Originally Posted By xdmikey:
edgephoto, I removed the C clip w/o issue, ran the threaded end across a file a few times and thought I had it but when I screwed it back together the primer slide still hung up on the primer punch.

Where to go next: file the bottom(as opposed to the top)of the primer punch?

My major issue on my LNL is the failure to get primers seated deep enough and consistently, along with hangups at the case kicker/last point on the hub.

Any and all comments welcome.

Originally Posted By xdmikey:
Thanks edgephoto. I can't wait to try this.

The cases are all reamed.

The ejection is almost less than 20% failure rate. The problem children are 223 & 9.

Originally Posted By xdmikey:
I adjusted the primer slide wire to the back and it was terrible; the shellplate was loose and after three pulls it completely missed the primer opening.

I took the shellplate off, set the detent balls down and adjusted the pawls and it ran great and ejected well for 100 rounds.

Thanks edgephoto and Mr Porter.

Originally Posted By edgephoto:
..snip..
I figured out my shell plate for .223 was out of spec. I was having priming issues, ejection issues and cases hitting the edges of the dies. Turns out the opening where the rim fits on the plate was a tiny bit small. I bought another shell plate to try and it solved my problem. A call to Hornady got them to replace it no charge.

Originally Posted By GHPorter:

Everybody has a part that doesn't quite meet spec now and then.  Tooling wears, the QC test system grabs the part before the out-of-spec part so the bad one goes on to packaging, etc.  It's part of manufacturing in the real world.  And fortunately, you were able to figure out your problem in a very concrete way so the fix was obvious, and Hornady made it right.

I have issues more related to a different situation.

It seems to me that Hornady is doing what I'd call "ongoing product improvement" on the whole LnL system.  So sometimes, if you get an accessory or shell plate, it may be from "revision 004" while your press is at the "revision 010a" level.  That can mean tolerances stack wrong, accessories don't quite fit the way the instructions say, etc.  The problem is that I don't know of a way they are letting the user community know about these design changes, and that's a problem.

An example of this is my case feeder, which is really old.  It has a clear plastic front where current models have black plastic except for the case funnel.  The case funnel looks like it may have been altered too.  My feeder's bowl seems to be slightly smaller in diameter than newer models, too, so if I have to replace a shell plate, I am not 100% confident that a new one will fit the way I expect it to.

I understand that at one point Hornady changed the angle of the feeder to allow longer cases line .357 Magnum to feed more quickly, by keeping the cases from falling out of the slots in the shell plate.  I only know about that because I've found discussions of it online.

My feeder's power and cut-off switches are in the usual place, but the top of the control panel is open, and I've had feed issues where cases fell into these openings...dropping a brass case onto wires that carry 110VAC is not my idea of a good time.

I know they updated the primer cam retainer to allow it to break away, because I saw it mentioned here.  I contacted Hornady and they sent an upgrade kit for free.  I ordered the plastic end cap for the case dropper (the one that keeps cases from bouncing off the sub plate) from Midway, but Hornady probably would have sent one for free if I'd asked.

That gets me to the point: they send upgrade parts to users for free, but why don't they let users know about the upgrades in the first place?  Is it because they are afraid that a ton of users will ask for replacements of parts that are working just fine just because the upgrades are "upgrades"?  It's something I am going to ask their tech people about, once I get the email polished and looking the way I want it to.

Originally Posted By edgephoto:
I wish Hornady would offer "an upgrade package" to bring older stuff up to current standards. If something is redesigned for a product improvement we should be able to see these improvements on their support website and buy the parts. I would not expect them to send these for free. Some things were changed because a vendor may have changed or it made for a better shipping package. I think the case feeder stand is now two piece to make it easier to package.

I do have to say while I was running the Dillon side by side with the LnL the Dillon case feeder is really quiet. My Hornady feeder is loud. The motor is loud but the brass and plastic makes a lot of noise. The Dillon uses a different plastic and it dampens the noise. Wish Hornady would do the same.

Originally Posted By GHPorter:

I'm 100% behind your suggestion.

I've done all sorts of things to try to quiet my case feeder.  The most effective trick was to put a soft cover on it, held with elastic - basically a really big shower cap.  It was still loud, but less harsh sounding.  But that doesn't work at all with stuff stuck on the sides to look into the bowl or manipulate cases inside, etc.

Much of the case feeder seems to be structural foam, which is pretty hard.  That makes it sturdy, but it also makes it echoey, and that's one factor in the noise issue.  The shell plates are also structural foam, so they add to the echo issue.

I think the thing would be a little quieter if the bowl were lined with HDPE (milk jug plastic), particularly in the back where the cases all fall on each other.  Gee...what about a one=piece bowl liner made of HDPE that incorporates a wedge to upright and un-jam cases... Just stick it in, put in the shell plate, and rock on!  Of course that would only work if all bowls were shaped exactly the same way, but it's an idea.

Originally Posted By dryflash3:
Not late, just in time.

This is one of those threads that has been saved from the archives so it came back to life when needed.

Like all the threads from midway thru page 9 thru page 12.

Originally Posted By SDMF_Rebel:
Recently got a LNL AP and it seems all I do is tinker, but I am getting closer and closer. Things I've learned in the past two weeks that I'd thought I'd pass on....

I was having one hell of a time getting brass to cleanly go into an FCD in station 5. Addressing the stack of the hub, carrier, and shellplate corrected this.  AR15 barrel shims are the exact ID and OD needed to shim the drive hub. It is incredibly easy to get to the drivehub, I'd start here as opposed to hammering on your shellplate detents. Adjusting the shellplate detents is treating a symptom, not the cause.  I started with .023" of shims and worked my way down to .005". It was a balancing act of eliminating slop, but having enough room to properly tighten the shellplate without binding up the drive. Also be sure to check all shellplates – they are NOT all flat.  You’ll never notice a not flat shellplate by eye, but on a surface plate you will find they are not flat.  When we’re dealing with increments of 003-005” it makes a huge difference, so be sure to check the function of all shellplates after you shim the hub.

The PTX setup - completely ignore the instructions. They are vague and worded in a way to send you chasing your tail.  Honestly, they are complete crap instructions and even the tech at Hornady said so himself.  Not only is the setup initially extremely painful trying to decipher the instructions, but the expanders themselves are awful.  The RCBS PTX inserts are a drop in and are excellent. They can be an M-die or traditional Bell, all depends how deep you go. RCBS also includes instructions of how to set it up, this is beneficial since the RCBS drop is identical to the Hornady. The RCBS instructions actually make sense. Bottom line, let the meter screw hit the casting, who cares? Throw on the PTX stop and just put enough pressure on it to take some force out of the linkage. If you don't, nothing bad will happen, just some wiggle.  I would have saved hours of frustration by completely ignoring the instructions initially and just listening to my brain, but I’ve broken enough things over the years thinking my way was better….

Back to shellplates… They should be firmly mounted, but to an extent.  In my opinion there needs to be give for when the dies inevitably try fighting back.  I think this is why from the factory the plate has quite a lot of wiggle even when snugged hard.  I am currently trying multiple methods of holding force on the plate, but letting the plate hardware yield to let the dies have their way.  Method one is a big fat rubber washer or o-ring – it will hold tight, but give when needed.  Finding the right durometer is part of the game.  Method two is using a conical spring between the bolt head and shell plate.  Again, finding the spring rate is a work in progress, however, I think this method will be the most successful.  A split-lock washer is all or nothing, unless you want to introduce an unequal force on the shellplate.  Flattening a 3/8” split lock takes a bit of torque, unless you’re using Chinese shit hardware from lowes/homedepot/etc.  In my opinion it’s not needed.  Remember, by shimming the hub, our plate is only a few thou off the deck, there’s no reason to try hamfisting it down.

I’m sure many of these things are well-known, it’s not like the LnL is new, but if it helps one person or spurs an idea for someone who has been using an LnL for 10 years then I’m happy.  I’ll post more as I go.  Hopefully you find something in here helpful.

Originally Posted By SDMF_Rebel:


Then you have shims that wouldn't work on an AR or a wierd hub in your press.

I have a bin full of shims, all fit.

Originally Posted By JACKDWACK:
My mechanical understanding is by shimming the shellplate, you're preloading the detents until they're basically maxed out between indexing.

Originally Posted By GHPorter:

In part you’re preloading the detents.  But since the shaft and subplate can have some tolerance issues sometimes, the first thing the shims do is get the working part of the shaft somewhere near where the detents can do their jobs at all.  To some extent that’s what I got, at least for a couple of my shellplates.

Once you get in the ballpark, you can start comparing shellplates for smoothness.  You might find a workable middle ground where you use a tight split lock washer for some plates and just a flat washer for others.  Some folks have used a punch to UNload the detents on overly tight shellplates, which may be an option for you.

Originally Posted By GHPorter:
Does it come off UNDER the plate or over it?

If under, your shell plate isn’t properly secured to the shaft.  Push the shell plate down firmly on the shaft, then make sure it doesn’t move while you snug down the bolt to hold it in place.  This is where a split lock washer helps a lot.

If it’s coming off OVER the plate, then there’s something catching it as the shell plate rotates.  Take the shell plate off, clean the sub plate really well, and see if you can feel anything rough or out of place.

Originally Posted By GHPorter:
Unless the spring is just snagged a little, I've never gotten one to work after it started giving me problems.  I've just bought backups to have on hand.  And of course, since I had the parts on hand, I haven't had a problem with one in a long time.  

Originally Posted By nramanA1:
My LNL used to seat the primers too high. The shell plate had too much wobble and was not keeping the case tight against the sub plate.
I called Hornady and described the problem, they sent me a new drive hub with a thicker flange at the bottom, best I can remember it was about 0.010" thicker.
Whatever the thickness of the flange was, it acted as if I had added an arbor shim on the old hub, pulling the shell plate tighter against the sub plate and not allowing the case that was getting primed to rise.
To get rid of the shell plate wobble the relationship between the drive hub and sub plate needs to be changed. You cant lower the drive hub, so you raise the sub plate by either replacing the drive hub with one that has a thicker bottom, or shim the old one.
I prefer the Hornady method, they shipped the drive hub fast and free.
One other thing, I greased the drive hub exterior before installation.

The "punching" referred to is about driving the locating balls in the bottom of the shellplate back up into the bores in which they travel. This moves the backing plugs that hold the springs upward. The net effect is to reduce the spring preload on the balls which in turn gives the balls less force to apply while trying to go home into the detents.

Originally Posted By DUX4LIFE:
I am now running the o ring instead of the spring and that has eliminated all of my jumping.  It adds just enough tension to slow down the shell plate so it doesn't float at all.  I removed all of my shims after I went to the o ring.

Originally Posted By spyderboy03:
I picked up an LNL AP in September for pretty dang cheap. Brand new and never setup. With life and moving I haven't had much time to set it up until recently. I can't seem to get any shim set to make an appreciable difference in the shell plate jumping. When I got it to smooth, it was with 2 - .004 shims, and the rotation of the plate was a bit tight. It also would not go fully into position every time when pushing the lever handle forward. Went back to a .004+.002+.001 and the shell plate feels a little tight still, but less so. Shell plate still jumps into the detent both forward and back on the handle. Tried messing with the pawls and that didn't seem to do anything. I dropped to the .004+.002 today and tried punching the detents in. That made a difference, but also made each position weak. I did incrementally punch them in.

I need to figure something out. I tested it the other night with the 2 .004 shims and shell plate bolt just finger tight (no allen key on it), and powder definitely jumps out of 300 blk cases. I do have calipers, but no other measuring tools. I will also try to read back through every page (I did 4-5 months ago) to see if I missed anything. At least my 3D printed case feeder works well!

Oh yeah, H110 is all sorts of stuck to my powder drop. I used the Hornady cleaner per the instructions, and I do not believe my wife uses dryer sheets. Any other ideas for that?

Originally Posted By dryflash3:
@spyderboy03

https://i.imgur.com/xKVA7wml.jpg

Get some powdered graphite, I use an acid brush dipped in the graphite to coat the inside of the hopper. Acid brush in the pic.

Then tap out, carefully, graphite can be a mess. There will be a light coat of graphite inside the hopper, what you want.

Most powder is coated with graphite, so it won't affect your powder, and the static will be gone.

Originally Posted By spyderboy03:
I picked up an LNL AP in September for pretty dang cheap. Brand new and never setup. With life and moving I haven't had much time to set it up until recently. I can't seem to get any shim set to make an appreciable difference in the shell plate jumping. When I got it to smooth, it was with 2 - .004 shims, and the rotation of the plate was a bit tight. It also would not go fully into position every time when pushing the lever handle forward. Went back to a .004+.002+.001 and the shell plate feels a little tight still, but less so. Shell plate still jumps into the detent both forward and back on the handle. Tried messing with the pawls and that didn't seem to do anything. I dropped to the .004+.002 today and tried punching the detents in. That made a difference, but also made each position weak. I did incrementally punch them in.

I need to figure something out. I tested it the other night with the 2 .004 shims and shell plate bolt just finger tight (no allen key on it), and powder definitely jumps out of 300 blk cases. I do have calipers, but no other measuring tools. I will also try to read back through every page (I did 4-5 months ago) to see if I missed anything. At least my 3D printed case feeder works well!

Oh yeah, H110 is all sorts of stuck to my powder drop. I used the Hornady cleaner per the instructions, and I do not believe my wife uses dryer sheets. Any other ideas for that?

Originally Posted By ishootglocks:
I haven't tried the o-ring mentioned by others, but my fix for the shellplate jumping was to push the bearings on the plate back just a couple thousandths.

Use a punch and very carefully press them from the bottom of the plate towards the top. It helped that I had several plates and only a couple "jumped" so I compared the ball detent depth on those compared to the smooth ones.

Originally Posted By spyderboy03:
Oh yeah, H110 is all sorts of stuck to my powder drop. I used the Hornady cleaner per the instructions, and I do not believe my wife uses dryer sheets. Any other ideas for that?

Originally Posted By cb4017:


Mix up some soapy water with dish soap.  Dip the plastic part of the powder measure into the water then set aside to let dry.

I did this with plastic powder funnels and with my RCBS powder measure.  It worked.

Originally Posted By DUX4LIFE:
I am now running the o ring instead of the spring and that has eliminated all of my jumping.  It adds just enough tension to slow down the shell plate so it doesn't float at all.  I removed all of my shims after I went to the o ring.