Big red machine came via UPS today.

L

Lugnut

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Well after much delay and consideration I finally bought a progressive reloader. The Hornady LnL. I couldn't resist anymore and the 1000 free Hornady bullet offer helped as well. It's a fine looking machine and I can't wait to try it out. I think I'll be at it all night.

Oh.. the funny part is it's supposed to be a Christmas present from my wife.... so I need to find something to put back into the box for under the tree. [smile] Sorry, I'm just totally pathetic.
 
LOL- that didn't take long. I have no prior experience or bias and was willing to take the chance by not going blue. I'll report on how things go when I've got it up and running.
 
I'm waiting on the report! Im not biased -- I'm just ready to move up from my Lee 1000. The market is tight in the $3-$400 pricepoint, and I just saw that I can get that press from Midway with my dealer's discount for a little over $300, plus the price of a shellplate ($22). The 1000 free .40 XTP HP's are tempting too. Might be time to start a new thread in reloading. Please set that thing up and give a report soon!
 
tele_mark said:
I'm waiting on the report! Im not biased -- I'm just ready to move up from my Lee 1000. The market is tight in the $3-$400 pricepoint, and I just saw that I can get that press from Midway with my dealer's discount for a little over $300, plus the price of a shellplate ($22). The 1000 free .40 XTP HP's are tempting too. Might be time to start a new thread in reloading. Please set that thing up and give a report soon!
Click to expand...

I figure the bullets are worth about $100+ so that makes the press really atrractive price wise. There are extras of course. I think I'm going to start installing it now. I will say I really like the power dispenser. The insert literally comes out with a push of a button- kinda neat. I bought a pistol insert/rotor because I was told it's needed for the loads I use. But the std insert looks just like the one in the RCBS dispenser I have which has worked fine- we'll see...
 
Hey Mark,

If you want to try one out, let me know. I've had mine set up and running for over a year. A comparable Dillon machine would be the 650, not the 550. The Hornady is a self-indexing 5-station press.

I've used both the L-N-L and the 650. The 650 "felt" a little smoother, but the L-N-L has cheaper caliber changes (3 bushings for $10, plus standard dies) and the Hornady's powder measure is far superior to the Dillon. Either machine will last you a lifetime and both companies have excellent service.

Lugnut - Use the pistol rotor when you'll be throwing powder charges of less than 10 grains. Use the rifle rotor for charges larger than 15 grains. For charges of 10-15 grains, I've found that either one will work. If you don't have the case feeder for it, put it on your Christmas list.
 
I got my LnL set up early today, and after getting the hang of the feel of the machine, I've gotta say I'm luvin this thing! I just finished knocking out 100 rounds after doing a 50 round run to dial things in. I didn't time it, but I don't think it could've taken me more than 30 minutes, including reloading the primer tube once. That's going pretty slow due to not knowing the machine. That's the only drawback I can see to this machine -- you have no way of knowing how many primers are left, so you could easily run rounds through without primers. But, considering how well the primer system works, I'm happy. The primer feed on my Lee 1000 was really the only reason I ditched it. But, seeing how well this thing runs, I'm seeing there were other reasons as well. The only other glitch I ran into was my Lee FCD dies won't work at Station 5 because of the ejector wire. So, I had to spend some time on the dies with a file, and now they work fine.
 
Just thought of a way to "see" how many primers in the feed tube,get a length of plastic rod place it in your EMPTY primer tube and mark the rod just above the top of the primer tube with colored tape or day glow paint and you'll have a reference on where your primer supply is. That's assuming that you HAVE a priming system that uses a tube I've not seen a LNL set up in real life. Hope this helps
 
Congrats on the new press. I have seen many positive comments on them.

Eddie, I have to question your statement that the Hornady PM is better than the Dillon PM. Of course, I do not have, nor have I tested the Hornady PM, but I have five Dillon presses (3 SDB; 1 550B; 1 ea 1050) and I have had no problems keeping extremely accurate throws with all of them.

Tele_mark, I wonder if the Dillon signal device will work on the Hornady primer tube?? Anyone know?? It should be adaptable since it is a plastic part that just clamps over the primer tube safety shield. If needed to be bigger, just bore it out. If needed smaller, make a bushing, I guess.

I am not knocking the Hornady and expect that I will acquire one in the future just to try it out. I tend to collect presses and have many others now.
 
dd said:
Eddie, I have to question your statement that the Hornady PM is better than the Dillon PM. Of course, I do not have, nor have I tested the Hornady PM, but I have five Dillon presses (3 SDB; 1 550B; 1 ea 1050) and I have had no problems keeping extremely accurate throws with all of them.
Click to expand...

I was referring to the ease of adjustment rather than the accuracy of the throws. The Hornady measure (especially with the micrometer rotor) is very quick and easy to adjust without tools.

As far as the primer thing goes... A lot of people do exactly what Highlander suggests. I did it when I was first starting out, but now I have a pretty good sense for when the primers are about to run out, and it is very easy to feel the lack of resistance at the bottom of the stroke when you're out of primers. As soon as Tele_mark loads a few more boxes of ammo, he'll get used to it.
 
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I actually let it run out tonite, and I did in fact know instantly that I was out, despite thinking I had at least 20 left. I stopped, pulled the case off of Station 2, and verified it wasn't primed. It's a very subtle feel, compared to the Lee 1000, but if you're paying attention, you'll get it. I also timed myself loading another 100. Including the primer reload when it ran out, and a couple malf's I had to clear due to operator error, I got 100 in just under 1/2 hour, just poking along.
 

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