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Hornady LNL AP: Die Adjustment? Need advice!

1K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  Colt 1927 
#1 ·
so I need some advice/input...

When I am reloading my 9mm and 45auto; during the bullet seating I raise the ram to seat and when I lower the ram it seems as if I am getting caught up...nothing wild...just a tad bit of hang up. It doesn't cause any problems, I am just wondering if this is somewhat normal? When I put more speed on lowering the ram it seems to be a bit less of an issue. I'm not forcing it by any means...

I've watched youtube videos to see if I notice this same issue....I can't really tell if it's normal or not.

When lowering the ram out of the bullet seating die or even the Lee FCD should it be as smooth as butter or should there be just a bit of tension prior to the cartridge leaving the die?

If anyone wants a video of what I am talking about to help describe my question...I can do that later tonight when I get home.
 
#2 ·
I assume that you're crimping in a seperate stage. If so, you may be feeling the bell still dragging on the die as you exit the seating die. I'm not familiar with the Hornady dies with bullet guides but that may have something to do with it.
 
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#4 ·
Mine hangs up (so to speak) and there is a jerk when lowering the ram with a cartridge in the full length sizing die. It is set to just touch the shell plate when the ram is raised to it's highest point. Are you sure it's hanging on the seating die.
 
#6 ·
I had very rough entrance and exit when full length resizing .223 when I used spray on dry lube. My second batch I used case lube that is more like a thick sticky clear grease and everything went very well, and smooth. With the spray on dry lube the press jerked so much that cases almost came out of the case feeder hopper.

I'm still having problems with primer seating where the primers will not seat flush or below flush. They are angled and drag on the sub-plate when the shell plate advances to the powder station. I even raised the sub-plate by .003". I need to order a set of the new style primer seat pins, allegedly they are a little longer.
 
#7 ·
I had very rough entrance and exit when full length resizing .223 when I used spray on dry lube. My second batch I used case lube that is more like a thick sticky clear grease and everything went very well, and smooth. With the spray on dry lube the press jerked so much that cases almost came out of the case feeder hopper.

I'm still having problems with primer seating where the primers will not seat flush or below flush. They are angled and drag on the sub-plate when the shell plate advances to the powder station. I even raised the sub-plate by .003". I need to order a set of the new style primer seat pins, allegedly they are a little longer.
223 brass will wobble in the shell holder when the press indexes and if you try to seat a primer while the brass is moving even a little bit the primer will tend to go in sideways. That causes it to drag on the sub base. When I'm priming .223 I bring the ram down - pause just enough that the brass becomes perfectly still then seat the primer. All it takes is just an easy push to seat the primer. You don't need to bring the ram down fast or hard. I call it a shudder step - bring the ram down until it indexes - pause - brass gets still - bring the ram down nice and easy and push the primer in.
 
#9 ·
You can place a penny on the frame under the primer punch and that will give a little more rise to the punch, but the same comment applies to pistol brass - you need to make sure the brass in not moving or wobbling before you actually seat the primer.

I tried the penny trick and it is OK but the real key is to make sure the brass in perfectly still before you seat the primer. Even 9mm brass can move a little over the primer punch if you are trying to load too fast ( took me a while to learn that).
 
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