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Finally ordered my LnL Progressive

1K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  panther308 
#1 ·
After weighing pros and cons, looking at this and that, I finally ordered a Hornady LnL progressive press.

Dillon, while apparently quite good, is simply out of my price range.

Lee, while quite reasonably-priced and apparently better quality than one would expect given the price, doesn't have the 5-station press I wanted.

RCBS--well, not many people apparently have them, and support via the general population would probably be more difficult. Same w/ Redding.

But the Hornady press, when combined with the free bullet offer, was the best combination of price, quality, performance.

What really sealed the deal was watching Youtube videos of people using the LnL. I'd been told by a long-time reloader that the only real downside of the LnL was long throw of the handle, but the videos showed that it's no longer and might even be less than what my single-stage RCBS press does now.

I'll report on it when I get it set up and going; it's supposed to be back in stock on Friday. Naturally, I'm fidgeting in anticipation. :)
 
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#4 ·
I load on 550Bs but would certainly look hard at the LNL today. I think it's the best price on a progressive going. Throw in 1000 bullets, hard not to like that.:mrgreen:
 
#7 ·
I hope it works out well for you, now you will have to shoot more. Enjoy!
I'm sure I'll enjoy setting it up and learning how to use it. I'm just about played out on the single-stage. While I can certainly control every part of the reloading process to a high degree, it's just so darned slow.

Even if I can only do 200 9mm per hour, that's about what I shoot in one range trip. Currently, it probably takes me three hours to produce 200 rounds. Deprime, bell, prime, charge w/ powder, seat bullet, crimp. All of that in one pull of the handle? I can live with it!

And I suppose I'll shoot more. :) It's certainly given me reason to look into buying bullets, powder, and primers in larger bulk.

I'm buying primers and bullets in large lots; powder is next.
 
#9 ·
After weighing pros and cons, looking at this and that, I finally ordered a Hornady LnL progressive press.

Dillon, while apparently quite good, is simply out of my price range.

Lee, while quite reasonably-priced and apparently better quality than one would expect given the price, doesn't have the 5-station press I wanted.

RCBS--well, not many people apparently have them, and support via the general population would probably be more difficult. Same w/ Redding.

But the Hornady press, when combined with the free bullet offer, was the best combination of price, quality, performance.

What really sealed the deal was watching Youtube videos of people using the LnL. I'd been told by a long-time reloader that the only real downside of the LnL was long throw of the handle, but the videos showed that it's no longer and might even be less than what my single-stage RCBS press does now.

I'll report on it when I get it set up and going; it's supposed to be back in stock on Friday. Naturally, I'm fidgeting in anticipation. :)
where did you purchase the lnl? What else do you need to purchase to get the actual press running?
 
#10 ·
where did you purchase the lnl? What else do you need to purchase to get the actual press running?
I found it at
Mountain Ridge Armament

The price was $331.81, which was about $20 cheaper than I could find it any place else. It's out of stock, but supposed to show up in stock tomorrow.

Here's the link:

https://www.dealerease.net/catalog/product.asp?pid=60375

The guy who runs Mountain Ridge is using a fulfillment service to fill his orders (it's not a warehouse operation like MidwayUSA).

I talked to him via phone as he's about 30 miles away from me.

The only other thing I'm aware one has to buy is dies and a shellplate, like this:

https://www.dealerease.net/catalog/product.asp?pid=7614

Unlike a single-stage press where you need a single specific shellholder for each caliber, with this press you need a shellplate for each caliber (which is, in essence, the equivalent of five shellholders).

If you have standard dies, they should work, though there's some issue apparently with using crimp dies other than Hornady's in the last station. But I'll deal with that as it comes.

If if you want to load multiple calibers and take advantage of the Lock 'n' Load feature, you'll also want additional bushings for each die. In bulk, they cost about $3.60 each or less; Mountain Ridge has them for less in smaller amounts (though they don't have them in stock).

All I bought this time was the press and a 9mm shellplate. Once I get that figured out, I'll look to add bushings for my other dies, as well as the necessary shellplates (I'll need .223 and .45ACP).

I'll get the .45ACP bullets with the Free Bullet offer. I'll probably try to sell most of them. They go for about $18/100 for the cheapest I've seen them offered, so if I offer them for $15/100, I think I should be able to recover $100 to $150 of the total cost. I'll keep some for myself, of course. :)
 
#11 ·
Make sure you check out the powder measures accuracy real well. Weigh single charges to see how well it does and then throw 10 or 20 charges, weight them together and average them. Adjust for the average weight.
I've had to do exactly that with my other two powder measures (A Lee and an RCBS).

I've read in a lot of places that one has to throw a number of charges before the measures settle down to a reasonably-consistent powder drops. The 10-20 number is right on from my experience.

I don't understand why that's needed (though from experience, obviously it is). Is it static that needs to be dissipated, or something else?
 
#12 ·
I found it at
Mountain Ridge Armament

The price was $331.81, which was about $20 cheaper than I could find it any place else. It's out of stock, but supposed to show up in stock tomorrow.

Here's the link:

https://www.dealerease.net/catalog/product.asp?pid=60375

The guy who runs Mountain Ridge is using a fulfillment service to fill his orders (it's not a warehouse operation like MidwayUSA).

I talked to him via phone as he's about 30 miles away from me.

The only other thing I'm aware one has to buy is dies and a shellplate, like this:

https://www.dealerease.net/catalog/product.asp?pid=7614

Unlike a single-stage press where you need a single specific shellholder for each caliber, with this press you need a shellplate for each caliber (which is, in essence, the equivalent of five shellholders).

If you have standard dies, they should work, though there's some issue apparently with using crimp dies other than Hornady's in the last station. But I'll deal with that as it comes.

If if you want to load multiple calibers and take advantage of the Lock 'n' Load feature, you'll also want additional bushings for each die. In bulk, they cost about $3.60 each or less; Mountain Ridge has them for less in smaller amounts (though they don't have them in stock).

All I bought this time was the press and a 9mm shellplate. Once I get that figured out, I'll look to add bushings for my other dies, as well as the necessary shellplates (I'll need .223 and .45ACP).

I'll get the .45ACP bullets with the Free Bullet offer. I'll probably try to sell most of them. They go for about $18/100 for the cheapest I've seen them offered, so if I offer them for $15/100, I think I should be able to recover $100 to $150 of the total cost. I'll keep some for myself, of course. :)

Thanks for all that info. It cleared up a lot of questions i was wondering about...
 
#13 ·
I've had to do exactly that with my other two powder measures (A Lee and an RCBS).

I've read in a lot of places that one has to throw a number of charges before the measures settle down to a reasonably-consistent powder drops. The 10-20 number is right on from my experience.

I don't understand why that's needed (though from experience, obviously it is). Is it static that needs to be dissipated, or something else?
The Powder Measure works pretty consistently with the standard meter, I check every ten. I've been meaning to order the pistol rotor and the rifle and pistol micrometer metering inserts as has been mentioned by some. Have fun!
 
#15 ·
I've had to do exactly that with my other two powder measures (A Lee and an RCBS).

I've read in a lot of places that one has to throw a number of charges before the measures settle down to a reasonably-consistent powder drops. The 10-20 number is right on from my experience.

I don't understand why that's needed (though from experience, obviously it is). Is it static that needs to be dissipated, or something else?
Throwing a number of charges causes the powder to settle in the measure to a more consistant density.Because measures throw by volume,if there are differing densities in the measure the weights you drop will vary,
 
#16 ·
[
I don't understand why that's needed (though from experience, obviously it is). Is it static that needs to be dissipated, or something else?[/quote]

When my press has sat with powder in the measure for a while, I will throw 3 to 5 charges to settle it in. I believe that it is needed due to settling of the powder at the bottom of the pile but do not have any scientific proof of this.

I rid my powder measure of static by wiping it with a dryer sheet.
 
#18 ·
It does not matter what Koolaid you drink Blue, Red, Green it's all good and you will soon find out you won't save money you will just shoot more.
 
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