1050 primer punch sticking

[sarpau]

First off, Happy New Year.

Recent development in my RL1050 that I can't trouble shoot on my own.

Did a search and can't find anything similar to this.

The timing of the priming system seems good from a primer feeding perspective, but when I raise the handle of the press, the primer punch hangs up in the primer feed/slide bar and snaps down once I get the handle to its full upright position.

I cleaned the entire machine, polished the primer punch and corresponding hole in the slide bar, went in slow motion and determined that it is 100% NOT the tappet or rocker arm or bushing that screws into the press.

I can't see or feel any burrs, and when I chucked the primer punch in my mill, to turn it and polish with 2000 grit sandpaper, there was no bend or run out in the punch.

I made and placed a couple of spacers under the primer punch return spring to increase the spring pressure, to test if it was a weak spring.

All it does is make the punch snap down harder, rattle the press and throw powder out of the cases in the shell plate.

I don't recall ever forcing the machine in order to bend or take anything out of timing.

I'm lost.

Any ideas are appreciated.

Paul

Edited January 1, 2014 by sarpau

[DougCarden]

Paul, most of the time the primer punch spring is broken. I would replace the primer slide arm springs, the pivot arm on the primer tube magazine. If those get worn out you will have problems with the last little bit going into the punch and affecting the timing.

Good luck,
DougC

[sarpau]

Thanks Doug.

All springs appear in good condition, but I'll be ordering all new springs for the whole machine.

I'm tearing it all down again and will try to see what might be causing the hangup.

[jmorris]

With the primer slide out does it feel OK?

[sarpau]

Jmorris, yes it did.

But a quick update.

Just finished tearing down the press, cleaning and re-greasing/oiling everything along with polishing everything I thought could use a polish.

It seems to be working smoothly now, but would have liked to figure out exactly what was causing the hang-up.

I think it may have had something to do with the fact that my lock ring assembly was pressing down on the shell plate just tight enough to restrict/retard the proper indexing of the shell plate.

The tool head may have been slightly misaligned, just enough so that the indexing rod that aligns the primer slide was out of position enough to snag the primer punch.

Just my theory, but when I operated the press in slow motion, that's what appeared to be happening.

Once the tool head raised enough for the indexing rod to release pressure from the primer slide, the primer punch snapped down onto the rocker arm.

polishing and greasing the bottom of the lock ring and top of shell plate has really smoothed up the indexing of the shell plate, even with the lock ring being in the same position (i.e. tightened down) as it was when it was giving me issues.

For now it seems to be working properly again.

I'll update if anything changes as I have to load up some ammo for upcoming matches.

[Guest 550Sam]

I think mine is dirty as heck, not picking up primer as the primer slide is not moving freely all the time.

[jmorris]

I would be suspect of the plastic oraface on the primer tube Sam. Also for moving freely there is a sweet spot for the clamp on the primer tube housing, once I find it I mark the location.

[dillon]

Most likely it was the primer punch spring was worn, and starting to stay compressed somewhat. Compare the length of the old one to a new one. You will probably notice it was a couple of coils shorter in length.

[jmorris]

What is the OAL of a new spring?

[SixBarSpur]

sarpau, I had a similar problem with my RL1050 recently.

As my slide operating arm had somehow shifted and needed to

be readjusted and clamped better, I was surprised to find another

problem soon after; my shell plate didn't want to index.

I was finding that my rocker and primer punch was similarly

'stuck' and snapped back. I traced it to a gunked up primer

system tappet & bore, not allowing the rocker and punch

to return to proper position. Small grains of powder and dust

with lube must've accumulated.

I loosened the lock ring and raised the shell plate and popped

the tappet out. Cleaned the tappet, hole and lower surface and

it all went back to smooth operation.

Usually my 'cleaning routine' wouldn't include this tappet & bore.

[hvsmith]

I'm having a problem with the primer punch setting the primers fine, but it sticks in the raised position & won't allow the shell plate to advance. I've had the entire upper apart at least 20 times, cleaned & greased per instructions, changed the primer punch spring & nothing seems to be working. I've been trying to adjust the rocker arm set screw but that hasn't solved the problem.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, I've spent at least 12 hours trying to fix this & I'm ready to toss a 10 month old Super 1050 in the trash.

[DWFAN]

Is the screw too tight pinching the lever?

[havfun]

if the primer swing arm(the part that moves the primer slide) is set to low it will cause this. happened to me as well raising it slightly fixed the issue.

[dillon]

A new spring measures 1.042", +/- .025"