Hornady shell plate issue

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Reeferman

Reeferman

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I never noticed this on the #32 for 45 Colt until the other day. It always had ejecting issue as well as being slightly out of time with sizer and PTX when using it. All my other shell plates have this bevel cut into them except the #32 plate.
Can anyone who has a #32 plate check it to see if it is the same and if you have issues with it.

F3BF618A-A8D9-499B-ABEC-FE36F6406D78.jpeg
 
Reef,
I just checked my #32s, have two of them, and neither has the bevel. My #30 (44 Mag/spcl) and #36 (327 Mag, 32 Long) also don't have the bevel. I don't recall having many issues the last time I loaded 45 Colt beyond occasional hang up on ejection. I haven't loaded many 44s yet, and none of the 32 Longs, so no comments on those. I see your 30 has the bevel though.

All my other shellplates do have the bevel. 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 16, 22 and 45.
So, maybe some manufacturing differences -- one less step in machining?
 
I contacted Hornady and they are sending me a new one though they didn’t seem to know why the 32 plate doesn’t have a bevel or if the new one will have it or not. I have had some issues with the 32 plate as timing always seems to be a bit off when using it. I guess I will see in a couple weeks when it shows up if there is a difference with it.
How old is your 30 plate as mine is a couple years old as Hornady had to send me a new one as the old one was way out of time and warped.?
 
I think that is normal on Hornady shell plates for revolver rounds, I’ll check when I get home. I did a mod on my sub plate to fix .45 Colt ejection issues
 
Walkalong said:
I think that is normal on Hornady shell plates for revolver rounds, I’ll check when I get home. I did a mod on my sub plate to fix .45 Colt ejection issues
Click to expand...

My 44 magnum and 38/357 plates have bevel cut into them.
 
I found this when searching. He didn’t follow up on what any solutions might have been.

 
Reeferman said:
My 44 magnum and 38/357 plates have bevel cut into them.
Click to expand...
I'll check mine when I get home. The auto calibers need the bevel for the ejector groove, rimmed revolver cases don't even touch the top side of the plate where the bevel might be.

A pic of my .45 Colt plate from the thread I linked to. No bevel. You can see where I polished though.
index.php

index.php
 
Last edited:
There was a new-and-improved version of the shell plate as well... if you flip it over, some have one ball detent (old) and some have 2 (new.) I have a lot of the old ones, the new ones with 2 detent balls index better.

My older shellplates do not have a radius, even my #32. They are actually cut at a 45^ angle... straight.
 
Walkalong I’ve known about what you did for a longtime. Hornady sent me a sublet last year which I finally got to install awhile ago and started to grind on the old one but due to shoulder surgery I haven’t finished it.
With the #32 plate I have it appears to have something wrong with it as like I said it is just a little bit out of time with the expander and PTX. The ejection issue is sometimes when ejecting the case locks the press up and I have to move shell plate by hand.
I can see where dropping the retainer spring down like you did will help with case tilting in #5 hole and possibly with ejection. I’ll see when I get the new plate from Hornady if it has a bevel or not and if it works better.
What did you use on your subplate, Dremel with stone or what?
 
Charlie98 said:
There was a new-and-improved version of the shell plate as well... if you flip it over, some have one ball detent (old) and some have 2 (new.) I have a lot of the old ones, the new ones with 2 detent balls index better.

My older shellplates do not have a radius, even my #32. They are actually cut at a 45^ angle... straight.
Click to expand...


Mine all have two detents.
 
I just finished loading 100 rounds yesterday. I sized and trimmed before loading so they actually had to be kicked off the press twice which they did without issue. 75 were new Starline and the other 25 were a mix of once-fired RP(Remington) and GFL (Fiocchi). Here are a few pics you can compare to yours.


32plate1.jpg 32plate2.jpg 32plate3.jpg
 
None of my L-N-L shell plates for 45 Colt, 45 ACP, 44 Mag, or 41 Mag have the bevel that Reeferman is referencing. Some of the shell plates for smaller cartridges do have the bevel and all my shell plates have two detent balls. All of my shell plates were purchased after 2009 when I got my L-N-L press but that does not mean some were made before 2009.

I've never had to adjust the pawls on my press, never. The indexing is always spot on.

I have problems with the press ejecting 45 Colt cases. I made the modification described by Walkalong and it has helped but the jamming and tipping of cartridges has never gone away completely. I may need to extend the spring recess in the lifting plate a little more.

But, most, actually virtually all of my 45 Colt cases are R-P from the 1980's and the rim has a small bevel on the breach side of the rim. It looks like on some cases, the spring gets up under the case at this bevel between station 4 and 5 causing the case to tip.

I have the luxury of owning several different brands of progressive presses so I moved 45 Colt loading to a different press where the jamming is not an issue.
 
cfullgraf said:
None of my L-N-L shell plates for 45 Colt, 45 ACP, 44 Mag, or 41 Mag have the bevel that Reeferman is referencing. Some of the shell plates for smaller cartridges do have the bevel and all my shell plates have two detent balls. All of my shell plates were purchased after 2009 when I got my L-N-L press but that does not mean some were made before 2009.

I've never had to adjust the pawls on my press, never. The indexing is always spot on.

I have problems with the press ejecting 45 Colt cases. I made the modification described by Walkalong and it has helped but the jamming and tipping of cartridges has never gone away completely. I may need to extend the spring recess in the lifting plate a little more.

But, most, actually virtually all of my 45 Colt cases are R-P from the 1980's and the rim has a small bevel on the breach side of the rim. It looks like on some cases, the spring gets up under the case at this bevel between station 4 and 5 causing the case to tip.

I have the luxury of owning several different brands of progressive presses so I moved 45 Colt loading to a different press where the jamming is not an issue.
Click to expand...


It’s odd that some shell plates for rim cases have the bevel and some don’t.
 
Reeferman said:
What did you use on your subplate, Dremel with stone or what?
Click to expand...
A Dremel and a steady hand/good eye, then sandpaper to finish.

I have polished all of my shell plates where the cases go. On many I broke the sharp edge and then polished, made a big difference.
 
My .32 Long/Mag, .41 & .44 Mag plates are flat on top, my .38 Spl/.357 Mag is beveled on top.

My .45 Colt plate was made flat on top, but I have broken that sharp edge and polished it.
 
Well Dremel, die grinders and lots of other tools I have, not so sure of the steady hand and good eyes though these days. I also polished all of my shell plates where the spring rides around and case slots. It has made a huge difference in how long before I get a kink in it.
 
Walkalong said:
My 9MM shell plate. This made a big difference.
Click to expand...

Walk... what difference does it make? I mean... how does all that help? Does it help the shellplate index better, or just smoother cartridge ejection? What else?

I guess I didn't realize I had a problem... ;)
 
Charlie98 said:
Walk... what difference does it make? I mean... how does all that help? Does it help the shellplate index better, or just smoother cartridge ejection? What else?

I guess I didn't realize I had a problem... ;)
Click to expand...

Not sure about Walkalong but all my shell plates worked fine other than the #32 one but I couldn’t go load more than 50 rounds before the case retainer spring would kink. After polishing the plates where the spring rides especially at the case slots I have about a 1000 rounds loaded in various calibers and the spring has no kinks in it.
 
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