22 thoughts on “LNL AP Loading 30-06 (HD)”

  1. Great site, great how-to’s. I’ve reloaded rifle a while ago, and am going to get back into it. I’m shooting high volume (6.8 SPC) and loved the high rate of my progressive shotshell reloader, so I was looking at a Hornady AP. I’m not going to sacrifice accuracy for the speed of reloading, so how much more precise is a single-stage press over a progressive? Measureable, or negligible? Thanks for providing this service, keep it up, and start a classifieds page!

    1. Dan- If you are very careful with your setup, and use good dies, you can come close with the progressive. I’d say you could hold COL within .003″ or so if you are really careful. Competition seating dies and careful die setup will make that possible.

      Another thing to consider is how well the powder you will use will meter. Some stick powders (IMR 4350 for example) will not meter as consistently as you may like. I usually prefer to trickle those powders if I’m single stage or turret reloading, but if you can live with some variation, that’s not going to be a problem. The other approach is to pick a powder (such as Winchester 760 ball powder) that will meter more consistenly.

      Hope this helps…

  2. I am interested in what case lube is used, does it leave residue in the feeder tube, and why you don’t show the lube being wiped off after reloading?

    1. I’ve tried different types of lube, and reccomend something with a thicker viscosity than spray on lubes. I use the RCBS case lube pad, or Imperial case sizing wax- usually the latter.

      Yes, wiping off the lube is part of the job, but some times I can’t show everything because I want to keep the videos for these purposes down to a reasonable length 🙂

  3. I just got one of these presses. I set it up correctly as far as I know. I started to load 223. Using once fired military brass. Which had already been sized and de-primed as well as polished and the primer pocket swaged. I was having quite a bit of trouble seating the primer. I was using CCI #41 Primers. When seating seamed like the side of the primer was getting smashed therefore making the primer not able to be seated. Would a fix for that be increasing the swage or is it something else? It also noticed that their was brass shaving in the primer seat and I had to clean it out every now and then. Please Help Thanks

  4. Tyler- Let’s see if we can isolate the issue. Are you setup to load any other calibers? If you can load pistol ammo (small primer, such as 38 special, or 9mm) and don’t have the priming issue, then it’s likely your brass. If you do have the issue loading pistol, then your priming system needs tweaking…

    If you’re not setup to load pistol or another small rifle primer cartridge, then I can give you some priming system troubleshooting tips.

  5. Hi,
    The bullet comparator is just what I need.
    I looked at the Hornady web site and don’t see it listed under measuring tools.
    Is this still made?
    Thanks

  6. Gavin: Do you have any feel for the Dillon xl 650 vs the Hornady LnL production rates when both are fitted with case feeders? Thanks. Larry

  7. I’m new to reloading and purchased a Hornady LNL AP as well as the Dies for a 270 Win. What order should the dies and powder feeder be in to get the best results. Only 2 Dies come with the Hornady 270 Win New Dimension Set. Do I need more Dies?

    Thanks, Chuck

    1. Chuck- You’ll need the dies, and the proper shellplate (#1).

      Here’s the order of the dies:
      1. Size / deprime
      2. Powder measure (top), prime (bottom)
      3. Bullet seating (can move to 4 or 5 as well)

      You don’t need more dies. Hope this helps!

  8. Again I’m new to reloading and I purchased both the LNL AP and LNL classic and would like to use the Redding Dies with micrometers in both presses. I’ll be using the single stage classic for all until I get familiar with reloading. Assuming that I will calibrate the 2 presses, will Redding competion dies with micrometers work in either press?

    Thanks, Chuck

  9. I noticed while watching the dillon 650 30.06 video you did not have to hold the bullet inside the die, but you did with the hornady. why the difference in technique?

    1. That has to do with the fact that the Hornady indexes 1/2 station on the upstroke, and 1/2 station on the downstroke. It actually finishes indexing part way up, so you have a bit less clearance. Holding the bullet inside the die does the trick!

    1. Yes, for this type of loading, you’d want to swap out for the rifle rotor. When loading pistol, usually you want the pistol rotor (44 magnum or bigger requires the rifle rotor). You can actually use the rifle rotor for most loading, but for some light loads (3-5 grains) it can be inconsistent especially with some types of powder (flake).

  10. I did some reloading about 10 years ago for mainly pistol with a single stage press. I like the idea of the progressive press and know that the accuracy for loading pistol will be great. I noticed that when reloading the 30-06 shells that the clearance was not there for bullet placement. My worry is that I shoot 300 win mag and am not sure I will have the clearence to use the press for this shell at all. Im guessing that a bullet feeder will never be in the works either. I know most people that reload rifle use less ammo so maybe I just need to keep using the “chucker” for rifle. Will the 300 WIN be able to be loaded on the AP?

  11. Gavin,

    i was watching your 30-06 and 308 videos and i noticed you have to hand feed the bullet up into the die on both. i have the 30-06 Hornady die and AP and the problem i have is that if i set the die high enough on the press the top screw doesn’t go far enough down to properly seat the bullet. if i set the die to match a the spec’d round, the bullet itself catches on the sleeve and falls out of the case. one of my more knowledgeable reloading friends says i should not have to touch the bullet before it feeds into the seating die but depending on the setting of the die, i either have to lift up the sleeve or hand feed the bullet into the sleeve like you do. my question is that if the Hornady 30-06 die is meant to go in a progressive press such as the AP, why is it that you have to mess with the die (holding the sleeve up) or hand feed the bullet as you are doing? logic would tell me that if this was the case, in order to set the die to the correct depth and not have the bullet touch the sleeve, Hornady would have some sort of spacer insert for the die to compensate for the lack of length on the seating die screw? i am hoping to take pictures of this and post them online for my friend so he can explain what i am doing wrong but your videos show the exact opposite of the same maneuver i am having to do. either lift the sleeve or feed the bullet into the sleeve while lifting the ram.

    am i completely off base here? does this make any sense at all that you should have to do this when logic dictates all you would need to do is put the bullet into the case and ram the press? please help me understand why this is not working as it should be ideally operating. i am using 180Gr. SST bullets, once shot brass, Hornady AP and dies, as well as the powder drop.

  12. I was looking at the various videos and see there is one for a reloading 30-60 but when i click on the link to watch the video there is no video. I was wondering if you have a video that is posted somewhere else or not. I have a 30-60 and would love to watch the video as I am new to reloading and want to make sure I do it correctly.

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