropped bullets in the trash can and knew there had to be a solution to the "everything falls into the trash can" that is positioned to collect the decapped primers. 

A primer that just happen to fall into a discarded water bottle was the inspiration.  First cut a cross in the water bottle lid.  A drilled round hole would work as well, but I found the pointed tabs help to keep the cap in place when dumping the spent primers.  Next, slide the cap up the drop tube hose.  The points were not enough to hold the water bottle filled with primers in place, so a zip tie was used to act as a stop collar.  Be careful not to tighten the zip tie so much that the hose will be constricted and not allow the spent primers to drop but enough to hold the bottle and primers.  Finally thread the bottle onto the cap.  As the bottle fills with spent primers it will pull the drop tube hose off the drop tube under the press so zip tie it now and avoid the mess on the floor later.

[Optimistix]

A great thread with great info on what is potentially a very good press ... so hopefully my woes can also be addressed here.

Since I bought my press about a year ago I have had issues getting it to work as I am sure it has been designed to do and also as I have seen at least two belonging to good shooting buddies of mine working.

My biggest frustration is that I simply can't seem to get the Case Escapement Bracket Assembly to work reliably.  No matter how I try, it does not feed cases reliably and I have reverted to activating the system by hand.

One of the possible issues is that the assembly keeps twisting to the left due, I presume, to pressure by the ram on the activator that causes the Case Escapement Body to turn.

When attempting to tighten the assembly again this morning the part where the nut locks into it to fix the assembly to the press frame broke.

This is a photo of the broken part ... 



I would welcome any advice on how to set up the unit to have it function properly.

Oh yes, I load .40 S&W ... 1000 per week so I would like to get this sorted urgently please. 

[Solus]

Good morning,

Never doubt the value of good information.  Got the LnL ap when I started shooting cowboy action.  Loaded thousands of 45 Colt rounds before I decided to try the press on the other pistol cartridges that I shoot.  Even after a year of reloading I found good advice in the post about setting up the press.

The spent primer drop tube was at first guided into a trash can. Got tired of tripping over the trash can, digging good brass out of the trash can, looking for a good primer that spilled into the trash can, finding dropped bullets in the trash can and knew there had to be a solution to the "everything falls into the trash can" that is positioned to collect the decapped primers. 

A primer that just happen to fall into a discarded water bottle was the inspiration.  First cut a cross in the water bottle lid.  A drilled round hole would work as well, but I found the pointed tabs help to keep the cap in place when dumping the spent primers.  Next, slide the cap up the drop tube hose.  The points were not enough to hold the water bottle filled with primers in place, so a zip tie was used to act as a stop collar.  Be careful not to tighten the zip tie so much that the hose will be constricted and not allow the spent primers to drop but enough to hold the bottle and primers.  Finally thread the bottle onto the cap.  As the bottle fills with spent primers it will pull the drop tube hose off the drop tube under the press so zip tie it now and avoid the mess on the floor later.

How about drilling a hole in the bottom of the bottle and securing it to the hose there..duct tape or epoxy?  Then you can empty it by putting a can under the bottle and removing the lid.

Maybe put the tube in the bottom of the bottle, raise it up the tube and putting the zip ties on the tube to keep the bottle in place.  Perhaps a washer with a hole the size of the tube above the zip tie to keep the zip tie from pulling through the  hole in the bottle bottom under weight.

[alfsauve]

<snip>
My biggest frustration is that I simply can't seem to get the Case Escapement Bracket Assembly to work reliably.  No matter how I try, it does not feed cases reliably and I have reverted to activating the system by hand.
<snip>
When attempting to tighten the assembly again this morning the part where the nut locks into it to fix the assembly to the press frame broke.

I would welcome any advice on how to set up the unit to have it function properly.

Took me awhile to figure out what part you were talking about.  Case Feeder.  A-ha.   I'm not quite at the 1,000 rounds/week level and can't justify the case feeder.   As you may have noticed, I even cut off the case feeding arm of my sub-plate so my press will never work with a case feeder.

Sorry I don't have any advice for you.

When I get to the level of having a single press dedicated to a single caliber, I will re-evaluate which brand/model is best for that application.   I like the LnL for versatility, not for heads down, never change anything, high volume operation.

[Shoot the guns of history]

I have been using the LnL press for about 6 or 7 years and love it, but like all things, there could be some improvements. First thing I did was epoxy a washer under the primer ram to make sure I had a seated primer.


For catching the spent primers I use a 2 liter pop jug


I added the case feeder which came with a new base plate, I took the old plate and cut the bin holder off and welded it to the new plate



I do like the Hornady die boxes, but they interlock when stacked and it always seems the box I want is on the bottom of the stack, so I made a box rack


I got rid of the primer pick up tubes and got a Frankford Arsenal Vibraprime it is much faster and easier.

One thing that is a must for me it for every die set I use, I get a powder measure insert and once I have it adjusted, I put a tag on it stating what powder and how much, and it goes into the die box. 

I wish the powder measure was more reasonably priced as I would prefer to have one preset for each caliber as I get tired of fussing with spacers and measure setting on each set up.

My only complaint about the press is I wish Hornady treated the steel for corrosion prevention. I live in Phoenix, where there is not a lot of moisture, but all the steel parts developed a layer of rust after a short period of time. I am slowly having my steel parts plated to prevent it from happening again.