Ruger 15151
Member
However, shell plate lift is pretty bad. Primers on a 223 case are sitting 10 thou proud, which is no bueno. I do run a shim under the primer seater to give a little more lift to offset the divot in my
The priming will work like butter if the shell plate is shimmed properly. The priming pin isn't long enough to compensate for much shell plate lift. The shim/dime/washer trick under the priming pin didn't make any difference on primer seating depth for me. There is not enough travel designed into the primer seating pin to compensate for that much left or tilt in the shell plate and that is why you are seeing shallow primer seating.
When the play between the drive hub and sub-plate is removed, the rise and tilt in the shell plate is removed (except for a few thousands left so the shell plate can rotate smoothly without rubbing) and the priming pin has enough travel to seat primer properly.
I read all the time on forums that guys prime off their presses because they can never get the priming system to work reliably. If the pawls are timed properly and play in the drive hub removed, priming on the Hornady works just fine.
This is a definitely design flaw with the Hornady LNL AP and I wish they would address it.