What is up with my Hornady Lock-N-Load AP

[Fried Chicken Blowout]

So I've had my LNL AP for about 2 years now. During the first year I had so many problems I didn't really use it at all. I've got every bell and whistle you can have on it except for the bullet feeder. I spend more time trying to fix it and get parts out of Hornady than I spend reloading. So far I've done about 20k 9mm and 6k .45 ACP. I'm finishing up another 5k 9mm right now and it's getting painful.

There are times when the stars align and i can run about 800 an hour through the press and there are times when it's only about 150 an hour and the rest of the time fixing shit. Here's are my current problems and what if any fixes I've tried to correct them. Please let me know if you've had any of these issues and what you can suggest.

1. 9mm cases get hung up between the case feeder plate and the bowel before they drop into the tube and lock up the plate. This happens several times per 100 cases. I've talked to an engineer at Hornady and besides removing the metal adjustment spacer on the bowel, his only statement was that it shouldn't be happening. The case feeder has been back once already.

2. When the cases drop onto the shuttle guide they bounce off the guide and fall off the press. We have tried adjusting the guide wire up down and all around without results. Then we made a guard that is taped to the drop tube that extends down to right in front of the shuttle to keep them on the track and that helps, but does not always work.

3. Old primers are not falling free from the cases when decapped. I've adjusted the decaping pin all the way down, all the way up and it does not change the issue. I'm thinking that come of the cases are holding onto the primers so tight that the decapping pin is making a dent in the bottom of the primer and get stuck on the decap pin, then the primer gets pulled back into the case by the pin on it's way back up and get lodged back into the primer hole and stops the press from advancing. I've tried several decapping pins, I've chamfered the drop hole and polished the radius of the hole. I don't believe it's an obstruction in the drop hole that's causing the issue.

4. The timing on the shell plate requires adjustment about ever 100 rounds. The screws do not keep it adjusted correctly and that is causing all kinds of problems at random times. It always seems to be the right paw that is backing out and throwing off the timing. There is also a sticking point about halfway through the ram's movement that I'm not sure about. It's seen plenty of grease without improvement.

We're about to move to .223 reloading and we'll be doing all the case prep on this press with the dillon power trimmer and full length dies. I'm sure that's going to turn into a total cluster and I'll want to throw the whole thing in the trash.

So I'm looking for input from those who may have had these issues with their LNL press and how they fixed them. I'm also interested if anyone has ever sent an entire press back to Hornady for an overhaul and what that experience was like for them. Did their issues get fixed? How long did it take to get the new or refurb press? Does anyone know if there are any big design changes that have happened in the last 18 months to the LNL press? I already have the newer one with the updated case ejector.

I am not looking to be told to just buy a Dillon. I've already come to the decision that I should have bought a 650XL to start with, but I'm well over a grand into the LNL for all the accessories and extras so I'm hoping to not have to junk it and start over with a Dillon.

Thanks in advance for any productive advice. Links to videos on tips or tricks for this press would be appreciated.

[kgwld1]

I to have the lnl, I'm at about 75,000 for 9mm, 10,000 for 223, 5,000 for .45, and just started with .38\.357, and .40. I to have had the adjust ment problem with the pawls. I now take the press apart every 10,000 rounds and blow and clean everything. I have basically called on the same problems and had them send me doubles of every part on the press.
My problems are the rod that guides the primer drop forget the name some type of cam I think they call it and have had maybe 20 of these now. The timing also goes out about every 2-5 k.
I now no longer use the case feeder do to always fiddling with it and now find its faster to just hand load.
I sent it back last year and think it was just a week or to if I remember right.
I've got to much money now to switch its not to bad I can load about 350-400 hour if I'm set up enough (primers powder cases etc). And I actually change calibers now in about 5 min.
I know I really didn't answer your questions but let us know how it goes.

[Fried Chicken Blowout]

Well I replaced the pawls, springs and screws and it's holding the timing very well now. Resized/trimmed 5,000 rounds of .223 over the last two days and it all went pretty well. The case feeder is working good and I've I get my tempo right I can get the cases to eject from the shell plate without issue. My biggest problem is getting the cases to fee into the shell plate correctly.

The Dillon Rapid Trim is sweet and makes quick work of all the sizing by the way. I wish I would have got an XL650, but I'm in the same boat as you. Too much money already in the Hornady press to back out now. I've got 4,000 more cases to do this weekend and then I'll start loading up the rounds. Hopefully it stays working well.

[kgwld1]

Just came in and saw your post. I loaded 500 in about hour and 1\2. It was nine but bent another primer cam thing. I've got a ton of them and its a quick change now.
Mine got out of time again a quick adjustment mines always the left pawl.
Oh well I've got about 20,000 to load would like to do it within the next month or so.

[Fried Chicken Blowout]

Your primer cam sounds like your primer punch is getting stuck in the up position. I had the same issue and it turned out that the powder I was using at them HS6 was getting stuck in the primer punch and hanging it up. Once I switched to HP38 my problems went away. I would take it out and clean it up.

[m41]

I have been a long time Dillon user with a 550 and a 650 both. I load rifle ammo only. I always had problems with both of mine with primer feed and inconsistent powder charges. Another Dillon mess is the vertical play between the press and die plates causing inconsistent bullet seating and crimp. My solution was to buy a LNL AP. So far I have had to adjust the right side pawl once. Other than that I love this thing with zero problems. This thing is smooth!!No case feeder yet but maybe in the future. I will be selling off these Dillons in the near future.

I think both brands are decent. All pieces of automated machinery have their problems and quirks IMO. One day I hope to pick up a Super 1050. Now that is one fine piece of machinery IMO!

[kgwld1]

Wow, most honest answer from a dillion owner I've ever heard. I always thought with the dillion you just set the stuff in front of it and it loads itself. I'm kidding but have always wondered if I made a mistake.
Wow maybe if I didn't have so much stuff for mine we could trade. Lol

[Fried Chicken Blowout]

Wow, most honest answer from a dillion owner I've ever heard. I always thought with the dillion you just set the stuff in front of it and it loads itself. I'm kidding but have always wondered if I made a mistake.
Wow maybe if I didn't have so much stuff for mine we could trade. Lol

I though they were magic as well. Good to know I can get screwed if I go blue as well. I did decap, size and trim 1500 .223 cases yesterday without any press related issues. I got one case stuck in the sizing die but I ran a batch that I didn't put enough lube on. Other than that it went real well and I was done in under two hours.

Oh wait. I did have to take apart the case drop thing that pivots and drops the case onto the shell plate. It's a constant POS and has to be very clean to work. Once I got it cleaned up and tightened the mounting bolt it work perfect again. But that was a 15min side trip.

[Raven Armament]

Dillon's aren't perfect and most of them require very little hands on preventative maintenance to keep things smooth. One of my Super 1050s had trouble out of the gate and took a while for it to get dialed in running smooth. I've loaded tens of thousands of trouble free rounds on it.

[m41]

For the LNL AP owners I think some of the pawl problems can result from leaving the press in its top stroke when you tighten the shell plate. I think it is wise to follow the manual, raise the ram and block the tool head so nothing is pressing on the pawls.

When I got mine I tore it completely down to check it out. I like to know how things work. I also spent a fair amount of time smoothing out machining marks on almost everything that slides or moves. The smoothing and polishing helps more than one would think.

Just a few things to consider.