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Question for 76highboy - Hornady LNL

8K views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  RCC 
#1 ·
Hi Jim. Saw a lot of your videos on YouTube on the Hornady LNL progressive. They were very helpful. I am into the LNL now for about 4 months and love it. Have done, 9mm, 38 and .223. I have a common problem with all three calibers (and case powder levels) that I don't see in your videos. while loading each caliber, as the press indexes, a little bit of powder shakes out of the case and onto the shell plate. I have this problem with all powders (granular, flake and rod). Eventually, the powder finds it's way to the primer slide and prevents the slide from proper alinement (its worst with AR Comp due to the hardness of the powder). I called Hornady but they were not aware of the probelm. The only solution I can come up with is to place my finger on one of the casings as the shell plate indexs to dampen the action. I have friends that have Dillon 650's which do the same thing. Any insight or possible solution? Do I have somthing set up wrong?
Roger Boyce
 
#4 ·
Creative solution. Wonder why it doesn't pop powder when the bearing comes out of the hole? Would be curious if a tap or two to settle the powder would make a difference jus after powder is dropped. I use the LNL as well but not enough powder I guess since I don't have that happening. But I use grease in the bearing holes and that might be dampening it a bit. Can't say for sure.
 
#5 ·
I just tried shimming the drive hub/subplate shown in the link vassago posted above and I'm impressed. I had three of the Hornady .005" busing shims that are just the right size and first tried all three. That locked up the shell holder plate tight. Took one out to make the shim .010 and the shell plate still locked up. Took one more out to make the total shim .005" and that really made a difference. The shell plate turned freely and the wobble almost (but not quite) stopped.

I was using a No.16 shell plate for .223 and they normally wobble quite a bit when the plate indexes and will sometimes throw powder out. My normal procedure is to index the plate then pause just a bit to allow the brass to quit wobbling back and forth. With the .005" shim the brass still wobbled a little, but not anything like it did before. I think with .001" or .002" additional shim the wobble will stop.
 
#6 ·
When you state wobble, are you speaking of shell plate flex from how the die press on the shell plate? Having trouble visualizing. I use a lock washed on top of the flat washer for securing the shell plate (Jims vid). Is this shim for the die or shell plate. I found the die shims (search on shim).
 
#11 ·
I received shims yesterday and after some trial and error I found an .008" shim eliminates about 98% of the wobble. I loaded 50 rounds of .223 with 28 gr. of CFE223. That makes an almost full case and normally a few grains of powder will jump out of some cases when the shell plate indexes, but after shimming not one grain spilled out.

The .008" shim decreased the gap between the shell holder and sub base just enough to stop the wobble but still allow the shell holder to rotate freely. It's interesting that a .009" shim would cause the brass to drag on the sub base and make the handle harder to pull. That .001" really made a difference.
 
#12 ·
I received shims yesterday and after some trial and error I found an .008" shim eliminates about 98% of the wobble. I loaded 50 rounds of .223 with 28 gr. of CFE223. That makes an almost full case and normally a few grains of powder will jump out of some cases when the shell plate indexes, but after shimming not one grain spilled out.

The .008" shim decreased the gap between the shell holder and sub base just enough to stop the wobble but still allow the shell holder to rotate freely. It's interesting that a .009" shim would cause the brass to drag on the sub base and make the handle harder to pull. That .001" really made a difference.
Can you post a pix of it in place?
 
#15 ·
Thank you much Stev32k! I am ordering some now from Amazon (I would not have thought to check Amazon for shims). I'm not even sure if I have a problem but for a few bucks to see if I can improve my press I'm jumping on it.

And thanks Roger for starting this thread.

Ok back to the loading bench now.
 
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