Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

T

TexasClassIII

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 2, 2011
212
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Dallas, TX
#1
I searched 'primer' and didn't see anything related to this.

I just started reloading and am using a Hornady LNL progressive press (but am only loading 'single stage' style at the moment since I'm new).

I'm putting CCI primers in once fired Winchester 308 brass. Resizing and taking out the old primer is a piece of cake. But pushing on the handle to seat the new primer correctly takes a TON of force--like right hand pushing very hard on the handle and left hand pulling hard the opposite way on the press. Obviously something is not right here.

Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong? Ammo shoots fine--less than .5 MOA on my first loads. But something has to be wrong--this doesnt 'feel' right. In fact, I have virtually no feeling at all of the primer seating. Such a large/blunt amount of force is applied I don't have a 'feel' for it, like I do for resizing and bullet seating.

When I try a small amount of force that I'd assume was normal the primer sticks way out of the case and doesn't even come close to being fully seated.

Thanks guys...any ideas are appreciated.

Parker
 
#3
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

From some quick google searching it appears this is a known issue with LNL presses....lovely...

Guess I'll start 'modding' my brand new press and see if that fixes the issue. Apparently out of the box some don't seat deep enough and require some sanding on the nut of the priming device so that it primes deeper.

Parker
 
#4
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TexasClassIII</div><div class="ubbcode-body">From some quick google searching it appears this is a known issue with LNL presses....lovely...

Guess I'll start 'modding' my brand new press and see if that fixes the issue. Apparently out of the box some don't seat deep enough and require some sanding on the nut of the priming device so that it primes deeper.

Parker </div></div>

Move the press like you are seating a primer while looking under the sub-plate at the primer ram and see if the nut is actually bottoming out. I have a LnL AP and had the same issue. I wasn't able to get primers into virgin Winchester brass. I bought a hand primer and it was still rather difficult to get the primers in the brass. After getting the primers in and firing, the brass got looser and became easy to seat the primers into.

I decided to keep the hand primer simply because it gives much better feel and I'm able to prime while watching tv instead of being stuck at the bench.
 
#5
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

I have the same problem with my LNL. But I've gotten used to it. I just gotta use a little elbow grease. That being said, I also have a RCBS hand primer which I use when I'm not depriming, resizing, and priming all at once.
 
#6
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

Unless I'm loading several thousand .223 or 9mm on my 650, all my brass is hand primed. Takes very little time to prime 100 pieces of brass. Run it all through the press with no powder or primers loaded, just de-priming and sizing, then tumble clean (I prefer the Stainless Media), prime, and run through again without a sizing die in place.

It may be two steps but in the end it might just save a lot of hassle.
 
#8
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TexasClassIII</div><div class="ubbcode-body">From some quick google searching it appears this is a known issue with LNL presses....lovely...

Guess I'll start 'modding' my brand new press and see if that fixes the issue. Apparently out of the box some don't seat deep enough and require some sanding on the nut of the priming device so that it primes deeper.

Parker </div></div>

Try cleaning the primer pocket with a pocket reamer. This might not fix your issue, but I think it is worth the effort. Also I am a firm believer in modifying the cheapest component, in this instance a few of your cases as apposed to grinding/sanding on your LNL.
 
#9
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

Cleaning pockets didn't fix the issue.

Picked up a RCBS hand primer, which works great.

...but what's the point of spending the cash on a progressive press if you can't load progressively?

Anyone know of fixes for the LNL for this primer seating issue? Tried sanding down the nut that controls primer seating depth, but that didn't fix the issue/caused new issues.

Parker
 
#10
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

have you tried other brass with it?

I have used blackhills, federal, LC>

If blackhills is winchester brass, yes its requires more efforts to seat primers.
 
#11
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

I have a LnL AP press and have run in excess of 10k rounds through it and have not had any significant issues with primer seating. I agree when I first got it I had a little bit of fiddling to do with the primer seating portion of the operation to get it to run smoothly and reliably. Here are my observations and what I found to work for mine.

The LnL AP primer arm assembly seems to be sensitive to picking up crud and getting hard to operate. The most common that I found are small brass shavings that can result when seating a primer in a case with a dirty or tight pocket or if the primer for whatever reason was not square and centered when the seating was attempted. Most often the shavings are little crescent moon shaped ones and they often seem to find their way in to the primer arm where the "ram" is (my term for the little button that the primer sits on)and cause that to bind or become difficult to operate. In addition just general crud like a kernel of powder, dirt that accumulates in that area etc. can make that arm assembly not happy.

I've found that if I give it a quick wipe down with a paper towel with a shot of brake cleaner between primer tube refills it rolls right along. That seems to take care of almost all the issues.

The other thing I did was take some 0000 steel wool and after disassembling the primer assembly I gave a light burnish to the moving parts. That slicked them up just a bit and as I said the LnL AP runs great for me.

Hope some of this helps.

 
#14
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

Found part of the problem.

Left pawl was slightly out of adjustment (yes, from the factory).

Fixed that, and I can at least now 'feel' the primer seating--but it seems stupidly difficult, given the amount of leverage the handle should give when it's pushed forward.

Any more thoughts? What can I adjust/fiddle with on the LNL press to make this easier?

It's not the cases or primers--they seat easily with a RCBS hand primer.

Parker
 
#15
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TexasClassIII</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Found part of the problem.

Left pawl was slightly out of adjustment (yes, from the factory).

Fixed that, and I can at least now 'feel' the primer seating--but it seems stupidly difficult, given the amount of leverage the handle should give when it's pushed forward.

Any more thoughts? What can I adjust/fiddle with on the LNL press to make this easier?

It's not the cases or primers--they seat easily with a RCBS hand primer.

Parker </div></div>

Contrary to what people commonly believe, the LnL press has terrible mechanical advantage for primer seating. It's just naturally difficult. I hand prime now. Even when I load for 9mm.
 
#16
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

I'm willing to modify the press if necessary.

I mean this is a semi-major issue if I plan on loading progressively.

Should I sell it and get another kind of progressive press? Or can this be modified/solved?

Parker
 
#17
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

Your not going to "fix" the lack of mechanical advantage on your LNL. Different brands of brass and or primers allow for easier seating of the primers. The combination your using now just doesn't work together well.

Sometimes you just have to develop a method of your push pull technique for a particular mix of components.

Just the nature of the beast. With more mechanical advantage a person might run the risk of setting off a primer during seating if they were a little too exuberant. While I don't particular like this aspect of the LNL, I've learned to adapt to it.
 
#18
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

4 ft cheater bar
smile.gif
 
#19
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 19Scout77</div><div class="ubbcode-body">4 ft cheater bar
smile.gif
</div></div>

Or replace with a Dillon
wink.gif
 
#20
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

Headed thie direction of a dillon. Going to see a dillon in action this week and make a decision.

In the mean time I'm still on the hunt for a fix for the LNL. Gonna call tech support mon.

Parker
 
#21
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TexasClassIII</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

In the mean time I'm still on the hunt for a fix for the LNL.

Parker </div></div>

This usually works
MR900437777.jpg
 
#22
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

+1 on the Dillion Swager. You may be trying to seat primers into brass that had the primer pockets crimped. I bought a few boxes of winchester nato (white box) ammo before I started reloading for .308 that had the primers crimped. If I didn't swage the pockets I am sure it would have been very difficult or next to impossible to seat them.
 
#23
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

I hacked up the primer pocket assembly some more with a file and things improved.

I also called tech support, who immediately said they'd send out another primer seating assembly. We'll see if that fixes the issue.

As tempting as it is to get a dillon, I'd rather not spend so much money...I don't know...hard choice.

One of my biggest knocks against the Hornady (other than my primers not seating correctly) is that it completely lacks the powder check assembly add-on. I'd really feel a lot more comfortable loading with one....

Parker
 
#24
Re: Primer is very difficult to seat......why?

The Dillon swage is awesome. Lyman reamers work well too but are not NEAR as fast as the super swage. I tend to use my lyman more since I take a bag of brass out into the back yard and sit and swage while the little'ns play. Kind of like whittling.
 
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