Customer Reviews

Hornady Lock N Load Auto-Progressive Reloading Press

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I started reloading just over 2 years ago and decided to go with this Hornady press instead of the Dillon 550B that I was also considering (and that my neighbor ended up buying). Originally, I was just loading 9mm in order to save money, but the reloading has become almost as fun a hobby as the shooting has:).

There is so much to say about this press, both good as well as things to be careful for, that I'm going to break this review into sections and try to keep brief. Before getting into the details, let me just say this press was a great investment. Overall, it works great, is easy to use, and is backed up by the best customer support I've ever worked with. I've loaded well over 10,000 rounds on it at this point and couldn't be happier.

*** Customer Support ***
When I was starting out, I ended up breaking parts on the press two different times. On both occasions, I called Hornady tech support and talked immediately with someone who knew exactly what I was talking about. They didn't care that the breakages had been my fault and just stuck the replacement part in an envelope which I had in hand a couple of days later. The first time, when I broke an auto-indexing pawl, the support person actually threw a couple of extras in the envelope for me just in case it happened again (which it hasn't).

In both cases, I had felt some unusual tension when pulling the handle; but I thought it was just a hard-to-resize shell. This machine has a lot of torque, so when things bind up it is easy to break something - now that doesn't happen anymore since I always stop and examine the machine when I feel anything unusual.

I know that Dillon also has a reputation for great customer service, but it is hard to imagine that it could be any better than Hornady's - this is an area where there just aren't enough stars available.

*** EZ-Ject system ***
When I got my Hornady press, the EZ-Ject system wasn't available yet and it used a wire on station 5 to eject shells. This worked OK, but created several problems that I had to learn to live with.
1) The ejection wasn't very reliable and about a third of the time I would either have to help the shell eject or the shell would get thrown several inches over the loaded round tray. After doing it enough I got used to it and manually helping shells eject became part of the reloading process.
2) The ejection wire actually blocked station 5 from being usable with most dies which basically made this into a 4 station press (like the Dillon 550B).

Once the EZ-Ject became available I upgraded and I can't even describe how much better it is. The ejection is flawless and I have full access to station 5. As a result, I've thrown in an extra powder check die on rifle rounds and I went with a dedicated crimp die for pistol rounds which makes the bullet seater easier to setup. My productivity has increased from about 200 rounds/hour of 9mm to 350 rounds - and I'm not moving any faster than I was before.

I'm not sure if there are still LnL presses out there that don't have the EZ-Ject system, but make sure to verify that the one you buy has it! With EZ-Ject, this is a five star press; but prior to that I would have had to dock at least one star just for the crummy ejection.

*** Changing calibers ***
Originally, I just reloaded for 9mm so I didn't pay much attention to how easy it is to change calibers on the LnL. But, now I'm reloading for .308 and .223 as well and I've come to appreciate it:).

Basically, you just leave each die setup in a bushing that swaps in and out easily so you don't have to mess with any of the expensive tool head stuff like Dillon uses. The bushings are inexepensive and incredibly easy to use. I also bought another dedicated powder dispenser, so I use one for rifle loads and the other for pistol. The powder dispenser itself also sits in one of the bushings so it is also very easy to swap out.

I can completely change from reloading 9mm to .308 in less than five minutes following these steps:
1) Swap out the shell plate
2) Remove all the 9mm dies and the pistol powder dispenser by just twisting the bushings out - this does not require any tools
3) Insert my .308 dies and rifle powder dispenser which are still setup from the last time I used them (although I always verify that)
4) Swap out the small primer seater for the large seater (both are included with the press)
5) Remove the remaining small pistol primers from the drop tube - not making a mess of this is probably the hardest step:)
6) Install the large primer drop tube - once again, no tools are required for this step

I'm not sure how this could be easier, and it definitely deserves five stars.

*** Discarded primers ***
The tube on the Lock-n-Load press for routing discarded primers into the trash is a great setup. Instead of trying to aim it into a trash can at my feet, I drilled a hole in a water bottle lid and just ran the tube through the lid and into the water bottle. This keeps the discarded primers out of the way and makes them really easy to get rid of when I'm done reloading.

In case that is hard to envision, the primer tube runs through the drilled hole in the water bottle lid and there is some tape wrapped around the tube so the lid won't slide off. Now I just screw the water bottle container on and off and it is a perfect little storage bin for discarded primers.

*** Powder dispenser inserts ***
First, if you will be reloading for pistol calibers, let me mention you are going to need to buy the handgun rotor and metering assembly to accurately dispense the smaller charges. If you will just be loading rifle rounds you can ignore that.

Also, this next section may not make sense until you've actually spent some time playing with the powder dispenser. When I talk about the metering insert, I'm talking about the adjustable stem that inserts into the rotor to configure how much powder gets dropped into the load.

When I bought the handgun rotor for mine; I saw the cool micrometer metering insert, so I went ahead and spent a few extra bucks to get it to replace the standard metering insert. This turned out to be somewhat of a waste of money for two reasons:
1) It turns out that the standard metering inserts can be bought for 1/3 of the price of the micrometer version and they can be easily swapped out of the rotor - so now I just keep a metering insert marked for each load and I've found that is far more convenient and repeatable than remembering what number a load was on the micrometer.
2) The micrometer insert got a layer of rust almost immediately, so I couldn't read the markings anyway. This rust appears on the dial head and it happened to two different units; although I take care to keep stuff oiled up - this is a part that just wants to rust.

It takes a bit longer to setup a load with the standard inserts, but it is a time saver in the long run over the micrometer version.

*** Auto indexing could be smoother ***
When reloading small cases, the auto-indexing will sometimes shake a granule of powder out of the case and onto the shell plate. This is just something to be aware of (especially when the cases are fairly full), and I really haven't found a way to completely resolve it. One side-effect is that the loose granules can wind up getting stuck in the primer seater, which will prevent it from recessing completely and can bind the entire machine. This was actually the cause of my second broken part:).

Anyway, I don't want to make it sound like powder will shake out of every case. Just be aware that it does happen so you will typically end up with half a dozen or so loose granules after loading a few hundred rounds. I keep my air compressor handy to keep the shell plate clean; which prevents anything from getting stuck in the primer seater. I also blow out the seater every month or so and put a drop of oil in there just to keep it moving smoothly.

*** Hornady dies ***
I know this isn't directly related to the press, but I figure I should throw in my findings on dies as well for people who are just getting started.

Since I was buying the Hornady press and didn't really know what I was doing, I decided to play it safe and stuck with Hornady dies as well. Although they weren't bad, I always had little issues - especially with the depriming pin and the bullet seater; so I eventually swapped them out for some Redding dies. Let me just say, in my opinion, the Redding dies blow the Hornady dies out of the water. I've been incredibly impressed.

[UPDATE 11/30/2010]
Once again, I know this isn't directly related to the press, but feel free to read the comments posted under this review to see some of the issues I started having with the Redding 9mm sizing die that I recommended before. At this point, for 9mm, I'm using a Lee sizer die, Hornady expander die, Redding bullet seater die, and Redding crimp die. This seems to be a great combination - but I'm still irritated at the apparent drop in quality of the Redding dies. For other calibers (.223 & .308), I haven't had any problems with the Redding sizing dies.

*** Conclusion ***
My neighbor started a few weeks before me and went with the Dillon 550B for loading .45, so I have seen both presses in action - although I obviously understand the workings of the Hornady better.

If you are considering one of these two presses, then I highly recommend the Hornady. I think the Hornady is a much better press than the Dillon, yet it costs less; both initially as well as each time you add a new caliber.

I am a beginner re-loader. I went against the grain of common knowledge that you should start with a single stage press then move to a progressive press like this. I am glad I did because the amount I shoot it would take me forever to reload this on a single stage press.

If you follow the instructions and watch the videos you should not have any problems whatsoever. Do yourself a favor and get a can of Hornady De-greaser and dry lube because you will need to clean the grease from the powder measure, primer mechanism and the area where the shell plate sits. After that you should be good to go.

As far as performance, it is very consistent in the production of bullets. You can really crank out a lot of bullets in a hurry. I shot all mine today and had no problems whatsoever.

Some other suggestions:
--Get a good digital scale if you can afford it. It makes it much faster when you do your powder settings

--Get a powder through expander die. This frees up a spot for a cop die (charge validator). It basically lets you know if you have put too much or too little powder in your shell.

--Get a Cop die. (see above).

--Have a good sturdy location to mount it. For me I use a saw horse with some C clamps to hold it down and that works good for me.

So if you shoot a lot, get this press and get into it. You will save plenty of money and you will produce loads that are more accurate than factory loads.

If you can walk & chew gum, you can run this press. No need to start with a single stage, especially if your goal is to make a lot of handgun ammo. Primers, like any press, need special attention. I've got well over 40k rounds of 45ACP through mine, as well as several thou of 38/357 and 44 maggies. The only thing that needed to be replaced was one of the little "mousetrap" springs; it actually wore through. That was around 25k rounds. Hmm, I should take a look at the one in there now. Loading .223 or .30-'06 is a little more involved, what with the larger powder charge (you actually need to WAIT for the .223 powder to run through the little hole), case lubing and the attention to the case neck and seating the tiny bullets.

I've helped set up & run a few other brand presses. This one is the one to get.

Norm

I have purchased 2 of these presses, 1 for a friend and it is by far the easiest press to setup and likley the best value for money in a Progressive press if you reload more than one caliber.

I've been reloading for over 30 years and this is the best press that I have ever owned. For anyone to have problems with it would to be have to someone that doesn't know much about reloading. It helps to have a background in reloading but if you think that your up to it and want to get out to the range sooner. Then I would say that this is a must buy. Great press... Thank you

This is a great press very quick learning curve. the lnl bushings make change over a snap. The powder measure is flawless. Seems like hornady worked all the bugs out of this one.

I purchased the Hornady L-N-L AP press and the only issue I have is the primer tray jams and I am not aware until it is too late... I have numerous loaded shells without a primer. I designed a strobe light sensor that alerts you if the primer tray gets jamed in any position...saves you alot of time and money...installes in less than a minute email me for more information trader5687@gmail.com

I recently bought the Lock N Load press to replace my older Hornady Projector press - the precursor to the LNL. The press is well built and will out last its owner with out a problem. The EZ-Ject cartridge ejector is a big improvement to the earlier wire ejector.

The tweaking and fine tuning is needed to get the shell plate to index properly. When I got my press setup, I cycled the press without any shells and the shell plate indexed properly each time the handle was pulled. When I began running cases thru the press, I began to notice the shell plate would not quite fully index on the upward and downward strokes. This would cause the shell plate to not line up properly with the primer station and on the upward pull, sometime the cartridges would just be a touch out of alignment with the dies. Both issues would require a manual movement of the shell plate to move the shell plate to the correct spot.

I called Hornandy customer support, this company has one of the best customer support departments of any product I have ever owned in my life, and was given instructions on how to make the adjustments to the palls that control the amount of rotation in the shell plate. They thought the issue may be due to the initial break in of the press and that there is some increased drag on the shell plate once cartridges are moving thru the shell plate and a little extra push may be required to compensate for this. I am still making some small tweaks to get it dialed in, but all in all this is a great press and equal in quality and operation to the blue press, but at a much more affordable price.

Setup was very easy, simply follow either the written or video instructions. I did have a defective part, the small powder measure assembly threads were bad. Called Hornady and they sent a new one right out. Getting each station adjusted was very easy, I did not have any problems. The only problem I encountered was I broke the drive hub, it is a cast investment and the empty brass was hanging on the expander die. Called Hornady and they explained that they make the hub to fail first as not to cause damage to the rest of the press and sent 2 new hubs.
I am very happy overall with the quality and ease of operation of the LNL AP. The only word of warning that I will give is if you feel something binding STOP and find the problem, do not try to force it.

I've been reloading on a 70's vintage RCBS single stage press for years now, and went with the Lock-n-Load system over the Dillon 550. Very glad I did. The Hornady system offers good value for the money... I got the case feeder along with the press, and feel it really expands the utility of the system. Caveat emptor, however, in that there is a learning curve, or 'protocol' if you will, that must be mastered to really wring out this system. When it arrived I unboxed and followed the step by step directions on the DVD, which cover assembly, set up and operations. Pretty straight forward. Once it was assembled my first loading was .45 ACP, which went smoothly except for the primer slide and punch. Your press will have to be tweaked until it indexes correctly, and until you have mastered this adjustment, you will get rounds without primers, and as the round makes its way around the stations it will dribble grains of powder under the shell plate which will cause your primer punch to NOT retract fully or seat primers properly. When this occurs be ready to remove the primer punch and clean it, reinstall and then remove shellplate and brush off powder grains from the rotary table.
The indexing pawl must be tweaked 'just so' and then the guide wire for the case feeder must also be adjusted, and the proper size "V block" installed in order to get cases to feed properly. Again it is a pain but once it is in the zone then you are good to go!
I ended up polishing the primer slides (large and small primers) in order to get them to slide without binding. and if you are reloading military .223 brass remember to use a primer pocket tool to remove the military crimp, or you will not get your primers to seat in the case. Ask me how I know this. (lol)
After learning the right way to set up and run this press, I can manage 300/hr of most pistol calibers-9mm, .38/357, 44 Special/Magnum. .45 Colt and .45ACP. Rifle rounds are a more painstaking and therefore slower process, but still capable of good production times. You will be needing dies/shellplates/powder through expanders in each caliber you reload for, and if you have the case feeder you will need the proper sized case feeder plate also, so extras DO add up.
I'm glad I made the transition to a progressive press and recommend the Lock N Load, wich is a quality piece of equipment, and Hornady's customer service has helped me through the learning stage with mine.