I have read that the Lee dies are not compatible with the Hornady Lock-N-Load presses.  Is this correct?  If so can any one tell me the reason for the incompatibility?

The issue is powder charging.  But if you use a Lee powder measure, it isn't an issue.

Good to hear, I am not using a progressive press and therefore am not throwing power at all with it.  I am planning on Lee's Pacesetter .223 Rem die set and Universal Depriming die.

Do your self a favor and buy some Redding dies.   The Lee Dies arn't going to give you consistant resize dimentions.  Ask me how I know....

You can make your lee FL sizing die better by polishing the espander plug, but it still wont be near as consistant as a Redding die.   Why Redding?   Because they are only ~$10 more than Lee Dies and less than $5 more than other brands like RCBS.   The Redding die also has a carbide expander ball available for only $24.

I had always read about redding being the best, but always thought 'My Lee dies work just fine",  Untill I became aware of Headspace headspace and neck tention issues with the Lee Dies.    The biggest problem is that Lee doesn't polish their dies, you can remove the expander pin and see the machining marks,  Most other brands of dies the expander is highly polished.   That's how lee cuts down on cost...

-Masta

I am biased against Lee, myslef.  However, there seem to be many around lately who think they are okay.  The only part of the Lee 223 die set I want is the factory crimp die.  I am a fan of the Hornady dies, I had a set for a 280RAI in the past which were fantastic.  I also had a Redding die set for the 244RAI which were excellent,and I can not complain about.

I am replacing my RCBS 8mmRM die set with Hornady now that they make them.  I will likely go to Hornady for my 223Rem die set as well, and just get the Lee FCD separately down the road, if I find it to be necessary.

I'm not bias against lee, I think lee makes many products that are great!   But I dont drink 'kool-aid' either.  So If I find something that is sub-par like I found with the Lee Resizing die, I will share that with others.

As for the FCD,  I personally can't figure out why everyone is in love with that die.  I used it in the past but am not a fan of it. I don't like how it puts a mark on the case neck from the collet squeezing into the case.   If you put a crimp light enough to not make a mark at all, you might as well not use the die at all because it isn't 'crimping'.    I much prefer the roll crimp.   But alot of people like it..

-Masta

I'll repeat what I've said in other Lock-n-Load AP threads: Some Lee die sets won't work in a Lock-n-Load AP press.  It's an issue of threading on the die body.  Certain Lee die sets - maybe many of them - allow for insufficient adjustment, because of the height offset imposed by the Lock-n-Load bushing into which you must install the die, and because of the geometry of the L-n-L AP.

It's a bit difficult to envision this if you haven't tried it.  The problem is chiefly with the size/deprime die.  I tried to use a set of Lee .40 S&W/10mm pistol dies in my Lock-n-Load AP, and found that I could not adjust the size/deprime die far down enough.  There simply wasn't enough threading on the die body.  By the time I got it as low as I wanted it, no threads on the die were engaged with the lock ring.  That meant the size die was not held solidly, but was free to rotate, giving inconsistent results and flopping around.  Not good.

Note that all this may not apply to the Hornady Lock-n-Load *single stage* press.  It probably has completely different geometry, compared to its progressive brother, and Lee dies may work there.

Easy enough, I think I will skip the Lee Dies for now.  Thanks.

I have been using Lee dies in both a Pro-Jector, the lead on to the LNL, and my LNL  AP over a 10 yr. period between the two. The only problem you may experience is shortness of the die threads in some of the short pistol calibers. I use Lee dies for .40 S&W and it locks up in the bushing. If you experience a problem just use a different lock ring. They get pretty short of thread on the locking ring but a couple threads are all that is needed to lock the die to the bushing. In fact it actually only gets difficult because of the o-ring making it hard to start the threads.

In other words Lee dies work just fine in all but very few cases. In fact almost all my dies are Lee. I have a few in RCBS, Hornady, Redding and Lyman. I know of no problems in the single stage LNL press.

Couldn't  you move the locking ring to the bottom and tighten it up there?

You might be able to move it to the bottom but then it seems lik it would be a bigger pain in the ass when changing set ups.

The lock ring will not work underneath on the LNL AP. I use Lee dies in .40 S&W on my LNL AP and they work fine. All you have to do is fiddle a bit with the lock ring because of the o-ring. Don't take the lock ring completely off the threads and if your fingers aren't strong enough to overcome the pressure needed use a wrench. Now there may be a few that are short. i don't know what the tolerance Lee uses is but it would have to be over .060". Other than that they work just fine and you can always use a different lock ring from another manufacturer if you do come up a bit short..