Setting up & dialing in my LNL AP.

[Oreo]

If you understand mechanical things well, this press is a breeze to set up. Everything makes sense & functions smoothly.

I replaced the Lee die lock-rings with hornady lock-rings 'cause they're a much better design.

Took me a second to figure out what a proper crimp was, but once I understood what I was trying to achieve- that was smooth as pie.

And finally, I bought the smaller pistol powder measure. With WSF this thing is ON POINT! I keep doing test case after test case to see what the normal load fluctuation is... there isn't any! 5.50gr every friggin time! (my scale has resolution down to .05gr & seems to be accurate & repeatable to the same.)

I also think that there's enough room for adjustment that I could get a pretty good amount of bell on the case mouth if I wanted to load lead bullets. I haven't tried yet 'cause I've been fooling with FMJ's but, now that I see what's needed I think I could get it done. We'll see, I've got a few lead bullets to play with for another time.

I read somewhere that the rubber o-rings on the hornady LNL bushings can be replaced with a thicker o-ring to secure the bushing better. I definitely think this is a good idea, so I'll have to pick some of them up.

I don't have a powder check die yet, which means I'm crimping in station 4 so the ejector wire conflict with the Lee FCD isn't an issue yet.

Feels good to be getting started on this though. :yesnod: :supergrin:

[MakeMineaP99]

Congrats, you're one step closer to the gun culture.

[Oreo]

Another observation... The Hornady LNL powder measure meters very consistently when operated smoothly. However I do notice that if I'm shaking the think all to hell (making adjustments on a wobbly bench) the WSF powder will settle a little bumping up the charge weight by a couple tenths on the next throw.

[BigDog[RE]]

Yep, you discovered two things:

1. WSF meters very well and kicks ass in that department
2. A sturdy bench is a necessity.

When I started, my bench wasn't the greatest, it was a little shaky. Once I replaced it with a good solid sturdy bench that didn't move, it made all the difference in cranking out ammo.

[DssG19]

You were smart to get the small pistol powder rotor. I shook my head for 8 months with the stock rotor.

[MakeMineaP99]

I run the stock rotor with the rifle micrometer for rifle and pistol, no problems to report.

WSF meters well, Silhouette meters even better. I'm not using as much WSF these days, been really happy with Silhouette.

[PsychoKnight]

Another observation... The Hornady LNL powder measure meters very consistently when operated smoothly. However I do notice that if I'm shaking the think all to hell (making adjustments on a wobbly bench) the WSF powder will settle a little bumping up the charge weight by a couple tenths on the next throw.

Use a powder baffle, like RCBS's (remove hopper, squeeze to make it spring-loaded fit at the bottom of the hopper), or make your own out of folded cardstock, cap of the toothpick jar, etc.

[Oreo]

I'm considering that but in this particular instance it wouldn't have made any difference at all. I had the bare minimum powder in the hopper to begin with. The powder level wasn't even up to the clear plastic. I was just shaking the whole press all to hell 'cause it wasn't mounted propperly.

[JLarsson]

What kinda scale you got that measures to .05 gr?

[Oreo]

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=297

It's a pretty nifty little scale. There is some "phenomenon" with it that I can not explain. But, it's amazingly stable & repeatable even to .05gr.

As for the "phenomenon", if I place my hand, still in the air about 2 inches off of the load plate, the scale will read a little less weight then when I pull my hand away. It does this consistently & I can't figure out why.

[MakeMineaP99]

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=297

It's a pretty nifty little scale. There is some "phenomenon" with it that I can not explain. But, it's amazingly stable & repeatable even to .05gr.

As for the "phenomenon", if I place my hand, still in the air about 2 inches off of the load plate, the scale will read a little less weight then when I pull my hand away. It does this consistently & I can't figure out why.

Lighting or air currents.

[MakeMineaP99]

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=297

It's a pretty nifty little scale. There is some "phenomenon" with it that I can not explain. But, it's amazingly stable & repeatable even to .05gr.

As for the "phenomenon", if I place my hand, still in the air about 2 inches off of the load plate, the scale will read a little less weight then when I pull my hand away. It does this consistently & I can't figure out why.

Oreo,

Is that place a good place to do business with? Never heard of them.

[Oreo]

I only bought from them once & they gave me no problems. I saw them recommended on another web site but I'm not sure if OldWill paid to have his business mentioned. I asked them to send me another calibration weight under waranty but I never received it. (I wanted a second to double check the accuracy of the one that came with the scale.) I think the girl running the phones that day was a waste of space.


This is the site I found OldWillKnott on. Here are a few links I found to inform my decision. I started my search on ebay & found the brand "digiweigh", and searched that brand on google which lead me to this site- which gave a scathing review of digiweigh.
http://digitalscale.com/JSV.html
http://digitalscale.com/jennings.htm
http://digitalscale.com/brands.htm