I have not reached out to Hornady yet, but will if that seems to be the best course of action. I have also tried googling but not found this exact scenario. I picked up a never used Hornady LNL AP from my neighbor for less than half the price of a new setup from the store. He never even set it up and many of the parts were still in wrappers. The press had the large primer seater and slide installed so I switched it to the small seater and slide as everything I will be loading on it anytime soon takes small primers. I threaded the small primer punch into the sub-plate to finger tight and tightened it maybe 1/16th of a turn (not over tightening). I put the small primer slide in and attached the spring (and put everything else on). The primer slide doesn't move and the breakaway cam wire immediately pops out. I remove the primer housing body and spring and find that the slide is caught on the punch. Pull it off and try sliding forward. Hits the punch. I am finding some pictures from old forum posts where some people's slides are getting a small notch from the punch with use. However, mine isn't just catching a little, it is not letting it move at all. Is a shim/washer on the under side of the sub-plate on the primer punch they best way to fix? I am concerned that might create an issue with fully seating primers. Should I notch the primer slide for the punch, or would that create an issue with primers catching? Final option is see if Hornady will send me new parts. Anyone dealt with this?

You'll have to find the online manual as Hornady wouldn't send me one.

I think the doodad(primer punch, is there a SP and LP punch? I don't remember)that is sticking up needs to be unscrewed a bit from under the press if I understand what you are saying. I did shim mine if i recall.
Hornady will send you parts but if you tell them it is bought second hand they may charge for parts as they did me.

Also, following thread on Hdy LnL may help fine tune your set up.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/414607_How-to-tune-the-Hornady-Lock-N-Load-AP-progressive-press.html

That is what I am referring to. Now to see if I can find some 5/16" ID shims in town. I've got plenty of 1/2" shims for AR barrels.... Good news is it only takes a 1/4 to 1/2 turn unscrewing it for the slider to not catch.

I have this press and its been great, except for priming in my experience. I finally got tired of fiddling with it and now use a Lee bench primer.

Anyway, my only suggestion is to remove the "punch" and cycle it by hand while blowing compressed air into spring area. I would at times get brass shavings in mine that wouldn't allow it to drop down enough and cause the issue you're experiencing. Maybe there's a small piece of debris from manufacture stuck inside?

OP, why do you have the sweeping wire? You could maybe buy a new deck plate from Hornady that does away with the wire, known for launching 9mm cases although I never personally experienced that.

All said I still love my LNL but mine has been relatively issue free.

I'm pretty sure the OPs pictured plated is Hornadys newest plate design, non-sweep wire.

The spring in the punch is probably stuck.  Mine got like that.  I got a new punch assembly from Hornady and a new slide.  It's super smooth now.

The spring in the punch needs to be cleaned out of debris
I squirt IPA and blow it out with air, canned air will do

It's a solid bent tube, but the manual still labels it a wire.



This press has never loaded a round, it isn't dirty with brass debris, etc. However, you two got me thinking. I looked at both the large and small punches. The small was sticking up, and the large was flush (pics below). I manually operated them by pushing on the spring. The large was smooth, but the small was like I had to get past a detent with the upper 80% being smooth.

I disassembled it and found I was able to force the small plunger all the way down, but I had to force it back out. I then noticed I felt a burr all the way around where I'm pointing with the pick. I forced it back in and grabbed it at the E clip location with needle nose pliers and spun it for a while. It smoothed up greatly. I then hit that edge a little with a tiny file I have. No pressure, but just gently spinning the edge on the file. The plunger started going in all the way so I reassembled and it was now flush and operate smoothly.

I then lined everything up, loaded 10 primers in and operated the press without a shell plate. Picked up all 10 smoothly and lifted then on the plunger with 10 cycles of the handle! I may have eventually thought of that, but I hadn't prior to reading those posts... Thanks guys!

OP,
  I've been using a LnL for about 12 years. Aligning the primer feed has always been fiddly.  I got the Braggin Rights alignment tool and it works great. No issues with primer feeding at all and it greatly speeds up primer swap over from small to large.  Not affiliated in anyway, just a happy customer.

https://www.bragginrightsprecisionreloading.com/product-page/primer-slide-alignment-tools-for-honrady-lock-n-load-progressive-press

Thanks! I think I've got the primer feed lined up well. I watched one of his videos the other day and adjusted per his advice (without his tools). First 10 primers to be tested were all picked up and fed fine! I'll likely try to load some this weekend and will see if things are gtg.

Ah, got it. OP is talking about the guide for the primer shuttle!

Ask Hornady for more primer punches; they are pretty free with those. I still have to run a thick washer under the base plate since the primer seating punch put a divot in the press frame.

As  with most things its wise to have spares ....of everything.

I use a spare toolbox for my AP press parts

If you raise the plate, does it move forward?  I think yours is out of adjustment.  I have an early model that stuck for various reasons, but it is highly reliable after polishing the primer channel and primer slide with a Dremel and polishing compound until it was shiny.  I also polished the shell plates and wire ejector, which fixed all my problems.  I love my Lock-n-Load.