Dynamite Rabbit
Member
I've always had trouble with my powder-through-expander crunching the side of a few shells (I load .357 Mag.) -- sometimes one per hundred, sometimes more. The nylon tip on my RCBC powder lockout die was also randomly catching on the side of a shell here and there. This slowed me down a lot, because I had to visually check every case as it went over the PTX.
I tried adjusting the timing, chamfered and polished the PTX, called Hornady (they said they'd never heard of that problem) and generally messed around trying to find a solution. I finally decided that the case didn't seem to be held very tightly against the subplate by the shellholder -- most cases would rock back and forth a bit, so I took a chance and ordered another shellplate. I just received it after a long wait, and it totally solved the problem. Now the empties are a much tighter fit, and barely move. They're aligned much better with the PTX, and I don't think they'll ever get caught.
I haven't measured the difference in depth of the lip that holds the shell's rim, but it's not visually obvious -- I don't think it's more than a few thousandths. In any case, it's enough to hold the shell much more tightly, and it solved a problem that's been nagging at me since I bought the press last Fall.
Maybe this will help someone else out -- I have no idea how widespread this is.
I tried adjusting the timing, chamfered and polished the PTX, called Hornady (they said they'd never heard of that problem) and generally messed around trying to find a solution. I finally decided that the case didn't seem to be held very tightly against the subplate by the shellholder -- most cases would rock back and forth a bit, so I took a chance and ordered another shellplate. I just received it after a long wait, and it totally solved the problem. Now the empties are a much tighter fit, and barely move. They're aligned much better with the PTX, and I don't think they'll ever get caught.
I haven't measured the difference in depth of the lip that holds the shell's rim, but it's not visually obvious -- I don't think it's more than a few thousandths. In any case, it's enough to hold the shell much more tightly, and it solved a problem that's been nagging at me since I bought the press last Fall.
Maybe this will help someone else out -- I have no idea how widespread this is.
