Loading primers on Hornady LNL AP

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Luggernut

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I should have been more careful on the title of the post.. I should have said "Seating primers".

I did a batch of 200 .45 ACP today. Mostly CCI and Win brass with Winchester Large pistol primers. I seemed to have a tough time seating the primers to the appropriate depth. I ended up taking some out and using the hand tool. How do you guys manage your upstroke to seat the primers?

It seemed to work best when I pushed it up enough to feel the primer in alignment and then give it a solid quick push. Not smashing it, but firm and quick. When I did it slowly it seemed I couldn't seat it well enough.
 
Agreed with the little extra at the end. It's the only action happening and so you can work on getting a good feel. You can even go again if you need to before pulling down to raise the ram. Is your shell plate secure and the palls lining up the case correctly?
 
I give a second short pull on the handle to seat the primer. Often, though, primers not seated deeply enough stop rotation of the plate so it is hard to miss them.
 
Hornady makes a 45ACP specific shellplate. The part # is 392645. I find that there is quite a bit of slop with the #1 shellplate and plan to order the 45ACP version early next week. I've had some brass hit the leading edge of the Hornady sizing die. I have had a few missing primers with 45ACP. I am hoping the shellplate will help.
 
Make sure the shellplate bolt is snugged down good.

I have some 45 brass with winchester headstamps that is really S&B with tight primer pockets. I had to hold onto the front part of the frame with my left hand to get more pressure to seat the primer completely. You pull with the left and push with the right hand.

The problem is the press has almost no mechanical advantage when priming. I seated a few primers using a ram-prime unit in a single stage press. Those same tight primers seated easy since I had some leverage. However, that would have been priming off the press and not convenient for progressive loading.
 
I did a batch of 200 .45 ACP today. Mostly CCI and Win brass with Winchester Large pistol primers. I seemed to have a tough time seating the primers to the appropriate depth. I ended up taking some out and using the hand tool.


Have the same problem when i got the LNL AP. Bought a primer pocket uniformer. Primers are now seating properly with less effort.
 
Also might depend on the brass and primer brand. I tried CCI primers, and they were hard to get seated in some brands of cases. I use Winchester now as they work with all powders, for mag and standard rounds, and have softer cups that seat easier than CCI's IMO.

hth
 
Empyrean- I looked on the web site for the that part number and couldn't find it. Looks like another thing I need to track down ASAP. Looks like I might be hand priming some .45s for now.

FWIW- the timing is perfect, the bolt for the plate is secure and the primer pockets are clean. They go in fine with the hand primer.
 
#1 is the .45 acp shell plate, not sure what the other dedicated shell plate for .45 acp is.

When I bought my press they were out of stock so I looked through the entire listing on Hornady's website and didnt see another one.

Maybe he is referring to the fact that the newer shell plates are machined a bit differently so that the retainer spring works better. Most likely you need to snug up your shell plate bolt, I have found it does seem to unscrew itself as you use the press.

If you have too much slop from a loose bolt the primers will not seat fully. Just dont make it so tight that the press won't index. I finger tighten mine and check it occasionally. I have used Winchester and Federal primers in mine with no problems.
 
If the shellplate bolt is unscrewing itself, it means the bolt's washer isn't turning like it should betwee the bolt and the shellplate. Check it for dings or rough places and polish it with some emery cloth. If you've tightened it with a wrench, it may very well have a ding in it. Bottom line is the washer, not the bolt, should should spin and allow the bolt to stay in a fixed location. A little dry lube on the washer combined with the polishing should eliminate this problem, as it's friction that's causing the bolt to turn out.

Also check the underside of the bolt head for sharp edges as well.


Dave
 
If the shellplate bolt is unscrewing itself, it means the bolt's washer isn't turning like it should betwee the bolt and the shellplate. Check it for dings or rough places and polish it with some emery cloth. If you've tightened it with a wrench, it may very well have a ding in it. Bottom line is the washer, not the bolt, should should spin and allow the bolt to stay in a fixed location. A little dry lube on the washer combined with the polishing should eliminate this problem, as it's friction that's causing the bolt to turn out.

Also check the underside of the bolt head for sharp edges as well.
Dave
Today 07:10 AM
Click to expand...

I don't think I understand what you're saying. If by washer you mean the flanged bushing that the ejector spring rests in, this turns with the bolt and the shell plate. At least on my LNL, it does.

The unit turns clockwise so I'm not sure why the bolt will lossen on occasion but it does.

Cloudpeak
 
I have the same difficulty priming .223 on my new LNL AP. I agree with the earlier post that it is most likely a lack of mechanical advantage.

In my case it is definitely not a loose shell plate. I can see how this would cause a problem but I think it would be obvious in that their would be full upward travel of the primer seater punch but slack in the loose shell plate would prevent the punch from fully seating the primer. This is not the case. My shell plate is not loose and I get significant resistance on the forward (priming) stroke. I can seat the primer fully but it takes more than a comfortable amount of pressure. The only way I can get a consistent seating depth is to hold the frame of the press with my left hand while pushing with my right.

I suspect I'll do most of my priming off the press. Otherwise, this is a great press that loads great ammo.
 
Maybe the problem, Bobhead, in your case is that the seating punch is out of spec, in other words it a bit too short. I would call Hornady and ask them to send another one and try that one. You do have a very long handle and compound linkage on the press, so I dont really think its a lack of mechanical advantage.:)

The priming mechanism is a pretty simple device really so there cant be many things wrong with it. Shell plate restricts the up ward movement of the case, so if its loose case not being held and primer is not fully seated, Primer punch is too short or binding, thats pretty much it.

don't think I understand what you're saying. If by washer you mean the flanged bushing that the ejector spring rests in, this turns with the bolt and the shell plate. At least on my LNL, it does.
Click to expand...

Mine too.
 
Another thought here. If you're having trouble priming, check the primers you're using verses the primer hole in the brass and see if there's a problem there. I've used mostly Winchester and Magtech primers with my press and not had the problems you're describing. But it's very definately possible to have a dimension problem and I've read on another forum where some of the foreign made civilian cases have crimped primer pockets. Mild crimps, but enough to cause primer seating pockets.
 
Thanks for all the posts. I couple things: The bolt, washer and shellplate are secure and tight and move together- I don't suspect that's the problem. I also checked and the primer ram has enough motion to push the primer into the case enough... I think from what I could see.

The case does have a lot of wiggle room in the plate maybe that complicates things.

The Winchester primers go in very well with the hand primer. I would think the pressure from the long handle would be enough mechanical advantage too but it doesn't appear so.
 
There shouldn't be any "wiggle" room. Sounds like you need to adjust the timing on your feed pawls so the primer pocket is centered over the priming hole.

Dave
 
Dave, Luggernut might need to adjust his timing but that's not the issue with mine. Without a primer in the system, my punch goes well up into the primer pocket without any catches or resistance. With a primer in the system, primers will seat fully but only with what I consider a lot of pressure.

It's not that I CAN'T seat primers it just takes a lot of force. MUCH more muscle force that using my hand primer. If I don't brace myself and push very hard, I get inconsistent seating and some high primers.

I'm using Rem 7 1/2 BR primers and Winchester brass. Over the past few years I've seated many, many thousand of these (my son and I shoot High Power) with a a Lee Hand Tool without difficulty.

Luggernut's description of the problem sounds exactly like what I'm seeing. The priming system probably works just as designed. It's just that everything else is so smooth and easy on this press that this one "bump" in the process stands out.
 
Exactly what bobhead said. The timing is perfect, it's not the alignment. Just seems like a lot of force is needed. When I say loose- the case has some room for movement in the shellplate for sure. When you are pressing the bullet, resizing, etc. the case is secure against the subplate. When priming the only thing holding the case is the shellplate- maybe that's why is doesn't seem to give the same feedback and is harder.
 
Like i said, i have the same problem and i am using plate #45(specific for 45 ACP). This is what i did before i got the primer pocket uniformer.
Universal decaper in station 1, seat the primer just enough for the shellplate to rotate, resizing(minus the decaper) in station 2 will seat the primer flush. Expand powder drop in station 3. Seat bullet in station 4. Crimp in 5. Hope this help.
 
Resurrecting this thread because I have same issue...

I have same issue with my Lock n Load AP only with 10mm Auto.

I am going to try using some different primers as soon as I get them.

Seems to me the primer seating plunger could be a few thousands of an inch longer and this problem would go away?

Makes sense...yes ...no?

I find it takes far to much force on priming arm to get proper seating.

With my RCBS hand primer I can easily bottom out all my primers well below flush?
 
corey006:
My data for shell holders does not show a #45 shell plate, are you sure it is not #1 as listed by Hornady.

Luggernut:The only seating problems I have had were with CCI primers, and only in a few cases. As has been stated, CCI is made wtih tougher cups. Try using another primer brand without changing anything.
 
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