ppknut Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 I'm having a lot of trouble getting my .40 S&W to feed properly. The problems describe below DO NOT happen when feeding 9mm or .45 brass. The .40 brass hangs up on the feed ramp part. I thought perhaps my ramp was a little dinged up, so I got a new one from Dillon. This has not helped. The brass will hang up in two locations intermittently. The first hang up is when the brass just begins to move forward with the 'ram' pushing the brass. The .40 cal brass has a hard time finding the slot in the ramp. Instead of smoothly finding its place in the feeder slots it will move slightly left or right and jam on the diagonal cuts that are supposed to direct the brass into the main slotted portion. The second hang up is at the juncture between the ramp and the shellplate platform. At this point, the brass will snag on the platform and not continue into the shellplate. I've tried to accommodate this slight difference by putting a very small piece of tape beneath the ramp to raise it just a bit, but this really doesn't fix the problem. Any ideas? This is really quite frustrating to have happen every 5 to 8 rounds and kills production. Thanks for any input. -ppknut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillon Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Do cases slide smoothly through the feed ramp by hand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppknut Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 Yes, they do. BTW, the ramp is marked W and the adapter tube is purple, which should be the correct ones for .40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillon Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Those are the correct components. Have you readjusted the cam when changing calibers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppknut Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 (edited) Please elaborate and explain why that would possibly help. Especially when the shell doesn't even feed (and catches) from the very beginning of the feed ramp as it approaches the wedge cuts in the ramp. And explain the process of readjusting the cam, when that doesn't seem necessary when going from 9mm to .45 Edited May 20, 2014 by ppknut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppknut Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 I would still like to know how the cam readjusting works. This is not covered in any paperwork I've received from Dillon. That said, I've attached a quick sketch of where the initial hang up occurs. The scale is a little exagerated to illustrate what is happening. 14229508972_438ec1bc06_c.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 (edited) Page 11 of the manual• Fine Adjustment of Cam: If you areexperiencing a problem with the case notfeeding all of the way into the shellplate(and/or sizing die) or bouncing back out ofthe shellplate, you will need to fine adjustthe cam for each and every caliber that youare loading. You will want to start with acase from the caliber you are preparing toload in the first station of the shellplate. Inthe following procedure you will practicallyrepeat the steps for setting up the cam oninitial installation with the exception ofletting the plunger rest on the case in theshellplate instead of the housing. Pull theoperating handle down until roller oncasefeed plunger reaches about the center ofthe flat on the cam and the plunger is restingon the case in the shellplate. Loosen thecam and slide it in or out until it is justbarely touching the roller, then re-tighten themounting bolts on the cam, be sure not torelease the handle until tightened. Once youhave finished loading the caliber that youhave fine-tuned the cam for, you will want toreturn it to its original position by repeatingthe setup steps in Note 9 If it's also catching on the edge you might want to lightly file the ramp slightly to help smooth the transition. Edited May 20, 2014 by Youngeyes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppknut Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 Youngeyes, Thanks for the cam adjusting information. Now I know what this procedure is for. On the other hand, While lightly filing the angled portion of the feed ramp to smooth it out may be of some benefit, I don't believe any careful filing will help with what I've shown on the sketches I posted. The case is tilting before it even reaches the ramp slot, as if it is catching on the next (upper) piece of brass as the ram moves forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Run one case at a time. Manually drop it down the feed tube. See if you have the same problem. If it is hanging up on the next brass case this should eliminate it. Remember to have the ram up. If not the single case will fall over when it hits the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppknut Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 I'll try that, one at a time, and see what happens. If that shows that the shell is hanging up on the succeeding shell, then what? This would seem to defeat the purpose of the case feeder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppknut Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 (edited) One at a time works just fine. No hang ups. So, it may be that the stack of brass in the tube is putting enough pressure on the bottom shell to cause it to tip, ever so slightly, and catch on the primer of the next one in line. A few other notes: In careful observation of the ram operation, I noticed that the piece of brass being advanced toward the shellplate always veers off to the side of the ramp (one side more than the other), in effect causing the shell to start the forward progress directly toward the diagonal ramp cuts rather than more centered in the slot. This convinced me to work on the ramp with a small file to smooth it out (round it) a bit. After this judicious filing, I did a little polish work on the now more rounded ramp lips. All in all, I really kind of polished as many surfaces I could reasonably reach. Last step was to lube my .40 brass, which is something I've never needed to do with 9mm and .45, just to make sure that the brass was able to travel as freely as possible into the ramp. The end result was that the hang ups were reduced significantly. Before, I was getting a hang up every 5 to 10 rounds or so. I ran a batch of 50 and only got about 3 hangs ups. Progress made! But not completely solved. I'm still curious if anyone else has experienced this issue. One other factor that may or may not be significant......the brass I'm using is a batch of once fired that I purchased, as is. I noticed that the firing pin strikes on the spent primers were of the 'rectangular' form/shape and that this type of indent appeared to raise the cup metal more so than on circular pin strikes. I did try to isolate those cases and tried to determine if that was contributing, but it remained more or less random in any effect. Edited May 21, 2014 by ppknut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckaroo45 Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 I'm having the same issue except the difference in levels is more like .040! The lower case feeder channel bottom is lower than the platform assy. A "little" filing ain't gonna make it. Got a msg in to Dillon just now (Sunday noon) but I'd like to get this running sooner. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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