Another faulty Hornady Die?

[osteodoc08]

Went to set up to load for my 357 Sig. I've never loaded for it before so I was getting my press set up for it. I picked up some Hornady dies and sized and deprimed 100 cases, tumbled them to knock off the sizing lube, set up the flare, had the charge station set with AA #9 and them went to set the bullet seat depth and crimp die, but.....I couldn't screw in the depth adjustment to even get the bullet to start to seat. It will thread about 1/3-1/2 way in and becomes so stiff it can't be threaded any more. All my other Hornady dies will thread all the way through on this same part of the seating die. If this is a defect, it is the second messed up/out of spec die I've bought from them in roughly a year. I was trying to give them a second chance, but this is ridiculous.

[DR Owl Creek]

The Hornady New Dimension seating dies have a floating alignment sleeve inside the die body. There is, in turn, the interchangeable seating stem that is free to float inside the floating alignment sleeve. The Hornady seating dies are similar to the Redding seating dies, but don't have the internal springs to limit the movement up and down of the alignment sleeve and the seating stem. The Hornady seating dies rely on the steating stem adjustment thumb screw to limit this up and down movement of the seating stem.

From the attached photo, the seating stem adjustment screw was probably turned too far out of the die body when you reinstalled the alignment sleeve and seating stem, after cleaning the rust preventitive stuff off the die. This probably allowed the seating stem to slide out of the alignment sleeve while you were putting the retaining spring clip back on the die body. After this, the seating stem was probably crooked inside the die body, and the bottom of the seating stem probably got jammed against the top of the alignment sleeve, so you couldn't tighten the adjustment screw down to it's normal position.

To fix this, I would suggest popping the die out of your press. Back off the seating stem adjustment screw, or maybe even remove it. Hold the die body upright, and give it a quick flip up and down, hoping to get the seating stem to drop back into place inside the alignment sleeve. If it goes back into place, just tighten the adjustment screw back down to keep the seating stem within it's normal range of movement, and you shouldn't have the problem again.

If the seating stem is still really jammed in place, however, take the L-N-L quick change bushing off the die body. Remove the spring clip that holds the alignment sleeve and seating stem in place. Take both of them out of the die, and put the seating stem back into the alignment sleeve. Before reinstalling them, turn the adjustment thumb screw into the die body about to the point where the lock ring is on the seating stem in your attached photo. This will keep the seating stem from getting out of place when you put it back into the die.

I hope this helps.

Dave

[osteodoc08]

I appreciate the feedback but I assure you something must be out of spec. This is with the floating seating stem OUT of the die. There is nothing possible blocking it's travel into the die body. I have several hornady die sets and all of the adjusting stems will screw all the way into the die body. This stem gets to here on the photo and just becomes too stiff to budge. I called hornady and they are sending me a new seatig adjustment stem. If that doesn't fix it, I'll have to send it back or run back to Cabelas for a refund/exchange. This is the second die issue in a year. The first was a way out of spec 45 acp sizing die. [smilie=b:

[BlueOvalBandit]

I had received a 9mm seating die like that purchased I think somewhere May and July 2014. You could not thread the seating stem beyond a certain point producing rounds with the OAL right at max length for my mags. Hornady CS took care of it really fast after mailing it in, but still a little annoying. They replaced both male and female threaded parts for the seating adjustment. I think the internal threads were short cut for some reason.

[EDG]

If dies are not well cleaned all it takes to jam the threads is a tiny metal shaving from the machining process.
It needs a little oil and a lot of compressed air. Possibly a common bolt or tap to move any junk out of the threads.

[largom]

The Hornady seating die thread is 9/16-18. Most any auto or machine shop should be able to chase those threads with a tap, probably good-will, no charge. If the problem is with the male threads they can be dressed up with a small file. I would first brush the internal threads with a bore brush in a hand drill as sometimes a small chip can get caught in a thread.

Larry

[MtGun44]

I also would be looking to chase the threads inside the die before I would
go to the trouble to mail it back.

Bill

[BudRow]

I bought a Hornady shell holder for a 40 cal. pistol (No. 10 ?) and it was so far out of spec as far as the portion that fits the press. Supposed to be made to universal specs. Would not fit any of my diverse array of 10 different presses.

[osteodoc08]

The Hornady seating die thread is 9/16-18. Most any auto or machine shop should be able to chase those threads with a tap, probably good-will, no charge. If the problem is with the male threads they can be dressed up with a small file. I would first brush the internal threads with a bore brush in a hand drill as sometimes a small chip can get caught in a thread.

Larry

Thanks for all the tips guys.

Forgot to mention I took a shotgun brush and cleaned the threads and hosed it out with brake cleaner to make sure there was no junk or grease or anything else. I really want to load some 357 sig before the weekend. I've got to stop by a friend of mines house and I should have brought the die since he has tap and die sets.

I know Hornady will get it fixed but this is highly annoying. 2 out of spec dies in a year for the same person?! That doesn't speak well of QC. Ugh. It's the downtime that kills me. I don't have that much free time for play.

[rodsvet]

I bought Hornady 357sig dies a few years ago and they scratched the brass. Junked them and bought Redding and they were, are, perfect. I would have bought Dillon carbide but their price was too stiff and I don't care for the coke bottle that Dillon dies do to the brass. Rod

[osteodoc08]

I received the new seating stem and die is up
and running. Have not mic'd the old faulty one to see what's up. Bummer being down for a little bit, but she's working as designed and churning out ammo.