LNL shell plate indexing

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thomas15 said:
So three things, the prowls, the shell plate detents and the primer feed. Once you get that the press will run like a top.
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I guess now is the time to take a look at these things; I'll be changing calibers soon. I'm a whole lot more familiar with it having it 5 or 6 months now. It doesn't run bad, as a matter of fact, it works pretty good - all except the powder splash and the bullets moving about because of that "snap" of the shell plate.
 
My shell plate doesn't snap near as much as when it was new. I can't remember if I did any adjustments to it or not. But I place the bullets on the case by hand just as the case is on the upstroke before it goes into the die. Takes a little practice with timing so as not to catch your finger between the die and plate though.
 
Alright, after studying the operation of my press, I've caught on to how this thing works. And those ball bearings in the shell plate move pretty effortlessly, even with a small plastic hammer. I am beginning to see how much trial and error is involved in these adjustments. I can't get that "snap" completely out, but at least now it's not as pronounced. I did grease the pawls and the star a little bit with some of my gun grease I had laying on the bench. Maybe that helped smooth it out some.

Anyway, it is about time to grease the ram. What's the best grease to use in this thing? My grease gun at the moment has marine wheel bearing grease in it for my boat trailer.
 
That will work just fine. Just remember to run the ram up before you grease. I normally wipe the old grease out of the grove before running it up. Be careful when removing the grease gun from the zerk fittings. These fittings are just pressed in.
 
Also if you have any spray some Hornady One Shot Gun Cleaner on the sub plate, shell plates and especially on the ram. Big difference when sprayed on the ram.
 
Allen One1 said:
Watch these videos and you will pickup a lot of information about your LNL press.
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I agree, watch the whole series of Highboys videos. I watched them in 2013 when I bought my LNL AP. Made all the difference in the world. It runs like a sewing machine now. More than just making adjustments but helps you gain an understanding of the mechanics and how it works.
 
Blue68f100 said:
To reduce the snap you can seat the detents lower with a punch. These are only pressed in so you can adj them if needed. Provided you have your index set so the rotation is made with the paws, not using the detents to complete the stroke.
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PERSONALLY I WOULDNT DO THAT, SET UP YOUR PAWL TIMING WITH A DECAP DIE IN ALL STATIONS.

thewelshm
 
Cool, DRAINSMITH to the rescue!

(without taking about ~2 hours of videos to watch)

How are you liking your LNL?
 
Appreciate all the info and pictures. I've been considering a LNL and am looking at all the info I can find. Sadly the Highboy videos don't seem to be available.

Dave
 
D Rock said:
Appreciate all the info and pictures. I've been considering a LNL and am looking at all the info I can find. Sadly the Highboy videos don't seem to be available.

Dave
Click to expand...

Yes they are. Just search for him on Vimeo or his site 76highboyreloading
 
Dudedog said:
How are you liking your LNL?
Click to expand...
This think really rocks! I added a bullet feeder with the Lee tubes and I can get into a rhythm adding the cases without the case feeder and load several hundred rounds before I know it. It punches out the 9mm so good now, I almost hate to change it over to .45, but that will be coming in the future. I got all the pieces for it. lnl.jpg
 
THEWELSHM said:
PERSONALLY I WOULDNT DO THAT, SET UP YOUR PAWL TIMING WITH A DECAP DIE IN ALL STATIONS.

thewelshm
Click to expand...

Sometimes you have too when it's shaking powder out of the case when it snaps in. You don't need any dies in to do this adj, or paws. All the detents are for is to to keep the shell plate in position once it indexes, 2 per shell plate. So light pressure is all that is needed. This in with the small cases like 9mm, 380 where there is very little powder to start with. This is after you have the indexing right.
 
I polished mine out a little to smooth things up. It did not make them deeper, but did make them smoother and less abrupt.
 
Somewhere between 5-8k reloads so far with mine. Perhaps more,,, Other than a bit of a 'learning curve' early on, it runs like a well-oiled machine,,,

I've heard 'pawl adjustment' recommended several times for the 'snap', but that adjustment alone will only take you so far,,,

Read about another 'fix' where the writer shimmed the sub plate higher, reducing the distance between the sub plate and shell plate.

IMHO, the reduction in clearance between those items probably did nothing more than 'squeeze' the shell retainer spring just enough to create some drag,,,

(Dragging the finger works, but my fingers are busy enough already! :) )
 
Blue68f100 said:
Sometimes you have too when it's shaking powder out of the case when it snaps in. You don't need any dies in to do this adj, or paws. All the detents are for is to to keep the shell plate in position once it indexes, 2 per shell plate. So light pressure is all that is needed. This in with the small cases like 9mm, 380 where there is very little powder to start with. This is after you have the indexing right.
Click to expand...

Yep.

Absolute worst case scenario (which I've never heard of happening) would somehow be messing something up with the shell plate (??????), or losing the detent pieces/parts,,

Buy another shell plate / back to where you were,,,,,

I also saw the 'grind/notch' sub plate fix,,,,

Eh,,, Pretty sure it 'could work',,,
Also pretty sure I'm be 'hoppin mad' if I went a bit too far,,, :cuss:
 
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