I recently made the decision to buy a Hornady Lock N Load (LNL) AP Ammo Plant.  Once deciding on a Red Press over green or blue, there's more to the process other than adding the Ammo Plant to your Midway or Midsouth cart and clicking Buy.  Hornady does not sell these as caliber specific units, so the press is not ready to crank out ammo straight from the box.  If you read certain parts of the box or manual, you'll see lots of "Sold Separately" call-outs.  

The press does not include anything caliber specific.  It does include:
-LNL AP Press
-Pistol bullet feeder for jacketed pistol bullets
-Case feeder (with no feed plates)
-LNL Powder Measure with Case Activated Powder Drop and pistol and rifle rotors (but no Powder-thru expander PTX)
-Priming system
-x3 small primer pickup tubes
-x3 larger primer pickup tubes
-x3 cartridge bins (Akro bins)
-x10 LNL bushings
-Powder Cop Die

So what do you need?  Here is my order list to start loading 9mm Luger:
095160 – LNL Ammo Plant 110v (all the stuff above)
095310 – Case Feeder Plate Sm Pistol
095330 – 9mm Bullet Feeder Die
546516 – 9mm Luger Taper Crimp 3-Die Set (sizer, expander, crimper/seater)
392601 – Shell Plate #8 (9mm)
290030 - OPTIONAL .355" PTX Bushing.  Using this will eliminate the expander die, allowing a separate crimp die OR powder cop.  A .355 PTX bushing was included with the 9mm bullet feeder die.  RCBS powder through expanders also work with the Hornady Powder Dispenser and may be a better choice for you (see later posts in the thread about crushed cases from the Hornady PTX).
Degreaser - I like non-chlorinated brake cleaner.  You'll need this to degrease certain parts such as the dies and powder rotors.
Dry Lube - Whatever NAPA has around or that Amazon has in stock.  I've used Liquid Wrench brand and Dupont brand.  Works great for lubricating the case feeder slide, primer slide, powder rotors, etc.  Paste wax also works.  

On the recommendation of a friend that works at Hornady and loads on a LNL Ammo Plant, he recommended the following:
095314 - Case Feeder Plate Sm Rifle to load .223
044096 – LNL Die Bushing 10-pack
044650 – LNL Deluxe Control Panel
050098 – LNL 1911 Auto Primer Tube Filler
041210 – Primer Pocket Reamer Package (for removing primer crimps)
392601 – Shell Plate #16 (.223Rem)
044606 – Sure-Loc Lock Ring 6 pack

From Inline Fabrication, I added:
-4" Ultramount w/ Quickchange Plate - Added so I can swap out quickly to my Lee Classic Turret
-Bullet Feeder Support Arm - Necessary to use the bullet feeder with the Ultramount
-Skylight LED System - "Know your target"
-ERGO Roller Lever - I hated the cue-ball lever on my Lee.  The roller lever for LNL AP is a delight.  


Give yourself plenty of time and space to set up the press.  There's a lot of stuff!  I'd recommend setting up one major component at a time and adjusting it before moving on to another part.  

Case Feeder:
-My case slide (#38, page 4) had some flash on it that would not allow it to slide onto the subplate.  A file knocked the bits off in a few seconds.  A sharp knife would have worked too.
-V-Blocks attach to the case slide and push the cases into the shell plate.  The manual has suggestions, but don't be afraid to experiment.  I found V-block #6 worked best for 9mm.  I also leave the v-block loose.  I put an AR extractor O-ring on the screw that holds it in to keep some tension on the screw so it doesn't back out.
-Don't overload the feeder bowl.  It will hold far more brass than the motor will turn.  
-Lube with paste wax or dry lube
-Follow the instructions.  There are various tubes and bushings that are used for different calibers and a mis-match will cause problems.

Priming System:
-I hit my primer slide (#15, page5) with a whetstone to get them flat and smooth on the contact surface.  
-Lube with paste wax or dry lube
-Use the plastic follower rod to ensure proper feeding.  You can mark the rod to show when you have 50, 10, or 5 primers remaining.  
-I chamfered both primer slides to help feeding.  
-My press came setup for large primers and needed to the slide and primer seating punch changed to the small version for 9mm.
-I added the black cap from this kit to cap off the primer disposal tube.


Powder Measure and Case Activated Powder Drop:
-Degrease the parts per the manual to prevent powder contamination.
-Take your time as you want to ensure a full drop and avoid crimping/folding your case mouth.
-Consider securing the plastic hopper to the dispenser casting with a set screw or adhesive.  It's a press fit from the factory and they have been known to come off.
-Adjust the Powder Drop throw with the hopper empty.  

Bullet Feeder:
-Hornady does not include mounting hardware for the bullet feeder support arm.  Get yourself some 1/4" lag bolts or machine screws of the desire depth to mount it.
-It includes parts to feed 9mm, .40., and .45 caliber bullets.
-I set mine up initially for 124gr XTP and 125gr HAP.  Instructions are straight forward and the machine feeds the bullets into the tube.
-The 124gr XTP feed from the die reliably, the 125gr HAP do not, apparently because the 124gr are .355" and the 125gr are .356".  Hornady does NOT sell a bullet feed die for .38 Super, so the collet in the 9mm dies is just a touch too tight.
-I sprayed dry lube on the bullet feeder plate to encourage bullets sitting high to slide down so they aren't knocked off by the wiper.
-REMEMBER: The Ammo Plant includes the PISTOL bullet feeder and Hornady sells an entirely separate rifle bullet feeder.

Control Panel:
-Tune in later, as I have not set this up yet.  Baby steps, remember?

Hornady Combination Seating and Crimp Die:
-I tried following the instructions and ended up with cases feeling "sticky" when lowering the ram.  Instructions were confusing too.
-Have no fear, Hornady has a great video on how to set it up.  Following along with the vid, the die works great!

Subplate:
-On the subplate, there are 10 divots that are used by the ball bearings in the shell plate to index the shell plate.
-You'll want to grease the ball bearings to lubricate them as well as to provide a hydraulic dampening effect to minimize the plate "snapping" into position.
-No matter how smooth or slow I was on the press handle, my plate continued to snap into place.  To eliminate that, I took a 1/4" drill bit and turned it 3-4 times BY HAND in each divot to widen them slightly and ease the entry of the ball bearing into the divot.  
-I had an issue with 1x-fired 9mm cases tipping as they crossed the retaining spring and into the shell plate.  I e-mailed Hornady and here is their response:
With a newer press the case can “trip”, as you are describing, if the case retainer spring is not sitting low enough in the groove in the subplate.  This will eventually go away as the press is used and the spring gets it’s working length/relaxes.   If the case retainer spring is damaged that will not allow the spring to flex as it is supposed to and can cause it to rise up at times and trip the case.

If you are using range brass or a pistol that will allow the primer to swell a bit and or leave a slightly bulging imprint on the cup this will cause the center base of the case to sit high and allow it to tip easier just transitioning the cut groove.  It is a good idea to smooth the path that the case follows, from the arm of the shell plate to the area it seats in the subplate with something like 600 to 800 grit emery cloth.   Just remove the shell plate and use a piece of emery cloth on a small piece of wood (I just use a piece of 2x4 broken off of one edge, about ¾” thick as a sanding block.

Please give these suggestions your attention and try the polishing of the transfer area as well as checking your cases and let us know if you don’t see improvement.
I made the sanding block and used 400, 600, and 800 grit on the entire subplate.  I also used some red jeweler's rouge and a felt polishing wheel on a Dremel on the aforementioned "transfer area".  With my finger, I can tell that the lip in the area is not sharp anymore.  And the cases don't tip now!  



There's a fantastic thread here that deals with tuning the press.  The majority of the threads deals with adding shims to reduce subplate/shell plate clearance and improve reliability.  I have not added shims to my press as it seems to be fine right now, but it's worth noting that many others have seen an improvement.  


Other thoughts and ramblings:

Is the LNL Ammo Plant a good press for a beginner?
Yes and no.  As it is advertised and designed to be used, IMHO, it's not a good beginner's choice as there are a lot of moving parts to the press and a lot going on at once.  If a beginner wants to "Buy Once, Cry Once", I would recommend the Ammo Plant but keep the case feeder and bullet feeder in the box.  Load one shell into the shell plate at a time and use the press as a turret-style press.  

Is the LNL Ammo Plant a good press for someone with shoulder or arm problems?
Probably not.  I was surprised by the amount of force necessary to operate the press.  However, such force is to be expected because as the ram rises, a case is sized, a case is deprimed, a case is expanded, a powder dispenser is raised, a bullet is seated, and a case is crimped.  In my experience, the bulk of the force is being used to size and deprime.  That force can vary based on caliber and headstamp.  I have found dusting the cases with some case lube eases the sizing force noticeably.


With the case feeder and bullet feeder, cyclic rate increases quite a bit.  With each crank of the handle, you need to check that a case has fed correctly, powder is thrown, and a bullet is dropped.  Sustained rate will vary based on how "prepared" you are - you'll need to restock the bullet feeder, case feeder, and primer tubes.  Don't overload the case feeder, as the clutch will disengage and it won't feed.  I don't know if the bullet feeder has a similar clutch system as I only put 100 bullets in at a time.  The primer tubes hold 100 primers each - having filled tubes ready to go will make things move along more quickly.  I haven't timed myself yet but it's much faster than my old Lee Classic Turret.  

Regarding filling the primer tubes, I'm using the Hornady 1911 Primer Tube Filler.  It fed Federal and CCI primers just fine, but would hang up with Wolf primers.  All three measured the same, but I noticed the Wolf primers were more bubble-shaped while the Fed and CCI were more notch-shaped.  I used a utility knife to very slightly chamfer the primer tray where the hole is that drops them into the tube.  Works fine with all three now.  Once the primers are in the tray and the tube is in the filler, it will fill the tube in about 15 seconds.

your bullet feeder die will have your PTX.

Now it's time to ask your friend to help you set it up. And if he is too busy and you are close to Omaha pm me I will help you.

Good to know.  The online manual for the bullet feed die and the bullet feed die web page do not mention the PTX bushing being included.  Midway's product page shows it in the picture, but the description does not mention it.  Way to go Hornady.  


I appreciate the offer.  I'm closer to GI than Omaha, so if I have trouble, I'll lean on my Hornady contact.  He was right though, the instruction manual and Youtube videos should answer most questions and solve most problems.

Nice write up.

I know you said you added a bit of a chamfer to the detents in the sub-plate for the detent balls. The detent balls can also be adjusted. You us a punch to move them up or down in the shell plate.

When I was adjusting my press I pushed the balls up so they were not doing anything. I then set the pawls on the press to have it dialed in. Then I tapped the balls down until they were advancing the plate and making it jump. Then I backed off a tiny bit. Runs nice and smooth.

Make sure just to set up the press first and get the press running before you jump into the case feeder. I bought the press first and then bought the case feeder, but still don't have the bullet feeder.

The case feeder comes with a new base plate so I would install the base plate instead of the one that comes with the press. This could be wrong as you bought the complete kit unlike me.

I don't use the PTX and just use a lee expander.

My die set up goes
1. Decap/resize 2. Expand 3. Powder drop 4. Bullet feeder die w/ bullet tubes 5. Seating die

The press takes a lot of tinkering especially when you change from one caliber to another.

The Hornady set up videos helped me out a lot which are all on YouTube.

Good luck

You have a great press! its well worth what you put into it to get it where you want it. You wont be disappointed!

I bought the case feeder for mine and it did not come with a new base plate for the press. The press came with the base plate I am using now. How old is your press? Does it use the wire ejector?

Strat, I agree that the full-blown Ammo Plant is not a beginner's press.  Nor is the LnL AP by itself, even without the case feeder.  I've said this several times before: I firmly believe that you should learn each loading step thoroughly before you start rolling all of them into one pull of the lever.  This lets you know what's going on, and most importantly, what's happening if something goes wrong.

Hornady's take on progressive presses is to make a more general purpose machine, while Dillon's is to make everything as smooth as possible to use for specific calibers.  After a while, you get used to the steps involved in changing over from one caliber to another, no matter which progressive you use, but Dillon supplies some nifty short cuts that make the more delicate changes (case feeding, particularly) quicker and simpler.

There are a bunch of high quality tweaks and tunes in the thread dryflash3 linked.  Some of them may be unnecessary for your particular press, while others may not go far enough.  From my perspective, with a SN 11,xxx press, Hornady has been constantly upgrading and improving the LnL AP without changing the overall design that much.  My unit didn't come with a powder baffle for the powder measure, nor the break away primer feed cam, but when I asked about them, Hornady sent the parts to me.  For free.  (This evening I installed the upgraded primer cam system YEARS after originally buying the press.)

strat81 Don't let anyone tell you that you can't get your press up and running. You don't have to start off with a single stage press if you have common sense and your tool box is more than a shoe box with two rocks.

This is what I started off with.


And this is what I load with now.


They are called the sisters.

Bump for small case feeder update.


Also added Amazon link for a rubber cap for the primer disposal tube.

Ive had my LnL for close to 4 years now.  In that time its seen in excess of 50k rounds.  Probably more as I use it to process brass on, decapping pistol and sizing runs for rifle.  Ive literally fixed and improved almost every aspect of the press and posted them here or on TheHighRoad.

The initial write up the OP did is right on the money, plus or minus some minor details.  

The only thing I can add is if you are starting out with this press, buy yourself a Hornady Lock-N-Load AP Powder Funnel Die and use that for load build ups with a trickler and scale or a ChargeMaster.  It will save you alot of headache in load dev because making changes on a rotary drop is far from a perfect science and you will spend alot of time dicking around getting it right.

Operate it as a single stage, only run one case around at a time when you start out.  Once you fully understand how everything works and everything works perfectly, run it full progressive so you get the hang of it, feeding both cases and bullets.  Then add your case feeder.  Once you have the issues tuned out of your case feeder, then add the bullet feeder.  Work at it in a progression, improving your skills and speed as you go.  

A word about a single stage.  If you are a reloader and you own a progressive, you still need a good single stage press as some things a progressive simply does not excel at.  One of those things is resizing very hard to size brass like LC 7.62x51 MG brass, or tinkering with sizing necks cases up or down, pulling bullets, or any number of things.

@drainsmith

Where did you get that cover on the bullet feeder?  Looks like a perfect fit?  

Mrs.strat81 will be double-plus unpleased if I appropriate one of her pot lids.

I got all of mine from the Salvation Army. But any second-hand store will work. It is 9 1/4" inside diameter.

Now I did sneak one out of my wife's pots and pans but I got caught returning it. I quickly told her that the handle was loose and I tightened it for her. And she thanked me.

You are a husband of great wisdom.

Bump for edit with case tipping solution.

There was someone - I can't remember who - that added a bit of support under the case pushing V block to support the rim as well.  That seemed to help with case tipping.

I agree with Hornady's tech support that the retainer spring is a common culprit.  When you seat it, you need to make sure it settles into the groove for it under the ejector lug, and all the way under the case feed position.  Sometimes this takes several cycles of the press to happen on its own, so you can "encourage" the spring into position with a tool - I use a pop sickle/craft stick because it can't hurt the spring and its about the right size.

12 g shot gun case.

Now what I really need to know is if your case is hitting the V-block or is it just tipping. If it is hitting the V-block you need to make sure that the pivot body is level. It is only held on with one bolt. If it is not hitting the V-block the shot gun shell will work.

The case landed on the subplate upright and did not touch the v-block.  It tipped as the v-block pushed it from the subplate onto the shellplate as it crossed the retaining spring.  I couldn't tell if it was the spring or the edge of the subplate that was causing the tipping.

Regardless, the fix above has worked for 300 rounds so far.

Sweet that tells me that the spring groove is deep enough. I would get a piece of sand paper and take the edge off the groove. Now you hear everyone saying that they have to replace the retention spring. I haven't had to replace mine in three years. I have a small container. with graphite and a small makeup brush in it that I use all over the press. I just drop the spring in the container and give it a shake about once a month. It helps a lot.

Dupont Dry Film Lubricant

I've been using that on my press.  Graphite works well but can be messy.  I'm careful about how I use petroleum-based lubes on surfaces that have direct contact with ammo components.  It dries leaving a white stuff that bonds well to the surface, so it doesn't attract dust and powder like grease or oil can.

I originally got it to use with some suppressed .22s.

Sweet how long does it last? Now every Saturday I clean my press with rubbing alcohol and using makeup brush I graphite ever thing for the next week. I put the brush into the container, swirl it around then tap it on the side to knock off all the power before I put the brush to the press.

It depends.  I have some on the cam wires for the priming system and case feeder, and it looks like I just applied it, probably because it's relatively low friction to begin with.

Other surfaces such as the case feed piece that the v-block attaches to and the primer slide, those show more "wear".

I picked up one of these on ebay:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?type=3&campId=5337559805&toolId=10001&customId=j5kf18a3a300zk8a00004&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F262913937867.m2749.l2649
It extends lower then the regular drop tube, and includes the same kind of fix that the 12 gauge shell provides.

I can use the same drop tube for both small and large cases too, so it's one less reason to take the pivot block apart, which is appreciated...

Usually before each loading session I remove the shell plate, case feeder pusher v-block and primer shuttle. I wipe the sub-plate down with brake clean, gun scrubber or whatever degreaser I have handy. I then hit it all with some Johnson's Paste Wax and reassemble. I put a dab of grease on the ball detents on the sub-plate. This is done probably every 1-2000 rounds.

After each primer tube I usually hit the press with a blow gun.

I do something similar, though I don't blow off the press - I use a vacuum - and I don't do it as often.  I DO swab out the inner primer magazine tube fairly regularly.  The way I work with my press it's on a "by project" basis, or after 5 tubes.  More frequent swabs are OK, but I only just start to see "something" (which could be primer dust) after 500 or so primers.

Paste wax is a GREAT dry lube, but normal "paste wax rules" apply.  Apply the wax thoroughly, let it dry to a haze, then lightly buff to a shine.  It's easy to get in a hurry and skip the drying step, but that winds up removing most of the wax.  I buff with a piece of paper towel that I've wadded/flattened/wadded several times, making it softer.  Maybe that helps...

Umm, I dont clean mine.  Works like a champ

And on the off chance I do, brake cleaner, and a little shot of silicon spray on the deck.  Thats it...

I've loaded over 2k rounds with it so far and I find the most problematic spot WRT cleaning is the primer slide.  Specifically, crud (probably powder flakes) get caught between the slide and the subplate.  Eventually, the primer slide won't return to battery.  Every few hundred rounds, I'll scrape the area clean with a dental pick.  



This weekend, I decided to use the PTX in my powder dispenser.  Works fine 97% of the time.  The other 3%, it crushes the case mouth slightly on one side, destroying the case.  I tried polishing the PTX with a cloth wheel and some Flitz, but it did not change anything.  Some Googling indicates that it might be an indexing issue, but I'm not having index issues anywhere else on the press.  Considering a universal funnel from C-Bar Armory or an RCBS PTX.  Thoughts?

O.K. There are two things that tell me it is the timing.
1. power jamming your primer.
2. crushing cases.
Now watch the cases when they get smashed. if the shell needs to be advanced clock wise, turn the right pawl counter clock wise.

Now there are only 29 days to the first Husker game. And every Nebraskan makes at least one game. And I am only 50 more miles from Lincoln. If you stop by I will show you how to build a timing kit that will get the timing perfect in less than 10 min.

And if not PM me and I will give you a call and talk you through it.

Powder spillage enough to mess with the priming slide means you're spilling way too much powder.  Crushing cases with the PTX tells me the answer: your shell plate isn't properly indexing.  That means it jerks around, spilling powder, and that it isn't putting the case straight under the powder measure, which lets the PTX crush the case.

Take a look at your indexing, and in particular how smoothly the shell plate advances on both upstroke and downstroke...

I'm not convinced it's a timing issue.  Shell plate movement is very smooth, no powder spills from the cases as they move.  Plus, I charge in station 2 and feed a bullet in station 3, so not much opportunity for powder to come out.  I may have 3 or 4 specks of powder on the shell plate after loading 100 rounds.  I'm also not experiencing any other symptoms of indexing problems - cases decap fine, bullets feed fine, bullets seat fine.

I had the primer slide issue once, after loading maybe 1200-1500 rounds.  Since then I make an effort to scrape that area clean every few hundred rounds.

So if you only have a stray flake or two now and then, where is the powder that collects coming from?

And if the plate is indexing smoothly and accurately, how could the PTX not line up with the inside of the case?  Is the case activated powder drop not moving smoothly?  It's easy to make that happen...

A couple of flakes per hundred, multiplied by 10 or 12, is enough to cause the problem I had.  As I said, I charge in station two, right over the primer slide.  When I researched the LNL AP, I came across quite a few posts indicating that the primer slide has a tendency to collect gunk and that it needs to be kept clean.  Some of the gunk could also be just general dirt or perhaps the black gunk from dirty primer pockets.

The powder drop is moving smoothly.  Darn thing is on ball bearings compared to my old Lee Pro Auto Disk.  

I'm pretty confident the shell plate is indexing correctly as I have no other symptoms of incorrect indexing.  Sizing is fine, priming is fine, bullet feed is fine, seating is fine.  I didn't feel any burrs on the PTX, but polished it just in case.  The brass entering the PTX appears fine.

It's inconsistent, so that's what makes it hard to diagnose.  


I appreciate all of the help, guys!  

Got it.  You're way ahead on both volume and "figuring out the machine."

I don't load nearly that volume - sadly I have no real time to do that much.  But I have managed to establish some really smooth and consistent subsystem functioning.

When you take apart the priming system for cleaning or size changes, inspect the bottom of the shuttle and its track for gunk and make sure there aren't any burs or collected brass shavings.  I have degreased the track and applied several coats of Johnson's Paste Wax to the track (bottom and sides), and done the same to both sizes of shuttles.  The wax seems to keep powder from sticking in the track.

When you change the shell plate, do the same sort of inspection.  Waxing here has been very helpful, especially the face of the EZ-Ject lug.  Hornady says to apply a light grease to the sub plate, and I use plumber's silicone grease - just a dab smeared around inside and outside the ring of detents.  I try to avoid getting grease on the space the case heads will ride in, but this grease is just slippery, not a hazard for primers or powder.

Finally, the same procedure for the primer shuttle works great for the case feed pusher.  Here is where you can also see if your timing is off: the case pusher should perfectly align with the shell plate as the ram comes down.  If it doesn't, you have a timing problem.

I hope these tips are helpful.

Some reading online informed me that the RCBS powder-through expanders work in with the Hornady LNL Powder Measure.  I bought the 9mm version and put it in the press tonight.   [ETA: Not sure what the site is doing to my link.  Search for item #826556 on MidwayUSA's site.]

I loaded up 200 rounds and had NO crushed cases.  I'm not quite ready to call my problem fixed, but things are looking good.

The two parts are similar in function, but differ in the tip:

RCBS:


Hornady:


As seen in the pictures, the RCBS has a slightly more pointed tip.  If my problem is being caused by improperly adjusted pawls, loose shell plate, or other index issue, the RCBS might be able to bring things into alignment, similar to the way a seating die can straighten out a slightly askew bullet.

I am hesitant to start messing with the pawls as things are otherwise running well and I've read some horror stories of people messing up their presses through improper adjustment methods.

Question: Are you reloading used cases, or virgin brass?

If you're reloading fired cases and depriming them in the press, I can tell you where the flakes are getting into the primer tray (if it's not from the first thing I mention below): From depriming. It's filthy and gets crud all over the place. I bought a Harvery Deprimer (I'm honestly not shilling for them, it's inexpensive and you can google it if you want) and deprime outside of the press as a separate step. It's cut down on the gunk in my LnL a lot. I don't have to clean it but every thousand or two rounds now. Seriously, it is that big of a game changer, and worth it. Any hand deprimer can do the job as well, the main thing is to do it as a step first before cleaning the brass and putting it through the press. I bought one of those Franklin Armory or whatever ones, but it's about 15x as complicated as it needs to be and it's slow. The Harvey one is fast, though it is a bit rudimentry...

Two things that helped me tremendously with my LnL:

Firstly: Go to Menards or some other hardware supply and buy some brass welding or whatever rods, in Menards it's in the welding dept area. Just get one that's non-ferrous. Get two rods; one for large primers and one for the small primers, and use that as a weight on top of the primer tube (trimmed or the excess bent to fit; too tall and it'll hit the case feeder), to force the primers down. I can't even tell you how many times I ran through 100 rounds and found that only 94 of them were actually primed...that, too, is another source of powder under the shell plate With the rod on top, no more failures to feed the primer. Plus, it'll lock the primer tray back when it's empty, giving you a visual (and if you listen for the 'ting' of when it hits bottom, audible) indicator that you're out of primers. And you can mark the rod every X primers, giving you a really good indicator of how many primers are left in the tube at any time. It's nice to know when you're on your last 5 primers and need to recharge.

Secondly: For 9mm powder through expander...the .355 powder through expander is about %80 of the way there. The problem I kept running into was that a lot of the bulk 9mm bullets I buy are really .356...and guess what - the PTX doesn't expand it enough. I've ripped probably 100 or so jackets out of the last 2000 rounds open, trying to seat and crimp because of it, and had to yank it all apart. I wound up needing to use the expander die for 9mm anyway. 45 has always loaded fine, but 9mm...unless you can guarantee your bullets are and will forever be .355...hang on to that expander die and be prepared to sacrifice that powder cop.

I've only ever loaded 45acp, 38 Super, and 9mm in my press; I'll soon be adding 10mm to it. I've only ever gotten the case feeder to work reliably with 45acp, no matter what I've done. I don't have a bullet feeder for mine (I got it in the early 2ks), but I don't feel like I need one, given the consistency issues I keep/kept running into my LnL loading anything other than 45acp. Ever since I started depriming before cleaning the brass the inconsistency issues have dropped to nearly zero...but it's still a manual case loading process for me for everything that's not 45. Part of the issue, admittedly, is that I do not want to spend 3 hours rejiggering the case feeder every time I switch calibers. It's honestly faster to just crank out 1k 9mm by hand feeding everything than it is to fidget with the caseloader and all it's parts to the point where it's as consistent as I currently have it with 45acp, and then load 1k rounds.

I'm not a Rockefeller.  Used cases and I deprime on the press.  I concur, it's a dirty process and may contribute to the general crud buildup on the press.

My LNL came with a plastic follower rod.  I actually have plans to replace it with an aluminum one because the plastic one from Hornady is splintering or something.  Got some real painful slivers of something in my fingers one day.  I was going to use steel but was concerned about the weight of it causing a detonation.  

Yes, I load a fair amount of .356 bullets.  I haven't had an issue with expanding the case for them.  Rather, the bullet feeder die required some fiddling since it is sized for .355 out of the box.  I polished the inside of the lower collet and spread it slightly and it feeds great.  When I switched back to .355 bullets, it started puking them, so I had to squeeze it back down.  A better solution would be to dedicate one die to .356 and one to .355, which I may do.

Bummer that you haven't had luck with any other cases.  Hornady includes a variety of parts for the case feeder and does a piss poor job of labeling them, so it's possible you haven't hit on the right combo.  You also need a separate shell plate for the case feeder for 9mm compared to .45 ACP.  

But the changeover hassle is why I'm still fussing with 9mm.  I plan to load all of my 9mm bullets before switching to 223.  It'll be somewhere between 5k and 10k by the time I'm done, which should last me a couple of years.

Not may...%100 definitely does

If you want I can send you my hand deprimer for you to try before you buy. It's so worth the money it's not even funny. If you would rather, I can deprime 10 cases onto a white paper towel and post a pic of the results. The mess it makes, even from just 10 cases, is huge. All of my shellplate indexing problems and general dirt problems went away when I started doing that.

Mine didn't I'd doubt the plastic rod has the weight behind it to work well...I used brass because it's non-sparking, non-ferrous, and it's got a decent weight behind it. Never had a misfeed with large pistol primers and the large rod. I still get the occasional misfeed with small pistol...the smaller rod just doesn't have the weight it needs especially towards the bottom when there's only a few primers left. It can still misfeed. I'm thinking of bending the end of my rod into a hook and hanging a small bag of sand or something from it to add weight...

Good luck finding a Hornady .356 PTX Admittidly I've only ever looked at Hornady offerings...if someone else makes Hornady-compatible ones, I need to find a .356 expander too

Oh, I've got all the parts for the casefeeder; multiple calibers, multiple feed rams, etc etc etc. I've got every part you can think of. I've set it up per all the manuals. The amount of fidgeting I need to do to get it just right so it just works without any intervention ever...I still haven't found a perfect setup. The gap between the tube and the pivot thingie that shuffles the case to the drop tube that deposits it into the ram, etc...all of it needs to be timed and spaced perfectly and between all the possible adjustments you could make...I just haven't found the one that works. And as far as I'm concerned, if it takes more than 10 minutes to change and make work reliably, then there's a basic flaw in how it's engineered. Think of all the parts that need to change from large case to small case...you'll run into the same thing when you try to switch, trust me. It's honestly one of the reasons I really dislike using the press for anything other than dedicated to one caliber. I'm seriously considering just dedicating it to 45acp (which it excels at) and buying a Dillon for use with everything else, so I can quickly and easily switch calibers without having to rebuild my universe and spend an hour fidgeting with it every single time just to make it work for a 100 primer tube without having to stop every 5 or so rounds to adjust or tweak something.

Also, fun fact - Dillon feeder plates work just fine in the case feeder

I've had this press since...2006? 2007 maybe? and I still have not once made the casefeeder feed 9mm or 38 super without it choking, dropping multiple cases at once, or not feeding cases at all. When I reinstall all the large pistol case parts, it takes less than 5 minutes and it's feeding cases perfectly into the action with no bobbles unless it either drops a case backwards into the tube or the cases get clogged up top when one manages to land in the feeder funnel sideways. Trust me, I've tried, and I've given up. I'm not going to invest any more time into making it do something it clearly does not want to do without more time than I'm willing to put into it. Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm doing something wrong...but I'm not sinking more time into it.

The other annoying thing is the wire eject system on mine...I understand Hornady has since changed the case ejection system, but I've not upgraded mine, so that's probably why it won't eject 9mm cases reliably That's more me not taking up Hornady on their upgrade offers or finding a local store with the kit in stock, and then wanting to buy all new shellplates that'll work with it, though...



Also...5-10k lasting a couple of years? I thought the same when I first started...now I find basic range trips, where I just practice my fundamentals, are an easy 300+ round trip You'll find yourself shooting a LOT more now that you can magic more ammo into being Even feeding cases and bullets manually, I can pull out around 200 rounds of 9mm an hour, maybe a little more and I've timed it...so long as I had the primers in tubes and brass prepped and lubed, it flew by once I found my groove. 45 when everything's set up just so and I don't have to do anything but yank handles and shove bullets into cases, I can double that. There are guys with Dillons who will say that's nothing and claim a thousand an hour...I'm not sure I buy that, but since I've never seen a Dillon in action, just all the hype on the internet...I can't dispute it, either...

My LnL did not come with a "primer follower" rod.  I'm using a length of wooden dowel - a couple of inches longer than the height of the primer magazine and its cap - and I have a cartridge case sitting on top of that providing some extra weight.  It does help to clean the inside of the primer magazine tube, and if you can, to wax it.  But you really need a bit of weight on the primers to get the last several to feed.

"Messing with the pawls" isn't as scary as it sounds.  It's a process of tweaking one pawl's height until that half of the rotation is right on, then doing the same with the other one.  It's ONLY about height, nothing else, since the pawls automatically rotate to face correctly.  The pawls need a tiny bit of lube to slide in and out of their spaces too.

While my press didn't require tearing down as much as Dano suggests, there's a lot to say for doing it.  You can either fix or verify proper function of several key parts of the shell plate advance mechanism this way, and you can ensure that you get smooth and solid indexing as well.  My press only needed a very tiny amount of shim (I think it was 0.003") to tighten everything up regardless of which shell plate I used, but it was definitely needed.  This also gives you some access to remove gunk that can build up.

I appreciate the offer.  However, at this time I'm not looking to add another step as things are working more or less very well.  

And I believe you about the mess.  You can see the crud in the spent primer tube.


Dano, your list is excellent.  I'll probably do a tear down once I have done 10k-15k or if I experience other problems.  I have shimmed the hub.

I've put another 1,000 or so rounds through the press since posting the above and I've had no crushed cases in the charging station.  Yay!  I'll go on record saying I prefer the RCBS expander over the Hornady.