Question on using Hornady LNL!

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Till now I have been using my LNL with brass that was already deprimed and resized. Yesterday I "tried" using the powder thru expanders so I can decap/resize as well. Well, I didn't have good results- read below and I've enclosed the link of my post on another forum as well.

I know there are lot of users of the LNL here too- any advice?? Please refrain from suggesting the use of blue equipment.

If anyone if is in the north of Boston area I'd love to see how their setup works!! Thanks.


http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=3548249#post3548249

"Well I'm very annoyed right now. When I first got the LNL I couldn't get the powder thru expanders to work correctly. So I deprimed/resized on my Rock Chucker for a while.

Well today I decided to give it a go with .45ACP. I adjusted the powder drop properly to get full range and a crimp. So far so good... at least I thought... until I went to place a bullet in the case and nearly pushed the bullet all the way into the case! WTF? I have no idea why the powder thru expanders are so big in diameter since they only are supposed "expand" at the very top! I had to remove about 20 bullets as quite a few were not tight enough- I could push the bullet deeper with some force from the thumb. This was a variety of good brass by the way.

Another thing- the Hornady deprimer/sizer die does NOT resize the case like my RCBS dies. When resizing with the Hornady- the case barely fits into my gauge... when I use my RCBS it slides right in!

To make matters worse my primer slide kept getting stuck.... somehow a burr developed on the end of it...

Not a good day.... "
 
I don't know if this helps, but I use Lee die sets exclusively. So, I'm using their powder thru expanders at Station Three with the adapter ring that makes them a normal expander versus a powder drop actuator. No problems at all.
 
I had the same problem with the primer slide. What I finally figured out was it was the primer punch not being installed right at the factory.

I got a new slide and took out the old slide and punch and cleaned the punch and reinstalled it. It's worked fine so far.

On my press for 45's I have the decapping/sizing die, expanding die, powder measure, seating die and a lee FCD. To get the lee fcd to work I flipped up the ejector wire.

Why are you using the powder thru expanders is it so you can use the COP?
 
Last edited:
Bugs100 said:
Why are you using the powder thru expanders is it so you can use the COP?
Click to expand...

Exactly. With my set up it hard to see the powder charge, especially with .45ACP and W231- you could probably fit 3 charges in those cases!

When you say you flipped up the ejection wire do you just remove the cartridges manually?
 
I just take every cartridge out by hand look at it quick and drop it in to the bin. I put a light on the wall behind the press and have one over my shoulder to see the load better.

Also I have a old bar stool that gets me up a little higher sitting to the left of the press and that way I can see right in to shell. I use the same load that you do 5.2grs of W231 and I can see it easy.

I usally average about 150-175 a hour doing it this way but I'm in no hurry. I reload for about a hour a day. Then I clean the press, refill the primer tube refill the primer stick and I'm ready for the next day.
 
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I think it may be a question of adjustment. The nipple probably isn't supposed to go all the way into the case. If it works anything like the Dillon measure I do powder through expansion with then you need to adjust it so the nipple only enters into the mouth of the case thus belling it. On the Dillon you take the powder measure off and screw the die out.

My LNL has spent most of its life in the box, but when I had it out I didn't bother with the powder through expander. I figure the COP is nice but the only dangerous thing it can catch is powder bridging. Aside from that squibs are the only other risk I can see happening as the measuring insert is basically a fixed cavity and changes in humidity and pressure won't significantly effect the quantity of powder that fits inside the cavity. Although now that I think about it the Hornady powder measure can reset without the press auto-indexing. On the Dillon press the powder measure practically can't be reset without the shell plate auto-indexing. I don't think that is the case with the Hornady measure.

Has anyone tested the various COPs to see how sensitive and accurate they are? Do they need to be cleaned etc?
 
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Ariel- I just called Hornady- the Powder Thru Expanders (PTE) do indeed go all the way into the case. It's the "fillet" on the shoulder that expands.

Many things can happen with the powder. The powder drop can malfunction and get stuck in the up position.. next case no charge. Either way I like the added insurance.

Wrt the COP... I use an RCBS and I can't tell you just how accurate it is... but it will tell you if you have nothingin the case for sure you will know.. or too much. If it's off .5 gr would I know the difference? I doubt it.
 
Well gentlemen thanks for all you help and support, especially Mr Coyle for taking the time with me on the phone.

Update: I called Hornady today and they validated that my sizer die was out of spec and would be sending me a new one. Logically this would have a direct impact on the bullet tension. They said they might have installed an incorrect sizer ring in the die. For good measure they are sending me a new large primer slide to address a potential burr problem I may have had (I think I might have fixed that anyway- but a backup is on its way).
 
Sure Jim- It was confirmed that the sizer die was out of spec... considerably. They likely installed an incorrect sizer ring in the .45ACP die. So... now the bullets fit nice and snug as they should!

The primer slide is now functioning very well- I cleaned and polished everything just for good measure.

The only thing I'm dealing with now.. and I've heard this is not necessarily just the press. CCI large primers and .45ACP don't appear to be a good mix. I get a fair amount of high primers. I've tested Winchester primers (which I usually use anyway) and the high primer situation is gone.

The good thing is my productivity is going way up (which is great because I shot my 1911 like crap today at practice) now.

Hornady is still digging into the CCI with .45ACP issue for me and another user.
 
I'll bite my tongue about the benefits of buying blue.

However, what did Hornady do regarding cost of sending you the new components? Did they charge you anything for it? Shipping, Etc???

I'm sure the LNL will be a great machine but it just seems they need to get the bugs worked out with it. There is a ton of useful info regarding these issues at www.brianenos.com/forums.

Keep us posted and hopefully you'll soon be able to get it up and running and be totally satisified with your decision to buy the LNL over the Dillon.
 
Yeah... I'd rather not get into the red vs. blue deal again. [wink]

Hornady listened to my issues on the die, I gave them some measurements and once they confirmed the specs (ID of sizer die) were off they sent me the new die (and an extra primer slide) at no charge. I got it within 3 days I believe. Not a penny from me and I now have some extra parts from the old die (collar, pin).

I really do like the design of the entire system now that I understand more about the operation and have some experience running it. The CCI primer issue is perplexing as I can't see anything that could cause this... especially since the Winchester primers seem to work much better. Baffling.

PistolPete said:
I'll bite my tongue about the benefits of buying blue.

However, what did Hornady do regarding cost of sending you the new components? Did they charge you anything for it? Shipping, Etc???

I'm sure the LNL will be a great machine but it just seems they need to get the bugs worked out with it. There is a ton of useful info regarding these issues at www.brianenos.com/forums.

Keep us posted and hopefully you'll soon be able to get it up and running and be totally satisified with your decision to buy the LNL over the Dillon.
Click to expand...
 
I've actually had issues with CCI primers in my 650 as well. It seems that the anvil actually sticks up a bit past the cup and that causes issues when running thru the 650 primer disk. With the 1050 I doubt this would be an issue because of the different primer design. I had a ton of CCI primers that I gave away because they just weren't worth the aggrivation. I've since used Winchester for everything and have never looked back.

I'm glad that Hornady is standing behind their product. Nothing is worse than spending a lot of money on a quality product to have some issues and not get the help that is needed. Customer Service can go further than just a great product. This is the MAIN reason Dillon is so popular. If Hornady uses Dillon as an example then they will give Dillon a good amount of competition.
 
PistolPete said:
I've actually had issues with CCI primers in my 650 as well. It seems that the anvil actually sticks up a bit past the cup and that causes issues when running thru the 650 primer disk. QUOTE]

Ah ha!!! I knew blue wasn't perfect! Just kidding. I agree- a company is a lot more than it's product(s). Great CS goes a hell of a long way in my book... although you need to have great products as well. Now I just want to install the Dillon handle on my Hornady!
Click to expand...
 
CCI is generally acknowledged as having the hardest primers extant. I often had FTF's using them in my Ruger revolver after the trigger kit installation and had to put the heavier spring back in.

I now use Winchesters, SR and LP, without any problems in any gun. They feed just fine in my 550's, too.
 
brian enos

I went to his web site. I bought a Lee Pro 1000, and all of the problems
i'm having with the Lee were mentioned in his web site.

Basically, there's just too much adjusting and tinkering to keep it running,
you really can't get going because of this. It can produce a quality round,
but your speed is definitely dependent on how many adjustments you have
to make.

One of the biggest problems is the shell carrier, if it gets out of alignment
you have to screw around getting it back into alignment.

Having said this, i'm looking into a Hornady or a Dillon. You cannot beat the
Dillon customer service or warranty. I don't know much at all about Hornady,
i'm reading.

A high rate of production 600-700 rounds per hour is not a goal of mine.
I'd be happy with 250.

The jury is still out on this one.

JimB

JimB
 

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