Mark7 Evolution - Tuning & Troubleshooting

[erwos]

3 minutes ago, Baragasam said:

Hi @erwos!

I also agree with your last statement that a primer feed stop mechanism would be nice and that for those loading volume this primer Xpress is a must as the standard priming system only holds 100 primers and loading tubes for it is a PITA. I previously used a Vibraprime to load tubes but that would sometimes jam. Circling back to the primer feed stop idea, turning off the unit is a may or may not work idea as I believe any movement to the unit itself would still move primers down the chute. But the fact that it has a primer orientation sensor and no-primer-detected alert is a major plus, eliminating the need to spend the extra $100-$200 for the on board primer sensor. Which, argumentatively can be a requirement as it detects if a primer has been successfully installed on a primer pocket (especially loose primer pockets which don't hold primers). 

It really is the killer app for the Apex. After seeing this thing in action, I'd never even consider buying an 1100 until Dillon comes out with a comparable solution (which shouldn't be impossible, TBH). Frankly, next year, I may even upgrade my trusty 650 in 9mm to an Apex if this thing holds up.

[Baragasam]

2 hours ago, erwos said:

It really is the killer app for the Apex. After seeing this thing in action, I'd never even consider buying an 1100 until Dillon comes out with a comparable solution (which shouldn't be impossible, TBH). Frankly, next year, I may even upgrade my trusty 650 in 9mm to an Apex if this thing holds up.

 

I can't agree more. The whole point of automated progressives was to create a retail version of commercial machines. And in my humble opinion when a designer takes away certain automated aspects such as bullet/brass/primer feeds it defeats the whole purpose of a automatic progressive. Plus the automation for Dillon is made by Mark 7 anyways. I personally would prefer to support the 'original' designer who brought solutions to the retail market. The extra 10th station of the Evo is not a must but a nice plus as well. Dillon however makes great value dies and I use them on the Evo (LOL). 

 

I initially purchased my Evo to do 1 pass reloading for 223 with a trimmer but after some extensive research including long chats with @RGA who greatly helped me out, it really wasn't worth it. But all the above points I made favoring the Evo over the RL1100 still stands true. 

 

However, I am slightly disappointed with Mark 7's approach in manufacturing the Apex 10 parts in cast instead of milling. They did state that it does no affect the functionality and is one of their approaches towards reducing the overall MSRP of their progressive presses. Which from a business standpoint I complete understand. Especially now that they have been acquired by Lyman. 

 

If you like your press in 223/300BLK you will love it in 9mm. The Mark 7 Evo is very smooth with straight walled caliber rounds such as 9mm in my experience. 

 

I have even used the Mr.Bullet feeder with the nose-down conversion plate to feed onto my Lee-automatic processing press to size a high volume of 9mm projectiles.  

 

The system as a whole works great for my uses. 

[erwos]

58 minutes ago, Baragasam said:

However, I am slightly disappointed with Mark 7's approach in manufacturing the Apex 10 parts in cast instead of milling. They did state that it does no affect the functionality and is one of their approaches towards reducing the overall MSRP of their progressive presses. Which from a business standpoint I complete understand. Especially now that they have been acquired by Lyman. 

To be fair to Lyman/M7, the Apex toolheads are a significant cost-saver over the Evo toolheads because you get the tool head spring guide rod and the second guide rod assembly for free. That's like a hundred bucks cheaper per toolhead, which is not nothing.

[Norberg]

Hi, I just got my Apex 10 with autodrive today. I have assembled everything according to the manuals and so far it went well. When I start up the tablet and press loader, I come to the warning text but get a message that reads: Loader Console Rebooted. I updated the software and it worked fine, but when I tried to update the firmware I got the following message: Error Can't initialize MCU. As I said, everything is brand new and I got it delivered today and assembled it according to the manual, I have double checked all contacts and they are as they should be What should I do next?

[ddc]

Call Mark 7 customer support?

[BiknSwans]

On 7/27/2021 at 8:44 PM, BiknSwans said:

I was unable to remove the swage rod or lower it enough to allow pulled back primers to be ejected, so I cannot use station 3 to decap.  I will swage the primer pocket in both the first and second pass, but will use universal decappers as the hold down die.  At least that's the latest plan.

I just discovered that using a universal decapping die to hold down the case while swaging resulted in damage to the case rim.  The cases went through the rest of the loading process just fine, and the reloaded ammo worked fine in my M&P, but I found that sometimes a case wouldn't fit in a shell holder on my RCBS turret.

 

The swaging pin is, of course, centered on the case in the primer pocket, but the support from the shell plate is not centered.  This caused the case to rotate about the edge of the rim, and concentrated the load support in a small portion of the rim.  The soft brass of the rim would get deformed when this occurred.

 

I've taken the advice from Clint007 and switched to a sizing die above the swaging station.  Now the load from the swaging pin and the support from the sizing die are both centered.  I've only loaded 100 rounds so far with this setup, but it worked fine, and it did for Clint007.

[WSA]

On 12/16/2021 at 6:32 AM, erwos said:

Some quick notes on my Primer Xpress Evolution install thus far:

1. You need a fair bit of room behind your press for the Primer Xpress. Mine barely cleared. The movement is all left-right, so you don't need to worry about back wall clearance if it's tight. I found the noise to be a little worse than the case feeder/bullet feeder, but not remotely comparable to a trimmer setup.

2. Removing the Evo priming assembly is undocumented, despite what the Primer Xpress instructions claim. There are two bolts (one on the top, one on the bottom) that need to be removed. You then need to disassemble the Evo priming assembly (including the slider) to remove the bolt that interfaces to the press arm. This is, to put it mildly, a pain in the neck.

3. Installing the new Apex-style disc priming system isn't TOO hard. You do not need to disassemble your entire priming system to get at the press-arm connector. Just put in the top and bottom bolts, and then do the press arm connector bolt. I would "cycle" the press a few times to make sure it's working as expected.

4. Configuring the disc priming system, on the other hand, is a huge pain in the neck because they put one of the stop screws in the corner between the second guide rod bushing the priming assembly. I resorted to pliers in the end. I would STRONGLY encourage you to take all the time you need to get this exactly right and then lock it down. Incidentally, the black plastic spacer that you adjust for larger and small primers seems to have been a terrible idea, and they should have milled specific parts for small and large primers.

5. Installing the Primer Xpress is simple - you pop the disc off, pull a bottom plastic spacer, and then just press fit the Xpress in. After that, it's just a few bolts and plugging things in. Unfortunately, I found that I needed to sand/file the "ramp lips" at the bottom so they wouldn't bind the disc. Doesn't take long, but I think I would have engineered this interface differently.

6. After that, it's just rebuilding your press. I'm holding off because they sent me two large primer discs, and I'm loading purely 223 and 300 on this press (oops).

 

This would obviously be a much smoother install on an Apex10 since it already has the disc priming system (unsure if it's precisely the same as the one I got, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't). If you're loading volume on your Evo or Apex, I can't really see how this thing isn't required equipment. Only thing that would make it perfect is a primer cutoff, and, realistically, turning off the feeder more or less does that at some level.

 

 

I just started to install a Primer Xpress on my Evolution and what I bolded above has got me a little stumped...

 

I removed the primer assembly and what remains are two operating arms with a spring- one for the index lever and one for the primer shuttle on the tube fed primer system. And there is another operating arm on the new Xpress. 

 

And I'm trying to figure out how all these arms go together! The Mark7 Xpress video on Utube only shows installation on an Apex 10 and there isn't a clear drawing in the Xpress instructions on how it all gets rigged up

 

Any advice would be appreciated!

[WSA]

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Edited September 21, 2022 by WSA
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[erwos]

3 hours ago, WSA said:

 

 

I just started to install a Primer Xpress on my Evolution and what I bolded above has got me a little stumped...

 

I removed the primer assembly and what remains are two operating arms with a spring- one for the index lever and one for the primer shuttle on the tube fed primer system. And there is another operating arm on the new Xpress. 

 

And I'm trying to figure out how all these arms go together! The Mark7 Xpress video on Utube only shows installation on an Apex 10 and there isn't a clear drawing in the Xpress instructions on how it all gets rigged up

 

Any advice would be appreciated!

Sorry, it's been a little too long.

[WSA]

29 minutes ago, erwos said:

Sorry, it's been a little too long.

 

Oh haha

 

Even a picture of the completed installation from the "bottom" would be great. 

[erwos]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:19 PM, WSA said:

 

Oh haha

 

Even a picture of the completed installation from the "bottom" would be great. 

I am certain you've solved this problem by now, but Mark7's latest instructions for the PX now include the Evo conversion instructions: https://www.markvii-loading.com/amfile/file/download/file/31/product/1878/

 

I recently got back to my Evo to load up some 300 BLK for an SBR. While in the process, I managed to jam up the disc priming system so bad on a crushed primer I had to tear down the entire press, strip off the disc, and otherwise clean things up. This is not awesome, but it's something I also have to do once in a while with my 650. (Incidentally, if the Apex had somehow been able to use a ratcheting disc design like the 650, life would have been so much better... but I digress.)

 

Anyways, this was an opportune time for me to put in the "priming system fix kit" that Mark7 sent to me once a while back, and to further refine my priming system configuration. The fix kit has updated primer discs plus an updated guide piece. The differences are, to my eyes, imperceptible. However, whatever dimensional changes they made had a massive impact to my priming reliability. I went from bunches of crushed primers to almost zero - and the couple that I had 1) didn't jam the entire press and 2) were explainable by the case (every single one was a CBC, albeit they passed the primer opening gauge). This time around, I was also much more careful/precise about my guide alignment, which I suspect also didn't hurt... it's hard to really know what to look for until you've used it for a bit.

 

I've also been having much more luck in general with my Primer Xpress. I am not using the foam fix (albeit that may be next on my list), but keeping it tilted down (raising it) and loading it much more heavily with primers has made a pretty substantial difference. Out of 200+ rounds, I only had one flipped primer make it through, which is about on par with my DAA collator, and the auto-feed worked as expected.

 

One other note is that I am having excellent success using the RCBS decapper on these 300 BLK cartridges. I had been using the FW Arms decapper on my 223 toolheads, but it appears the RCBS will do the job for decapping, at least on shorter cartridges.

 

At this point, I am much more happy with my press in general, and am considering upgrading my 650s. Unfortunately, the massive entry cost to conversions make it somewhat less appealing compared to the general flexibility of the Dillons... too bad.

[MNJoel]

Has anyone run large primers on the primer Xpress?  Success?  Do all brands work the same?