by vmaxaust » 24 Jun 2018, 6:49 am
I'm trying to decide between the Hornandy LNL Classic Reloading Kit and the Lee 50th Anniversary Kit. I just have very little experience in this sort of thing. One store has said the Lee is better another store said the Hornandy is better.
If you have another option, i'm all ears.
Funny how everyone has had different experiences with different brand reloading equipment. I can't speak for any other brands but I'm a bit tired of the Hornady bagging that goes on...crummy dies, this doesn't work, that's no good.
I can't advise on the single stage presses but I have four Hornady LNL progressive presses, use only Hornady dies (not the cheaper ones but the upper quality range) I reload 45ACP, 9mm, 38 Special in handgun and .223, 300AAC Blackout and 303 British. I've never had issues with any of my setups except when cleanliness was sub par. Maintaining everything is the key no matter who's machine you buy. Setting up dies carefully and using case gauges to confirm what you are achieving is important. Measuring your rifles headspace in conjunction with the Hornady bullet comparator as Blade said will ensure you size cases to best suit YOUR rifle.
It's not rocket science but a methodical check and measure, set the dies and keep checking (things move and wear) using a case gauge to confirm you are achieving consistent results. The brand of the equipment often has very little to do with your success. However the Hornady bashing is hilarious to me considering my situation but I've also had problems during loading with machines apparently acting up. 98% of such problems were ME and not the machinery. I'm a mechanical person who built high powered V8 engines for 43 years. I could grind a crank to a tolerance of .0001" in size, journal taper and out of round and even I screwed up in the reloading process.
The machinery can be flawed sometimes. Designers get it wrong. Sometimes you simply have to improvise to overcome problems or ask suppliers if there is a factory fix. Reloading is like any other mechanical endeavour, it's not factory mass produced ammo coming off expensive automatic machines. You have to be prepared to adapt yourself to the possibility that you may need to alter equipment to improve the results you are getting. It's not cut and dried...buy a press and some dies, set them up once and then everything is perfect forever. That's not going to happen. Each brand of equipment has their quirks and once you identify this you will adapt either procedures or adjustments to achieve consistently great results.
Most importantly, don't be put off and decide not to reload yourself. Lot of satisfaction firing your own reloaded rounds and being able to experiment till you optimise a combination. Take head of the ADI loading manual to give you baseline loads and stay conservative at first.
Sam