LNL Progressive Initial Setup

[ar15barrels]

Here is the latest in my learning experience. I have the primers working pretty well now. I did tighten the nut on the ram as it had worked loose and adjusted the travel on the cam wire so the shuttle does not get hung up as often.

I don't know how the hornady shellplate is held down, but the dillon shellplates are held down by a shoulder bolt with a brass tipped setscrew into the side of the bolt.
Put grease under the plate.
Snug down the bolt finger tight, then back it off the minimal amount to allow free movement without any extra slop.
Tighten the setscrew down to lock the shoulder bolt in place.

There must be a similar parallel on your press.

[Fyathyrio]

Plate is spoda be lubed a little underneath around the detend balls and the retaining bolt should be snug. I've also noticed that moving the handle too slow can cause it to occasionally not index completely...firm action seems to do the trick.

Pull the shell plate off and see if there's a wear ring forming on the base plate matching the outter diameter of the shell plate...you may also see one of the shell plate edges showing some wear. If you see these conditions then it may have been warped during heat treating...I understand they had a bad batch come back from their outside heat treating facility.

If you've followed along this far, you are already aware that this never has and never will happen to a Dillon press!

[eaglemike]

To the OP - hang in there. Learn to use everything, how it works, and you'll end up with good stuff. Try using Winchester, Remington, or Federal Primers. A lot of the others can work "OK" - but a VERY small difference in the primers can make a huge difference in reliability. When I was working at Star, and we got a call about priming issues, they were pretty much always CCI primers - just an example. If you want to try 100 or so of others and can't get them easily, shoot me a p.m. I can likely help with die adjustment too. I've loaded a few .45's with jacketed and lead, mostly lead.

I used to sell Dillon stuff. I've seen 550's and 650's puke primers like you wouldn't believe. I have a scale I purchased with a lifetime warranty that isn't honored. I know people with 1050's purchased with lifetime warranty that isn't honored. I've seen brand new Dillon 650's with important parts missing from the box. No one is perfect. Dillon has developed the marketing stuff really well, and supports their stuff pretty well.

There can be a learning curve, even for experienced reloaders.

For a first progressive, a 550 is pretty tough to beat. I've thought about trying a LnL, but not enough time to learn a new machine right now.

all the best,
Mike

[powaybob]

Declaring Victory!

I finally ran a batch smoothly, efficiently and reasonably error free. Adjusting the pawls was the final step to get the timing right, and with that things went smoothly at least for 45. I plan to start loading .308 in a few months so we will see how that goes.

Thanks for all the help I got from forum readers and responders.

[EBR Works]

I finally ran a batch smoothly, efficiently and reasonably error free. Adjusting the pawls was the final step to get the timing right, and with that things went smoothly at least for 45. I plan to start loading .308 in a few months so we will see how that goes.

Thanks for all the help I got from forum readers and responders.

Great to hear that you have everything working right!

Speaking of .308, I just started to load it yesterday in the LNL AP. I had loaded .223, 7.62x39 and various pistol calibers in it before with good results. I ran 100 cases through the press just to resize and decap only. The .308 requires substantially more pressure to resize and it feels like it is almost at the limit of the press. I have not had this problem with my Rock Chucker that I have been using for .308 in the past. I have been using One Shot lube but I think I'll have to switch to Dillon spray lube or Imperial wax for these larger cartridges in the LNL. I did manage to stick the last case in the batch. Luckily the RCBS stuck case tools yanked it right out!

[mstlaurent]

Great to hear that you have everything working right!

Speaking of .308, I just started to load it yesterday in the LNL AP. I had loaded .223, 7.62x39 and various pistol calibers in it before with good results. I ran 100 cases through the press just to resize and decap only. The .308 requires substantially more pressure to resize and it feels like it is almost at the limit of the press. I have not had this problem with my Rock Chucker that I have been using for .308 in the past. I have been using One Shot lube but I think I'll have to switch to Dillon spray lube or Imperial wax for these larger cartridges in the LNL. I did manage to stick the last case in the batch. Luckily the RCBS stuck case tools yanked it right out!

I use an RCBS Lube Die. Runs them through smoother than silk. I tried using the One Shot, and no matter what I did I still got stuck cases.

[freonr22]

imperial sizing wax....

[EBR Works]

imperial sizing wax....

Yep, I use this for single stage, low volume reloading like .50 cal. It just isn't practical to use when you have to do 500 rounds at a sitting considering the time it takes to apply and then remove from the case.

[freonr22]

I lubed 1500 cases last night w/ imeprial. two fingers in the can, put on palms, repeated 3x over the batch and grabbed fistfuls of cases squeezing, then tumbled by hand, just a light coat on all in 2-3 minutes so that can has lubed 6000 cases and still have about 25% left

just a thought

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=158086&page=2&highlight=palms

[EBR Works]

Interesting. So, do you tumble the completed rounds after to remove the lube?

[freonr22]

i meant tumble the brass in my hands w/ lube/wax. and realistically lube is gone by the time processing/ handling them

[EBR Works]

Yes, understood. How do you remove the lube from 1500 at a time? With small batches, I just wipe them off with paper towels.

[freonr22]

I really havent had to remove the lube. after processing ie, decrimp,trim etc. they sat for a couple weeks and seem pretty lube free...


eta:

I guess you could always throw the lot on a bath towel and stir them on it

[mstlaurent]

I really havent had to remove the lube. after processing ie, decrimp,trim etc. they sat for a couple weeks and seem pretty lube free...


eta:

I guess you could always throw the lot on a bath towel and stir them on it

I take a page from Randall's playbook and do them in two steps. I run them for a quick trip through the tumbler just to get any grit off of them, then I set up the press to decap, lube, and size them. Then I trim them with the Possum Hollow and decrimp/clean the primer pockets with the Hornady crimp remover. After that they go for a long trip in the tumbler to get the lube off and really scrub out the primer pockets. After that I set up the press to load them with an RCBS universal decapper in the first station to make sure the flash holes are clear of tumbling media. It takes a little longer, but I wind up with shiny, clean, lube-free brass without having to tumble the loaded rounds.

[EBR Works]

Nice procedure! The universal decapper to clear the flash holes is a great idea. Thanks for that.