Monday, May 21, 2012

Gear Review-Hornady Lock and Load AP Reloading Press

I'm an avid shooter. I usually hit the range weekly. In turn, I shoot ALOT of ammo. Ammo costs have continued to rise over the years. For the past few years I've been wanting to reload my own ammo, but the time commitment was too much for me, or so I thought. I'm a father of 3 and I value my time with my family. One hobby seemed like all I could squeeze in. Enter the Hornady Lock and Load.

A buddy of mine is a similar situation showed my just how fast and cheap you can load your own ammo. He also has the Hornady press. I was sold after watching him load a few rounds of .45acp.Cabela's just happened to have the LNL on sale, so I took the plunge.

The Hornady Lock N Load is a progressive press. There are single stage presses, turret presses, and progressive presses. Progressive presses tend to be the most expensive, but are by far the quickest way to load as they give you "stations" so to speak for your various types of dies. For example, my 9mm dies are RCBS carbide dies. There is a decapper/sizer die, a case flare die, and a bullet seater. On a single stage press, you would have to insert a die, resize/decap, the prime, the insert your case flare die, etc. The progressive press rotates to each station with a pull of the handle, which activates the ram. The Lock N Load has a priming station as well as a case activated powder drop. These two features are some of my favorite on the press. The primer station automatically inserts a fresh primer after one pull on the ram. The case activated powder measure let's you calibrate the amount of powder you want on each pull. I've found this to be very consistent on the amount of powder it drops on each case.

I've been very happy with Hornady's customer service. I've had a few parts break(my fault), and they replaced them free of charge. No questions asked. The press is very quick to reload pistol ammo. I have not yet reloaded rifle ammo, but I have a ton of .223 brass prepped and ready to load. I imagine the process will be just as smooth as the 9mm I've been loading.

Overall I'm very glad I took the reloading plunge, as I've already seen the savings. I also find if very relaxing and a great escape from everyday life. I would highly recommend the Hornady Lock N Load press to anyone looking for a progressive press that doesn't want to fork out the money for a Dillon.

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