Well, as my wife would tell you, I don't listen.  So, I bought my first reloading press and chose a progressive against everyone's well thought out argued advice.

It is a Hornady Lock and Load AP.

Initial Thoughts:
-It seems to be very smooth.  The half index keeps movement short and steady.
-I am having a bit of trouble with the priming system functioning 100%.  There is some sort of an adjustment that I need to make that I haven't figured out just yet.  The tray that grabs the primers will sometimes get stuck in the position where it grabs the primers.  I think I need to adjust the arm that controls how far it moves some more so that it doesn't move as far out.
-It seems like the bushing system is solid and once I graduate to loading different calibers they will make the changeover easy.
-The power drop seems to be pretty consistent so far.  Once I got it dialed in I spent quite a while checking it to make sure that it was throwing consistent loads and it held tight.
-Set up would go much faster with reloading experience but I have been going extremely slow with everything to learn about the press and to make sure I get things right.
-Being a novice I didn't crimp the first few rounds well enough so the bullet puller got some use already.  The hammer style plastic ones are pretty handy.

I will report back after I make some more progress.  If anyone has any ideas on the primer system feel free to enlighten me.  thanks.

good tutorial on setting up the red machine http://www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=401

I had a few minor issues with my primer system...I found the primer shuttle had a small bur on the end and wouldn't fit snuggly into place and allow the bottom punch to come up centered...I just lapped it with some sand paper and it is all good now. I'm sure you degreased the poo out of it when you got it and added a nice coat of one shot cleaner or REM oil or something of that nature.  When I first put my Case feeder together..I had to debur the shuttle blocks on that as well.  I've been super happy with my LNL AP after upgrading from an RCBS RC IV....after upgrading from a Lee Handpress.  Now the Lee is in the range bag and the Rock Chucker is swagging and sizing bullets.

Priming issues becomes priority and powder drop becomes assumed, not verified. Be careful. These are the things mentioned earlier that can really bite you in the ass.



p.s. did you remove static from powder hopper ??

Thanks guys.  I found several good video tutorials for setup.  Including the once that was on a cd iin the box and also happens to be on Hornady's youtube page.

I did degrease everything.  I used Hornady one shot as prescribed by Hornady.  I hadn't ever used the stuff but it is pretty solid.  I read a thread where someone complained about big variations in powder weight and not degreasing can apparently be a major cause of that according to the reloading gurus.  So, I took my time and went through everything thoroughly.  If you aren't familiar with the system you should do it anyway because it is a great reason to take everything apart to inspect it.  I learned a lot about how the machine works just from breaking it all down to spray.

As for static.  I used the One shot which I think helps a little.  I read a little about people having issues with this and the recommendation was a dryer sheet so I wiped it down with one of these.  Being a novice I don't know if this will suffice or what the possible consequences are besides powder sticking to the plastic tube.  Should I be watching out for any other signs of static?

It's called powder bridging. It's preface by inconsistent drops and then bridge. Closing off most if not all powder to case. Allowing for next round to double charge. New powder drops are static traps. Spot check your loads
often.

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