Good video. I've had the same press for the past five years and I've run into several problems that you addressed. I agree with you that once the gremlins in the press are worked out it's an excellent loader for the money. I'm very happy with mine now.
Hornady has made some changes since your machine was made. I went and looked at mine on a couple and they have changed the design. Example.. the brass hopper mount hole is all one piece now. I love the addition of set screws on the powder hopper and primer tube.
Something else that helps with the case feeder, cut a small slot in the bottom of the case feeder in the back so that when it is running and any trapped media will fall out the bottom of the feeder and not come down with the cases
If I just bought the press I would modify the primer slide by putting a slight bevel on the hole that delivers the primer. I would also keep an eye on the inner primer tube and the powder tube to make sure it doesn't work loose why your using the press. The inner primer likes to work itself up and causes the primer slide to jam. The powder hopper can pop off and cause major dump of hard to get powder. This is the reasons for set screws. JPB
Beveling the primer slide helps a lot with slide jams. It seems when these are not beveled they hang up on the primer above in the tube. In other words the one primer drops in and the second one tries to drop in and hangs the primer slide back so you get no primer when cycling the press.
I recently tore apart my press and found NO lubricant on the center shaft. This is the drive for the shell plate. You can only lube this by fully disassembling. Please lube your presses. What happens is it will wear the bushing out in the bottom of the press. This bushing is metal and will ruin the shaft.
I can't understand why you were having the primer feed issues. I've loaded many thousands of primers through mine and I have not had a single problem except one time I did not tighten the screw at the base and it got loose. That was pilot error. With regard to the powder measure reservoir (hopper as you call it), you likely got a defective sized one. All of mine fit tight as a drum and I can't imagine them ever coming out. When on rare occasion I want to take one out I feel I might break one trying to pull it out. They're that tight. I would suggest calling Hornady on that one. I like the helicoil repair job on the case feeder. I have been contemplating building my own case feeder. I've been studying designs for a couple years now and now have most of the parts and materials I will need. I bought myself a milling machine a few years back and it's a dream to make my own parts. I have some 7075-T6 aluminum stock in many sizes and also some nylon stock. The only thing I don't like about making my setup more efficient is that I love to spend time reloading and I don't really want it to go too fast. It's my Zen time. I can only afford to make and shoot so many rounds. Happy reloading.
The answer I came up with is lack of quality control from Hornady. I just got brand new press and primers would jam EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Mind you, I am just making empty runs and cases don't eject after full circle. So I ran out and bought 2nd press with intent to return and I swapped the primer sliding piece and no more jams, that and I put some aluminum tape on the tube to keep it from popping out, although I haven't seen it do that, but just in case as JB P had that problem. Need to call Hornady tomorrow to see why cases won't eject.
Watched a guy who cut 1/4" long x 1/16" wide channels in the press baseplate up to the detent ball holes. Lets the shellplate ease up and THEN lock into place, without the hornady trademark, powder throwing jerk, really smoothes press operation out.
Just got my press and primers get stuck every time! So I beveled the sliding piece but that didn't help at all, so I went and bought a 2nd press in Cabela's to see if I can solve my 1st problem - my 38 SPL cases are NOT ejecting after cycle completes (I am running empty cases for now). Anyway I swapped the primer sliding piece from 2nd press and noticed it's manufactured much better; put some aluminum tape on primer tube to keep it tight fit and problem went away! I didn't even have to bevel new piece. If you notice the primer tube has some play when you insert it, if you drill and tap the set screw it would push the primer tube to the side, this is why I think the you had to bevel to make sure primers are feeding properly. Anyways looking at it I came up with another idea, I can make a small aluminum or delrin bushing with set screw on top of blast shield. The set screw would keep the bushing against the blast shield and bushing would keep the primer tube from going up with small shoulder. then I would drill 3 holes for gas relieve in case primers detonate and the whole thing flies like a rocket in to my sealing LOL. Or I can skip this whole madness and prime on my hand held RCBS, might actually take same amount of time and I won't have to guess if primer seated. P.S. If you video tape on the cell phone hold your phone horizontally to get "normal" footage.
Recently bought mine - haven't had the time to set it up yet. I'm hoping I don't need to make all the mods that you did. Clearly you did a good job but I don't fancy tapping the hell out of it just to get going........
I am not suggesting you have to modify the hell out it. My press is five years old and I found these tweaks along the way. I have used it to load over 15000 rounds. I don't care whose press you buy after that much use it will need tweaks. I still love my press and figure to get many more thousands of rounds through it.
I bought one of the lnl presses and it ran like shit. I had to work on the priming system, set both pawls so it indexed right, had to insert washers between the body and link arms to get the ram to run plumb, and had to put a washer under the primer punch so the primers would seat straight. The primer shuttle follower rod will pop out of the spring seat sometimes for no apparent reason. Hornady needs to hire some knowledgeable set up techs so these presses dont go out running like shit. There is no reason that so many people have so many problems with their presses, especially at the price hornady sells them at. My Dillon Square Deal B ran great out of the box and no problems with it in 2 years and about 4-5000 rounds loaded thru it in 45 ACP. Lee's quality to price point is much better than hornady's on alot of items. Now that I went over the press, it runs much better and smoother, but I should only have to do minor adjustments, not rebuild and repair the press.
Dave Bogusky When you mount the press the first time. You have to follow the setting up instructions as per CD. Don't skip any parts on cd. If you've done this. Press runs perfect. Seen plenty of guys buying the machine. Exactly same problems as you mention. Then I go to help them. I set up according to instructions. And works perfect. All your problems mentioned is setup related. Even the Primer seater. You added the washer under. All symptoms Ive seen of incorrect setup.
Skilpadjie1 These were mods I had to do after the press was up and running for over a year. If you watched the video all the way through, you would have realized most of these fixes were to correct the problems with wear and cheap metal. Not setup problems.
Skilpadjie1 No, these problems should not have to be solved by the owner. Setup is supposed to be done at the factory before it goes out the door. The priming system is a poor design, the castings are borderline poor, and the machining and fit are sub par. No reason the link arms should have large gaps at opposing corners. The parts are like pot metal in the priming system. No reason hornady should let substandard presses go out the door. Next one will be another Dillon or Lee.
LOL. You must have a LNL AP press made in China. Not seen any of the issues you described on several of them. Even a Dillon or Lee you mention needs to set up after purchase.
A+ JB P...I have an 18 -20 year old Hornady Projector pre lock-N-load that's all steel and was thinking about upgrading...After watching your excellent video I think I'll keep using it...With so many great alloys out there why would they use the cheap stuff just to save a buck? Thanks for the great video!
How come nobody can pronounce Hornady correctly? Why do you guys insist on adding letters that aren’t there? It’s not Horna-day! Do you see another “a” in this word?
Bought a hornady lock n load about a year or two ago. I got to fix something every time i use it. dont waste your money buy a dillion 550 or 650. ford must of help build them presses because there junk ha ha
Late to the game, I know. But: Interesting, I've loaded over 40,000 rounds on a L-N-L and have only replaced 3 items - 2 retained springs and a deprimer pin. All due to user error. I love this thing.
Well, I can see I am not alone with all of the problems with my Hornady lock and load AP press; I purchased in 2012, and had to send the whole thing back to the factory. Customer service was horrible; but they did repair it and send it back to me; I have had numerous problems with mine, and am ready to call it a day; The thing won't index, and it looks like one of the pawls are broken off; I have loaded maybe 4-5 thousand rounds , but seem to always need to tinker , adjust or fix it, for the price I paid for the thing , I could have purchased a Dillon, and am going purchase one this week. It certainly can't be much worse than this unit. I do have a Lyman turret press that has been flawless, but want more speed. I know for sure I will never purchase a Hornady press again.
why not tip the camera so the video is actually watchable?
actually if you go further you might learn something
if you don't like it stop watching the video. Thanks for the info
my lock and load does the same thing.
Good video. I've had the same press for the past five years and I've run into several problems that you addressed. I agree with you that once the gremlins in the press are worked out it's an excellent loader for the money. I'm very happy with mine now.
Brother. Best ever improvements I have seen for this press. Very intrigued. Thank you so much!
Hornady has made some changes since your machine was made. I went and looked at mine on a couple and they have changed the design. Example.. the brass hopper mount hole is all one piece now. I love the addition of set screws on the powder hopper and primer tube.
Awesome outside the box thinking there mate, especially love the front hopper idea
Something else that helps with the case feeder, cut a small slot in the bottom of the case feeder in the back so that when it is running and any trapped media will fall out the bottom of the feeder and not come down with the cases
If I just bought the press I would modify the primer slide by putting a slight bevel on the hole that delivers the primer. I would also keep an eye on the inner primer tube and the powder tube to make sure it doesn't work loose why your using the press. The inner primer likes to work itself up and causes the primer slide to jam. The powder hopper can pop off and cause major dump of hard to get powder. This is the reasons for set screws.
JPB
Great ideas and fixes. If ever I get a LnL AP, I will try your ideas.
Beveling the primer slide helps a lot with slide jams. It seems when these are not beveled they hang up on the primer above in the tube. In other words the one primer drops in and the second one tries to drop in and hangs the primer slide back so you get no primer when cycling the press.
I recently tore apart my press and found NO lubricant on the center shaft. This is the drive for the shell plate. You can only lube this by fully disassembling. Please lube your presses. What happens is it will wear the bushing out in the bottom of the press. This bushing is metal and will ruin the shaft.
Sage advice JB P. The same thing happened to me but to Hornady's credit the press was repaired under warranty and back to me in less than a week.
Many good ideas and thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Hornady should hire you in there R&D :)
Just curious, what was the purpose of beveling the primer feed hole? What problem did it fix?
Good to see they fixed that problem
this video was to show how to tweak the press not bash or try to say yours is better.
I can't understand why you were having the primer feed issues. I've loaded many thousands of primers through mine and I have not had a single problem except one time I did not tighten the screw at the base and it got loose. That was pilot error. With regard to the powder measure reservoir (hopper as you call it), you likely got a defective sized one. All of mine fit tight as a drum and I can't imagine them ever coming out. When on rare occasion I want to take one out I feel I might break one trying to pull it out. They're that tight. I would suggest calling Hornady on that one. I like the helicoil repair job on the case feeder. I have been contemplating building my own case feeder. I've been studying designs for a couple years now and now have most of the parts and materials I will need. I bought myself a milling machine a few years back and it's a dream to make my own parts. I have some 7075-T6 aluminum stock in many sizes and also some nylon stock. The only thing I don't like about making my setup more efficient is that I love to spend time reloading and I don't really want it to go too fast. It's my Zen time. I can only afford to make and shoot so many rounds. Happy reloading.
The answer I came up with is lack of quality control from Hornady. I just got brand new press and primers would jam EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Mind you, I am just making empty runs and cases don't eject after full circle. So I ran out and bought 2nd press with intent to return and I swapped the primer sliding piece and no more jams, that and I put some aluminum tape on the tube to keep it from popping out, although I haven't seen it do that, but just in case as JB P had that problem. Need to call Hornady tomorrow to see why cases won't eject.
Thank you for the tips they worked well
Awesome! Great tips
How many rounds ( roughly ) went thru the press ?
I saw were you had it over a year in the comments.
That is in the 25-40,000 round count range.
Intriguing,,sounds like a thrilling endeavor,,,like the rock of Gibraltar ,,,so to speak....
Watched a guy who cut 1/4" long x 1/16" wide channels in the press baseplate up to the detent ball holes. Lets the shellplate ease up and THEN lock into place, without the hornady trademark, powder throwing jerk, really smoothes press operation out.
Just got my press and primers get stuck every time! So I beveled the sliding piece but that didn't help at all, so I went and bought a 2nd press in Cabela's to see if I can solve my 1st problem - my 38 SPL cases are NOT ejecting after cycle completes (I am running empty cases for now). Anyway I swapped the primer sliding piece from 2nd press and noticed it's manufactured much better; put some aluminum tape on primer tube to keep it tight fit and problem went away! I didn't even have to bevel new piece. If you notice the primer tube has some play when you insert it, if you drill and tap the set screw it would push the primer tube to the side, this is why I think the you had to bevel to make sure primers are feeding properly. Anyways looking at it I came up with another idea, I can make a small aluminum or delrin bushing with set screw on top of blast shield. The set screw would keep the bushing against the blast shield and bushing would keep the primer tube from going up with small shoulder. then I would drill 3 holes for gas relieve in case primers detonate and the whole thing flies like a rocket in to my sealing LOL. Or I can skip this whole madness and prime on my hand held RCBS, might actually take same amount of time and I won't have to guess if primer seated. P.S. If you video tape on the cell phone hold your phone horizontally to get "normal" footage.
Recently bought mine - haven't had the time to set it up yet. I'm hoping I don't need to make all the mods that you did. Clearly you did a good job but I don't fancy tapping the hell out of it just to get going........
I am not suggesting you have to modify the hell out it. My press is five years old and I found these tweaks along the way. I have used it to load over 15000 rounds. I don't care whose press you buy after that much use it will need tweaks. I still love my press and figure to get many more thousands of rounds through it.
Great mods!
Do you have any issues with primer seat pin creating a divet from seating thousands of primers?
I bought one of the lnl presses and it ran like shit. I had to work on the priming system, set both pawls so it indexed right, had to insert washers between the body and link arms to get the ram to run plumb, and had to put a washer under the primer punch so the primers would seat straight. The primer shuttle follower rod will pop out of the spring seat sometimes for no apparent reason. Hornady needs to hire some knowledgeable set up techs so these presses dont go out running like shit. There is no reason that so many people have so many problems with their presses, especially at the price hornady sells them at. My Dillon Square Deal B ran great out of the box and no problems with it in 2 years and about 4-5000 rounds loaded thru it in 45 ACP. Lee's quality to price point is much better than hornady's on alot of items. Now that I went over the press, it runs much better and smoother, but I should only have to do minor adjustments, not rebuild and repair the press.
Dave Bogusky When you mount the press the first time. You have to follow the setting up instructions as per CD. Don't skip any parts on cd. If you've done this. Press runs perfect. Seen plenty of guys buying the machine. Exactly same problems as you mention. Then I go to help them. I set up according to instructions. And works perfect. All your problems mentioned is setup related. Even the Primer seater. You added the washer under. All symptoms Ive seen of incorrect setup.
Skilpadjie1 These were mods I had to do after the press was up and running for over a year. If you watched the video all the way through, you would have realized most of these fixes were to correct the problems with wear and cheap metal. Not setup problems.
Skilpadjie1 No, these problems should not have to be solved by the owner. Setup is supposed to be done at the factory before it goes out the door. The priming system is a poor design, the castings are borderline poor, and the machining and fit are sub par. No reason the link arms should have large gaps at opposing corners. The parts are like pot metal in the priming system. No reason hornady should let substandard presses go out the door. Next one will be another Dillon or Lee.
LOL. You must have a LNL AP press made in China. Not seen any of the issues you described on several of them. Even a Dillon or Lee you mention needs to set up after purchase.
A+ JB P...I have an 18 -20 year old Hornady Projector pre lock-N-load that's all steel and was thinking about upgrading...After watching your excellent video I think I'll keep using it...With so many great alloys out there why would they use the cheap stuff just to save a buck? Thanks for the great video!
Well for 300 bucks, I'd say it holds a lot of value. The press comes with the case activated powder drop and the drop alone costs 60 plus dollars
'thrilling endeavor' ..i'll be stealing that for those times I have to be PC instead of sharing my true feelings!
I know I work for the government. We use this term a lot!
Ah, another one of those elusive HornaDAY loaders. Very nice. They seem to be most popular in the south.
I made the bin bracket but I believe inline fabrication makes one.
quality control superviser of hornady lock -n -load should be fired for incompetence
thank you Shawn
Are you the same guy that does the reviews of famous firearms? Your voice is familiar, are you from Chicago?
Chicago area is my guess, too. My area of origination. Excellent modifications!!
Thanks
The fixes are to enhance the functionality. I would not make decision not to buy just because it needs a few tweaks to make it hum.
fire engenering also
Okay
How come nobody can pronounce Hornady correctly? Why do you guys insist on adding letters that aren’t there? It’s not Horna-day! Do you see another “a” in this word?
Bought a hornady lock n load about a year or two ago. I got to fix something every time i use it. dont waste your money buy a dillion 550 or 650. ford must of help build them presses because there junk ha ha
Late to the game, I know. But: Interesting, I've loaded over 40,000 rounds on a L-N-L and have only replaced 3 items - 2 retained springs and a deprimer pin. All due to user error. I love this thing.
Well, I can see I am not alone with all of the problems with my Hornady lock and load AP press; I purchased in 2012, and had to send the whole thing back to the factory. Customer service was horrible; but they did repair it and send it back to me; I have had numerous problems with mine, and am ready to call it a day; The thing won't index, and it looks like one of the pawls are broken off; I have loaded maybe 4-5 thousand rounds , but seem to always need to tinker , adjust or fix it, for the price I paid for the thing , I could have purchased a Dillon, and am going purchase one this week. It certainly can't be much worse than this unit. I do have a Lyman turret press that has been flawless, but want more speed. I know for sure I will never purchase a Hornady press again.
check.for.lose.shell.plate.first....
Spring washer
*👍супер и привет от тренера по футболу!!!!!-!!*
With the price you pay for these loaders .you shouldn't have to fix their fu-ck ups. But man made.