Hornady bullet feeder

[fritzthemoose]

Have to say upfront that I already destroyed on pair of collets some time ago in putting too much pressure on it. Got if for free from Hornady although I told them that it was my fault.

Anyway, I am very carefull now and rather ask around first

Collets are exactly set up like recommendet by Hornady. Case is flared acutally too much as I frequently have rounds that dont fit into the gauge anymore.

Die as such is exyctly set up like recommendet by Hornady. Put in until it thouches the case then moved down half a turn.

Still bullets always get loose when indexing.

I am loading 9 Luger (Major loads)

Dont want to put the die down further as I am afraid of squeezing the collets too much again.

Any advice?

[noylj]

What is the case ID after expanding over the length the bullet will be seated? It should be 0.354" or 0.001" smaller than the bullet diameter. Too many people have decided to simply flare/bell the case mouth and skip actually expanding the case (or think that the flare/bell IS the case expansion). With the proper case expansion and minimum flare/bell, the bullet will stay in place. All you are doing with the excess flare/bell is giving the bullet a place to rock back-and-forth and fall out or tip.

[fritzthemoose]

What is the case ID after expanding over the length the bullet will be seated? It should be 0.354" or 0.001" smaller than the bullet diameter. Too many people have decided to simply flare/bell the case mouth and skip actually expanding the case (or think that the flare/bell IS the case expansion). With the proper case expansion and minimum flare/bell, the bullet will stay in place. All you are doing with the excess flare/bell is giving the bullet a place to rock back-and-forth and fall out or tip.

sounds like what is happening as mine do rack back and forth.

But what do you mean with case ID? Never heard it in englisch and could not find it in German (my mother tongue)either. If you mean sizing the case all the way in the sizing die I do that all the way down as I am shooting 9 Major and otherwise they dont gauge.

[CocoBolo]

Interesting.

1st what bullets are you using? Jacketed bullets?

2nd: What Powder are you using? If you are using something like 3N38 or AA#7 (no room in case for bullet)

3rd: Using on a LNL or other Loader like Dillon?

Belling: I bell my cases to about .382

Collet Adjustment: I screw the adjuster all the way down then back it off 1/2 turn, then run some and adjust up or down as necessary.

Speed: Slow down a little and be smooth.

If on Hornady if you are still using the Spring Ejector, get the EZ eject Kit, the sping makes the shell plate snappy on eject and there goes your bullet.

Shell plate adjustment:: Yep, this is where it is at, if its snappy it slings powder or flings bullets. On LNL or XL650 tighten the shell plate till it has a very slight amount of drag when advancing, this takes the snap out of it and then things stay put. Most Hornady users load with a loose shell plate and this causes a lot of issues like high primers, cases not going in the plate, falling over etc, tighten it up.

I am loading 9 major, I run all cases thru a CasePro size the all the way with either a Dillon or Hornady Die, Crimp is at .378. Loaded thousands with the Hornady bullet feeder, using Montana Gold 124gr/CMJ.

If you are not roll sizing the brass you will have a few rejects. I only load once fired cases and shoot them once and let them go, I'm running aboubt 1400 fps, so the brass is not fit to use again unless you like trouble, and I don't.

[fritzthemoose]

Interesting.

1st what bullets are you using? Jacketed bullets?

2nd: What Powder are you using? If you are using something like 3N38 or AA#7 (no room in case for bullet)

3rd: Using on a LNL or other Loader like Dillon?

If on Hornady if you are still using the Spring Ejector, get the EZ eject Kit, the sping makes the shell plate snappy on eject and there goes your bullet.

Shell plate adjustment:: Yep, this is where it is at, if its snappy it slings powder or flings bullets. On LNL or XL650 tighten the shell plate till it has a very slight amount of drag when advancing, this takes the snap out of it and then things stay put. Most Hornady users load with a loose shell plate and this causes a lot of issues like high primers, cases not going in the plate, falling over etc, tighten it up.

I am loading 9 major, I run all cases thru a CasePro size the all the way with either a Dillon or Hornady Die, Crimp is at .378. Loaded thousands with the Hornady bullet feeder, using Montana Gold 124gr/CMJ.

If you are not roll sizing the brass you will have a few rejects. I only load once fired cases and shoot them once and let them go, I'm running aboubt 1400 fps, so the brass is not fit to use again unless you like trouble, and I don't.

I tried it whith jacketed (LOS and Speer) ones and with Ares ones. Same with both

Have a LNL with the EZ eject syste. Shellplate is quite thight

Using Hornady dies

Using SP2 and 3N37 for Major but its the same with my training loads (minor) where I use Rex and Lovex for

Crimp should not be the issue as they get loose prior to crimping

[noylj]

ID=inner (inside) diameter

OD=outer (outside) diameter

For a .355" diameter bullet, the case inside diameter should be .354" after case expansion. If it is less than .353", the bullet will not go in easily and excess flare/bell will not support the bullet, so it is just "hanging" on the case and will rock back and forth and fall out of the case easily.

With a case ID close to the bullet OD, you can actually push the bullet slightly in the case and it will stay in position.

If you feel that the problem is the shellplate "snapping" into position, then you will need to place a little thick grease, like some marine greases, that will help retard movement, on the base plate and then increase the tension between shellplate and the base plate so there is more resistance to the shellplate moving so it can't "snap" into place.

[Foxbat]

A couple of notes here. Measuring the ID to .001" accuracy is very far from trivial. Even high grade calipers, like Mitutoyo, will not guarantee that, forget the cheap Chinese ones. In addition, you usually don't have control over that parameter anyway - you rely on the expander, as it comes from the die maker. Measure its OD instead. But whatever it is, you can't change it. OK, OK, so if it is oversized you can grind it down a bit - not very easy to do at home.

You have to accept the fact that the Hornady system is only marginal in many regards, and learn to live with it. You will never get good bullet retention like on more expensive systems. So you need to work on smoothness - when you get THAT under control, you will get reasonable stability.

Edited August 11, 2011 by Foxbat