Hornady Lock-n-Load reloader

[Anvil Dave]

Happy Holidays pards........I'm buying myself a Hornday Lock-n-Load progressive reloader for Christmas. And I like to know if any of you pards have one, and how do ya like it. I be olblige if ya let me know.

[Major E A Sterner]

Howdy Ol Gimpy,
 I have the Hornady Pro-Jector, the press that the Lock-N-Load replaced, I have had a few problems with it, The primer feed has to be aligned perfectly or it will flip primers, and if you have the auto powder despenser you have to watch that as well as they have a habit of sticking in the up position.If I had to do it all over again I would buy a Dillon 650. Hope this helps you out.

[Bad Flynch]

Don't have an HLNL myself, but I did add the LNL converter to my RCBS Rockchucker and that is the hots. I do a lot of experimenting, like load-one, shoot-one, look closely, repeat, etc. Being able to change preset dies quickly is a real help when in that process. I am adding more bushings as I go, adding them to calibers for which I test max pressures, etc.

[Advertising]

[EL Renaldo Diablo]

You have to use the Hornady die in the last station to avoid the ejector wire.
Understand that some people grind the bottom of their other brand dies to clear the wire.

The powder measure really likes ball powder

Keep the powder measure drum and shaft well lubricated( use one shot )

Buy the following spare parts:
 small primer slide
 large primer slide
 plate retaining spring
 primer seater assemblies(both small and large)
 powder measure inserts

If you switch between tall and short bullets you may also want an extra powder measure lower assembly

Always have access to the LNL bushings, that way you will be covered when you find some dies on sale.

Good Luck

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I've been using the Hornady Lock and Load AP for about three years now, figure I've got just about all of its quirks figured out.

The primer feed tube assembly was redesigned about a year ago. The old one had a plastic base on it that would break if you looked at it cross eyed. The new one has a pot metal base and is much sturdier. the primer pick up tubes have been redesigned too, the new ones are aluminum tubes with a cotter pin keeper that you pull out to dump a column of primers into the tube assembly. Better than before.

One trick I descovered with the L&L is that the primer feed needs a little bit of a gravity assist. Run down to your local hoobyshop and pick up a brass rod 3/16" in diameter about 18" long and use it as a gravity assist to urge the primers out of the column and onto the horizontal slidy thing. Works like a charm and feeds a primer every time. After you fill the tube with primers lower, don't drop, the rod on top of the column. You can even make a mark on the rod as an indicator to show where the last primer will be. I use the 3/16 rod for large pistol primers. Small pistol primers will need a slightly smaller rod, probably 5/32. Or just buy the smaller one and use it for both. Be sure you don't work so fast that you don't feel a primer seat on every stroke of the handle, good advise for anyy brand of press, IMHO.

The primer feed assembly is usually the weak point with any progressive machine's design. Be sure to keep fouling, loose powder or other crud out of the horizontal primer slide mechanism. Everyonce in a while dissassemble the little spring loaded dohickey that pushes the primers up from underneath. If it gets fouled, the machine can jam up. Also, periodically make sure it is screwed into place tight, it can tend to loosen and malfunction.

Hornady dies are cut slightly differently than other brands of dies. If you use a different brand in the 5th station, it will interfere with the kick out wire. You can flip the wire out of the way and flick finished rounds out with your thumb, or grind down other brands slightly, or just leave the 5th station empty. A Hornady seating/crimp die will not interfere with the kick out wire.

There was a problem a couple of years ago with the shell plates being cut a little bit too tight and rounds would not eject easily at the 5th station. I believe Hornady has addressed this problem, my last few shell plates have worked fine.

The tube that the powder measure rides up and down on needs a squirt of dry lube everyonce in a while to keep it operating smoothly.

I had to adjust the teeth that automatically advance the shell plate once when the machine was about a year old from normal wear. Haven't had to touch them since.

The one part that you absolutely need spares of is the loop of spring that retains the shells on the shellplate. It it starts to get kinks in it it will eventually break. You can avoid getting kinks in it if you remember to remove it BEFORE you change shell plates and not after you have already removed the shellplate. And learn the trick of putting it mostly in place and advancing the shell plate one notch to slide it under the hold down part of the primer feed tube. Be sure to buy extra adjustable powder inserts so you can take advantage of the system of having a couple of them set to your favorite powder charges. That way you don't have o keep restting the powder charge avery time you change calibers. As far as L&L collets are concerned, buy them in the 10 pack. If you start to load a lot of different calibers you'll need them.

I've probably made the machine sound like a monster to keep functioning reliably, but it really isn't. All progressive reloaders are Rube Goldberg contraptions consisting of levers and cams and linkages cobbled up out of baling wire, bubble gum, and twine no matter who made them. It takes a little bit of mechanical savvy to figure out how to get the best performance out of any of them.