I finally went progressive…

[MadPick]

I used the LNL ball handle for many years, it was okay. But I did upgrade to the roller handle finally, and it was a good move.

[Sinus211]

Good googly moogly Mike!!! I’m gonna have to buy a few more reloading components, seeing firsthand as they disappear quickly on this progressive press. Will mainly need more bullets since I have a good supply of powder, primers and of course “Brass”!
I will definitely upgrade to a roller handle and case feeder.

That’s good you have powder and primers already. Projectiles and brass seem to be pretty steady but man, the price of primers and powder is through the roof!

Kudos on the clean reloading space and happy loading!

[Caveman Jim]

A clean workspace is a happy workspace, everything has a place.

I pay twice as much for primers as before the the China flu fiasco ($32 per brick) but I will not pay three or four times over, that’s just highway robbery. I also buy 5000 at a time which brings down the price. Powder has come down a lot lately also and the same thing you must buy a lot of it to keep that price down.

There’s an ad here for 2) 8 pound jugs of TiteGroup powder for $200 each ($25 per pound) if I already didn’t have 8 pounds I would jump on it.

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[Caveman Jim]

I had a little time in the shop yesterday evening and pumped out 300 rounds of 9 mm PDQ on the new Hornady to me ammo plant. I'm really liking this press, I should have gone this route long ago but had procrastinated for years.

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Last edited by Caveman Jim on Tue Nov 28, 2023 11:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[MadPick]

Nice, Jim! Now you're gonna have the same problem that I have . . . your ability to reload will far outpace your ability to shoot, and you'll have an ammo surplus.

[Caveman Jim]

Nice, Jim! Now you're gonna have the same problem that I have . . . your ability to reload will far outpace your ability to shoot, and you'll have an ammo surplus.

I’ll bet that you are right Steve, all I have is a 9 mm shell plates so that’s all I’ve been Reloading. I’m about out of 124g RN bullets but I still have plenty of the 124g Montana Gould HP’s.
I ordered the 40 S&W and 223 shell plates the other day and they should be here Thursday.

[lamrith]

Yesterday I clamped the new to me Hornady LNL AP press onto the ultra mount (I'm waiting for the quick change plate to arrive), set it up for SP priming, poured in some HS-6 into the hopper and made some test loads since I've never loaded with it. There were some quirks but I consulted the manual and figured them out post haste.

Today at all came together, I got my:
in-line fabrication quick change mounting plate
adjusted the flair die a tad to perfection
Installed a Lee factory taper crimp die
dialed in the powder drop with TiteGroup.
I ran it through a few cycles checking for seating depth and crimp and was satisfied so I cranked out 120 rounds of plated 9mm pretty quickly.
I don't have any other shell plates or I would've set up for 40 Smith & Wesson or 223 to really test it out.
I believe if I'm gonna do rifle on this press I'm gonna need another powder drop.

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So easy even a caveman can do it!!

Welcome to the party bud! I mean Steve can do it even with one hand full of cake so.......

The LnL is a great press, and ignore the red vs blue coolaid you may get. If you have questions, I am betting Steve knows more about the press than anyone at least here on waguns, as he has had his for years and done way too many calibers on it. I bought mine days after him showing me how to load 300blk on his. I had Lee Loadmaster for years, then the LnL for many years. The individual die mounting for me is really nice and I miss it.

As for your length changing, that could have very much been due to loading on the shell plate. Bullet seat is roughly opposite sizing, so if you set seating depth with empty plate, then run full plate, the shell plate can tilt due to sizing force. So make sure to set seating with a fully loaded plate.

If you have a single stage I would NOT get rid of it. For high precision rounds there really is nothing better.

If (when) you expand into auto feeding, the Hornady is nice as it has factory options for both case and bullet feed. For bullet feed I would recommend you look for DIE options other than the hornady. It works, but it is honestly really fidly and tedious to get runnign right. There are other options out there that feed and set the bullet more reliably and consistently. Definitely work on getting the press to run smoothly, especially plate rotation. That gets important if you gert to bullet feed stage. Also as mentioned get the Inline roller handle, it will save your palm bigtime.

[Caveman Jim]

Thanks for all the tips. I figured out the sizing problem and I also started using one-shot to make the sizing a lot smoother.
About the only automation I am interested in at this point in time is a case feeder but not in a big hurry.
Definitely getting a roller handle.
The dye bushings and the shell plates should be in my hand today so I can hold off on 9 mm and load up some 40 which I am in need of.
I do actually have two single stage presses an RCBS RS and a Lee classic cast and also have a Lee turret for 38/357. I use the Reloaders Special just for resizing 223/556 and 300 blackout because I will not do that on a loading press. Just my technique.
Depending on how this new press works out I may be looking to downsize.

[Caveman Jim]

I’ve been looking online to find the Hornady AP rifle rotor and metering assembly only to find just the metering assembly and no rotor. Will the pistol metering assembly dump 23g of powder for 223?
WTH!!!

[MadPick]

I’ve been looking online to find the Hornady AP rifle rotor and metering assembly only to find just the metering assembly and no rotor. Will the pistol metering assembly dump 23g of powder for 223?
WTH!!!

Yes, you need the whole rotor and metering assembly . . . but your press SHOULD have come with both pistol and rifle. Unless you bought it used, of course, then who knows.

[Caveman Jim]

I’ve been looking online to find the Hornady AP rifle rotor and metering assembly only to find just the metering assembly and no rotor. Will the pistol metering assembly dump 23g of powder for 223?
WTH!!!

Yes, you need the whole rotor and metering assembly . . . but your press SHOULD have come with both pistol and rifle. Unless you bought it used, of course, then who knows.

Yes I did buy it used but I still have the information to contact the seller. I’m going to check that out right now.
Thanks buddy

[Caveman Jim]

I’ve been looking online to find the Hornady AP rifle rotor and metering assembly only to find just the metering assembly and no rotor. Will the pistol metering assembly dump 23g of powder for 223?
WTH!!!

Yes, you need the whole rotor and metering assembly . . . but your press SHOULD have come with both pistol and rifle. Unless you bought it used, of course, then who knows.

Yes I did buy it used but I still have the information to contact the seller. I’m going to check that out right now.
Thanks buddy

This guy has a mind like a sharp tech, he even remembered what box it was in and it was in the cabinet that I had bought with the lot. Well so much for being a professor but I am definitely absent minded.

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[MadPick]

AWESOME, Jim!

[NWGunner]

That is awesome!

[Caveman Jim]

Looking for a wrench, 9 & 40S&W Custom Grade taper crimp 3 die sets, 6 Sure-Lock lock rings for other dies and more bullets obviously.