progressive problems

It sounds like powder is hanging up in the die or dispenser.

In my system, I had to clean everything with a degreaser. Then alcohol to get it fully dry. The o ring on the rotor needed wiped down with something slick. I think I rubbed just the o ring with wax on a cloth. Then to control static, I had to rub down the interior and exterior with dryer sheets. These do a good job with static.

Then after reassembly, I ran graphite through it. That is key to get it completely dry, but with some lubrication.
 
Use a lock washer in addition to the washer provided for the shell plate. The lock washer will help prevent the shell plate from loosening.

Too clean of brass is a real problem. A little carbon fouling helps make sizing easier. Unless the brass is caked in crud, hot water cleans the brass sufficiently. I also use Hornady One Shot case lube to make the whole process smoother. I've purchased once fired brass that was cleaned to a shine and it caused issues with sizing and expanding.

Adjusting the pawls to get the detents to line up correctly is critical. The only time I've had powder spill is if the shell plate gets out of line and the brass is not lining up with the powder funnel.
 
Si I got it apart and cleaned again. I generally use brake parts cleaner as it dries and does not leave a residue. Here was the before. I suspect the powder falling out was from the powder getting jarred loose from inside the funnel. Will hit it with drier sheets and gonna give it another go.

Here was the inside of the funnels.
attachment.php
 
so 223 powder issue fixed. The stuck powder was getting jarred loose my the movement of the press and falling out after the casing came down and was advancing. I did a thorough degrease again, doused everything in brake cleaner, and the powder is not sticking in the funnel anymore, and none appears to be falling out onto the shell plate....

Contacted Hornaday,t hey were very helpful with some questions I had but not helpful in other ways.

In regards to my hornady seat/crimp die. They did try to trouble shoot but I was not satisfied with the results. They basically said it is probably the brass. some could be thicker or too long and be catching in the sizing die. Or brass could be built up in the die causing it to bind. They recommended I clean the crimp portion of the die and keep an eye out for brass that stick and avoid those head stamps.... thye did offer to send me more retaining clips, but wanted to see if cleaning would help first so they did not have to send 2 packages. Not much help since all my retaining clips are broken making the die inoperable. I ordered more myself from midway.....

I told them I had been resizing separately and using a case gauge to check the brass prior to putting it inthe press so it should all be within spec, they said it was probably still the brass.

Gonna try and polish the die up a bit, and I have a Lee factory crimp die on order.

In regards to powder jumping out of the casings. they said it was due to the detents snapping in and that was just the way the press was and there was nothing to be done about it.

My plan is to remove the powder cop die and do a seat, then the lee factory crimp die so the filled casing will only have to travel 1 station before having a bullet put in, instead of 2.

This has been a learning curve, thanks for all the help... I'm hoping it will just be fine tuning from here.
 
First, call Hornady again and get the free clips from Hornady. They owe you those. Call back. They get that. Even if you ordered some.

As for the actual issue, how did you clean and lube the die before use. I spray with Hornady’s clean and lube, wipe down with blue paper towels and spray down again. You can alternatively wipe down with lightly oiled paper towel, then spray with Hornady case lube. It is key to start with clean, lightly lubed dies.

For pistol, are you using Hornady case lube? Or?
 
Unclenick said:
See if this video is relevant to what you are experiencing.
Click to expand...
Yes, that appears to be the issue. However I don't plan on taking a dremmil to my new press unless I can find other options.

Got the o-rings 2.5x69mm tonight. They seem to reduce a LOT of the jerking I was getting from the snaps into the ball detent. Only question is how long they will hold up compared to the spring, but at $14 for a 25 packs I think I will be ok for a bit. Gonna be a couple days before I an get the press going again, will report back with the results.
 
Nathan said:
First, call Hornady again and get the free clips from Hornady. They owe you those. Call back. They get that. Even if you ordered some.

As for the actual issue, how did you clean and lube the die before use. I spray with Hornady’s clean and lube, wipe down with blue paper towels and spray down again. You can alternatively wipe down with lightly oiled paper towel, then spray with Hornady case lube. It is key to start with clean, lightly lubed dies.

For pistol, are you using Hornady case lube? Or?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I should get the clips. Wrecked 4 clips total. stinkin things are $2.99 each off midway. For that price there should be 5 at least, its just a little wire spring....

Have had the dies for over 10yrs. Previously a wipe down with a CLP type oil. dry with a paper towel, then a drop of oil where needed.

Today, I used bore tech eliminator and a paper towel soak the area. It has a copper remover and seems to remove brass as well, just a low slower. then I wiped it out. I also polished the sleeve and inside of the die body as it had always been a tad rough and the sleeve had a tendency to hang up of not properly oiled. It was much improved after the polish.

Have a lee carbide factory crimp die on back order, expecting it in the next week or 2 based on their in stick estimate. Hoping that will resolve the issue.
 
Last edited:
Sorry to hear about all of your problems. I love my LNL. Is there anyone in your area that could come over, Covid forbid, and give you a hand? It seems there are just too many variables going on and a complete reset of your setup might be in order?
 
Shane Tuttle said:
Sorry to hear about all of your problems. I love my LNL. Is there anyone in your area that could come over, Covid forbid, and give you a hand? It seems there are just too many variables going on and a complete reset of your setup might be in order?
Click to expand...
Nope, I only have 1 friend anywhere close that loads and he is single stage only. I'm flying solo on this one.
 
I used Lee dies for both my pistol and .223 AR fodder, nothing but Win 231 for pistol and TAC for the rifle. I don't remember any powder jumping from the cases. 9mm, 38 Sp, .357 mag, 45, ACP, and of course the .223 Rems. But I last time i did any loading with the Hornady was probably 6 years back before the wife messed her back up and my memory is not as good as it was 40 years ago.

My biggest issue was getting powder under the primer slide which would prevent a primer from loading which would cause a major spill from a non primered case getting powder loaded into it. Of course that initial flake of powder may have come from it jumping from a case. At any rate good luck in getting your issues fixed. That Hornady can crank out some serious numbers of rounds rounds once you get it smoothed out
 
I feel your pain!!!!! Dillon's turret presses can be just as bad and if you get a primer jam, you get distracted and may generate a squib load. I learned the hard way reloading 38 cases, small powder charges and swaged bullets. Unlike hard cast bullets, a CCI small pistol primer will force a 158 grain swaged (soft) bullet into barrel cone, and you may not know it happened. No boom! You pull back the hammer and then your pistol explodes. I caught one! Thank God that I quickly examined cylinder. Hard cast bullets w/o powder charges lodge part way in cone but will not allow cylinder to rotate. Now, I sit over press so that I can stare down into each case to visually determine if powder is THERE!. It is difficult to see inside 38s with only 5 grains of AA 5. Reloading bottle necks, I get powder bridging and a mess too, especially reloading 223s. I never use my progress anymore to reload bottle necks. Besides, bottle necks require additional trimming and neck burs also cause issues with powder dispensers. Progressive (turret) presses can be very efficient but can also blow up a weapon. Good luck!
 
Sounds to me like your putting way to much crimp on your 9mm rounds.
The fact that it is sticking in the die is a tip off to me. You don't want to litterally crimp the bullet, you just want to straighten out the flare so that a pair of calipers put on the middle of the seated bullet will just slide right off.

The more taper crimp you put on a case the looser you will make the bullet because it will swedge the bullet down and the case will spring back but the bullet will stay at a smaller diameter.
If you 9mm won't drop into a case gauge and back out again, it's either the bullet is seated crooked or the you didn't get all the flare out.
Neither of these will make a case stick in the seating/crimp die.
Too much crimp will. Once my press is set up I back off the crimp on the die so that I know it won't pass the ammo checker.
Then I start bringing it down until it just takes all the flare out of the case and running a set of dial calipers up the side of where the bullet is seated will tell me that.
Watch the dial when you get to the part that was flared.
I usually try to find the shortest case I can find to set up the seat/crimp die. It will be the one that didn't get all the flare removed.
Start lowering the die down and raising the seating stem up until the dial calipers will slide right off without gaining any on the dial.
That is all the crimp you need. The neck tension of the case is what holds the bullet, not the taper crimp.
I have a feeling you literally running the case up in past the part that crimps and that is why the cases are sticking in the seating/crimping die.

As far as powder flinging around, it may be, but don't discount the powder sticking to the plunger in the powder check die. That is where the powder on my LNL-AP shell plate comes from.
I used to think it was jumping out of the case from indexing but later found out that static was making it stick to the plunger and vibration was making it fall.
I went to the Hornady lock out die with the brass plunger and it doesn't seem much of a problem anymore for me.
I can typically load around 500) 9mm before I will stop and blow out the press, especially the primer shuttle.
Even with WST flake powder which has to be the lightest flake powder I've ever seen, I don't get a lot of flakes on the shell plate. I did with the powder cop though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top