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Thread: Thoughts on Hornady lock n load system

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  1. #1
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    Thoughts on Hornady lock n load system

    Hey guys, need some thoughts on the hornady lock n load system.

    I have been wanting to get into reloading for a while and ran across this system in my research. It sounds like the lock n load bushings would make things easier to duplicate once set up and locked in. It also comes with everything needed to get started up, as I have nothing.

    This would be for range ammo mostly (223/556, 9, 40 45) and possibly some precision hunting loads in .270 and eventually 300acc.

    Is this a good investment? I have enough rewards points to get the system and some dies without having to out of pocket any funds. Any advice is appreciated.

  2. #2
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    I have a Lock and Load. Awesome system and your are correct that the bushing do make things a lot easier.

    I was in your shoes a while back and everyone told me to go Dillon. In my experience Hornady customer service is every bit as good at Dillon. All Hornady ammo is developed on their own reloading equipment. Do your research but you need to run a Dillon filter as most of those that say go blue have never used any other reloading equipment and have a huge bias.

    I dont reload as much as I used to as the price of ammo has come down but I very much love my LnL.

  3. #3
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    I went with the LNL several years ago and am very happy. CS is outstanding. On paper and in use it is a far superior design to the Dillon. The benefit of the bushing system will become evident very quickly.

    I too asked around online and at stores. Most people recommended Dillon but when asked why the most common reason was ....that’s what everyone else uses..or great CS. The best resource is the Ultimate Reloader website. He has videos on every brand. Though he tries to remain unbiased, it was pretty obvious he liked the LNL best. The LNL is simply the best design out there. The powder measure is also great.

    I use it for high volume pistol but it should be even more user friendly for multi cal rifle
    Last edited by OldState; 07-10-19 at 13:18.
    "A flute without holes, is not a flute. A donut without a hole, is a Danish." - Ty Webb

  4. #4
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    The LNL single stage press is a light duty unit. I wore one of those out. I run the LNL convertion on my Big Boss II, and I love it.
    "What would a $2,000 Geissele Super Duty do that a $500 PSA door buster on Black Friday couldn't do?" - Stopsign32v

  5. #5
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    I personally if I had to start from scratch I would buy a Forster CO-AX press and piece together everything else I needed I think you would be money ahead in the long run. Now if your not really sure reloading is your thing and are just sort of dangling a toe in the reloading pond maybe a kit like that is a good way to go. I bought a similar RCBS kit years ago I think I'm still using the chamfer/deburing tool from that kit but little else.

  6. #6
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    To follow up... I see that you're indeed talking about the kit.

    I run the hell out of my single stage for decapping and sizing everything, and every other misc. operation that requires a press. My LNL single stage has a cast alloy body that I wore out to the point where the press shaft has a considerable amount of play in it.

    If you're not going to load high volume, that press could be ok. But I run my single stage hard and needed a cast iron press with a larger diameter ram/shaft to handle the load and volume.
    "What would a $2,000 Geissele Super Duty do that a $500 PSA door buster on Black Friday couldn't do?" - Stopsign32v

  7. #7
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    I have the LNL head space gauge kit it works well I believe Sinclair makes a little nicer head space kit also. I started out using a Sinclair bullet comparator just using a larger caliber hole to drop the comparator to the shoulder of the case it worked OK you can also check headspace by putting in a primer in a sized brass but leave it proud then chamber the brass this seats the primer then measure how high the primer is left sticking out of the brass this compared to the brass length should be your head space. I understand the high volume reloading I whore out many parts of my RCBS turret press and RCBS was fantastic about sending me replacement parts no complaints about them at all. I have since bought a Forster CO-AX and Redding T7 both very very nice presses. A good thing to compare when press shopping is shipping weights in the catalogs a RCBS turret and a Redding T7 turret press “look the same” the T7 weighs almost a third again more than the RCBS those shipping weights tell the real story on build quality.

  8. #8
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    If you are going to run an alloy (aluminum) press as a do all (main) press, you will have to clean the ram tunnel frequently. My recommendation would be to buy a cheap used steel press for decapping operations as the primer residue is the abraisive that wears out presses. I took MarkM's approach years ago and decap and size on steel O frame press in seperate operations to reduce the cleaning frequency of my Dillon.

    I took a quick gander on Midway's site and it appears the H L&L press is available with a cast iron frame also if I'm not mistaken. For the long run, it would be a worthwhile upgrade.

  9. #9
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    What did the OP end up getting?

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by ndmiller View Post
    What did the OP end up getting?
    Nothing at this time.

    Still looking at some other models. Just contemplating the LNL because I know hornady factory ammo is gtg and it has everything needed in the box.

    I want to thank everyone for their feedback and openings, as they did not fall on deaf ears.

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