Author Topic: Hornady LNL For begginers (Read 421 times)

vanbuzen9 · « **on:** March 17, 2005, 04:20:02 PM »

Hi all,

I am thinking of getting a 44 mag. this summer, and using it for dear hunting next year. Holly crap is ammo expensive!! Anyways, I probably will need a reloader, if I want to keep any money in the bank. Is the Hornady lock and load classic kit a good buy? It says it comes with everything needed except dies. Is this a good deal?

thanks,
Preston

Graybeard · « **Reply #1 on:** March 17, 2005, 05:22:17 PM »

It is an excellent buy and a mighty fine press. It is in fact the one I use for all of my reloading these days. Now I admit to not being overly fond of the LNL feature. Appears to be designed more to make money for Hornady thru sales of the bushings than as a convenience to loader as it is pitched to be. I use the bushings on my most often used die sets but for the rest I just change them out using a bushing in the press no different than I would if it didn't have the LNL feature. I'd have preferred the press be offered both ways, with and without LNL feature. That's really my only complaint if you wish to call it that.

SLAVAGE · « **Reply #2 on:** March 17, 2005, 05:32:07 PM »

4 letters for you
RCBS spend a little more an last a lot longer

Graybeard · « **Reply #3 on:** March 17, 2005, 05:43:26 PM »

Quote

4 letters for you
RCBS spend a little more an last a lot longer

In this case I'd have to say that's the voice of inexperience speaking. Certainly there is nothing wrong with the RCBS presses and in fact over the years I've used them far more than all others combine. Their warranty is as good as it gets.

BUT I own the press he asks about. It's the one I use. My RCBS is under the loading bench on the floor. I have other presses in boxes and laying around. But the Hornady is the one I load in when I load now. Quality is certainly equal to the RCBS and so far I've gotten the same treatment on those few occasions I needed to call for customer service at Hornady as I have at RCBS.

I actually prefer the Hornady dies over any brand I've used, especially their bullet seater dies.

Catfish · « **Reply #4 on:** March 17, 2005, 05:50:31 PM »

I`ve been loading on a Dillon press since the late 1970`s and would use nothing else. That said I would recomand that you get a good heavy duty single stage press to start. I don`t care who makes it, but buy a starter kit with a scales, and the rest of the stuff you need to get started. Stay away from Lee equipment as it is made for limited use and will not hold up under heavy use. Hronady, Layman, Redding ect are all good, just get the heavy one. They will last forever and you will use less energy pulling the handle.

SLAVAGE · « **Reply #5 on:** March 17, 2005, 05:52:54 PM »

i had the older hornady umm pro 7 had all kinds of prob with it sold it then had the rcbs progressive press an like it
but now for single lol your gona love this one
i got an lyman spartan
an i tell you want see if you can get one off of ebay i see them for like dirt cheap this thing is strong it dosent give at all

i got a set of 44 mag dies from hornady with the shell holder very little use it came with my press a while back
um say 35 shipped sound good? oh ther carbide all so

bill are you saying you can use them bushings in other presses?

Graybeard · « **Reply #6 on:** March 17, 2005, 06:19:27 PM »

Quote

bill are you saying you can use them bushings in other presses?

NO. I'm saying you can just put a bushing in the press and leave it with the press and then you remove the dies from the LNL press just as you would from any other brand of press. Or you can leave the bushing with the dies which is how Hornady envisions it being done and just a single partial twist and the whole shebang comes out to be replaced with another just as quickly. BUT those bushings ain't cheap and do add up if you have as many die sets as some of us do. It is convenient but at a price. I just think it would be a service to the customer to offer the press both ways and let the customer decide which way to go.

They really do have a solid press now. I've never used older ones by them but this new LNL press is a fine buy.

SLAVAGE · « **Reply #7 on:** March 17, 2005, 06:31:10 PM »

i seen ther new progressive im really impressed with it
yeah the one i had was all most like the cheap frying pan cast iron were it wasent to stong in itself
i was hopeing that bushing was able to go on other presses it would be perfect for powder dispencers for progressives

vanbuzen9 · « **Reply #8 on:** March 18, 2005, 01:18:18 AM »

Thanks for the replies. Another question would be how the lnl is attached to the bench surface. Is it just 2 bolts in the back? I probably will have to be able to remove the whole press from the bench easily, because it will be on my dad's work bench. If he has a project going, it must come off.

One more thing, I see that the kit for this reloader comes with a magnetic scale. I could see using that getting very tedeous after a while. Should I spend the money for a digital scale? If so, what brand?

thanks for the help,
Preston

Graybeard · « **Reply #9 on:** March 18, 2005, 03:24:07 AM »

The LNL attaches to the bench just like everyone else's presses do. You drill two holes in the bench and bolt it down. That's pretty much an industry standard. You will need to make those two holes in the bench for all of them. You might could attach it to a board and then clamp that board down to the bench if the holes are a problem. But be aware such a set up is not gonna be nearly as secure as bolting it down and could cause problems.

The magnetic damping scales are what we all used for thousands of years (ok maybe not quite that long)

before the digitals came out. Would I ever go back to them? No. But they work fine. Slow but fine. But then I throw almost all of my charges from a powder measure and once I have it set seldom weight the individual charges. Of course with coarse grain stick powders you really must weight individual charges.

Questor · « **Reply #10 on:** March 18, 2005, 03:30:37 AM »

I've got the RCBS. If I were doing it again I'd get the RCBS. I recommend RCBS. RCBS and Dillon are simply the best at what they do.

Badnews Bob · « **Reply #11 on:** March 18, 2005, 06:08:11 AM »

Not anymore Questor. The Lee classic cast press is better, Much better.

I use hornadays LNL bushings in my Lee press, But like GB only on some dies, mostly the ones I use alot. It's also capable of loading .50bmg if you wanna dance with the big boys.

I turn out several hundred rounds a month on my Lee equipment most of that is on a second hand turrent press close to 20 years old, I always hit what I'm aiming at.