Do you keep the white rod in your priming tube as you are loading? You're suppose to keep the white tube in the priming tube so that the extra weight of the tube will keep all the primers down. I put a black mark on mine so I know when the priming tube is empty too. I've never had this problem specifically, but I have had the press fail to pickup a primer which kind of screws things up.

I will note, I no longer prime on any progressive press. I prefer to just hand prime when I'm sitting around the house. That way, when I'm ready to load some rounds I don't have the 100round stop limitation due to the primers and I don't have any chance of forgetting to seat a primer and have to strip down my entire press to clean up the powder. I've found a lot of people prefer this method.

Wow.. that is much worse than mine, I could understand your frustration.

I rarely load 380 or 9mm anymore, but next time I do I will try to make notes if I see a particular station that is losing powder more than another. I have not had any issues with loading 45acp at all. I have loaded well over 5k rounds of 45 and rarely ever see a flake of powder on the shell plate. I would definitely be concerned with that. Hopefully the new part from Hornady will fix your problem.

since this thread is about tuning the overall press I will ask my question here and save a new thread

new LNL owner here, i set up everything following the instructions, Bill Morgan(highgboy)'s video series, and the hornady video series

the issue i am noticing is this:

On the down stroke in my powder dispenser(station 2) the press is "hanging/sticking" and requires a small amount of force to advance the stroke, it makes almost like a snap sound when it does break free

i am loading 40, and using a PTX from hornady in the powder dispenser, i have it set to just barely flare the case to prolong case life

I also notice this doing the same thing in the Lee Factory crimp die (station 5)

when cases are in both of these the press is not smooth at all on the down stroke and the snap often cause the shell plate to jump forward just a tiny bit

anyone have any ideas?

Polish the nose on the PTX so that the case mouth is less likely to stick. It also helps if you barely mist the cases with some Hornady One-shot.

its going to take a lot for me to go back to one shot after sticking 2 case with it, dillon case lube has been working well for me

when you polished it did you just use a certain grain of sandpaper?

200 grit IIRC. Get it as smooth as possible.

Scotch-Brite.

That too!

yeah I keep the white rod in there.  Had to tear it all down last night as something jammed up in the primer system and the slide wouldn't go back.  ended up spilling primers all over and cussing up a storm.  Grrrr......  I want to like this machine, but it or me keep goofing up.  For all the crap the Lee presses get, my LLM has been(knocking on wood) fairly reliable.  I love the convenience of the bushings, the powder drop on the LnL etc...  Just dislike the primer system as it sits now.  Maybe it's something simple I'm overlooking otherwise.  I've put graphite powder in the slider area, sanded down any flashing etc...  Just keeps getting caught at times like I mentioned above, and the force required to seat some primers is crazy.



 

Powder  stuck in the primer punch. That will lock up the rotation and slide movement usually. Just remove the punch from below the sub plate and clean it out. I keep a small acid brush handy and if I see powder on the plate I pull the case at priming and sweep that area out as well as blow between the two plates if deemed necessary.

got it.  Thx



 

Yes keep the white rod in the primer tube. I made 2 marks on mine. One at 10 primers to go and another at zero.

I did a ton of research when I bought this press. Read tons of reviews and blogs. I considered the LnL AP and the Dillon 650. My plan was to get a press and once I get it working nice to add a case feeder. Since both the Hornady and Dillon are close in price once you add case feeder I went with the Hornady.

I bought the press to load .223 and eventually .45 , .308 and .30-06.

I too was really frustrated with the priming system. Sometimes it would not feed a primer then I had powder all over the place, other times it was super hard to seat one and sometimes they did not seat deep and would cause a major jam on the shell plate. I was ready to box the thing up and send it back or sell it and order the Dillon. Then I decided to do some research and found some videos, blogs, forums and websites with great info.Personally I prefer to read then watch a video so I used the websites more the Youtube.

I also had case shake when advancing and it spilled powder out of .223 cases. That too was really pissing me off.

I even bought an RCBS bench mounted priming tool and primed my cases and then ran them through the press.

I decided to try and "tune", "tweak" and adjust the press before I gave up. I was not willing to do any major mods. If it went there then I was trying the Dillon.

Here is what I did and it seems to really be working. I had already removed the priming system and I left it off for now. First thing I did was check to see if I needed a shim under the hub. I did add a very thin shim. Then that caused the pawls to need adjustment. No big deal there. I got the pawls dialed in pretty quickly. The case shake was still there but much less so. I play with the detent balls until the case shake was all but eliminated and powder spillage was not an issue but the plate still indexed nicely. I then loaded a few hundred rounds and it worked flawlessly. Now I was smiling.

My next trick involved getting the priming system working again. I used a honing stone to hone the slide for the primers. It was interesting to see the high spots. I polished that. I also added a very very slight chamfer to the primer slide hole. I cleaned the slide groove with degreaser and added some Hornady dry lube to it. Just a light shot. Then I degreased the rest of the primer parts. They did not seem greasy or oily but did so just in case. Then I installed the primer parts but not the tube. I then adjusted the primer guide rod so the hole in the slide is just slightly to the rear of the primer base when looking in it. Now I ran the press empty for 15-20 pulls removing a primer each time. Now it fed nicely.

Now I was getting excited. I had it advancing smoothly and primers feeding reliably. Now I went to test the priming setup. I just was going to run a batch of 20-30 cases through to prime only. I noticed some primed like butter others required a good push on the handle. I have the in line fab ergo roller handle. Still not happy.

All my brass is once fired 5.56mm so it had a crimp. I had used a Dillon swager to swage all my cases. I ran 20 cases back through the swage tool to make sure the swage was done properly. I then ran them through the press. No change still varying effort required to prime.

I bought the Hornady primer pocket reamer and reamed 20 cases. It was interesting to see even though the cases had been swaged some brass was removed. More on some than others. Now I ran these 20 through the press. They primed excellent and seated to the correct depth. The effort seemed normal, just a slight push on the handle.

I have loaded about 600 rounds without an issue since doing all this. I am now building an entirely new reloading area with bench and cabinets. Soon I will be adding the case feeder.

Update.  The new hub came and it measured consistent all the way around.  I installed it and used the .005" shim.  Anything larger and I started having resistance when cycling the press.  I tweaked the pawls and set the press up to do some .45ACP.  Loaded 100 rounds.  Had a few minor issues with the priming system and could not get the PTX Expander adjusted to actually bell the cases.  Followed the instructions, but when I adjust the linkage, it just seems to shorten the throw of the powder measure rotor.  I found the best thing for me is to run a cycle and size/deprime and then hand prime the cases after I clean them.  Then on my next cycle, I set the press up to expand, charge, powder cop, seat, and crimp.  I knocked out 100 9mm in no time and couldn't believe how fast you can go when you get in a rhythm.  All in all, I love the LNL AP.  I am still learning and tweaking, so I am sure it will get better over time.  When I did the 9mm, I used my thumb to ever so slightly add resistance to the shell plate as it came around.  Didn't lose a single flake this time.

To piggy-back on edgephoto's post, the primer slide sort of needs some help to slide easily.  Go with paste wax.  Clean the snot out of the slide, degrease it, and then lay on paste wax.  Once it hazes over, polish it and wax it again.  I did three coats on mine, as well as cleaning and waxing the channel the slide rides in.  Now my primer slide moves like it's floating in air and there are no alignment issues.

The primer slide won't make it easier to seat primers in cases with tight pockets, or with residual crimps.  I saw the same sort of issue with swaged cases giving me seating problems, and I've used Hornady's reamer on swaged cases and gotten material removed every time.  The Dillon swage is hard to use to get that little extra flare on the opening of a primer pocket, but you really need that for just about any priming system.  Picture the pocket on a R-P case: it has a nice, broad radius on the opening, which makes it really easy to seat primers in.  Now picture a Win or W-W pocket: the opening is almost square...  I'm almost to the point of using the Hornady reamer on anything that isn't R-P, just for consistency.

Edited for spelling...

@GHPorter

The wax is a great idea. I will do that as soon as I get my reloading area finished. Everything is apart now while I build a new bench and cabinets.

I just was not happy with the primer pockets using the Dillon swage tool. I sorted by head stamp and even had a friend who swears by the Dillon swage some brass for me. The pocket was too inconsistent for me.

I switched to reaming. Very consistent. The Hornady tool makes it near impossible to over ream. I know worry because you are removing brass. Well you trim the grass already so the tiny bit for the primer to seat nicely is a non issue. The neck will give out long before the pocket.

I settled on a .007" shim, even though my caliper and depth gauge measurements showed a .014" difference. Anything over .007" had a ton of friction and the shell plate did not want to move. .006 still had a leap to it, but .007 seems just right. If .003" clearance is the magic number, then I either mis-measured the two parts or I measured the wrong parts. Face to shoulder came to .941 and my sub plate came to .927.

Thanks for this thread though. I look forward to the next batch of 300 blackout to load. H110 powder loves to pop out of the short cases, so I am hopeful this resolves that.

This is my first post; been lurking for years.
I finally got into progressive reloading and found this thread to be helpful, but incomplete.

.005" = jumps still.
.005" + .0005" = jumps still.
.005" + .002" = sticks on 2 stations.

Tried lubricating with a few drops down to a half drop (yes seriously) of silicone between the shell plate and the subplate: didn't really help the stuck stations.

Here is a photo of what gave me the precision adjustment of pressure from the shell plate against the subplate at all times at all stations. This, combined with the .005"+.0005" shim, (in my case) actually did solve my jumping case and my stuck stations simultaneously - very critical for 107% powder loads in .300 AAC ...

...a spring. :)

Details on that spring, please?  That looks VERY easy and should be VERY smooth.

Spring details:

0.7" length uncompressed
0.5" diameter
0.039" wire
0.2" fully compressed

Not sure if this is the best spring for the application, but it's what I had laying around and it worked for me!

One Shot is perfect for pistol - you can choose to remove it or leave it on, IMO.
I use large coffee cans for my 'ready to load' ammo - getting ready for a loading session, open lid, spray a mist into the bucket, close lid, shake, open lid, repeat once, shake, then leave lid open.  Load primer tubes, and ready to roll.
This is with or without carbide dies - your press and arm/shoulder will thank you.

I couldn't imagine using Lanolin homemade lube (same as Dillons) on straight or taper walled pistol cases.

Wow... great idea! Any place where one might find commercially available springs to try this out?

Century Spring Corp is a company that I've used before to order springs.
If memory serves, you have to set up a dealer account for them to work with you though, and I'm not set up to do that as I was at the time...


Should be able to match the above requirements on their site though.

Interesting. The spring looks like is is in coil bind.

Am I assuming the bolt is torqued and tight? If so, I am not sure the spring is doing much other than allowing the plate to wobble a bit because the surface area against the washer is less than the direct bolt head.

If it works then great!

The problem with a spring(I had tried o-rings, a rubber spring) is that unless it is coil bound it will allow the shell plate to move up on the priming operation resulting in high primers. If it is coil bound it isn't a spring any more.

Oh, yeah, priming...

:( Doesn't work with priming.

Can someone explain what "coil bind" means and why this approach doesn't work with priming on the LnL?

Coil bind is when a spring is compressed until the coils touch, essentially just a bunch of lock washers stacked up. When priming, force is applied upwards on the shell plate. Unless you were to use an extremely stiff spring the shell plate will lift when you seat the primer.

So I tightened the spring more and was able to prime and have smooth indexing - the spring coil binds when the primer is being applied and otherwise it only barely is not fully compressed (we're talking a few thousands of an inch).

Thanks, that makes sense.

I can not get the subplate screws out. pb blaster. heat from a torch. i literally twisted the hex key.

Anyone have any tips?

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Those screws were in there good and tight for me too.  Try an impact driver, they will typically "un-stick" things that heat/cold, penetrating oil etc wont touch.  They do so by taking advantage of some physics principles. Basically they, in a way, bypass or minimize static friction (a much much higher force required) and go directly to dynamic friction.  I very carefully removed a super duper stuck choke this way, using this fancy stuck choke tool on midwayusa, and an air impact wrench.  Took it right out instantly with almost no perceived load being transferred into the barrel (you could have just held the barrel in your hand super tight and the ratcheting force is so quick it doesn't react too much load before the choke is loose).  No gunsmith we took this barrel to was able to get it out.  But I digress...

Good call. i actually had an impact driver sitting next to my bench, but the thought of using it never crossed my mind. i'll have to pick up some hex bits to go with it.

In the meantime, while everyone is ordering plate carrier shims...

I picked up a similar set, 1 1/4" id, to calibrate my rock chucker with a l-n-l conversion bushing. i should be able to shim the conversion bushing and be able to swap dies from the hornady press to the rock chucker without having to redjust dies. just measuring a few of my shell holders, several of them look like they will use the same set of shims, and a few calibers will need different sets, but there are enough shims for a whole range. this is the set i purchased. i'll update when i sit down at my bench and try them out.




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So i stripped the heads of both of the subplate screws, but managed to get them both out with an impact. I was able to get some very similar screws at the local old school hardware store.

I test fit the shims i ordered and they look like they will work perfectly.



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What height difference did you come up with?

And when you measured, did you find different differences at different stations on the LnL?

it was 0.145 +/-
that required exactly 2 shims from the kit.

I only measured at station 1 on the AP, because right now my only concern is sizing. the calibration differ depending on which shell holder is used on the single stage, as they all vary a little. I measured by installing a lyman universal decapper with the pin removed, it had a nice flat surface on top for the lend gauge to rest on. im sure a sizing die would work too. i measured into a case, to the flash hole, using the same case ob each press.

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On my LNL AP, I found that my drive hub sits 12 thousandth's high, I have the shims coming from Amazon. Thanks again for the thread OP.

I like your measurement technique.  How did you get your depth gauge to center on the flash hole?  And I'm assuming you used the same case for both measurements...

I'm looking at comparing the difference between the depth from die deck to shell holder/sub plate between my Rock Chucker with a LnL bushing and my LnL AP, so I'm working in this same direction.  So far, it's been a matter of deciding how to make the measurements as consistent as possible.  Mostly I want to get the difference between the two when the ram is all the way up, so I can keep sizing dies set the same between both uses - particularly my 300 Blackout die, since I use the Rock Chucker to form the cases.

the end of my calipers is pretty flat. holding it on the flat on top of the die keeps the depth gauge perpendicular enough for me.

i guess an alternative method could be done with a decapping pin, one with a lock nut like the rcbs. just screw it in by hand till it touches the spent primer in the shell, remove and measure.

yes, i used the same case in each press when measuring.

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Here is a video that describes this Calibrating LNL AP & LNL SS

Thought I would update the thread with some findings. It seemed that my indexing accuracy had declined and that shellplates that had worked fine were no longer working well. Inspection of the press revealed that the sub-plate had a few dings and raised spots from having loaded thousands of rounds and going through some process R&D. I have a small diamond hone used for toolmaking that I used to lightly dress the sub-plate. The whole surface should be completely flat and smooth, save for the ejector. I also tried something that I hoped would increase indexing smoothness. I held a center drill in my fingers and ever so lightly broke the edges of the centers that the ball detents locate in. Maybe two very light turns. I then cleaned everything well with brake cleaner, put a spot of bearing grease on the plate and reassembled. The press now runs the smoothest I have seen yet and the indexing is spot on. Once again, hope this helps.

For you guys who have some K&S brass sheet material, you can cut your own shim to try out before spending any money on the steel ones.

I had some from when I made my own shims for my old MP5SD suppressor, and to shim my M60 barrels.

These brass sheets are between .001" to .005" thick.

I cut a shim from a .005" sheet. it's not flat when you're done, but it will be when it's in place!

In my machine, .005" binds the shell plate.  I don't think my press has much of a problem, maybe some shake with .223, but I hardly do 223 in my LNL: I do it single stage because so many operations on the cases are done off the press anyways.

Maybe I'll try a .002" shim.

Sorry for resurrecting a somewhat aged thread but I have to say thanks to the folks who shared their collective experiences to help improve a great press.  008" shim proved to be the silver bullet for my press.  I was not looking forward to taking my press apart but the process was made relatively painless by the folks who forged ahead and shared what they found.  The benefits I've received from following their instructions include:

• Priming operation is much improved allowing for seating primers to full depth of the primer pocket.


• Shell-plate rotation is very smooth.


• Spring loaded locating balls no longer make the shell-plate "jump" ahead when they seat in the detents in the sub-plate.


• As a result of above, no powder jiggles out of the case

I learned from TZ350 that manufacturing tolerances could result in a excessive clearance between the shell-plate and the sub-plate resuting in high primers and spilled powder.

1911smith taught me that the shell plate simply acts as a shuttle, moving the cases along on the sub-plate.  His diagram also showed how there is no issue with any part of the press flexing but that there could be an issue with the sub-plate pivoting on the axis of the two screws which secure it to the ram.  He showed how to remedy that problem and thereby eliminate the problem of excessive variances in COAL; a potentially hazardous condition.

Finally, from member objekt I learned to replace the two factory supplied 10-32 x 3/8" flat head cap screws with 10-32 x 1/2" flat head cap screws (shortened by the length of one thread).  This results in a more secure and stable joint between the two pieces.

I would hope that Hornady would take this thread and have one of their technical writers turn it into an addendum to their User's Guide for the LNL press.

I made some custom pivot adapters for the case feeder. They work pretty well with oddballs like 300 blackout and 9x19.





http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/453500_my_custom_pivot_adapters_for_the_Hornady_case_feeder.html





<removed> Specific to Sales #2. dryflash3

Bumping this thread for those that may have obtained an AP for Christmas.

Having owned mine a little over two years now, I'm very happy with the Hornady AP. One bonus that you get with a properly setup drive hub is that a high primer shows up immediately. The drag during indexing tells you to investigate. That being said, my priming system gives me no trouble and allows me to concentrate on powder and seating.

I thing my next addition will be the rifle bullet feeder.


ETA:

I just noticed that yesterday was the two year anniversary for this thread!

I know its old but someone asked about Cristmas.
I got a LNL AP for Christmas and added the .006 shim. It works great for the 357 shell plate, but when I put the 223 shell plate on finger tight it locks up from binding friction. So I went with .003 and it works for 223 (still can't tighten bolt) but now the 357 plate is sloppy and i have to re adjust the index (prawls) each time i change shell plates. I spent 3 hours tearing off the sub-plate, adding and removing different size shims and checking with one shell plate (happened to be 357/38) and after all that, its the shell plates lack of consistency in tolerance that made this whole project a waste of time. Thanks Hornady, for your precision machining. I load more 300 BLK than 357 so I`ll keep it at .003 unless the lack of tension on the hex bolt causes the shell plate to loosen durring loading.

And .... it does... great!

So i'll change to .002 or .001 shim and continue to throw powder all over the press, the table and the floor with 357 cases and slow powders.

Don't get me wrong, I am greatfull for the OP and all the great info here, just generally unhappy with my press right now.

Wander down to the hardware store and get yourself a lockwasher - the split kind, not the one with a bunch of tabs on it.  Tighten the center bolt just enough to bottom out the lock washer.  You'll get pretty consistent tightening of the center bolt, and it won't loosen up.

In my case the lock washer and decreasing the set on the 2 indexing balls on the shell plates solved more problems than the shim did.  If I recall correctly I set the detent balls so they are between 0.010 and 0.015 below the top surface of the plate.

Allready got a split washer on it. But I can't tighte it flat without the shell plate binding up on the 223 plate while using the shims.

You've checked the #16 shell plate for burs and high spots, right?  Are the detents both the same height over the bottom of the plate? Are they the same height as the ones on your #8 (9mm) plate?