I removed the base plate from my LNL and used 1,200 grit cloth with cutting oil to polish the surface. I also polished the contact surface on the bottom of the shell holder plate and the hole in the middle of the base plate. Finally I made a small champer in all the detent hole in the base plate using a 1/4" drill bit. I turned the drill bit by hand about three rounds just enough to be able to see the champer.
The result is like having a trigger job done on a rough, gritty trigger. It has made a noticeable difference in the feel of the press when the ram goes up and down. The shell holder plate moves smoother and it reduced the tendency of a few grains of powder to bounce out of the case when indexing. When the plate hits the detent holes there is less of a jerk and more of a smooth stop.
I may repeat the polishing using jewelers rouge to a mirror finish. The hole in the middle of the base plate was actually fairly rough and I think polishing it made the main difference. The drive hub was pretty smooth and didn't need polishing. The champer around the detent holes seems to have reduced the jerk that occurs when the plates moves from one position to the next.
Sounds interesting. I see how the polishing made the smoothness better as the shell plate rotates, but I don't understand how that made the up/down motion of the ram better.
Ok, I see what you mean.
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I have been using my single and turret presses mostly as of late. When I took the LNL off the storage rack, the base had a brownish, blotchy, gummy residue on it. I must of forgotten to wipe off the Hornady lube when I finished last time. Alcohol took it off but there is a slight stain in the surface. Some polish should take it off I hope.
I had one of these presses for about 6 months and did not get it to run. You may fiddle with this press to your last daz.... I sold mine and never looked back.
I think any press company will have one of those problematic presses built on a Monday after a hang over weekend, a Friday by an employee mad at the week, wife, whatever, or a day adjoining a holiday for get out of town-it is, or a union member thinking the company owes them and takes it out on the company (actually an unsuspecting customer), or an incompetent that periodically just boogers things up. I had some initial issues, but they were worked out by the company tech-support folks and fortunately has been running fine since. Then again, I had some issues with Lee and RCBS but they all backed their products and all is good.
I can state that for me, there are exactly TWO progressive presses that I would and have bought: a Hornady L-N-L if I don't want a case collator and a Dillon 1050 if I do.
The point is, some people get along better with certain presses and not others.
I have been loading on Hornady progressive presses since the very first model came out (I believe that Dillon only had a 4-station press out at the time). I had my first updated over time--not that I needed to, just that I liked the new features--and finally gave away my 30+ year old model and got a L-N-L about 6-7 years ago. Then I fell into some great deals for 1050s and gave my L-N-L to my son.
I have used a Dillon 650, so I know what I like and there is no arguing like and dislike--they all do the job, it is just how much you enjoy working with the machine.
I had a lot of trouble when I first got my LNL. In fact if not for the Hornady CS I would have sold it and bought a Dillon. About 90%% of the problems were lack of experience on my part. There is a learning curve involved, but once you learn how to use it correctly it is a wonderful machine. You can't just slam, bang it around and it must be kept clean. It is not like a single stage press and if a single stage is all you have ever used it takes quite a few rounds before you really know how it works. Been there - done that.
I am almost ready to sell my LNL press... I have had it for a year, put 1000 rounds through it and always need to adjust something after 10-12 rounds.
I have watches all of Highboy's videos, researches online, and am totally frustrated with this machine.
Currently, the powder drop will not consistently drop the same charge, and the seating die seats the bullets at unacceptable different OALs.
Yes, I have cleaned the powder drop 3 times, to no avail. I have set and reset the seating die over a dozen times, and it still seats inconsistently.
Extremely frustrating...
One thing that will help seating consistency is keep dies in all five stations and have all of them touching the base plate. The ram will flex more or less depending on how much pressure you put on the handle and having dies in all stations will eliminate that variation. The projectiles themselves can cause variations in seating depth due to their geometry. Try measuring seating depth from ogive to base and instead of tip to base and see how much that varies.
What kind of powder are you using? Mine will drop CFE223 or H335 within .05 grains every time. If I'm using Varget the variation can be as much as 0.15 grains.
Call the Hornady tech support and give them a chance over the phone. If no success, call them for a repair ticket number so you can send it to them for repair. Send them the whole thing, including the die set. You'd only pay for shipping ONE way. They would send back the press working with whatever new parts you might need.
I sent my powder hopper to them and had to pay one way. Looks like it depends on who you speak with. Good to know so I can insist should the need ever arise.
If you want a progressive press that needs no "help" from the manufacture to get it run right and you just want to load ammo and not fool around "modifying" a press to make it better then buy the Dillon RL550B. Its big advantage is no auto indexing which adds complexity and potential problems. The Dillon RL550B is versatile too as it can run as a single stage, a turret, or a progressive...you choose.
There are those that report here that like their Hornady Progressives and a whole bunch more that like their Dillon RL550B's. The Dillon is probably the most popular progressive on the market. Its basic design is the same since its introduction in the "B" form and that is for at least 30+ years that I am aware of. Mine is about 25 years old. The Dillon Service is outstanding. If you damage the press or wear it out Dillon repairs and/or rebuilds it for free. If you break a part...no questions asked and it is mailed to your doorstep. And they have technicians that know their machines and reloading and can answer your questions. If they update a part on a new press you can get the update for free.
But we all get to choose and I made my choice....Dillon RL550B. How do you choose?
LDBennett
PS: This is NOT a paid advertisement but honest opinion based on 25+ years of Dillon experience.
No doubt the LNL's auto indexing can complicate the operation but if you take 15 minutes to understand how it works and how to adjust it, it will run smooth and you will enjoy the benefits of auto indexing.
Or if you don't want to hassle with it, just pull the pawls and now you have a manual advance progressive.
Freedom is a great thing, we are all free to choose what we want.
I've said it before and I will say it again, if the LNL is such a great press, why is there hundreds of videos on how to make adjustments for it to run better? And that comes from someone who also loves Lee stuff, EXCEPT their progressive presses.
Well, after a frustrating year with the LNL, I gave up and purchased a Dillon xl650. I had it up and running in about 3 hours with only a few minor tweaks here and there. I am impressed with the machine! Wish I had chosen it from the start...
Anyone need a slightly used LNL with two sets of dies??
I keep telling everyone about the Dillion presses and in particular the RL550B! Dillon presses are good and have been for at least 3 decades that I know of. Hornady is still learning how to make a reliable and trouble free progressive press, it appears. I had a very bad experience with an older version of their shotgun press and Hornady was of little help in my attempt to get an upgrade to its supposedly better new replacement.
In contrast, my first press was a handgun only Square Deal because I had no rifles. After a little more than a year of using it with some problems of my own making, in retrospect, Dillon agreed to take it back for full value and replace it with the RL550B (with the difference paid by me, of course). After that year I started buying rifle and need a press to handle rifle cartridges.
Dillon has rebuilt my heavily used press two times for free, offered up upgrade parts, and replaced parts I broke through stupidity...all for free. And to top it off the RL550B makes good ammo, is easy to use, is durable and reliable, with fantastic customer service that forced other reloading equipment manufacturers to change their ways some 25 years ago. No one had service like this back then!
It is so sad to me when someone wastes their had earned money on LEE and Hornady progressive presses only to end up with a Dillon in the end. But everyone gets to choose, for the best or for the worst. I made those bad choices and I only report here about Dillion to help others not to make the same mistakes.
I have been here for over 10 years, with many posts proclaiming how bad LEE was and expressing how good the RL550B is. Apparently you joined in 2007 and have had at least seven years of my pro-Dillon rants and anti-LEE rants. Did you not believe me? You know it is not too late to update to the Dillon. You will not be sorry.
Some people get the Hornady press working and love it and some fail. So Hornady is a mixed bag. With LEE it is a no brainer. They have interesting innovative designs made of the wrong materials and not made to the same quality as most all of the other reloading tools manufacturers. The only negative posts I have ever seen about the Dillon RL550B is by Hornady and LEE owners who don't own the Dillon and are only comparing features or don't want to admit their buying mistake.
The thing about LEE that makes me not let go of bashing them is their reloading maul written by the founder, Richard Lee. Rather than present a straight reloading manual he adds his opinion that only he knows how to make reloading equipment and everyone else's is to be avoided. The opposite is actually true, in my opinion. He fails to use the right materials repeatedly. The quality of his products is less than anyone else and he LOVES plastic for everything (probably so that he can undercut the prices of the manufacturers that use the right materials (read that as metal).
But all of this is my opinion and experience and yours may vary. Everyone gets to choose!
To be completely honest with you, I probably just never paid any attention to you for the first two years. If you have read any of my reloading posts in the past 5 years, you should know that I have had a Dillon RL550B for those years. It was mainly because of your ranting and raving on Dillon that I own one of them. I thank you for those rants and raves, your advice on the Dillon, and the advise of the owner of my LGS.
I still use a lot of Lee stuff and will continue to do so because as you have said many, many times, everybody gets to choose.
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