LnL AP? Is it good, how much did you pay?

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VinnyQC

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I can get a brand new LnL AP for 447$ including taxe and shipping, is that a good deal? I currently have a loadmaster, happy with it except some quirks which the LnL might not have. Reason I'm not pulling the trigger is I have all the shellplates and a bunch of 5holes turret heads for the loadmaster, and pretty much all the possible accessories.

Is it 4 or 5 stations?
How does the caliber-change work? I suppose I need a new shellplate and for the dies do I use the LnL busing or it's more like a turrethead/toolhead? How much does a shellplate and whatever goes up there cost? I regularly load 5 calibers (possibly 6 if I start reloadin 223), so if they cost about 100$ each it adds up... I already have all the dies though.
 
It has 5 stations and the bushings aren’t terribly expensive if I remember right. If you switch calibers a lot, it makes sense to have seaparate bushings for each caliber

Shell plates are around $25-$30 I think
 
I was also tempted by the Hornady (on sale in the US for $378 recently) but what put me off was the cost of the case feeder. I have two Loadmasters and whereas their case feeder assemblies cost about $40 each (and actually work quite well) the Hornady unit is in the $500 range plus the various shell feeder conversion plates are about $60 each. I couldn't justify almost doubling the price of the press just for automatic case feed and wouldn't want a progressive without one. Shellplates are going to run you about $50-60 a pop in Canada.

If anyone can come up with a simple mechanism to adapt the Lee case feeder assembly to the Hornady press for under $100 they can make themselves a tidy little income. There are some on YouTube but they require a lot of tinkering and experimentation. I just want one to bolt on and go and then I could justify a Hornady as I think they are otherwise an excellent press.
 
I bought a used one for around $400.CDN but came with extra stuff like powder/primers etc. I'd say $447 is a great price!

I've had mine for about 3yrs and have no major complaints or issues. I didn't bother getting the shell feeder or bullet feeder like the Ammo Plant. I do have the bullet feeder dies that I load up tubes to speed up production.
 
I went to Havre MT a few months back to the North 40 store picked one up for $376 as they price match anyone, picked up 9mm & 223 shelholders at the same time $30 each, as someone else mention they are closer to $50-60 here. I have only made a few 9mm dummy rounds with it as my ammo supply is still good, but i can't wait to start, very smooth press. I'm too cheap to buy an auto case and bullet feeder, so i went with the bullet die feeder (comes with expander), in my winter boredom I made 6 bullet tubes out of an old set of golf club shafts, dremeled a small window and drilled a small hole for a cotter key, works great, holds about 250 bullets between the 6 tubes, then i started thinking about a case feeder, lots of you tube vids but i just wanted it simpler for the time being, used my Lee case feeder assembly with collilator, made a small bracket to mount to the little arm and a guide to the shell plate, brass drops down and you slide them into the shell plate with your index finger, I'm not sure how to post pics here but I'd be more than happy to text pics or if someone want to post them, shoot me a PM. i was lucky enough to get 308 & 38spl shell plates from wholesale sports for like $22 when they were closing out.
 
Seriously, 500$ for a case feeder? How do you do it if you have neither case feeder nor bullet feeder? With pulling the handle, that's 3 operations, that's gotta take quite some time and be a bit awkward with just 2 hands, no?
 
SURESHOT73 said:
Buy the bullet feeder die for like $30, make tubes (you tube) or buy Hornady ones. PM me your cell number and I'll send you some pics.
Click to expand...

I'm actually thinking of doing this with my loadmaster. The bullet feeding system on Lee presses doesn't require a station at all but it's kinda crappy, I've broken more feed lips than I want to admit. I still have all the hardware and on most of my calibres I have a free station anyway.

Can you email the pics instead of cell phone?
 
The funny thing is that I stumbled into that 477$ press while looking at getting a hornady powder measure and the case-activated powder drop because the Lee drums keep spilling H110 while I reload, and the total for these 2 accessories is 250$+taxes, so almost 300$. For about 150-200$ extra I'd get the whole press.
 
SURESHOT73 said:
Pics sent
Click to expand...

Thanks. Clever way to do it, not automated but saves fumbling with brass too much. Do you have pics of the bullet feeding part? Like the dies where you place the golf clubs?

Every time I see pics from other reloading setup they're so clean I feel like a dirty pig.
 
Great. I think I'll order a bullet feed die to see how I could arrange something that works better than the Lee bullet feeder. With the 9mm dies I have a powder cop between the powder drop and the bullet seater, but for every other calibre that station is empty.
 
If you use thee "bully adapter" you can mount a lee 4tube bullet feeder on thee hornady bullet feed diee.


This is how mine is seet up.
stage 1 - resizing die
stage 2 - lyman expander and powder drop die (powder meeasure on this die)
stage 3 - hornady bullet feedeer die, bully adapter, lee bullet tubes
stage 4 - seating and roll crimp die
stage 5 - taper crimp

my press is the older Hornady projector, using lyman, lee, and dillon parts.
- hornady dies
- hornady taper crimp
- hornady bullet feedeer die
- lee bullet tubes
- lyman powder through expander die
- bully adapter (google it)
- dillon primer tubes, primer alarm



i can load approx 1000 rounds an hour with my setup. Will post pics if people want to see the setup.
 
VinnyQC said:
I can get a brand new LnL AP for 447$ including taxe and shipping, is that a good deal? I currently have a loadmaster, happy with it except some quirks which the LnL might not have. Reason I'm not pulling the trigger is I have all the shellplates and a bunch of 5holes turret heads for the loadmaster, and pretty much all the possible accessories.

Is it 4 or 5 stations?
How does the caliber-change work? I suppose I need a new shellplate and for the dies do I use the LnL busing or it's more like a turrethead/toolhead? How much does a shellplate and whatever goes up there cost? I regularly load 5 calibers (possibly 6 if I start reloadin 223), so if they cost about 100$ each it adds up... I already have all the dies though.
Click to expand...


I have 2 of these presses and they work great when they are setup properly. They can sometimes be a littler finicky, but If you spend the time on the proper setup they will work fantastic. The shell plates are now about $50 and the bushings are about $26 for 3. The great thing about the shell plates is that they can also be used to load other calibers with the same rim dimensions. They powder measure has been very accurate for me with different types of powders. Hornady will also replace any parts if you just give them a call. The parts come fast as well. I would say that $447 is a decent deal, but keep in mind the dies, shell plates and bushings add up quick.

Just my 2C

Mike
 
madcow said:
If you use thee "bully adapter" you can mount a lee 4tube bullet feeder on thee hornady bullet feed diee.


This is how mine is seet up.
stage 1 - resizing die
stage 2 - lyman expander and powder drop die (powder meeasure on this die)
stage 3 - hornady bullet feedeer die, bully adapter, lee bullet tubes
stage 4 - seating and roll crimp die
stage 5 - taper crimp

my press is the older Hornady projector, using lyman, lee, and dillon parts.
- hornady dies
- hornady taper crimp
- hornady bullet feedeer die
- lee bullet tubes
- lyman powder through expander die
- bully adapter (google it)
- dillon primer tubes, primer alarm



i can load approx 1000 rounds an hour with my setup. Will post pics if people want to see the setup.
Click to expand...

Where did you buy the bully adapter? I see videos and pictures of it, seems to work well, but no way to buy it.
 
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