Progressive presses

[drac0nic]

You musta been after it pretty good. Even the old system was designed so the the plastic top would break long before bending a steel rod. All the factory plastic rod holders i've seen at the top have a slot for adjustment. I changed them out to the one's from ebay, or if you have a 3d printer you can download the file. I also upgraded to the spring insert for the rod as well. I can pull it out to disengage the primer slide super easy now.

I filed mine to make a bigger slot and thought I had it set right. Yeah, I was going at it pretty hard having an off weekend and before I realized it the part was done. If the top piece is sacrificial it sure could have fooled me. Mine seems to be not brittle at all really. Now that I've said it I'll probably munch that too.


I was playing around with .45 ACP and I didn't have this issue using large primers. Just seems to be the small stuff. Even then I had it set up great in .38 Special.

Yeah if you're going to have 2 general purpose presses (say large/small primers) then the same press is the way to go if possible. Parts interchange is a good thing. Obviously dedicated caliber is another story. I've heard enough thing about the Pro 1K I've been tempted to get one for say 9mm and/or .38/.357.

[pjh421]

GWS - I'll have to wait on the pro chucker. I just bought an old RCBS 4X4. I know, I know.

Shrapnel - I think I saw a space in there where you could maybe force another press into, lol.

Paul

[XDROB]

So now that we're talking about progressive press's. There was a guy who talked about shiming the shell plate on his Hornady LnL. I have been looking for that thread and can't find it. Can anyone help?

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[AR-Bossman]

So now that we're talking about progressive press's. There was a guy who talked about shiming the shell plate on his Hornady LnL. I have been looking for that thread and can't find it. Can anyone help?

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There's a big thread about that and more on another site. Don't know policies on cross forum talk.

[tazman]

There's a big thread about that and more on another site. Don't know policies on cross forum talk.

Send him a PM with the info. As long as stuff isn't posted on the main site, they don't really care.

[XDROB]

Send him a PM with the info. As long as stuff isn't posted on the main site, they don't really care.

Who is him?

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[Kenstone]

There's a big thread about that and more on another site. Don't know policies on cross forum talk.

Post a link
no harm/no foul

[AR-Bossman]

Post a link
no harm/no foul

I think this is the one...

https://www.ar15.com/forums/armory/H...ess/42-414607/

[XDROB]

I think this is the one...

https://www.ar15.com/forums/armory/H...ess/42-414607/

Thank you that is spot on.

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[drac0nic]

I'm kind of looking at that and I don't have a ton of slop in my shell plate far as I can tell. I'll have to grab the feeler guages I guess and see where I stand.

[XDROB]

I was having a problem with the shell plate no quite settling into the right spot. You have to manually push it into place. There is a tube video that shows exactly what is happening with the shell plate not going into place correctly. Have not been loading much because of some medical issues. Not shooting much either. But am starting to get back to sort of normal or a new normal for me. And thinking of getting out of the house and at least putting some holes in paper.

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[pmer]

I'd have had to see it to believe it.

I just ran 70 45 acp mixed brass with dirty primer pockets. All the primers seated good except for one CBC only seated flush even my RCBS hand priming tool couldn't make it go deeper.
I tried a couple things but only shortening that spring worked for me.

If you click on that other forum link you'll see the spring in the first pic. More importantly to the right of that spring is the dimple in the casting made by the primer punch. That dimple gets deeper from primer seating, it negatively affects tolerance stacking and you end up with primer troubles IMO.

Since that is a ruff cast surface there could be .015 hieght variation and that might be why some presses don't have any troubles and others do.

The press in that pic doesn't have that many rounds through it by the size of that dimple.

[Kenstone]

I just ran 70 45 acp mixed brass with dirty primer pockets. All the primers seated good except for one CBC only seated flush even my RCBS hand priming tool couldn't make it go deeper.
I tried a couple things but only shortening that spring worked for me.

If you click on that other forum link you'll see the spring in the first pic. More importantly to the right of that spring is the dimple in the casting made by the primer punch. That dimple gets deeper from primer seating, it negatively affects tolerance stacking and you end up with primer troubles IMO.

Since that is a ruff cast surface there could be .015 hieght variation and that might be why some presses don't have any troubles and others do.

The press in that pic doesn't have that many rounds through it by the size of that dimple.

Yes, that dimple is a common thing on many presses regardless of color, as is that primer pin spring or stop spring coil binding.

I found Wolf small pistol primers to be shorter and needed to be pushed deeper into the primer pocket on most cases.
My press(es) have a stop bolt under the shell plate opposite the primer seating so rather than mess with that I simply taped the thin part of a single edge razor blade(0.010") over that dimple in the casting to seat those shorter primers as a fix.
And I eventually added another blade to get consistent seating, a temporary fix that has become permanent.

[pmer]

I just have a Rockchucker and the LNL AP and have been doing more small batch reloading lately. Mostly use the Lnl for pistol and 223. So I'm glad I didn't spend big for Big Blue.

I'm not saying one is horrible and the other is the best but if Hornaday improved their primer seating right away the Dillion 750 would've came out quicker.

[Petander]

I also see powder granules collecting on/under the LNLAP shellplate. I'm loading test batches now, 50-100 rds a day. I cleaned on and under the plate a week ago,now there's powder again.

Don't know when/where they fall/fly/drop from? But they will find their way to the priming system causing trouble, another reason to prime beforehand.

Can this be a user / adjustment error? My 357 case is really full of slow powder, it looks like the shellplate is doing a tiny "shake" when the ram goes up and plate goes down,clicking to the next stop. Could it throw some granules overboard then? Adjustment?

Or something wrong with the -otherwise excellent- powder measure system?



This thread is making me want a Dillon of my own. I don't enjoy changing calibers anyway.

[XDROB]

I also have the same thing. But have not done much shooting due to health problems. Am better now. And going to do the shim update to my press. I believe it helps reduce the shaking of the shell plate as we are pulling the handle. Makes it smoother. I believe this is the link to explain.


https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar...P-p...ess/42-414607/

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[kmw1954]

Don't know about the Hornady press but on my Lee Pro1000 I have started placing the bullet after the bullet comes out of the die after the powder drop and before it advances to the last position. Yes it makes it a bit harder to see the powder charge in the case but it also eliminates any powder splash.

[XDROB]

I have the Hornady Powder Cop die after my powder drop. I also have Inline Fabrication led lighting on my press so it makes much easier to see what's going on.

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[drac0nic]

The wire setup looks cool. Is there a thread on that? I can kind of see where it goes but not totally. I do notice that ejection is kind of not great with .38 Specials.

[Phlier]

you have it figured out.
A suggestion that was not part of the question. Many here have a Lee Classic Turret in addition to a one hole single stage , they are so versatile for so many uses on the bench from case processing to loading small batches of multiple calibers , once set you have the turrets for calibers you use the most , you can change from one to the other in seconds including changing primer size and with out to big a rush give you 50 rounds in 20 minutes.
For progressives for me it would be the ABLP if I wasn't so cheap (I'd rather spend on guns and bullets ) I would go with a Dillon , a 550 would cost me $1000.00 to $1200 set up they way I would want ( new equipment ) with the service Dillon has , if I was not in a hurry I would look for used.

I found my reloading Nirvana with a Rockchucker, a Lee Classic Turret, a Dillon 550, and a Dillon 1050. The 1050 is relegated to 9mm and 5.56 only, the 550 handles the other calibers that we shoot a lot of, and the Lee Classic Turret fills in the gaps, and does so with great aplomb. Honestly, I've enjoyed that little LCT a lot more than I ever thought I would, and for exactly the reasons you stated. The turrets themselves are so cheap, that you can just fill a turret with dies for one caliber, throw an insert for a Lee Auto Drum powder measure on it, and be up and running in a new caliber in less than two minutes. There's never a reason to take a set of dies out; just leave them in and properly adjusted. The fact that it's a turret gives you a decent return on the time/ammo loaded ratio. I can easily load four rounds per minute, so about 200 rounds per hour, as you will have to stop and refill the primer system.

A "caliber conversion kit" for the LCT consists of a turret, a set of dies, and a shell holder, and the shell holder is included with the dies. And if you stick with Lee dies (and for calibers that you don't load in bulk, I honestly don't see a reason not to stick with Lee dies), you can get a complete "caliber conversion kit" for the LCT for not much more than the price of one 550 shell plate.

IMO, there's no substitute for the 1050 if you're shooting thousands of rounds per week in one or two calibers... it's fast, reliable and consistent. Same can be said for the 550 and 650. Definitely worth the investment for the calibers you shoot a lot of.

But for everything else, the little LCT is a very elegant solution, at an amazing price.