Is my Hornady Press a Bomb?

S

Swifty Morgan

New member
When I got my press years ago, I had problems with the primer tube jumping out. I think this was due to Hornady's less-than-perfect fit and finish, which caused the primer slide to run roughly.

I made myself a primer tube cap to replace the plastic one. I'll post a photo. As you can see, it's aluminum, and the upper set screw fastens it to the inner primer tube. The lower screw can fasten it to the outer tube, but I have never had to tighten it.

Until yesterday, I didn't know the outer tube was intended to prevent shrapnel from escaping sideways during a primer detonation. The manual calls it a housing, which is not all that informative.

I'm wondering if this aluminum cap turns the housing into a bomb. With the plastic cap, there is more room for gas to get out, and the cap can fly off pretty easily, releasing pressure. The aluminum cap is held in place, and even if it were loose, the mass would confine the gases to some extent and possibly increase the likelihood that the housing would blow open.

So...am I concerned about nothing, or was I right to put the old plastic cap back on?

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Probably not. The gas volume produced by a primer (or by several) is very low, and the opening in the aluminum cap seems large enough to vent any gas from building up substantial pressure.
 
I'd put the old plastic cap back on it. With that cap setscrewed to the actual primer tube, if you set off a primer it could hold the assy together instead of letting it come apart and it could blow sideways through the tube and shield instead of blowing straight up.

On "The High Road" forum over the last several years I've only heard of two posters combusting a primer while reloading and it set off the entire tube.
The pictures they posted showed where blast shield ended up going through the dry wall in the ceiling and went into the attic.
But the blast shield did it's job and no one was hurt.
If your primer system isn't running smoothly, I would suggest you find out why.

Mine runs smooth as butter and the primer system is the last thing I worry about when I running the press. I've crunched one primer in 11 years.

A piece of grit got in the primer assy and I put the ram up, unscrewed it with a 7/16 wrench, took it apart and cleaned it out.
I do this now every year and it continues to work very well. When something gets in this assy it will hold the piece that the pushes the primer up into the case, up just enough to cause problems, like dragging on the shuttle.
You have to have some dexterity to work on this little assy but once you do it you won't have any more mysteries with your priming system on the Hornady as long as the guide rod is set right and that's an easy adjustment.
 
I had an interesting day of reloading. I found out why I used to have problems with the primers. The base plate on my press is too thin. It allows the primer punch to stick up a few thousandths of an inch on the upper side, and this catches the primer slide. Really annoying to see how Hornady let this get by. As machining jobs go, making a flat part an exact thickness is very basic, and they should have been able to catch it with a crude tool like a dial caliper, let alone a micrometer.

I got out a Dremel and cut material off the "chin" of the primer slide, allowing it to slide over the proud part of the primer punch without resistance. Big difference.

I also deburred the slide with a diamond stone and sandpaper. I put blue Sharpie on it to see where it rubbed, and then I sanded those areas.

It used to catch all the time, and I thought I was the problem. I was so sick of powder pouring out of unprimed cases.

I'm glad Hornady is out there making presses, but these things are more like kits than finished tools. If you get one that isn't really finished, the job of making it run is up to you. The people whose presses run smoothly out of the box are just lucky.
 
The worst cast accident is detonating a full tube of primers. The design is intended to direct such a blast AWAY from the operator. It does this by providing a "path of least resistance" to the pressure.

You've replaced the factory part with a metal one, held on with setscrews.

How do you think that will "channel the blast" in a worst case accident, compared to the factory part?

Yes, you POTENTIALLY made a bomb.
 
I had a similar problem so I just stuck a cleaning patch between the plastic cap and the metal tube. It holds the cap in place without making it too tight.

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That's hard to say, but Hatcher bulged a barrel trying to shoot a stuck patch out of it, so I wouldn't dismiss the possibility.

The problem with primers is they explode quite rapidly (fairly high brisance). The concatenated explosion of whole stacks of primers have happened to numerous people, so any kind of restriction to a vertical blast relief opening is probably not a good idea.

One of the common causes of the start of these concatenated explosions is primer dust that has rubbed off inside the tubes the primers slide in or out of, igniting from the friction of the sliding primers. The feed tube inside the shield should be cleaned with a patch wet with alcohol a couple of times a season to clear any such dust out, as should primer feed chutes or other such arrangements, and so should primer pickup tubes if your system uses them.
 
I had same issue with tube not sitting well in the primer tube housing body. Phoned Hornady and they sent me all new parts for free. Took the old primer body and large primer tube and used epoxy to attach the two.
The new body and small tubes fit tight so didn’t bother to epoxy those. If they do start to loosen then I will.
I have never had any other priming issues on my LNL but I don’t think I would do what you did. I did have my son 3D print me a new longer primer tube support that works much better than the Hornady one.
 
I had an interesting day of reloading. I found out why I used to have problems with the primers. The base plate on my press is too thin. It allows the primer punch to stick up a few thousandths of an inch on the upper side, and this catches the primer slide. Really annoying to see how Hornady let this get by. As machining jobs go, making a flat part an exact thickness is very basic, and they should have been able to catch it with a crude tool like a dial caliper, let alone a micrometer.
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Did you read my post right before yours? Check the primer assy that is screwed in the under side of the carrier, under the shell plate.

Some grit is in it and holding it up in the air a few thousands. Unscrew it with a 7/16 wrench, take the little C-clip off of it and clean it up. It will work fine when you put it back together.
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Yes that would make a nice speargun if a primer went off in that tube.

I used a Hornady for several years making pistol ammo. I second what LE-28 posted. Once the factory rep talked me through setting the timing I have to admit every single issue I ever had with that press afterwards could be traced back to something needed cleaned. A couple of kernels of powder in the wrong place can jam the works up pretty good.

Cleanliness is a must, canned air, contact cleaner etc should be right beside that press when you are operating and certain areas such as the deprime pin and primer feed assembly need cleaned every 100 primers for smooth operation. Once you get it adjusted and keep it clean of it you can kick out rounds by the thousands with no problems
 
I cleaned the primer punch, and it didn't help, so I don't think grit caused the problem. Still, that's a good tip.

I like the alteration I made. The primer slide will run now, even if grit does get under the punch.
 
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I know from a follower rod on top of a full tube of primers that the blast path will hit the case feeder and deflect in the operator's direction, hopefully overhead. I put a small piece of wood on the feeder hopper so the rod tip wouldn't catch on the little corner. Now at least that would deflect any blast overhead.

Another note that a primer tube coming loose is more a matter of how it fits into the base, above the primer opening. I couldn't find a practical way to make mine tighter with such close tolerances, so I tried snugging up the plastic cap that holds the tube down. What worked is putting a thin coat of cyanoacrylic glue, Krazy Glue and the like, on to each of the three petals. After drying set aside, not in place, I dressed the petals with a fine emery board until getting a snug fit in the blast tube top. The glue was already dry of coarse, just used to add a bit more plastic material to work with in fitting.
 
My guess is that the flexible mounting I used to have contributed to the problems with the primer tube. It isn't moving any more. Maybe fat primers that are hard to seat also make problems more likely. Shoving on that lever to seat primers makes everything move.
 
I’ve been debating making the jump to a Hornady progressive from a Lee Classic Turret. Just not too sure how I feel about the primer system. I don’t use the garbage lee primer feeder. I place each primer in the priming arm one by one from a flip tray.
 
ShootMeStraight said:
I’ve been debating making the jump to a Hornady progressive from a Lee Classic Turret. Just not too sure how I feel about the primer system. I don’t use the garbage lee primer feeder. I place each primer in the priming arm one by one from a flip tray.
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On my Lee turret I found that the primer feeder works really well but only if the gizmo that attaches to the press is optimally aligned. Try loosening it up to find where the tray swings dead on the primer cup.
 
I haven't put in a primer on my lee classic turret since I've had a lyman hand primer. I also won't use any powder dropper, but prefer to hand weigh each powder charge one at a time.

Using the hand priming tool forces me to handle & inspect the brass once more which annoys some, but I find it valuable when I find a bad case in the pile that I might have otherwise missed.

Weighing each powder charge significantly reduces the possibility that I might double-charge a round. Also massively reduces the possibility I'll produce a squib round.

The only real " automation " I enjoy in my process is the progressive press itself which ensures I finish a round entirely before I start another.

Adding automation is for speed, not quality or piece of mind. I prefer quality over quantity.
 
Grey_Lion said:
I haven't put in a primer on my lee classic turret since I've had a lyman hand primer. I also won't use any powder dropper, but prefer to hand weigh each powder charge one at a time.

Using the hand priming tool forces me to handle & inspect the brass once more which annoys some, but I find it valuable when I find a bad case in the pile that I might have otherwise missed.

Weighing each powder charge significantly reduces the possibility that I might double-charge a round. Also massively reduces the possibility I'll produce a squib round.

The only real " automation " I enjoy in my process is the progressive press itself which ensures I finish a round entirely before I start another.

Adding automation is for speed, not quality or piece of mind. I prefer quality over quantity.
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If you were shooting hundreds of rounds a month (or week), you would understand where the progressive fits in and does it well.
 
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