Hornady AP Press Problem

pspc271 · April 30, 2012, 07:41 PM

For the most part my AP press is working great but recently it has been having a problem indexing properly. It started right after I put grease in the fittings. The shell plate is rotating as it should when I pull the handle however it stops just a fraction of a turn short of where it should be. Its so minuet that it’s barely even noticeable until you go to seat a primer and find that shell is not perfectly lined up with the primer underneath. If I give the shell plate a small nudge it will move into place. It does this nearly every time, it’s not just a once in a while problem. Any suggestions?

IllinoisCoyoteHunter · April 30, 2012, 07:49 PM

Yes, the pawl that times the downstroke (of the shellplate) needs to be adjusted. If you look under your press you will see how the shellplate is turned. On the upstroke (of the shellplate), one pawl turns the plate, and on the down stroke, the other pawl finishes indexing the shellplate the other 1/2 turn. That pawl needs to be lengthened just a touch so it pushes the shellplate just a touch further (so the detents onthe bottom of the shellplate will rest in the "divots" on the subplate.) IIRC it is all covered in the manual. You know, that little book that came with the press and explains how it works...

(disregard the sarcasm... lol!)

Good luck!

Just in case you lost it:

http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/...ing/LNL_AP.pdf

wileybelch · May 17, 2012, 05:03 AM

You don't say which AP press you're using. If you keep the pawls clean and lightly lubed, indexing should not require adjusting. BUT, if your shell plate detents (there are ten of them on the underside of the plate) become worn or damaged, indexing will suffer. There are three different shell plate designs out there for the Hornady AP metallic cartridge presses (they all can be mounted, but they do operate differently); the Pro-7 plates will not work correctly with the Projector or LNL presses because of the design changes in indexing strategy and EZjector feature. Also, the ball checks on the Projector and LNL plates can accumulate dirt and malfunction during the indexing movement. Keep them clean (they have a tendency to pick up spent primer ash over extended use) or they may not index reliably. I would check the shell plate for cleanliness every 1000 to 2000 rounds.

CS86 · May 17, 2012, 08:30 AM

I have come across the same problem where you have to give the plate a little nudge to have it slide into place. I played with the pawl on the bottom only to find out that I was at my max length and if you go to far it will catch on your next stroke. Then you have to manually compress the pawl in order to get the stroke to opperate untill you back the pawl back down a bit.

Its been frustrating at times but I think having the balls on the underside of your shell plate greased and cleaning the pockets that the balls index into will help with the problem. I wonder if there is a break in period that this issue may go away.

If you ever forget to prime and dump the powder in. You might as well take the shell plate off, clean the pockets, primer area, extractor area, and re assemble. otherwise you are bound to have indexing problems or extracting hangups. My press is the LNL-AP

Quote:

There are three different shell plate designs out there for the Hornady AP metallic cartridge presses (they all can be mounted, but they do operate differently

I was unaware of this and I should do some looking into it to see if it would correct my problems.

Arizona Smithshooter · May 17, 2012, 08:33 AM

Had the same problem. Try turning the screw in the left Pawl about 1/8 turn CCW. Only small adjustments are needed.

tobnpr · May 18, 2012, 04:56 PM

I had trouble getting it indexing on setup.

The folks at Hornady are fantastic- one of the adjustment screws sets indexing for the upstroke, the other for the downstroke. Just call them if you have trouble getting it dialed in, they'll walk you right through it. The half-indexing is one of the features that sets the LNL above other presses like RCBS, IMO.

April 30, 2012, 07:41 PM	#1
pspc271 Member Join Date: January 5, 2012 Location: Camden, DE Posts: 34	Hornady AP Press Problem For the most part my AP press is working great but recently it has been having a problem indexing properly. It started right after I put grease in the fittings. The shell plate is rotating as it should when I pull the handle however it stops just a fraction of a turn short of where it should be. Its so minuet that it’s barely even noticeable until you go to seat a primer and find that shell is not perfectly lined up with the primer underneath. If I give the shell plate a small nudge it will move into place. It does this nearly every time, it’s not just a once in a while problem. Any suggestions?

April 30, 2012, 07:49 PM	#2
IllinoisCoyoteHunter Senior Member Join Date: December 23, 2008 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 1,527	Yes, the pawl that times the downstroke (of the shellplate) needs to be adjusted. If you look under your press you will see how the shellplate is turned. On the upstroke (of the shellplate), one pawl turns the plate, and on the down stroke, the other pawl finishes indexing the shellplate the other 1/2 turn. That pawl needs to be lengthened just a touch so it pushes the shellplate just a touch further (so the detents onthe bottom of the shellplate will rest in the "divots" on the subplate.) IIRC it is all covered in the manual. You know, that little book that came with the press and explains how it works... (disregard the sarcasm... lol!) Good luck! Just in case you lost it: http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/...ing/LNL_AP.pdf __________________ ~~IllinoisCoyoteHunter~~ ~NRA LIFE MEMBER~ ~NRA CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR~

May 17, 2012, 05:03 AM	#3
wileybelch Senior Member Join Date: May 16, 2009 Posts: 115	You don't say which AP press you're using. If you keep the pawls clean and lightly lubed, indexing should not require adjusting. BUT, if your shell plate detents (there are ten of them on the underside of the plate) become worn or damaged, indexing will suffer. There are three different shell plate designs out there for the Hornady AP metallic cartridge presses (they all can be mounted, but they do operate differently); the Pro-7 plates will not work correctly with the Projector or LNL presses because of the design changes in indexing strategy and EZjector feature. Also, the ball checks on the Projector and LNL plates can accumulate dirt and malfunction during the indexing movement. Keep them clean (they have a tendency to pick up spent primer ash over extended use) or they may not index reliably. I would check the shell plate for cleanliness every 1000 to 2000 rounds.

May 17, 2012, 08:33 AM	#5
Arizona Smithshooter Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2011 Location: Western Arizona Posts: 176	Had the same problem. Try turning the screw in the left Pawl about 1/8 turn CCW. Only small adjustments are needed.

May 18, 2012, 04:56 PM	#6
tobnpr Senior Member Join Date: August 1, 2010 Location: Tampa Bay Posts: 4,556	I had trouble getting it indexing on setup. The folks at Hornady are fantastic- one of the adjustment screws sets indexing for the upstroke, the other for the downstroke. Just call them if you have trouble getting it dialed in, they'll walk you right through it. The half-indexing is one of the features that sets the LNL above other presses like RCBS, IMO.