LNL Progressive Initial Setup

[powaybob]

AR15,
I did just order the Hornady dies for 45. If they do not work out, I will definitely give the Dillon dies a try. I am thinking I should order the Dillons for 357 and try to compare performance.

Thanks for the tip.

[freonr22]

I have not tried the hornady dies, but the dillons i ended up with for 30-06. MUCH nicer than the lees i have for 25-06

[freakshow10mm]

Dillon presses have their quirks too. It took over a month for my 1050 to finally load a case of ammo. It was broke down more than it was operational.

[Johan]

If you have not ordered the hornady dies yet, seriously consider the Dillons.
They are the only dies tht are optimized for progressive loading.
They have features like a belled opening on the seat and crimp dies to ensure the bullet aligns itself better during seating as well as the spring loaded decapping pin that throws a crimped primer off the decapping pin instead of drawing it back into the case.
With the exception of Redding's pro series having the belled openings, all other reloading dies are made for single stage loading where you are placing the case perfectly under the die before you run the ram up.

If you don't work for dillion, you should!

[ar15barrels]

If you don't work for dillion, you should!

My opinions come from my experience using all sorts of dies.
There's no question that the Dillon pistol dies are easier to deal with on a progressive press.

For rifle dies, I use Redding type-S dies for their ability to change out neck bushings.

[freonr22]

My opinions come from my experience using all sorts of dies.
There's no question that the Dillon pistol dies are easier to deal with on a progressive press.

For rifle dies, I use Redding type-S dies for their ability to change out neck bushings.

speaking of dies and being a newb, these look nice, ive never heard of them

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=69076&highlight=seater

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=17793&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1260228740

sorry cant get tthe pic to show, but they are called Vickerman bullet seater dies

[ar15barrels]

Those are old school benchrest seating dies.
You run the case up into the die, then set the bullet into the window on the side of the die, then run the case the rest of the way up into the die.
The die holds the bullet and the case in alignment while seating.
This is similar to how forester, redding and wilson hand dies work, except you load the bullet on the case before running the case into the other dies.
RCBS used to make and may still make a vickerman style seating die as well.

[powaybob]

To use the lee dies I had to remove the o-rings and turn the lock rings upside down so that the dies would go deep enough into the bushings. The lee dies work as well as the hornady this way. Sounds like both your sizing and expanding die sound like they may need to be adjusted lower.

Ejor,

I tried reversing the nuts on the dies and that works pretty well. I am still not getting the expansion compared to my old single stage press, but I'll keep tweaking. Thanks for the tip.

[EBR Works]

As to the issue with high primer seating with the LNL AP, don't use CCI primers. I had this same issue with mine at the beginning. I switched to Remington and Winchester primers and the issue was resolved.

[cjskalka]

I've been using wolf small rifle primers, i've got another batch of brass to work through, I'll try some different priming techniques.

[powaybob]

I use Wolf large pistol and they seat nicely for me.

[r08ert209cali]

DO NOT PUT MORE THAN 100 PRIMERS IN THE PRESS AT ONE TIME.

the blast shield is only designed/rated for 100 primers step 9 reread instructions.

Fabricate a low primer warning by finding a stick (I had a fiber glass rod lying around). Put it in the empty primer tube and wrap a piece of tape around it at the top of the tube. Take it out, fill the primer tube (it holds about 125 primers- I had to determine this being an engineer), then put your indicator into the tube on top of the primers. When the tape hits the top of the tube it is time to refill.

[badreligion]

Got my LNL AP last week for my birthday. Should have my casefeeder and a few shellplates for it and the press by Tuesday.

I have already preped the mounting plate that the press will mount to. Does anyone have a LNL casefeeder that they can take pictures of so I can insure that my mounting hardwear will fit? I am using .5" stainless bolts to mount the press. I need to ensure that they will not interfere with the casefeeder.

I already have a complete reloading setup using a Rock Chucker with Forester Dies. Looking forward to speeding up my process so I can shoot and stockpile more. Is 2500 rounds per gun enough? Will still keep my RC for my 7.62 loads. But 5.56, 45, 40 and 357 will be done on the LNL. Need to order some more stuff for the LNL too.

I will take a few pictures of my set up when I am done.

[georound1]

Funny, I've got a new Lock n Load sitting in the garage. My wife thinks that I won't appreciate it as much on Christmas day if I start using it early. She won't even let me get the serial number off it so that I can send away for the free bullets! At least she let me order exactly what I wanted.
Thanks for the warning on the primer spring. I've been watching the videos from Hornady on YouTube. Didn't have much use for it before now! I decided to get the Redding Dies after reading the really good reviews. This will be my first reloading experience, so I'm really looking forward to it!
Can't beat the 1k rounds of free ammo. Retails for nearly 3 hundred dollars. The press is 4 hundred....helluva kick back!!

So, I added the plate and the dies, a powder scale, tumbler, etc. Is there anything else that I need to get? Primer tubes are included, right?

[badreligion]

georound1 - You'll need a primer flip tray, case lube if you plan on loading bottle neck cases, case trimmer for rifle, relaoding manual or 3, calipers for measuring your completed rounds and setting up your dies.

Primer tubes for both small and large primers are included, as is a pistol and standard meter for the measure.

You are also going to need some mounting hardware for the press, the instructions say to use 5/16" nuts and bolts but the mounting holes on the press are drilled out for 1/2"???? Mine is mounted to a piece of 5/8" plate steel that is mounted on my bench, I used 1/2" SS bolt to mount my press.
Before you drill your bench for mounting your press you are going to need someone to hold it down where you want to mount it and make sure that the lower moving assemble is not going to be stopped by anything lower on your bench. I use the heavy piece of steel to move my presses off the face of my bench as it is 6" thick.

A WARNING ON THE PRIMER ASSEMBLY I assembled the primer feeder on my press earlier. I then inserted the white plastic rod in the feeder without primers. I then ran the press through a cycle and as I thought the platic rod will fall into the primer assembly which will not let it complete its cycle, possibly damaging the priming unit. I pulled the rod out a few inches and completed the cycle and let the rod go to the bottom again. I folded and glued a small piece of red cardboard to the top of the rod so it rests on top of the primer feede. The flag now shows me when I am out of primers and stops the rod from going into the lower primer assembly, I also put a red ring about 3/4" below the flag so I know when I am low on primers.

I will take pictures and post them when I get everything built and properly finished.

P.S. geo I love my P220 Combat