Hornady Lock n' Load Bullet Feeder Issues

[jdogg2000]

Hi everyone, just wondering if any of you might be able to help me out with some issues I'm having with the Hornady Bullet Feeder?

I have reloaded a couple thousand rounds with my Lock n' Load AP just fine, but I just tried switching to the Hornady Bullet Feeder and now I'm having issues... in the past I used the Powderfunnels PTX expander but I had problems getting the bullets to seat into the case via the bullet feeder without falling out when the shell moved to the next station. I figured the Hornady PTX that came with the bullet feeder would probably fix the issue, but now the problem seems to be that I can't get the darn thing adjusted right.

I do use the Hornady Powder Stop device. I have adjusted the powder die far enough down so that the powder drop just barely swings thru its full arc. Then I've adjusted the Powder Stop down to try to bell the case, but it seems that I can't get enough flare in the case (it is even limiting the full arc of the powder drop swing arm now a little). The bullets still just fall out of the case when the case moves to the bullet seating station.

Any ideas? I'm about to give up on the bullet feeder and just go back to manual placement of the bullets...

 

[Blue68f100]

I don't use the bullet feeder but can help with the PTX.

The first thing I do is set the stop so it will not Over stroke the powder dispense. I'm assuming that you had it adj properly to start with, so you got a full stroke before the PTX. Meaning have it stop about 1/32" from full stroke. Now put the powder dispense in the appropriate station and run the ram up with a casing. Keep adj the the Powder die till you get the appropriate flare needed to accept the bullet, lock the locking ring. This is normally just before it gets to the very top and starts rolling the top edge. I never adj the PTX Stop, I have separate powder base dies for each caliber I load. This way I only have to swap the base and all adj are set. If you use the PTX Stop for fine adj it will impact all of your powder bases. If your going to only use one powder die only use the PTX for the fine adj.

 

[GJSchulze]

I have the same setup. It isn't the bullet feeder. Different headstamps in cases bell differently because the brass is thinner or thicker. I sort all my 9mm cases and discovered that my bullets stayed on Speer and Blazer better than CBC and Aguila, among others. I don't think that one HS is better than another, just that some bell less than Speer and thus the bullet falls off. I can stand one or two falling off per 50 cases, but not when most of them fall off.

Sorting them initially is a pain, but once sorted, shoot them in bacthes to keep them sorted. This will also help you troubleshoot any other problems that occur because of a difference in how the case is made. Some have tighter primer pockets than others (like S&B).

I also discovered that certain HS have a tendancy to bulge at the head, causing them to not fit a case gauge. Speer was fine, but CBC and Aguila almost always bulged. A Lee Fatory Crimp die fixed that problem.

 

[jdogg2000]

Oh man, thanks for the replies everyone. If I can only use some brass with the feeder, I'll probably opt not to use it. Not worth it to me!

 

[Paddy]

Have you shimmed your base plate to fine tune your press indexing? This made a big difference in mine, as it runs tighter now there's less case bobbling which can toss off bullets. Probably not a cure-all, but may help. Also, sometimes my bullet feed die would crimp down the case because it's a weird design, but since rearranging the collets it seems to run a lot better.

 

[GW Staar]

the Ptx bells from the inside of the case. My experience has shown that you have to adjust the PTX to press the case into it all the way to the stop. That way the inside bell is the same no matter how thick the walls.

Two things affect the bullet's stable ride to the next station.

1. Bullet load in the tube above the die. IOW's having some weight above the bullet dropped onto the case insures the bullet is stuck just a little. and that happens only if you have a stack of at least 3 or 4 above it and .....

2. The flare (or bell) is big enough. The bullet feeder die's instructions has a spec that's important.....it states how much bigger the flare needs to be over bullet diameter.

I posted a review of the bullet feeder over on AR15.com in the stickies. Read it if you like:

Part one

Part two has a few easy mods.

Don't be scared of the Hornady's bullet feeder. Very simple tool. It's much simpler to use and adjust than their case feeder.

 

[jdogg2000]

I think I got it working! I had to screw the powder die down pretty far, in fact it hits the shellplate a little bit (but not enough to drop any powder). The powder drop has a full range of motion plus some extra. I then adjusted the powder stop so that the powder drop now just barely goes through its full range of motion. The bell is now big enough that the bullet from the feeder is deposited into the case and it stays firmly enough that I can pick up the bullet and turn it over without it falling out (but I can easily pull it out if needed).

Here is what the bullet looks like right before it goes into the seating die now:



And I set up a makeshift bullet feed tube:

 

[GJSchulze]

Nice going. I recommend never leaving bullets in the tube while the tube is in the die. I did that and bent the collets so bullets wouldn't drop at all. I was able to pry between the slots in the collets to fix it. The Hornady guy told me that a regular bullet feeder uses a flexible metal tube that is bent, so there isn't all the weight of many bullets. I also leave the die itself filled with bullets so that when I put a new tube of bullets in, they only drop a 1/4" at most and not several inches.

 

[Chip1wa]

Paddy-you caught my eye with your comment about shimming the base plate. What is this/why would you need to shim/any links about the process?

Loving my Lock n Load, but the indexing which is sometimes off just a skosh affects the primer insertion stage a few rounds out of a hundred which makes a gunpowder mess.

Chip

 

[Blue68f100]

There is no need to shim to correct indexing. Sounds like your index is off so that the detent is snapping it into place. If this is the case you need to back it out another 1/16 of a turn. This will make it rotate just a tad more. Best to adj this for the speed you normally run at.

There a shims that can go under the o-ring to tighten the powder bushing die up. This is to prevent the bushing from backing out (turning) during operation. I have one under mine. This may are may not be needed on all presses. Just depends on where it fell on the spec. An alternative is to put a strip of paper in between bushing and die when you install it. I did this long before I found out they had a shim to correct the problem.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Sounds like your index is off so that the detent is snapping it into place. If this is the case you need to back it out another 1/16 of a turn. This will make it rotate just a tad more. Best to adj this for the speed you normally run at.

That's what I was thinking also. This is why I love the LNL, because you can adjust the amount of rotation separately for the up stroke and the down stroke.

I personally like to adjust the pawl at the lowest speed possible. My thinking is that if there is enough push to align it without counting on inertia, it should work at any speed...since the detents between the plates should have enough pressure to stop the rotational forces