Is Your Hornady Lock N Load AP Not Seating Primers Deep Enough?

[k4swb]

If you have a LNL press and the priming assembly does not seat the primers as deep as you like, try this.

Remove the priming assembly and carefully dissemble it making sure you do not lose the little spring or C clip.
Sand or file the bottom of the nut so the plunger is able to be pushed upward slightly further. This should not take very much at all, somewhere between .001” and .004”.

If you take off too much the spring will just take up the room completely and not let it go any deeper so a little will do it most times. Once this is done you reassemble everything, again being careful with the spring and C clip.

This should allow the priming system to seat slightly below flush.

Mine worked OK and seated the primers flush but I took off about .002” and now they all seat slightly below flush as I like.

 

[0hw0rd]

Great info. My LNL has been putting 10-15% of the primers in semi slanted...They are all reamed and uniformed exactly the same so the pockets are all the same, but I still get too many that come out with the primer 'tilted' in the pocket. The tilt isn't super obvious as the entire pocket is still down inside and not sticking out at all, but when examined closely, it is clear one side of the primer is .002" or so higher than the other side. Only happens with small primers. The large primers in my .45acp seat perfectly every time.

 

[Ledhore]

K4 - I performed this little mod on on my large primer punch assembly a while back and it has been flawless ever since. Small punch assembly didn't require anything. My LNL-AP primes extremely well, but it took a few tweaks to reach full reliability. I've got somewhere around 20k rounds through this press after moving up from a Dillon.

 

[k4swb]

I never had a real problem with mine. I just wanted to see if I could get the primers seated slightly deeper like I do with a hand priming tool.

I don't keep up with reloaded round counts but I know I've loaded in excess of 7000 rounds since I got mine a little over a year ago.

The priming on the press was one thing that kept me from buying a progressive for so long. Since I got the LNL my hand primer is gathering dust.

The main reason I chose the LNL was the powder measure. I have had a Hornady drum measure for years and like it. I also have a Redding drum measure and since the LNL uses this type measure I felt I'd be more comfortable with it.

I went from a single stage RCBS RS5 press and a Lee hand primer that I had used for 25+ years to the LNL and could not be happier.