which reloader
11-28-2003, 08:58 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Western Nebraska
Posts: 3,393
RE: which reloader
Hornady no longer makes the Projector. It' s the " lock and load" AP. AP is for auto progressive and it' s a very fine press.
The way to use the lock and load feature is with Hornady' s lock rings and it' s a finess thing. Once you catch on it' s a very fine progressive press and in my estimate it' s better than the Dillon.
I wish Hornady offered a video like Dillon does.......
It takes a while to learn the press but it' s worth it. Both are fine presses but I prefer the Hornady Lock and load AP. However you won' t get a bummer with either press.
The way to use the lock and load feature is with Hornady' s lock rings and it' s a finess thing. Once you catch on it' s a very fine progressive press and in my estimate it' s better than the Dillon.
I wish Hornady offered a video like Dillon does.......
It takes a while to learn the press but it' s worth it. Both are fine presses but I prefer the Hornady Lock and load AP. However you won' t get a bummer with either press.
11-29-2003, 05:49 PM
#3
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Brunswick, OH
Posts: 272
RE: which reloader
I haven' t used the lock ' n' load from Hornady but have used the Dillon for years and have never been let down. The customer service is something to keep in mind also. I have never dealt with hornady' s customer service but it is probably good too. Every time I have had need to call Dillon with even the smallest of problems they dealt with the problem right on the spot. You get to talk to people instead of machines too.[:-]
12-04-2003, 07:56 AM
#4
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Interlochen, MI, USA
Posts: 73
RE: which reloader
pinesap,
Stay as far away from Hornady as you can!!!!
Here is a post I had saved from a number of years ago that I think you might be intrested in. A gentleman named Zeak was asking the same question you are asking now and below is my answer to him.
By the way, my Dillon is still running perfectly.
Zeak,
With all due respect to Shooter Dan, DO NOT!!! buy a Hornady progressive press, buy a Dillon 550B.
A few years ago I had a case of the “got to get it nows” and bought a Hornady “Lock-n-Load” progressive press instead of waiting for a Dillon to be shipped to me. BIG MISSTAKE!! Right from the box the Hornady was out of time and had to be adjusted, the powder measure would constantly stick in the dispense position, the problems with this press were never ending. But the worse part of owning a Hornady product I found out was their customer service, which stinks at best. I called repeatedly about the problems I was having with the powder measure sticking I was told to “read the directions”. Trust me I had, more than once. Yes I used graphite like I was told to do, yes I “worked the burs off” but it would still stick in the dispense position. I sent the powder measure back after a number of insults from their customer service personal. I did receive a new powder measure from them, which of course still stuck. I worked at removing the burs and using graphite until the measure seemed to be working reasonably well. By the way don’t even think about using extruded powder. I had loaded about 500 45acp loads for IPSC competition which only took about 3 months to get loaded considering all the BS I went through with their customer service trying to get their press working. So off to the range I went for some IPSC competition. With me I take my custom Caspian match comp gun. Can you say BIG money?
Well I discovered in a most spectacular way that the powder measure had stuck once again in the dispense position while loading these rounds. While smokin through a rack of pepper poppers my pride and joy comp gun detonated in my hands. The barrel burst, the magazine was blown out of the mag well, the red dot scope mounts were blown out of the frame, the slide was bulged to the point it had to be cut from the frame. Luckily I still have 10 fingers and eyes to see them with. I ended up with only minor powder burns and a destroyed pistol.
To make a long story short what we discovered was that the powder measure had once again stuck in the dispense position thereby not dispensing powder in the following round. While speed shooting the pepper poppers the round not having any powder entered the chamber and the primer placed the bullet just down the barrel. Using the light recoil springs commonly in use on comp guns the primer alone had enough power to cycle the slide and chamber another round and in an instant a $2500 gun was turned into a useless lump of steel.
What did Hornady do? After talking with their customer service and getting nowhere I worked my way up through their management until I talked with Steve Hornady himself. He asked if I would send my gun to them for evaluation, which I did. They then sent it off to Caspian for their evaluation. Caspian evaluated the gun and returned it to Hornady with their findings. After months of trying to get somewhere with Hornady I called Steve Hornady’s office and was informed by that the problem was I didn’t know how to reload ( so much for 25 years of reloading experience) and Hornady was returning my gun to me (cut in pieces). I was told not to call them back as they felt that this was settled. I had to threaten them with legal action simply to take back their press.
So I have never bought another Hornady product.
I did buy a Dillon 550 which I have never had even the slightest problem with. I did drop the powder measure down a flight of concrete stairs while moving and broke it. I called Dillon to buy a replacement, guess what? They sent me a brand new one FREE even though it was my fault. A friend of mine’s house burned down and he recovered his 2 550’s from the ashes and sent them to Dillon to see if they could be repaired. Dillon sent him a letter telling him how sorry they were for the lost of his house, and 2 brand new presses at NO CHARGE.
Hornady? Don’t waste your time or money.
Buy Dillon.
Stay as far away from Hornady as you can!!!!
Here is a post I had saved from a number of years ago that I think you might be intrested in. A gentleman named Zeak was asking the same question you are asking now and below is my answer to him.
By the way, my Dillon is still running perfectly.
Zeak,
With all due respect to Shooter Dan, DO NOT!!! buy a Hornady progressive press, buy a Dillon 550B.
A few years ago I had a case of the “got to get it nows” and bought a Hornady “Lock-n-Load” progressive press instead of waiting for a Dillon to be shipped to me. BIG MISSTAKE!! Right from the box the Hornady was out of time and had to be adjusted, the powder measure would constantly stick in the dispense position, the problems with this press were never ending. But the worse part of owning a Hornady product I found out was their customer service, which stinks at best. I called repeatedly about the problems I was having with the powder measure sticking I was told to “read the directions”. Trust me I had, more than once. Yes I used graphite like I was told to do, yes I “worked the burs off” but it would still stick in the dispense position. I sent the powder measure back after a number of insults from their customer service personal. I did receive a new powder measure from them, which of course still stuck. I worked at removing the burs and using graphite until the measure seemed to be working reasonably well. By the way don’t even think about using extruded powder. I had loaded about 500 45acp loads for IPSC competition which only took about 3 months to get loaded considering all the BS I went through with their customer service trying to get their press working. So off to the range I went for some IPSC competition. With me I take my custom Caspian match comp gun. Can you say BIG money?
Well I discovered in a most spectacular way that the powder measure had stuck once again in the dispense position while loading these rounds. While smokin through a rack of pepper poppers my pride and joy comp gun detonated in my hands. The barrel burst, the magazine was blown out of the mag well, the red dot scope mounts were blown out of the frame, the slide was bulged to the point it had to be cut from the frame. Luckily I still have 10 fingers and eyes to see them with. I ended up with only minor powder burns and a destroyed pistol.
To make a long story short what we discovered was that the powder measure had once again stuck in the dispense position thereby not dispensing powder in the following round. While speed shooting the pepper poppers the round not having any powder entered the chamber and the primer placed the bullet just down the barrel. Using the light recoil springs commonly in use on comp guns the primer alone had enough power to cycle the slide and chamber another round and in an instant a $2500 gun was turned into a useless lump of steel.
What did Hornady do? After talking with their customer service and getting nowhere I worked my way up through their management until I talked with Steve Hornady himself. He asked if I would send my gun to them for evaluation, which I did. They then sent it off to Caspian for their evaluation. Caspian evaluated the gun and returned it to Hornady with their findings. After months of trying to get somewhere with Hornady I called Steve Hornady’s office and was informed by that the problem was I didn’t know how to reload ( so much for 25 years of reloading experience) and Hornady was returning my gun to me (cut in pieces). I was told not to call them back as they felt that this was settled. I had to threaten them with legal action simply to take back their press.
So I have never bought another Hornady product.
I did buy a Dillon 550 which I have never had even the slightest problem with. I did drop the powder measure down a flight of concrete stairs while moving and broke it. I called Dillon to buy a replacement, guess what? They sent me a brand new one FREE even though it was my fault. A friend of mine’s house burned down and he recovered his 2 550’s from the ashes and sent them to Dillon to see if they could be repaired. Dillon sent him a letter telling him how sorry they were for the lost of his house, and 2 brand new presses at NO CHARGE.
Hornady? Don’t waste your time or money.
Buy Dillon.
