Hornady LNL Case Feeder

I discovered there is a sweet spot for the pivot body to be solid against the tubing. If it's tilting when you run the ram up your probably have your push rod adjusted too long. I watch for it torquing while I'm loading. If I see it move, I either use my hand to level it back up and re tighten. But you may find that it was already tight. I noticed over the years that this mount is just not a solid design. This is the reason he secured it using more hardware. If the adj is right it normally does not tilt unless something binds or the pusher is too long.

Reeferman said:

Kaldor I see that the pivot body raises slightly when ram goes to top and pivot rod pushes on the pivot. The one bolt holding the body to the upright has loosened since first installing it. Is this something that will continue to happen and will I have to do what you and Drainsmith did?
In your one post you can see the paint has been rubbed from the up right.

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I think my issue with that was mostly caused because my block was binding so much which in turn created the need to add the screw into the top of the press like I did. With the delrin block I could probably just remove the screw and it would be fine as it moves very easily. But its there, and I dont feel like taking it apart, so it will stay.

Like I said, some guys have no issues in this location, some do. My advice is just run it stock until you have an issue. If the pivot starts to bind, clean and polish. If that doesnt fix it, then call Hornady and ask them to send you a new pivot body (part 29) and probably a push rod bushing (part 27) and mod the new one to use a plastic pivot block. Honestly you could probably even use the factory pivot block instead of a a plastic one, but just put it on a stud and use a thin brass washer between the pivot and body. Might be worth a test to see if it would work and only would require adding a small hook for a spring return and need to be drilled out for the stud.

I honestly think the 2 best easy mods you can do are the shotgun shell on a drop tube so cases dont bounce off the press deck, and the tube shell flipper mod in the case bowl that was shown a few pages back. Both are easy to do, and probably cost less than $10, and probably fix 90% of the issues you could have. The pivot mod and stiffening the pivot body, meh, I dunno, only do that one when something is really not working.

If your flipper is not moving freely like it is without the spring, something is binding. I ran into that on mine. I've taken a file to address any area that is rough. I do use a very small dab of grease on the spring where it contacts the zinc castings.

Blue68f100 said:

If your flipper is not moving freely like it is without the spring, something is binding. I ran into that on mine. I've taken a file to address any area that is rough. I do use a very small dab of grease on the spring where it contacts the zinc castings.

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I tried that,and anything else you can think of from. Its just a system that is designed to be as cheap as possible, and sometimes it just doesnt work for any number of reasons. Its made from cheese grade pot metal, and the tolerance stacking is bad. Add in any wear, or dirt, or whatever, and it will break/bind.

So I went full potato and just fixed it forever. With at least 50k cycles on the press between loading and prepping in the last 3 years, I think I have a good handle on making it run right. I just addressed all the weak points and fixed them. I just need to add the little leather piece Blue has on the bottom of his pusher V blocks to stop case tip in station 1.

When you tighten the shoulder bolt you only need to snug it, thumb and for finger on small end of allen wrench. Then check for binding on the flipper. If it's binding back it off and check again. If not tighten again and check but don't tighten it as much. Do oil/grease the shoulder bolt, it does help. I used a file on every place that showed contact. Once all was clean mine is free as it is without the spring.

My brand new LNL Case Feeder is operational. By the book. Ready to go. Samples feed okay. Anxious to reduce the repetitive muscle/tendon injuries. My Father’s Day present to myself. My wife said it was okay.

Reeferman said:

There is torsional force on that pivot when the subplate pushes the pivot rod up on the 45 degree angle of the pivot while pushing against spring tension. I have filed, polished and lubed it and it is about as slick as snot.
But Kaldor has the answer with what he did. I just need to get some time and a piece of delrin. Found a old leather belt that should do nicely for the v block like blue did on his.
I forgot to add that I already have the drop tube end that Hornady sent me and did add a piece of synflex in the case bowl. So those issues are looked after.

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You could try using the factory pivot block on a stud as well. Would only need to fill in the upper part of the block with something like JB Weld, and then drill to whatever diameter your stud is. Then just put a small hook in it like my delrin block, and use a thin brass washer on the top and bottom of the pivot to keep things turning easily. Only thing that is absolutely important would be to drill any holes in a drill press to ensure they are perfectly straight. Would only take a few minutes to set it up, an evening for the JB Weld to dry, and a couple dollars for the stud, washers, nuts, spring and hooks. I dont see any reason why this wouldnt work, and would be really easy and cheap.

Reeferman said:

I used a extra primer slide spring and just hooked it on the small hole in the top of the pivot and used a tie wrap to the bowl bracket. It worked really well and there was less tension on the pivot block. I thought of doing what you just mentioned as well. I don't like that shoulder bolt and spring setup the way it is.
I loaded 50 each of 9mm, 357 and 44 magnum and found it was easier not to use the case feeder as it is too much hassle to change everything the way it is. Having a stud and external spring would simplify things a lot.
There is a lot of slop between that shoulder bolt and pivot hole.
We are having a bit of a heat wave and reefers are breaking like crazy so been too busy to try anything else.

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There should not be any slop in this. Need to dig further to find out why.

Blue68f100 said:

There should not be any slop in this. Need to dig further to find out why.

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I have 2 of the pivot bodies on my bench, and 1 on the press, as well as 2 of the pivots. The issue is stacking tolerances. These are not precision machined. They are just a cast pot metal piece that is tumbled to remove edges, and then a thread is cut for the shoulder bolt. Of the 3 pivot bodies I have, on 1 the shoulder bolt hole is threaded crooked and the shoulder bolt is not perpendicular to the pivot. The 2nd and 3rd one have the shoulder bolt recess at different depths, which means that that shoulder might engage the pivot body at different heights causing things to bind. If memory serves, the original one I had the shoulder bolt did set at the correct depth, but over time the top of it got so beat up I needed to replace it. The 2nd one the shoulder bolt recess was quite a bit lower, so my pivot block would bind from being overly tight because the idea of the shoulder is to tighten to the shoulder and your done. I fixed this by thinning the pivot block slightly until I could tighten the shoulder bolt correctly and not have the pivot block bind.

Long story short, Reefer is probably seeing an issue where the recess for the shoulder bolt isnt deep enough. The shoulder bolt hits its blind stop, but it actually needs to go down say another turn. This causes it to be sloppy and accelerates wear.

For my final fix, I ended up using my original pivot body, with my delrin block. The beauty of a stud is that I can remove the locknuts and have them back where they need to be in about 10 seconds.

I've gotten lost somewhere along the way. Can you post some pics by chance Kaldor?

SC_Dave said:

I've gotten lost somewhere along the way. Can you post some pics by chance Kaldor?

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Go here for all my LnL fix type stuff:
http://s44.photobucket.com/user/CorwinBos/library/Reloading - LnL fixes

Are you talking about this specifically?

Kaldor said:

Go here for all my LnL fix type stuff:
http://s44.photobucket.com/user/CorwinBos/library/Reloading - LnL fixes

Are you talking about this specifically?

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Yes. Is the issue galling between the two aluminum castings? The flipper and the stationary piece?
Sorry to be late to the dance here.

SC_Dave said:

Yes. Is the issue galling between the two aluminum castings? The flipper and the stationary piece?
Sorry to be late to the dance here.

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Exactly the problem. In the Photobucket album I posted a link to you can see in a couple of pics where I mirror polished the 2 pieces and then the galling that occurred shortly after.

This is a great thread one I think Hornady can learn from. I loved my hornady LNL past tense, I made one tweak to it for the primer dimple in where I drilled and tapped it and threaded a steel screw under the primer punch even though hornady says it is not needed and self limiting. http://www.dayattherange.com/?p=3884

I believe this customization gives me a much better feel on the seating of a primer. Now to the past tense comment, I loved it until I added the case feeder. It adds to much to go from one caliber to another for my liking. Out of frustration I have not used my press after loading 3K rounds of 45acp and 1k rounds of 44 magnum because I hate switching it over. Also where the black punch actuates the swipe the black rubber piece which guides the punch has come totally out and I believe that is due to the twisting that most are talking about in this thread. I believe my case feeder will be coming off this weekend. Having it all sitting there just to look at and upset that I spent the money is not doing any good

Apologies for the rant so early in the morning.

Reeferman said:

It was with mine a little. The slop I'm talking about is between the shoulder bolt finished surface and the hole in the top pivot. Like drilling a 3/8" hole and expecting a 1/4" shaft to be tight in the hole. Also I seem to have a bit of an issue like Kaldor is saying about the shoulder bolt threads not being square in the bottom pivot body.
When I put it and the spring together the shoulder bolt doesn't fit well in the threads for the first few turns.
Using an external spring instead of the internal one makes the pivot work way better. Installing a stud like Kaldor did would even be better and making a pivot from delrin would be best.

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I would be interested in finding out what the difference in mine and other LnL's. I have experienced no galling through thousands and thousands of rounds loaded. Their must be a difference but I don't how one would find out without a side by side comparison.
SCD

SC-Dave,

Mine is an 08 version and from what I have determined from reading this is that the later ones have holes that are not true/perpendicular to the part. Mine runs true and have had little problem with it. Make the shoulder bolt go in at a angle. If this is the case the only good fix is to replace the non-spec part or drill it out and install a insert that is true. There appears to be some tolerance stacking too in a few cases.