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LNL AP Shellplate adjustment (pawl)


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New press and everything is set up and working but can't get the shell plate to advance to the ball detent on the down stroke. Hornady said turn left pawl slightly but I feel that isn't the problem. It works fine until you put any pressure on the plate. If you don't put pressure on the plate, the spring slides under and jams. Any suggestions?

It seems to me that the pawl adjustment is just moving where the ball detent is. When I adjust it as they say the dies aren't lined up well. Right now I would rather nudge it with my finger then putting each case in but it's kind of a pain.

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Check the shell plate for a burr or something then put it back on and tighten the bolt/screw that holds it down. The press should index just fine with the center bolt tight. If it doesn't there's a pawl out of adjustment. They come pre-adjusted from the factory but a tiny bit of fine tuning may be required. 1/8 turns on the pawl adjust screws. Put it back together, tighten the bolt, leave the spring off and cycle the press. Adjust as Hornady told you in very small amounts and see what happens. If you have to nudge the shell plate to get it to line up the press isn't advancing enough when you raise the handle.

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Check the shell plate for a burr or something then put it back on and tighten the bolt/screw that holds it down. The press should index just fine with the center bolt tight. If it doesn't there's a pawl out of adjustment. They come pre-adjusted from the factory but a tiny bit of fine tuning may be required. 1/8 turns on the pawl adjust screws. Put it back together, tighten the bolt, leave the spring off and cycle the press. Adjust as Hornady told you in very small amounts and see what happens. If you have to nudge the shell plate to get it to line up the press isn't advancing enough when you raise the handle.

Can you tell me what the Pawl adjustment is moving? Does it effect the line up of the dies??? It seemed to me that it was moving where the plate stops and it was making the dies not line up with the case.

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Check the shell plate for a burr or something then put it back on and tighten the bolt/screw that holds it down. The press should index just fine with the center bolt tight. If it doesn't there's a pawl out of adjustment. They come pre-adjusted from the factory but a tiny bit of fine tuning may be required. 1/8 turns on the pawl adjust screws. Put it back together, tighten the bolt, leave the spring off and cycle the press. Adjust as Hornady told you in very small amounts and see what happens. If you have to nudge the shell plate to get it to line up the press isn't advancing enough when you raise the handle.

Can you tell me what the Pawl adjustment is moving? Does it effect the line up of the dies??? It seemed to me that it was moving where the plate stops and it was making the dies not line up with the case.

It works fine until you put any pressure on the plate. If you don't put pressure on the plate, the spring slides under and jams. Any suggestions?
You are using the provided bolt to attach the shell plate correctly yes? There's a drive tab on the drive wheel that fits into the notch on the shell plate.

If you look on the bottom of the ram you'll see a star wheel. When you raise and lower the handle the pawls engage the star wheel which is connected via a shaft to the drive plate that the shell plate sits on and is bolted to. The adjustment screws for the pawls raise/lower the pawls which effects when they engage the star wheel and how much they turn it. YES, it affects the line up of the dies to shell plate by controlling how much the shell plate is rotated. You stated you have to nudge the shell plate to get it to line up but you didn't say exactly which way. I'm guessing you have to advance it or the cases aren't quite under the dies.

There's only two physical things that could be wrong with your press if it isn't indexing properly... One is the shell plate could be defective and have the ball detentes placed improperly. I've never read of the ever being the case so I'm pretty much ruling it out.

The second is the pawls are out of adjustment. The presses come adjusted from the factory and I've only ever read of one or two cases where the pawls needed a very minor adjustment. I'm guessing yours may possibly be the second or third case.

Pawl adjustment can be a bit tedious if you have to adjust them. A LITTLE ADJUSTMENT GOES A LONG WAY!!! If you've already turned on the adjustment screws it's going to be even harder but it can be done. Work with one pawl at a time ONLY! Look carefully at the relationship between the pawls and the star wheel while you raise and lower the handle and you can see how they work and how adjusting them up or down effects how much the star wheel / shell plate is or isn't rotated. When adjusting on the screws go in small increments, 1/4 turn maximum at a time. 1/8 and 1/16 turn adjustments will be necessary for finish tuning.

If you aren't real inclined to try to make the necessary adjustments on your own call Hornady and talk to tech support. They are phenomenal about this kind of stuff and they can talk you through it on the phone.

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Check the shell plate for a burr or something then put it back on and tighten the bolt/screw that holds it down. The press should index just fine with the center bolt tight. If it doesn't there's a pawl out of adjustment. They come pre-adjusted from the factory but a tiny bit of fine tuning may be required. 1/8 turns on the pawl adjust screws. Put it back together, tighten the bolt, leave the spring off and cycle the press. Adjust as Hornady told you in very small amounts and see what happens. If you have to nudge the shell plate to get it to line up the press isn't advancing enough when you raise the handle.

Can you tell me what the Pawl adjustment is moving? Does it effect the line up of the dies??? It seemed to me that it was moving where the plate stops and it was making the dies not line up with the case.

It works fine until you put any pressure on the plate. If you don't put pressure on the plate, the spring slides under and jams. Any suggestions?
You are using the provided bolt to attach the shell plate correctly yes? There's a drive tab on the drive wheel that fits into the notch on the shell plate.

If you look on the bottom of the ram you'll see a star wheel. When you raise and lower the handle the pawls engage the star wheel which is connected via a shaft to the drive plate that the shell plate sits on and is bolted to. The adjustment screws for the pawls raise/lower the pawls which effects when they engage the star wheel and how much they turn it. YES, it affects the line up of the dies to shell plate by controlling how much the shell plate is rotated. You stated you have to nudge the shell plate to get it to line up but you didn't say exactly which way. I'm guessing you have to advance it or the cases aren't quite under the dies.

There's only two physical things that could be wrong with your press if it isn't indexing properly... One is the shell plate could be defective and have the ball detentes placed improperly. I've never read of the ever being the case so I'm pretty much ruling it out.

The second is the pawls are out of adjustment. The presses come adjusted from the factory and I've only ever read of one or two cases where the pawls needed a very minor adjustment. I'm guessing yours may possibly be the second or third case.

Pawl adjustment can be a bit tedious if you have to adjust them. A LITTLE ADJUSTMENT GOES A LONG WAY!!! If you've already turned on the adjustment screws it's going to be even harder but it can be done. Work with one pawl at a time ONLY! Look carefully at the relationship between the pawls and the star wheel while you raise and lower the handle and you can see how they work and how adjusting them up or down effects how much the star wheel / shell plate is or isn't rotated. When adjusting on the screws go in small increments, 1/4 turn maximum at a time. 1/8 and 1/16 turn adjustments will be necessary for finish tuning.

If you aren't real inclined to try to make the necessary adjustments on your own call Hornady and talk to tech support. They are phenomenal about this kind of stuff and they can talk you through it on the phone.

Thanks for the information. I really didn't believe it was a pawl adjustment. When the balls lock into the detent the dies are lined up. When i move the pawls they aren't. It is worse when the spring is on versus off. I will try to polish the spring groove by station 1 and make sure plate is clean. I also might try a different grease.

Thanks

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Check the shell plate for a burr or something then put it back on and tighten the bolt/screw that holds it down. The press should index just fine with the center bolt tight. If it doesn't there's a pawl out of adjustment. They come pre-adjusted from the factory but a tiny bit of fine tuning may be required. 1/8 turns on the pawl adjust screws. Put it back together, tighten the bolt, leave the spring off and cycle the press. Adjust as Hornady told you in very small amounts and see what happens. If you have to nudge the shell plate to get it to line up the press isn't advancing enough when you raise the handle.

Can you tell me what the Pawl adjustment is moving? Does it effect the line up of the dies??? It seemed to me that it was moving where the plate stops and it was making the dies not line up with the case.

It works fine until you put any pressure on the plate. If you don't put pressure on the plate, the spring slides under and jams. Any suggestions?
You are using the provided bolt to attach the shell plate correctly yes? There's a drive tab on the drive wheel that fits into the notch on the shell plate.

If you look on the bottom of the ram you'll see a star wheel. When you raise and lower the handle the pawls engage the star wheel which is connected via a shaft to the drive plate that the shell plate sits on and is bolted to. The adjustment screws for the pawls raise/lower the pawls which effects when they engage the star wheel and how much they turn it. YES, it affects the line up of the dies to shell plate by controlling how much the shell plate is rotated. You stated you have to nudge the shell plate to get it to line up but you didn't say exactly which way. I'm guessing you have to advance it or the cases aren't quite under the dies.

There's only two physical things that could be wrong with your press if it isn't indexing properly... One is the shell plate could be defective and have the ball detentes placed improperly. I've never read of the ever being the case so I'm pretty much ruling it out.

The second is the pawls are out of adjustment. The presses come adjusted from the factory and I've only ever read of one or two cases where the pawls needed a very minor adjustment. I'm guessing yours may possibly be the second or third case.

Pawl adjustment can be a bit tedious if you have to adjust them. A LITTLE ADJUSTMENT GOES A LONG WAY!!! If you've already turned on the adjustment screws it's going to be even harder but it can be done. Work with one pawl at a time ONLY! Look carefully at the relationship between the pawls and the star wheel while you raise and lower the handle and you can see how they work and how adjusting them up or down effects how much the star wheel / shell plate is or isn't rotated. When adjusting on the screws go in small increments, 1/4 turn maximum at a time. 1/8 and 1/16 turn adjustments will be necessary for finish tuning.

If you aren't real inclined to try to make the necessary adjustments on your own call Hornady and talk to tech support. They are phenomenal about this kind of stuff and they can talk you through it on the phone.

Just talked to Hornady. I need to adjust the RIGHT pawl. I was adjusting the left. When I called support the day before I was talking about the handle going down and he was talking about the ram going down.

The left pawl adjusts the line-up with the dies and primer. The right pawl adjusts the detents and DOES NOT effect the line up. Can't wait to get home and do it the right way now

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Check the shell plate for a burr or something then put it back on and tighten the bolt/screw that holds it down. The press should index just fine with the center bolt tight. If it doesn't there's a pawl out of adjustment. They come pre-adjusted from the factory but a tiny bit of fine tuning may be required. 1/8 turns on the pawl adjust screws. Put it back together, tighten the bolt, leave the spring off and cycle the press. Adjust as Hornady told you in very small amounts and see what happens. If you have to nudge the shell plate to get it to line up the press isn't advancing enough when you raise the handle.

Can you tell me what the Pawl adjustment is moving? Does it effect the line up of the dies??? It seemed to me that it was moving where the plate stops and it was making the dies not line up with the case.

It works fine until you put any pressure on the plate. If you don't put pressure on the plate, the spring slides under and jams. Any suggestions?
You are using the provided bolt to attach the shell plate correctly yes? There's a drive tab on the drive wheel that fits into the notch on the shell plate.

If you look on the bottom of the ram you'll see a star wheel. When you raise and lower the handle the pawls engage the star wheel which is connected via a shaft to the drive plate that the shell plate sits on and is bolted to. The adjustment screws for the pawls raise/lower the pawls which effects when they engage the star wheel and how much they turn it. YES, it affects the line up of the dies to shell plate by controlling how much the shell plate is rotated. You stated you have to nudge the shell plate to get it to line up but you didn't say exactly which way. I'm guessing you have to advance it or the cases aren't quite under the dies.

There's only two physical things that could be wrong with your press if it isn't indexing properly... One is the shell plate could be defective and have the ball detentes placed improperly. I've never read of the ever being the case so I'm pretty much ruling it out.

The second is the pawls are out of adjustment. The presses come adjusted from the factory and I've only ever read of one or two cases where the pawls needed a very minor adjustment. I'm guessing yours may possibly be the second or third case.

Pawl adjustment can be a bit tedious if you have to adjust them. A LITTLE ADJUSTMENT GOES A LONG WAY!!! If you've already turned on the adjustment screws it's going to be even harder but it can be done. Work with one pawl at a time ONLY! Look carefully at the relationship between the pawls and the star wheel while you raise and lower the handle and you can see how they work and how adjusting them up or down effects how much the star wheel / shell plate is or isn't rotated. When adjusting on the screws go in small increments, 1/4 turn maximum at a time. 1/8 and 1/16 turn adjustments will be necessary for finish tuning.

If you aren't real inclined to try to make the necessary adjustments on your own call Hornady and talk to tech support. They are phenomenal about this kind of stuff and they can talk you through it on the phone.

Just talked to Hornady. I need to adjust the RIGHT pawl. I was adjusting the left. When I called support the day before I was talking about the handle going down and he was talking about the ram going down.

The left pawl adjusts the line-up with the dies and primer. The right pawl adjusts the detents and DOES NOT effect the line up. Can't wait to get home and do it the right way now

Actually the LNL advances on the upstroke and the downstroke, one pawl is for the up and one is for the down so they both control how it hits the detents the ram upstroke detent is the one you will notice when setting primers and believe it or not the most critical, the down ram pawl is for the die and I have had mine so far off the powder was missing the case . I don't recall which is which right now but they both need to be correct.

It is not possible for the spring to get under the shell plate when the shell plate is properly adjusted. First always put a little grease on the detent balls on the shell plate. Without the spring put the shell plate on and run the bolt down till its snug then just back it off an 1/8-1/4 turn. If you press down on the shell plate with your finger it should move just slightly down or about .015 - .020 inch. Now put the spring on and work the ram so it goes into the slot. While working the ram make note that the shell plate hits the detents on each up and down stroke, if it is not hitting the detents you may have it too tight but if you can press down on it and it moves its not too tight, it needs the index adjusted.

NEW LNL user warning. Pay attention to the feel of things, if something on the down stroke of the ram don't feel right you are about to break the primer assembly either the slide or the adjusting rod mount so STOP.

By the way the the LNL does an excellent job of setting primers if the press is indexed correctly and you keep the primer punch clean. If powder spills on the shell plate use a small brush and clean it, if not it all gets in the primer punch.

The Dillon presses only index when the shell plate goes to the bottom, the powder is dropped and the primer is set at the same station. THE LNL sets the primer half way between stations and it indexes twice to go from station to station.

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New press and everything is set up and working but can't get the shell plate to advance to the ball detent on the down stroke. Hornady said turn left pawl slightly but I feel that isn't the problem. It works fine until you put any pressure on the plate. If you don't put pressure on the plate, the spring slides under and jams. Any suggestions?

It seems to me that the pawl adjustment is just moving where the ball detent is. When I adjust it as they say the dies aren't lined up well. Right now I would rather nudge it with my finger then putting each case in but it's kind of a pain.

Thanks to everyone for the great information. I loaded my first 100 rounds last night with only a few problems. The indexing is working, the powder drops are dead on, no primer feed issues. The only issues are the powder measure bushing moving, (so i will call hornady for the shim), and my oal changed from initial set-up (they got longer) Went from 1.25 to an average of 1.265. I noticed "CocoBolo" said to set up with plate full and of course I did one round, station by station all the way thru. The first 3 rounds after tightening up came out at 1.25. After that they all went long. I will try again tonight. I checked each powder drop but didn't check OAL until done. ( I had never had that change on my single stage or turret).

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Welcome to the progressive world. If you set it up with one station expect .10-.15 growth in OAL when all stations are full, this is not unique to Hornady, same thing happens on my Dillon XL650.

The powder measure bushing will come lose unless you take a wrench and snug it in, I do that on all my die/bushings. Next watch that plastic tube, you probably followed the directions and put it on correctly. Well now remember every time you pull the plastic out it gets looser. I have had it come out while loading and have a whole lap full of powder. If it does start coming out then flip it and put the other end down. Or in a hurry Duct Tape.

Glad to here you are cranking them out.

Edited by CocoBolo
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Welcome to the progressive world. If you set it up with one station expect .10-.15 growth in OAL when all stations are full, this is not unique to Hornady, same thing happens on my Dillon XL650.

The powder measure bushing will come lose unless you take a wrench and snug it in, I do that on all my die/bushings. Next watch that plastic tube, you probably followed the directions and put it on correctly. Well now remember every time you pull the plastic out it gets looser. I have had it come out while loading and have a whole lap full of powder. If it does start coming out then flip it and put the other end down. Or in a hurry Duct Tape.

Glad to here you are cranking them out.

That OAL growth is driving me nuts. So the first few and last few of every batch are short if adjusted properly.

Should the powder drop change at all when full vs not?

Thanks

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  • 4 weeks later...

Welcome to the progressive world. If you set it up with one station expect .10-.15 growth in OAL when all stations are full, this is not unique to Hornady, same thing happens on my Dillon XL650.

The powder measure bushing will come lose unless you take a wrench and snug it in, I do that on all my die/bushings. Next watch that plastic tube, you probably followed the directions and put it on correctly. Well now remember every time you pull the plastic out it gets looser. I have had it come out while loading and have a whole lap full of powder. If it does start coming out then flip it and put the other end down. Or in a hurry Duct Tape.

Glad to here you are cranking them out.

That OAL growth is driving me nuts. So the first few and last few of every batch are short if adjusted properly.

Should the powder drop change at all when full vs not?

Thanks

Glad I'm not the only one...The OAL creep puzzled me for a while and I went through all the dies making sure they were not to deep preventing a precise bullet seat. The difference is small... I'm adjusted for 1.15 and get some up to 1.162 using mixed brass and Redding dies. No big deal and it all works fine both in gun and in Wilson gage. I'm the opposite right now with the first and last few precise and a little off with a full shell plate. I might readjust that one of these days.

As for the bushings mine are just starting to get loose and the powder measure popped out once. Waiting for my free shim set from Hornady along with a few other parts they are replacing like the shell plate and the springs I have gone through. I could get mine to work good with the screw finger tight. Anything more and problems. My primer shuttle jammmed and crumpled the cam wire so when I got them to replace those parts I knocked off all the other issues I have had. Nothing but good to say about Hornady support.

As for the pawls... yes mine were totally screwed up when I first got the press and took some adjustment.

Edited by millisec
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