Hornady Bullet Feed Die issue

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Dudedog

Dudedog

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I have been using the dies with tubes and somewhere along the way the bottom collet broke about a year ago.
Ok so Hornady replaced it for free back when.
Recently purchased the bullet collator and like it.
So I go out to load tonight and crank out a few round then bing
the bullet feed dies dumps bullets all over the floor.

Of course my dog who is "helping" me load decides bouncing bullets are great fun and grabs one and runs off with it. (dog game.....)
After finally getting the bullet back from dog I go back to try to figure out what the problem is.

Pull the die apart, another broken collet.
Seems like they last about 7500 rounds and break.

Maybe I don't have something adjusted right but it feeds bullets fine....

Is this just me or has anybody else had this problem?
(and of course Hornady just sent me one replacement and I don't have a spare, I can always place bullets by hand but :barf:)


Other than the collet issue I am happy with the die it works well, but am wondering if it would just be better to go ahead and get the Mr Bullet feeder die which is supposed to be better.
(and of course see if Hornady will send me another collet to get the one I have going)

For those of you that have the Mr Bullet feeder die how do you like it?
Does it go more than 7500 before it needs parts?
 
Dudedog said:
For those of you that have the Mr Bullet feeder die how do you like it?
Does it go more than 7500 before it needs parts?
Click to expand...
I love them. My MBF 9mm die has 16,000+ through it without a hiccup. My 45ACP die only has 3700 through it so far, but also without a hitch. I lost patience trying to get my Hornady die to work consistently and went with MBF dies. No regrets.
 
I've only broken a collet once - and it was my fault as I was adjusting them to feed coated lead bullets and spread the ends to far apart. FYI - if you're not using jacketed bullets you will probably need to adjust the collets. In my case I needed to open up the lips on the top collet and slightly increase the diameter of the top of the lower collet.

So far I have north of 30k 9mm rounds and 10k+ or 45 ACP rounds loaded with their dies.

Just yesterday I finished up about 1,500 9's.

I'm guessing that either the die to plate is too close or you have the collets (A & B) too close together.

They do take far more fiddling time to set up to work with a bullet and if you change bullets you may have to re-adjust the dies. If I had it to do over again I would probably go with the MBF's but at this point it's not worth the $$$ in switching over.
 
I have a .223 KISS die that I am still using that works perfectly, since then they changed their name to Mrbulletfeeder and change the design, I have one of them too but it’s .223 too so I never have used it, only thing I see than might need replacement on them are the little plastic balls.
 
jmorris said:
I have a .223 KISS die that I am still using that works perfectly, since then they changed their name to Mrbulletfeeder and change the design, I have one of them too but it’s .223 too so I never have used it, only thing I see than might need replacement on them are the little plastic balls.
Click to expand...
And they include 3 extra balls with each die. I think they're metal, but I didn't check that closely before tossing them in the spare parts bin.
 
I'm guessing that either the die to plate is too close or you have the collets (A & B) too close together
Click to expand...
Will look into the plate being to close to the die.
If the collets are to close to each other it won't drop bullets so I don't think I have a problem there. (to far apart and bullets tend to double feed or fall out)

Called Hornady this morning, they are sending one free one and another I paid $8 for
I asked if they had any suggestions but the lady I spoke with CS not tech support didn't know but did comment they replace quite a few of the 9mm ones.
I am using it with jacketed/plated bullets and have not done anything to the collets other than use them.

Might break down and by the Mr Bullet feeder one in 9mm as a Christmas present for myself.

If you have the Hornady die you might want to pick up a spare just in case.
 
Last edited:
Dudedog said:
Will look into the plate being to close to the die.
If the collets are to close to each other it won't drop bullets so I don't think I have a problem there. (to far apart and bullets tend to double feed or fall out)

Called Hornady this morning, they are sending one free one and another I paid $8 for
I asked if they had any suggestions but the lady I spoke with CS not tech support didn't know but did comment they replace quite a few of the 9mm ones.
I am using it with jacketed/plated bullets and have not done anything to the collets other than use them.

Might break down and by the Mr Bullet feeder one in 9mm as a Christmas present for myself.

If you have the Hornady die you might want to pick up a spare just in case.
Click to expand...
You can also call them again and ask to speak with tech support...they are very good at walking you through the resolution of problems.
 
I bought a Hornady bullet feed die for 9mm. Never could get it to work for more than a few drops at a time. Called CS and explained what I was doing and the trouble I had and that I was using .355" plated Xtreme bullets. Which they promptly told me it states right in the instructions, not to be used with plated bullets. That was the end of the conversation and that was the end of me trying to use that die. I now have an RCBS die that works just wonderfully and it I continue to load this way I will be upgrading to a Mini Mr. Bullet Feeder with the 6 tubes.
 
kmw1954 said:
I bought a Hornady bullet feed die for 9mm. Never could get it to work for more than a few drops at a time. Called CS and explained what I was doing and the trouble I had and that I was using .355" plated Xtreme bullets. Which they promptly told me it states right in the instructions, not to be used with plated bullets. That was the end of the conversation and that was the end of me trying to use that die. I now have an RCBS die that works just wonderfully and it I continue to load this way I will be upgrading to a Mini Mr. Bullet Feeder with the 6 tubes.
Click to expand...
Did the Hornady CS person happen to cite where in the instructions it says not to be used with plated bullets? The instructions that came with mine make no mention of bullet type. I couldn't get mine to work consistently with FMJ nor plated anyway.
 
O.K. with the Hornady bullet feeder you need three things to be perfect to get it to run "perfect".
1. The timing with the right pawl to get it perfectly on top of the case.
2. The PTX must expand the case exactly to the proper size.
3. The bullet die must just put the bullet in the case. Not to press it down. Just get it down far enough so it will not tip over.
If the edge of the bullet catches the edge of the case the weakest point will break and that is collet A "the bottom collet"
And, yes I have broke one collet. And that was because I was trying to set the bullet down to far.
Now I will be in Ca. in May if you are still having problems PM me and I will be happy to drop by and get everything perfect for you.
 
HHMM,
will check the timing.
I seemed to work fine before the collet broke, I suppose that it could be out of time and still work fine.
I haven't messed with the pawls as everything seemed ok.
It may be that I am trying set the bullet to deep and that is the cause of the problem.
I never said that it might not be user error, just that the collet seems to last about 7500 rounds.

Was working just fine up until the collet broke.

When I get another collet I will try to back the die up some.

Never had any issues with mine with RMR plated bullets (other than the collect breaking issue)
Loading jacketed now but it worked fine with plated.

Drainsmith if I haven't got it fixed by May I will need help for sure, I appreciate the offer from a LNL master.:)
Depending on where you are in CA in May I would like to meet you, but you could be in CA and be 5 or 6 hours away from me. (and watch out for all of CAs crazy gun laws when you come here, the State is nuts)
 
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