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hornady ap v lee load master

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hornady ap v lee load master

Postby leadpig » Mon Apr 14, 2014 10:41 pm

toying with the idea of getting a new press as i have 4 pistol calibers to load for, i wanted the hornady ap due to its quick caliber changes and decent priming/powder systems.
then i see the load master,for similar money as the ap and one caliber i can get the load master 4 shell plates a bullet feeder and a case feeder as well as a new set of scales.i already have the pro 1000 which is ok,but changing caliber is a pain as is the powder feed.
how much better is the load master than the pro 1000.
is it even close to the hornady quality.

not really interested in a dillon,to dear for what they are, and a m8 of mine who has a 650 reckons i would be better of with the hornady

cheers dave
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Re: hornady ap v lee load master

Postby Bushdog » Tue Apr 15, 2014 6:28 am

I have both the 1000 and the Loadmaster. In truth, I'm not a massive fan of either. due to the frequent need for fettling in order to maintain consistency. I would say the Loadmaster is less fiddly than the 1000, on which I loaded literally thousands of .45acp, 9mm and .40 S&W back in our days of pistol-ownership.
I now fully load .357 on the Loadmaster, and use the last 3 stations for powder insertion, bullet seating and crimping on .308 and .303 with it (Its not up to sizing rifle cases and the need for lube and trimming etc after de-priming makes fully progressive use for rifle cases a pain).
The two shortcomings in my view are the priming system, which has been greatly improved with the updates parts made of stiffer plastic to a slightly different design, and the powder measuring, which I have overcome by using the expensive, but reasonably accurate and consistent RCBS Uniflow with case actuation unit (a must for rifle loading in my view).
Changing calibres is easy if you buy extra turrets to go with your shell plates - you only set the dies up once that way. Ideally get a powder measure for each calibre, so you don't have to keep fiddling with the settings. The only other thing I find often needs adjustment is the primer seating depth, which seems to change with different calibres (I think this is because different die settings altering where top travel stops.
For pistol loading in volume, I'd have thought a Loadmaster would be OK, but it will require some frustrating fiddling to get it to run, which may not be necessary with better-made kit, irrespective of how long it takes to change calibres. I'd look hard at your wallet and think about something with more quality. To a man, the yanks all recommend Dillon - I have no experience of the Hornady, but it looks solid enough kit, and I'd be surprised if it wasn't more reliable than a Loadmaster.
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Re: hornady ap v lee load master

Postby Triffid » Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:23 pm

I faced exactly this dilemma a year ago, moving from a Pro1000 for pistol and a Lee Turret Press for rifle to something that would produce ammo a little bit quicker, without sacrificing quality. I looked very carefully at the Loadmaster, Hornady AP and Dillon 550.

My own decision was to go with the Dillon. Partly based on the fact that Lee were apparently withdrawing support for loading rifle calibres on the Loadmaster and I didn't want to go down all the Lee fettling again. The Hornady was just too much money, once I'd got 5 calibre changes included. So I went for the Dillon. And a year in, I've no regrets about the choice I made. No doubt Fenrir(?) will chime in with his comments on the Hornady.

The only issue I had with the Dillon was sourcing it! The factory was quoting several months delivery, UK suppliers were out-of-stock, but I eventually found Double-Alpha in Europe, who were very happy to supply me. I did wind up having to order some of the calibre conversion kits direct from the factory, but they were in stock and were delivered quickly.

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Re: hornady ap v lee load master

Postby Fenrir » Wed Apr 16, 2014 11:43 pm

Triffid wrote: No doubt Fenrir(?) will chime in with his comments on the Hornady.

Triffid

I would be delighted to, it is much more red than the Dillon, I would go so far as to say that in terms of redness it is right up there with the Lee. Other than that I cannot say as I don't own one in fact I don't think I have ever operated one. :grin:
For the avoidance of doubt, there is no such thing as "American English". There is the English language and there are mistakes.
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Re: hornady ap v lee load master

Postby Triffid » Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:43 am

Fenrir wrote:
Triffid wrote: No doubt Fenrir(?) will chime in with his comments on the Hornady.

Triffid

I would be delighted to, it is much more red than the Dillon, I would go so far as to say that in terms of redness it is right up there with the Lee. Other than that I cannot say as I don't own one in fact I don't think I have ever operated one. :grin:

Oops sorry, I've got mixed up (again).
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Re: hornady ap v lee load master

Postby leadpig » Thu Apr 17, 2014 6:19 pm

don’t care what colour it is ;) :lol:
Sidebyside wrote:Leadpig is probably right,( though I hate to admit that :mad: ;) ) .


Fenrir wrote:It is often better to let people think you are a bit simple rather than removing all doubt.
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Re: hornady ap v lee load master

Postby 247sniper » Thu Apr 17, 2014 6:32 pm

leadpig wrote:don’t care what colour it is ;) :lol:

Dream dream dream! :lol:
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Re: hornady ap v lee load master

Postby leadpig » Thu Apr 17, 2014 7:04 pm

247sniper wrote:
leadpig wrote:don’t care what colour it is ;) :lol:

Dream dream dream! :lol:

ehhh
selling a gun to get it :cry:
Sidebyside wrote:Leadpig is probably right,( though I hate to admit that :mad: ;) ) .


Fenrir wrote:It is often better to let people think you are a bit simple rather than removing all doubt.
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Re: hornady ap v lee load master

Postby Hovannes » Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:00 am

I'm not a fan of Lee scales or their powder measures. That much I can say as I haven't used either press you've mentioned. Another option for you might be a turret press. The Lee Classic has pretty good reviews but the Redding T is the Bee's Knees according to many. With replaceable turrets you'd have the option of quick caliber changes.
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Re: hornady ap v lee load master

Postby leadpig » Sat Apr 19, 2014 9:21 am

seen some new dillon 550's for sale at a good price, just waiting on a price for the hornady from my rfd if he can do me a good deal on one of them i will get that. if not it will be the dillon
staying clear from the lee, as I’ve been told they are a pain to get running right and need constant fiddling
Sidebyside wrote:Leadpig is probably right,( though I hate to admit that :mad: ;) ) .


Fenrir wrote:It is often better to let people think you are a bit simple rather than removing all doubt.
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Re: hornady ap v lee load master

Postby Clive Ward » Wed May 07, 2014 10:07 pm

Hi Dave,

Just noticed this.

I've got the Hornady AP with the case feeder.

I only reload rifle calibres on mine from .22 Hornet through to .308 so my procedure is a little disjointed.

I trim all the cases first on the RCBS trim pro power case trimmer, then run them through the press with just the Lee collet die in it and let them fall into the tumbler once they make their way around the carousel.

Once tumbled and cleared of media the cases go into their respective tubs for use later.

Onto reloading proper, once it's set up, which is a 5 minute procedure including setting the powder measure (which is probably 80% of the task) and checking the throw weight, then it is a case of add bullet, pull handle, visually check powder cop die, repeat until done. I just use the standard powder measure that came with it, but you can really speed up the calibre changes with the appropriate lower half of the die set for each calibre and then individual metering inserts for each load. For me it's not necessary.

It's not perfect and the biggest problem is any loose grains of powder jamming the primer slide feed and the case feeder stop being a bit slow sometimes and needs the occasional poke to get it to return.

Having said that, I've done thousands on rounds on mine and on the whole it's very reliable and I've not had one defective round from it.

Just checking the Hornady website there is now a bullet feeder available for the AP.

Hope that helps.


Cheers





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Re: hornady ap v lee load master

Postby leadpig » Wed May 07, 2014 10:36 pm

Clive Ward wrote:Hi Dave,

Just noticed this.

I've got the Hornady AP with the case feeder.

I only reload rifle calibres on mine from .22 Hornet through to .308 so my procedure is a little disjointed.

I trim all the cases first on the RCBS trim pro power case trimmer, then run them through the press with just the Lee collet die in it and let them fall into the tumbler once they make their way around the carousel.

Once tumbled and cleared of media the cases go into their respective tubs for use later.

Onto reloading proper, once it's set up, which is a 5 minute procedure including setting the powder measure (which is probably 80% of the task) and checking the throw weight, then it is a case of add bullet, pull handle, visually check powder cop die, repeat until done. I just use the standard powder measure that came with it, but you can really speed up the calibre changes with the appropriate lower half of the die set for each calibre and then individual metering inserts for each load. For me it's not necessary.

It's not perfect and the biggest problem is any loose grains of powder jamming the primer slide feed and the case feeder stop being a bit slow sometimes and needs the occasional poke to get it to return.

Having said that, I've done thousands on rounds on mine and on the whole it's very reliable and I've not had one defective round from it.

Just checking the Hornady website there is now a bullet feeder available for the AP.

Hope that helps.


Cheers





Clive

how often does this happen Clive :hmm: ,all the reports i have read praise the powder throw :?
probably wont bother with a case or bullet feeder to start with
Sidebyside wrote:Leadpig is probably right,( though I hate to admit that :mad: ;) ) .


Fenrir wrote:It is often better to let people think you are a bit simple rather than removing all doubt.
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Re: hornady ap v lee load master

Postby Clive Ward » Thu May 08, 2014 10:52 am

Hi Dave,

Not very often. Usually it's a result of me being ham fisted and spilling a bit when setting up the charge throw and not cleaning it all off the shell plate, it's worse with the very fine H110 for the hornet, which is like sand. Really thinking about it I should cover the shell plate when doing this and it wouldn't ever be an issue :Facepalm:

I had mine without the case feeder at first and to be honest it's nice to have if you are doing hundreds and hundreds in a session, but it doesn't make a massive difference in overall speed of production. The big advantage of it for me is for resizing the cases before tumbling because I can just throw a whole tub of empties in it and just keep pulling the lever until they're done.


Cheers





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