- and the dies don't reach down far enough; on my LnL I gave-up trying to reload 9mm because it wouldn't resize them well enough to fit in the chamber. I load 9mm on my Square Deal.
- and the S-shaped stainless steel rod that works the primer feed, likes to catch the feeder bar instead of sliding it nicely back-and-forth, whereupon it cocks itself to the side and doesn't feed a primer - this is especially bad after you loc-tite the pin on the feeder bar that the roller rides-on; because if you don't, that pin falls-out, goes straight to the floor and is never seen again; if you do, the loc-tite seeps-out while setting and binds the roller to the pin, and the roller never turns again. I put a cheap spring that sorta' fits over the top plastic holder for that rod, so it pushes the primer feeder bar down at the top of the stroke - this has solved (so far) it.
- and trying to change primer sizes - which means trying to change feeder bars - which means trying to reconnect that D@MN spring to the head of the pin without either losing the pin, or having the spring go pwaaaaannnggg off into the distance... And Saints preserve you if you get any powder grains into the feeder bar track, like oh, say if you miss on the primer stroke and don't seat a new primer when loading with fine powder, and it dumps-out the flash hole all over everywhere - ANY dirt in the well the feeder bar slides-in, it won't go all the way forward and won't feed a primer... I do all my large-primer stuff on the LnL, and all the small primer (pistol) on the Square Deal, or (rifle) one-by-one on the old cast-iron Rockchucker, primarily so I don't have to change primer sizes.
- and having a problem in the primer feed serious enough that you have to take it apart when the well is full - primers are going all over EVERYWHERE, and rolling under EVERYTHING you can't reach under, and you won't find them all... And when you reassemble it, if you tighten the screw that holds the tube just the tiniest bit too tight, it pinches the feeder bar and then, no primers. But at least on the LnL (and the Dillon), the primer tube is shielded so you don't have to go out and pay extra for one.
- and that cursed little screw-in spring plunger that seats the primers - if that mucks-up and doesn't retract, it locks-up the feeder bar and then on the up-stroke the feeder bar pulls the S-shaped stainless steel rod out of its socket and breaks the plastic holder at the top of the press. ALWAYS have spares of those plastic holders - and be careful when you reinstall a new one, they have to be positioned right. And keep the spring plungers clean and oiled - but remember, they push primers so don't over-oil them because the oil WILL seep-in and deactivate primers.
- and those d@mnable springs around the tool head that hold the cartridges in. Those springs were the main reason I bought the LnL; when doing rifle rounds (especially with rod powder - it will not feed through a powder-thrower) I assemble the cartridges in steps, using half the equipment in the shop, and only neck-size and deprime, seat the bullet and crimp on the LnL. The springs make it much easier to haul cartridges out and in at different stages during the loading cycle, to work on them somewhere else - but the springs delight in finding their way under the lip of bigger cases (.45 ACP in particular) going-into the first stage, and getting crushed - and then they look crummy.
- and the bayonet-mounting for the dies. This is a convenience feature, and makes the press cheaper and easier to reconfigure for other calibres - but the bayonet fittings (most particularly on the powder thrower) like to unlock themselves, and you gotta' watch for this. I've had one primer pop in the whole time I've been shooting, and it was when the powder thrower unlocked itself and was just going up-and-down instead of dispensing powder. So, it was the press's fault - but who knew the powder thrower would do that, and shoulda' been watching for it? Oh yeah; that'd be me. The sad thing is that I loaded five of them - the good thing is that, forewarned by the first one, I weighed all that batch and identified the other empties because they weighed ~3 gr less than the properly loaded ones. But the bayonet-mount isn't worth its trouble - go for a replaceable toolhead.
Bottom line on the LnL - it does everything you want a progressive to do, and does a lot of it quickly and well, and Hornady service is good, fast and unquestioning - but you've got to be reasonably handy with tools, know how to fix stuff and watch it closely - and regularly re-tighten the powder thrower in its bayonet mount, but only grab it by its base because the whole thing will twist, and it'll come apart. Doing it again, I'd likely pay the extra and go for a Dillon 650.
