Hornady LnL AP primer seating issues, any fix?

[hAkron]

I just setup my new Hornady LnL AP press and it's high priming. Not super high, but flush with cartridge head. Also the primer seating ram leaves a dimple in the primer. I see on the bottom of the press frame a small pit where the bottom of the primer ram is pushing into the press frame, is it possible that shimming up under the primer ram would allow it to protrude up further to properly seat the primer? Advice from anybody who's had this issue would be appreciated!! Conjecture from those who don't have this press but think they know how to fix it is also appreciated.

 

[nofishbob]

The face of the seater punch should be flat. I would look for the cause of the dimpled primers first.

I hate to sound insulting, but make sure you are using the correct primer punch and slide for your primers. Also check that the primer punch is installed correctly (straight and all the way in).

If that leads to nothing, and you are sure that the press is assembled correctly, I would put a shim of some sort over the wear mark in the frame and carefully seat a primer. Is there an improvement?

On the presses I have worked on, the seater punch is long enough that the depth of the dimple in the frame does not matter. The primer is seated long before the ram runs out of travel, and the dimple does not get deeper even after thousands of rounds.

Good luck!

Bob

 

[hAkron]

I'm sure I have the small ram installed. The primer punch has a small bump on it that's causing the dimple, that I can gently file flat. Something else I was thinking about is maybe there is enough flex in my bench top that it's possible that when I'm pushing the handle forward for the primer seating operation, maybe I'm flexing the benchtop and moving the press rather than transferring the energy into seating the primer. I'm going to install maybe a cutting board or something under the press to maybe counter some of the benchtop flex

 

[cfullgraf]

I am probably in the minority, but progressive press priming systems and I do not get along so I prime off the press. I spend too much time correcting priming problems for my liking. I have Hornady L-N-L and a Dillon SDB.

I prefer to clean the cases between sizing and loading anyway, so I am not losing any more time priming off press.

That is my solution to priming problems on progressive presses.

As a side note, I resize cases shortly after shooting them then store them away for a future loading session. So I never have a large stash of fired cases that need processing.

 

[dbarnhart]

If the primer punch has a small bump on it then perhaps its defective in other ways as well. Call Hornady and they will send you a new punch. Install it and go from there.

 

[357Shooter]

If your bench is flexing that probably is contributing to the problem, it takes a pretty good force on the handle to properly seat primers. I have gone to a two step process that works form me, I tumble my brass, then resize and deprive, prime and expand in one operation, then store all my primed brass ready to load. It frees up space on my LNL so I can use an RCBS lock-out die, the a Hornady seating/crimp die w/micrometer and then onto a Lee Factory crimp die. It makes for a real smooth operation, never jams and I the Lee assures me I don't have problems with getting 357's into my S&W 60 2.5" which seems to have a slightly smaller cylinder than my 65 or 686. It adds a little time, but I like reloading and once I have the cases primed it's no problem running 400-500 an hour if I want to. Back to your bench, I have my LNL on a 2" Oak bench with 4" reinforced steel legs and it's bolted to the studs on the wall and it still has a bit of play when I'm resizing and priming, you can't go too strong on mounting your press. Hope this helps...

 

[Blue68f100]

If there is a dimple on the primer seater it needs to be remove or replaced. You do not need to be ginger when your seating primers, I grab the front bar on the press to generate more forward force. Just make sure it get started cleanly and lean into it. If the primers are not bottomed out you will get FTFire's. In most all cases it will go off on the second try.

The dimple on the press where the primer seater hits will be there. It the AL vs Steel and steel wins. I have over 15k rounds through my LNL and the dimple has not impacted operations. When it does I will probably drill and tap it and put a bolt in for it to hit.

I'm using a metal bench with over a 1000lbs setting on it, 2HP end mill setting over one of the cabinet units. Not counting the other power tools on it, Drill press, belt sander. Needles to say my bench does not move.

 

[BYJO4]

Mounting the press on a surface that does not flex is important. If there is a burr on top of the primer seater, either sand it smooth or call Hornady for a replacement. When seating the primer, I put my left hand on the back of the press to give me better leverage. As far as the dimple on the press frame, I cut a small piece off a steel washer and glued it to the press.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I have often thought of mounting a piece of pipe with a motorcyle grip on it in a horizontal spot under my bench just left of the press to give my left hand something to pull on when priming.

 

[hAkron]

I emailed Hornady support and explained my problem. Within less than 24 hours (probably more like 12) the response I received back was a notification that a new primer ram has been shipped to me. I would say that's great customer service. Not knocking Lyman, but when the priming arm broke on my T-Mag II and I emailed them they asked for the broken part back first, which is totally reasonable, and had I called rather than emailed they [Lyman] would probably have sent the part...it's just easier to email. Could you imagine if other consumer products had the same kind of customer service that reloading companies (really most gun related companies) have?

 

[GJgo]

I had the same problem when I got mine. I called Hornady & asked them if they could make me a primer ram that's a few thou longer (at the time I'd measured things). They didn't seem interested, and the tech suggested I put a dime under where the ram hits the base to provide something harder. Not the answer I wanted to hear, but it works...

 

[hAkron]

I thought about trying something like that, but after buying the LnL and a couple of shell plates and such, I would probably have to borrow a dime if I wanted to put one under there.

 

[Shmackey]

A dime won't work because the outside nut will still bottom out in concert with the inside plunger. Now, a dried drop of superglue on the press itself, right where the primer plunger makes that little dimple, might just cause the plunger to move higher.

 

[showmebob]

"Not super high, but flush with cartridge head"

I would say most of the 9s 357s and 380s I load fall into the catagory of flush with the cartridge head. I do not have high primers as a rule. Also, I have never had a misfire from a primer seated flush with the cartridge head in over 12K rounds.

 

[raz-0]

All the hornady primer seating issues threads on various forums have been a recent thing.

I got my press about 6-7 years ago maybe, and I have no issues with primer seating. Large or small, they are all slightly below flush without manhandling the press. Even after upgrading to an ez-ject sub plate.

As for people with problems, from the better documented ones, I have seen some of it be operator error, and some of it be tolerance stacking between the nut the primer ram is captured int, the sub plate, and the primer ram itself.

If you are pushing hard enough to really make the linkage shift and/or bind laterally, call hornady.

As for the dimple, it's the result of a machining artifact in the ram. If it is just a dot that is VERY, VERY shallow, I'd ignore it. If it is sizable or the amount the primer is dented it significant, get it replaced by hornady. I get a little dot, but it is on par with marks I see on certain brands of new manufacture bulk ammo, so I don't worry about it.

 

[e4excellence]

The only problem I've had with my LNL AP seating primers was with military brass. That issue has been resolved with a primer pocket reamer.

I emailed Hornady support and explained my problem. Within less than 24 hours (probably more like 12) the response I received back was a notification that a new primer ram has been shipped to me. I would say that's great customer service. Not knocking Lyman, but when the priming arm broke on my T-Mag II and I emailed them they asked for the broken part back first, which is totally reasonable, and had I called rather than emailed they [Lyman] would probably have sent the part...it's just easier to email. Could you imagine if other consumer products had the same kind of customer service that reloading companies (really most gun related companies) have?

Amen, brother. I got a LNL AP about 10 days ago and my brother, with his impatience and inability to wait til we actually mounted the thing, snapped off the primer slide on the sub-plate. I sent an email to Hornady that Saturday night, and on Monday morning they had already emailed me back clarifying the issue. They then called me that afternoon to make sure they were sending the correct part. I was stunned! They shipped it out without even letting me know they were going to! How awesome is that?! And that's not all. This past Monday I called and asked why my powder measure was sticking and chopping powder. They told me that it was because my powder was too large. OK great, that's what the technician is supposed to do. The gentleman proceeds to ask if there are any other problems. I told him I accidentally crushed the shell plate retaining spring and he immediately told me he'd send a three pack, reasoning that it never hurts to have spare parts. Needless to say I got new powder, and the measure works great. Three pack should be here tomorrow. I love Hornady.

 

[the count]

I had a couple issues with the whole priming system when I got my LNL AP 2 months ago. First, some of the large primers slides have issues with Winchester primers. Take a little bit of finer sand paper and smooth out the underside of the primer slides (being sure NOT to sand off that small protrusion that goes in the primer bas), smooth out the large and small holes of the primer slides. Lube all well with dry lube (one shot case lube works good). Do not tighten the primer tub shroud too much (puts too much tension on the whole assembly). Keep the area free of powder.

PS You are not using crimped primer shells, right? Those will mess up any reloading session if not removed first....

 

[GW Staar]

Priming on my progressive press (RCBS Pro 2000) has an optional primer shaft stop that can be set to any depth. While that makes it easy to set, it doesn't address different depths of pockets found in brass.

That's why I always use a primer pocket uniformer on all rifle brass. I'm then assured that the "set point" will sink the primers the same depth each and every time. Your Hornady may benefit from that as well.