1050 9mm inconsistent primer seating: fits of rage & despare

[dzhitshard]

I bought the system factory set up for .40 & haven't had much trouble other than the primer seating ram coming out of adjustment after a bad series of crimped cases fouling up the press. I reset the depth to flush so the slide wouldn't bind & all had been fine on mixed case reloading in .40 I ended up getting ahead on .40 loading & got several thousand rounds through with acceptable primer seating.

I bought a new tool head & set it up for 9 & things have been frustrating to say the least.

With the new tool head as set From the factory with the primer ram set flush in the bushing so the primer slide won't bind, I was getting half seated primers from the start. After half a dozen cases I traced that issue primarily to the (bear with me, I don't have the document & can't get it from work because of the smart filters) tool head stud that activates the priming arm not being adjusted (IE screwed in enough) to fully activate the primer arm & send the ram up to full height.

I didn't find it anywhere in the manual but I've adjusted that stud so that the ram goes almost 1/4 the way up into the primer pocket on cut away cases but I'm still getting primer seating depth all over the place.

Last night I punched out 150 test load 9's & had about 25% that had primers that were properly seated bellow flush, about 30% that were slightly proud & the rest were significantly high.

I ran several of the high ones back through the priming station on the 1050 & a few seated the rest of the way but the majority showed only slightly more seating after their second trip through the station on the 1050. None exhibited damage of any flattening after the second trip through.

The remaining high primers went to the Hornady where they seated fully with very little effort. All ended up being seated bellow flush & none exhibited any flattening or crushing. Having to run all the rounds through another press to ensure that the primer seating is proper is a little more than frustrating.

I'm at a loss & can't spend an hour holding for someone to pick up the customer service line. My 30+ minute attempt netted me nothing but aggitation.

As it sets:

The bench is completely solid. I have no trouble seating .40 or running my other machines

The shell plate is tightened down to the point of dragging & then barely backed off.

Mixed brass head stamps but none crimped. None of it varries the 1/16th"+ that I'm seeing in in seating depth varriance.

The swager is not being used. It has not worked properly since I recieved the new machine & I have put off calling in to get it replaced because again: ansering the phone @ Dillon is a task they haven't been able to master the past few months.

Yes I'm probably a little bitter about not being able to reach the master race press people.

I've searched far & wide on this site using all the peramiters I can think of but I haven't found anything that is having a duplicate issue.

Any help would be appreciated.

[yoshidaex]

Which shell plate are you running? The 40 shell plate will work but seating isn't consistent as compared to using a 9mm shell plate.

[dzhitshard]

It's the shell plate that came in the factory conversion kit box for 9mm. #5 IIRC.

Edited June 19, 2013 by dzhitshard

[DownUnder]

Is anything preventing the full stroke of the handle? Back the resizing die off quite a way and observe the action of the swager and primer seater. They both do their work on the latter part of the handle stroke and if you are impeding that stroke with a resizing or other die seated too far that will cause problems.

[dzhitshard]

Thanks for the reply.

No, handle movement is not impeded. This is part of the reason that my swager is not in use currently. The swager rod is backed out so the tip will only slightly enter the primer pocket.

I have an RCBS decap & resizing die. I was trying to be frugal & use one of the 3 sets of dies I had on hand instead of buying the Dillon set that was on the shelf for the last month. I am getting a number of pull back primers that are getting reseated by the swager & that's slowing down the process. That's the only handle stroke issue I'm getting.

I gave a little flame to Dillon in my original post but I'll pass them some love on the die sets. I really miss the decapper spring my 40 die sets have as well as the seating die take down.

Edit,

Holy hell, I have set my sizing die to max depth, on the" 3 cases" I ran through it when setting it up.

I use mixed case range brass so I suppose it's possible that I could be getting some that are longer & that may be changing it enough to make a difference I can't feel. I think I'll back it completely out after I size a couple hundred cases & then I'll run them through the stations without the sizer in place.

Edited June 20, 2013 by dzhitshard

[B45C22]

Make sure the tool head bolt is tight. I had the same issue and found that it had gotten loose.

[dzhitshard]

Good call, tool head bolt is tight.

Part 12189 Primer seating push rod was the part I was referring to adjusting in my original post.

I am starting to wonder if it may be a problem. I was just looking at my witness marks & it's backed off a bit again. Previously I had noticed that while slowly lowering the tool head several times the primer seating push rod is making some contact with the lower frame of the 1050 before it enters the hole to activate the primer arm assembly. This causes the entire tool head to shift slightly 2/3 or so through the down stroke. At speed it is less noticeable. I took the head off several times & reinstalled it trying to eliminate this. All the linkages line up on the back side & show no wear nor have any binding when cycling.

I haven't had the chance to pull the sizer die process yet but the more I think of it, the more I worry I missed the elephant in the room

[jmorris]

When you reinstall the head have it all the way down in the press when you tighten the bolt.

[dzhitshard]

yep, I do that practice.

The head will torque to the right if you don't have it in the down position with the alignment pins in the holes of the frame/lower machine assembly.

[HI5-O]

Try and check if the bolt that holds the rocker arm that works the primer rod is tight (don't know the correct name for it).

It's on the right side of the machine and it is activated by the rod that comes down with the tool head, pushes down on it and it pushes the primer seating rod up.

Mines get loose once in a while and it causes the primer to not fully seat.

[SD1]

I had same issues with my new press.

223 and 9 were inconsistent heights. Tried everything.

The needle bearing kit for th shell plate solved it for me

[dzhitshard]

Is anything preventing the full stroke of the handle? Back the resizing die off quite a way and observe the action of the swager and primer seater. They both do their work on the latter part of the handle stroke and if you are impeding that stroke with a resizing or other die seated too far that will cause problems.

Thank you Down Under man.

It's very embarrassing to admit but it seems I was getting some longer mixed brass than I had set the sizing die for. It must have been barely binding up @ the end of the down stroke to a level I can't perceive. That's the way my opinion is leading now.

I pulled the sizing die & ran 100 presized cases through. 99 out of 100 perfectly seated primers. The single failure was a crimped case that snuck in & because I have the swage rod backed out of the equation I of course crushed it @ the primer seating station.

Again, super embarrassing to find out I was probably ranting at my own simple setup failure but if it helps the next guy when he's searching for why the hell his press isn't working . . .

[Canuck223]

Is anything preventing the full stroke of the handle? Back the resizing die off quite a way and observe the action of the swager and primer seater. They both do their work on the latter part of the handle stroke and if you are impeding that stroke with a resizing or other die seated too far that will cause problems.

Thank you Down Under man.

It's very embarrassing to admit but it seems I was getting some longer mixed brass than I had set the sizing die for. It must have been barely binding up @ the end of the down stroke to a level I can't perceive. That's the way my opinion is leading now.

I pulled the sizing die & ran 100 presized cases through. 99 out of 100 perfectly seated primers. The single failure was a crimped case that snuck in & because I have the swage rod backed out of the equation I of course crushed it @ the primer seating station.

Again, super embarrassing to find out I was probably ranting at my own simple setup failure but if it helps the next guy when he's searching for why the hell his press isn't working . . .

Precisely. We learn from our mistakes.