Hornady LnL with Lee Crimp Die

[PP]

Hello all!

First of all excuse my English if I make mistake or two - I am from Slovakia.

I am a newbe to reloading, started to shoot IPSC so I ordered the Hornady LnL from Grafs with Lee Dlx 4 Die Set and Scale. As you probably guess I have problem with the Crimp Die in station 5, because it hits the ejection wire while operating the press. I did the same - tried to work on the wire, but either it was ejecting and interfering with die, or it was not but it could not eject the case neither. People are discussing the same problem in other threads - but the solution is the same - buy the Hornady AP Crimp Die.

Well that is a problem for me. Because the freight to Slovakia from US was 149.99$ and it took 8 days (not to mention I did not get the free 1000 bullets because they could not send it oversea). My question is: Is there any other way how to make the press work with Lee Crimp Die and automatic ejection of cases?

 

[captain54]

I have the LnL, but I do not use the Lee die. That being said, I have noted a couple solutions that seem to work. 1. Some people grind down the Lee die where it comes in contact with the ejection wire just enough to let it function properly. 2. You can use the powder through expander to bell your cases instead of a sepereate die. This would free up a station so you could move the Lee crimp die to station 4, and the seater die to station 3. This would still involve you buying and having shipped more equipment so not sure if this is the best. Hopefully someone who uses this die and has a LnL can post about exactly how they ground the die to work with the wire.

 

[Hawk]

Found this on another (Brian Enos) forum:

I use the Lee FCD in station 5. The trick is to grind a flat on the bottom of the FCD where the ejector wire resides. Don't grind all the way to the carbide ring though or that ring will crack, you have to leave a little steel but not much.

The ejector spring still needs to be tweaked for clearance. I find that shortening the ejector wire, the flat area where the attachment screw hold it under the shell plate, until the vertical part is up close to the extended part of the casting where the casings feed in. You may also have to tweak the loop end at the center bolt a tad but don't bend the wire in the straight area where it crosses the shell plate, that just screws things up I found.

Doing this stuff, it can be made to work quite well.

One poster had simply removed the ejector wire. Evidently, in the absence of the casefeeder, manually removing a round while one is loading an empty doesn't slow down the works.

 

[PP]

Thank you guys for your advices!

I think I'll remove the wire for now and I will order the other necessary parts. I just want to be sure I will order everything what is necessary.

Should I order the powder through expander, or the Hornady FCD? From the name of the first part I am guessing it expands and fills the case with powder at one pull of the lever - am I right? Does this work with the hornady powder drop system?

 

[captain54]

Yes, the powder through expander bells the case mouth and drops podwer at the same time. You should need to order the approriate one for the calibers that you are reloading and it goes right into the LnL powder drop system. I think it works great. As I mentioned, using this leaves you an open station to move your dies around or what ever you need to do. Since I use a Hornady taper crimp die, My set up goes like this-station 1 size/deprime, 2 powder and expand, 3-empty-this leaves a perfect spot fer viewing into the case to verify your powder charge-some put the powder cop die here to verify powder, but I like the visual check, 4-seating die, 5-taper crimp. Based again, on my setup, i would order both the Hornady taper crimp and the powder through expander. I thik it was worth the extra few bucks. I have only had my LnL a few months, but I went from loading 2 calibers when I had my single stage to laoding for 6 calibers and I will be doing more once I get more money. The press is great.

 

[PP]

Thanx Captain - that could be the solution. Do you have any advice, where to buy this powder through expander?

 

[PsychoKnight]

What caliber are you shooting? I ask this because I do not believe there is enough die material on a 45cal Lee FCD die to allow any significant grinding. On 9mm and 40sw, should be okay, but on the 45 die, just by sight, I'm seeing about .6mm of die material to hold the full length post-resize ring.

But I think you can still use this die for its purpose. Just unscrew the die body high enough that it clears the ejection wire. Then, adjust the crimping adjuster by backing it up all the way, insert a loaded round at the overall length, or a factory loaded round works as well, then with the ram all the way up, screw down the crimp adjuster knob until you feel resistance, then lower the ram about a cm and turn the knob a half turn further. To fine tune the crimp adjustment, I compare my finished rounds to that of a trusted factory round with a dial caliper, then turn the knob up or down as needed. Not a critical adjustment because you cannot over-crimp with the Lee Factory Crimp die, so having the adjustment knob too low is better than too high (mine is all the way to the bottom, because I am shooting the shorter 45GAP round).

This is a no-cost, no-wait solution which has worked for my .45cal loading. The FCD die body will not provide full-length post-resizing because you must keep it above the ejection wire, but it will accept the case far enough and past the critical area, about the top 2/3 of the brass.

Good luck.

 

[PP]

That is exactly what I figured out yesterday, but as I wrote I am a newbe to reloading so I didn't know if it works good like that.

I am reloading 9mm Luger.

Thanx!

 

[chingon]

I took a file to mine and in about 10 minutes had a flat spot where the wire hit and no more problem.

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

When I was using an RCBS die I took off the ejection wire and found it did not impact speed appreciably. Quite a trick for me, though, as I am a bit uncoordinated and making three moves with the left hand is a challenge.

 

[captain54]

PP-I get my powder through expanders at www.midwayusa.com

 

[PP]

Thanx guys for your advices, I grinded a bit from the Lee Crimp Die and now it does not hit the ejector wire. I also was able to make it work so, that it actually ejects about 8 from 10 loaded cases. I think I will play littlebit more with the wire.

I would like to ask you guys: How smooth is your cycling process with the Hornady LnL. Mine is vey smooth, but the cycle where the case is opened wide (station 2) causes a snag and I have to pull the lever little bit more (or faster through that point) and after that it goes again smooth. I tried to adjust the die but it still does. Could you please write me if it is normal or not?

 

[Knucklehead2]

PP, it may be that you need to adjust your index pawls so the case is centered with the die.

The manual explains how to adjust them well but not really when to adjust them. Without any cases pull down (raise the plate) so it indexes, rotate the plate by hand ever so slightly in one direction then repeat (index again) and rotate in the opposite direction. If the plate moves at all, it is not indexing dead center with the ball detent.

Once you have adjusted the correct pawl, you should not feel any wiggle. Remember, one pawl will adjust the up stroke and the other the down stroke.

They usually need very little adjustment but my LNL would hang on the sizing die (Hornady) because the case would hit off center until I adjusted the pawls dead on to the detents.
I hope this is your problem because it is very easy to remedy.

 

[PP]

Knucklehead - thank you! This might realy be it. I did my first 80 rounds yesterday and went on a shooting range to test it - was not very satisfied. They were all over the paper. Do u think it might get better after I center the plate?

 

[Master Blaster]

I would like to ask you guys: How smooth is your cycling process with the Hornady LnL. Mine is vey smooth, but the cycle where the case is opened wide (station 2) causes a snag and I have to pull the lever little bit more (or faster through that point) and after that it goes again smooth. I tried to adjust the die but it still does. Could you please write me if it is normal or not?

This is normal and will vary with the type of brass you are using, it has nothing to do with adjusting the index pawls. If you cases are lining up under the other stations leave the pawls alone.

Skip the through powder expanders, I have tried them and they dont work as well as the belling die that comes with the die set. The belling die will allow you to get the best setting for your brass and bullet easily, and avoids some adjustment of the powder drop when changing calibers.

You dont need a Lee factory crimp die, I have loaded 90,000+ or so pistol rounds without one. If you do need it it means you have to adjust the press in the sizing seating and crimping stations because there is a probelm with your other settings. Buy the Hornady taper crimp die for semi auto rounds, it costs $5 more than the lee die and is made to work with this press.

If you are having accuracy problems weigh 10 consecutive powder charges and see what the varriation is, you may need to use a different rotor. I found the small hole in the pistol rotor caused bridging and very inconsistant powder drops. The rifle rotor will give you a consistant drop, but only if you use a a baffle and keep the powder measure 3/4 or more full. That and shaving of the bullets (if lead insufficient belling ) may be causing your accuracy problems.

 

[PP]

Thank you Master Blaster!

It is great that I found this page. I am already looking for some Hornady dies, but that is a big problem over here in Slovakia.

So do you think, that I can make quality ammo withouth the Lee Taper Crimp Die? Shouldn,t I boder with crimping the die?