I've read the reviews online, and heard all the good; now what are some problems to look for? Wanted to ask here in the "real world" as I see there are many who have this press, and I have one coming next week (figured I try this over one of the turrets). Though I don't have any shellplates yet, wanted to get some pointers going in. I've seen the reviews on Midway's site about primer feed quirks, powder drop quirks, etc. So that is my question: who here has had similar issues, what should I be looking out for in set up and operation, and what are the best remedies for fixing (or avoiding) them? Thanks.
I've got a LNL AP and the only "quirk" I've had with mine is the shellplate spring that I broke. Get you an extra 3 of those and you'll be set for a long time. I've loaded up over 4k rounds of 9mm, and 3k of 45 with it and never had a problem. Fixing to start loading .380 out of it this weekend now that I finally got my shellplate in for it. If you have questions, just PM me and I'll be happy to answer them.
I love the L&L AP. A helped a buddy buy one and set it up. We loaded a lot of .45, .270, .357 Herret, and .300 Win Mag on it. He got tired of it and sold it. I wish I had bought it from him at the time. The only issue was his garage was neither heated, nor insulated. So exposed steel parts rusted quickly on it. There's all kinds of ways to fix that. Super easy to go from one caliber to the next.
Best remedy? buy a dillon.
I constantly tore the **** out of one of the early AP LnL's about 6 years ago, and going to dillon was the best thing I did.
I understand theyre updated, I understand theyre good machines, but my dillon is a dead reliable beast.
I constantly tore the **** out of one of the early AP LnL's about 6 years ago, and going to dillon was the best thing I did.
I understand theyre updated, I understand theyre good machines, but my dillon is a dead reliable beast.
I agree with you that Dillon makes great presses. But they are uber expensive, and, IMO, not as easy to change calibers with. (I admit I haven't seen their latest stuff though).
Plus since the Hornady is on the UPS truck, it's a little late for that. Looked at the Dillon, and they looked great, but it looked like the LNL will do everything I need, and for less money. If it's junk, then I'll sell it and go Dillon (or back to single stage/turret).
Like said before, get you some spare parts. Mainly the case retaining spring, but I'd have an extra for all of them.
The only issue I've had with mine is seating large primers. They feed just fine, it just has a hard time getting them seated below flush like they are supposed to be even when "rocking" the handle several times. I first noticed it with CCI primers which do seem to be the worst culprits, but even the notoriously soft Federals do it. Customer service sent me a new seating assembly along with some other goodies for no charge, but it didn't help. I can find absolutely nothing wrong with the press, the primer stud comes up well past the point needed to bottom out a primer in it's pocket. It's kind of baffling since the thing is as massive as it is, I think the ram is about twice the size of a Dillon 650. Oddly enough the CS tech I talked to said he sometimes has that trouble with small primers, but not large.
I don't have any issue with small primers even in crimped 5.56 cases.
Overall it's a great press with several features I like alot better than the Dillon, but if I had it to do over again I'd most likely go Blue. But I sure like the 1000 230 grain .45 XTP's I got for free with it.
The only issue I've had with mine is seating large primers. They feed just fine, it just has a hard time getting them seated below flush like they are supposed to be even when "rocking" the handle several times. I first noticed it with CCI primers which do seem to be the worst culprits, but even the notoriously soft Federals do it. Customer service sent me a new seating assembly along with some other goodies for no charge, but it didn't help. I can find absolutely nothing wrong with the press, the primer stud comes up well past the point needed to bottom out a primer in it's pocket. It's kind of baffling since the thing is as massive as it is, I think the ram is about twice the size of a Dillon 650. Oddly enough the CS tech I talked to said he sometimes has that trouble with small primers, but not large.
I don't have any issue with small primers even in crimped 5.56 cases.
Overall it's a great press with several features I like alot better than the Dillon, but if I had it to do over again I'd most likely go Blue. But I sure like the 1000 230 grain .45 XTP's I got for free with it.
It's not a huge thing, it's just irritating mostly. Their customer service is great.
With the price difference from a 650 (which is what it compares to feature wise) and 500 XTP's it's still quite a bargain. You know they put their XTP bullets in their T.A.P. handgun ammo. And Hornady makes some pretty darn accurate bullets.
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