FX-10

[Zachjet]

This press has been out for sometime now. What is everyone’s thoughts on it?
 

I’m considering an upgrade from my LNL, and right now I only load  9minor for production and CO. I do plan on loading 223 eventually.

I already own a bullet feeder and I’m just about ready to buy a case feeder. In my opinion, I could buy the FX 10 which already comes with a case feeder. 

 I think with 10 stages I should be able to streamline my process and handle the brass less. 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Zachjet
Thanks shred

[Baynewrady]

12 hours ago, Zachjet said:

This press has been out for sometime now. What is everyone’s thoughts on it?
 

I’m considering an upgrade from my LNL, and right now I only load  9minor for production and CO. I do plan on loading 223 eventually.

I already own a bullet feeder and I’m just about ready to buy a case feeder. In my opinion, I could buy the FX 10 which already comes with a case feeder. 

 I think with 10 stages I should be able to streamline my process and handle the brass less. 

 

 

As someone who picked one up over the summer this year, I'm finding myself wishing I had gotten a 750XL instead. I think in the future the X10 will be extremely competitive, but right now there's just too many potential problems to recommend them.

 

Main woes:
1. Had a ton of issues with the priming system at first, I'll still occasionally (every few hundred rounds) get a primer stuck in the primer assembly which stops everything and I have to take it apart etc... This seems to be a pretty common issue
2. I'm still having trouble getting consistent throws from the powder measure/thrower. This also seems to be a pretty common issue.
3. QC in general seems to be an issue, luck of the draw if the machine you end up getting is issue-free or issue-ridden. I'm fortunate in that my machine doesn't seem to have defects (others on this forum have not been so lucky). But only 6 months in and I've had a replacement primer assembly and priming rod sent to me through their customer service (free of charge at least).

4. They don't seem to have much in stock as far as X10 parts or replacement parts go. Their holddown dies have been out of stock since I purchased my press. Took about a month for me to receive my replacement priming rod. Their bullet feeder system was supposed to come out this year, but obviously that's been pushed out.

Positives:
1. 10-stations for 5-station money

2. The action and indexing is very smooth

3. Case-feeder included
4. I've seen others comment that their CS is abhorrent. My experiences have always been mostly stellar.

5. I met the engineer who is responsible for the X-10's creation at MG Nats this year. Paraphrasing but he basically said it's his life's work and his mission was to make something that rivaled the RL1050/1100. So while there are issues with it, I do trust that they are doing everything they can rectify them. 

 

Hope this is helpful

[Zachjet]

6 hours ago, Baynewrady said:

As someone who picked one up over the summer this year, I'm finding myself wishing I had gotten a 750XL instead. I think in the future the X10 will be extremely competitive, but right now there's just too many potential problems to recommend them.

 

Main woes:
1. Had a ton of issues with the priming system at first, I'll still occasionally (every few hundred rounds) get a primer stuck in the primer assembly which stops everything and I have to take it apart etc... This seems to be a pretty common issue
2. I'm still having trouble getting consistent throws from the powder measure/thrower. This also seems to be a pretty common issue.
3. QC in general seems to be an issue, luck of the draw if the machine you end up getting is issue-free or issue-ridden. I'm fortunate in that my machine doesn't seem to have defects (others on this forum have not been so lucky). But only 6 months in and I've had a replacement primer assembly and priming rod sent to me through their customer service (free of charge at least).

4. They don't seem to have much in stock as far as X10 parts or replacement parts go. Their holddown dies have been out of stock since I purchased my press. Took about a month for me to receive my replacement priming rod. Their bullet feeder system was supposed to come out this year, but obviously that's been pushed out.

Positives:
1. 10-stations for 5-station money

2. The action and indexing is very smooth

3. Case-feeder included
4. I've seen others comment that their CS is abhorrent. My experiences have always been mostly stellar.

5. I met the engineer who is responsible for the X-10's creation at MG Nats this year. Paraphrasing but he basically said it's his life's work and his mission was to make something that rivaled the RL1050/1100. So while there are issues with it, I do trust that they are doing everything they can rectify them. 

 

Hope this is helpful

Very helpful

I don’t see the benefit to upgrading to a 750. I only load about 8-9k rounds per year, and I’ve been shooting less due to less free time. 
The biggest thing for me was in line swaging, I know I know it may not be necessary for 9 mm. But it makes me feel better, and I’ve noticed less smashed primers then without swaging

Right now my process is 

1-Decap on LEE APP

2-Wash/dry

3-Swage on LEE APP

4-load on LNL 

I figured with 10 stages I could most likely just wash/dry and then reload them with swaging happening in line. 
 

I maybe just better off  buying the case feeder and running my LNL. I really have no complains with it as it does what I need it to do. That being said I would have bought a 750 from the start. I also don’t think the $ for a 1050/1100 is a smart investment for me, even for a second hand machine they are pricy.

[Tunachaser]

I went from a LnL to an X-10 and it's nice....not a game changer.  I will say Hornady's CS is heads and shoulders above Frankfort's

[Zachjet]

7 hours ago, Tunachaser said:

I went from a LnL to an X-10 and it's nice....not a game changer.  I will say Hornady's CS is heads and shoulders above Frankfort's

Are you have problem like some people are reporting with the fx10

[Tunachaser]

Yes but part of it was just the learning curve using a different system.  I had a similar learning curve with the LnL.

[Zachjet]

9 minutes ago, Tunachaser said:

Yes but part of it was just the learning curve using a different system.  I had a similar learning curve with the LnL.

Thanks.  That’s an honest response. 
 

[Zachjet]

Well I went Ahead and bought the x-10 

 

it’s way more massive then I had thought,. I have it all built and running smooth. Hopefully have some time this week to setup all of my dies. 
 

I was going to use my bullet feeder off of my lnl. But I think I’m going to order the setup built for the press. 
 

first impressions are that there has been a ton Of forward thinking about this press. Just the fact that the tool head as about 9 3.5mm jacks tells me that there a lot of plans for this press. Everything piggybacking off each other is really nice too 
 

the Qc is def slacking. When unboxing a few screws just were loose in the box and casefeeder. The threads in the tool head were loaded with crap. Not to mention the amount of protective oil on everything 

 

so overall so far I’m impressed and happy, just got to keep in mind that the comparable press is more then double the money and I would never justify buying a press for that much. 
 

 

on a side note.  Has anyone ran their bullet feed system with coated bullets? 
 

my planned setup is 

1 case feed 

2 universal deCapper with small pin 

3 u die with deCapper 

4 swage with hold down

5 prime with hold down 

6 expander 

7 power drop 

8 powder check. 
9 bullet feed( Hornady/mr bullet die)

10 seat crimp 

Edited December 18, 2023 by Zachjet

[old558]

Congrats on the new pres, please keep us informed on your progress.

[cool]

This press made in China is not sold in Europe, thank you Frankfurt Arsenal.

Fortunately there is Mark 7 and Dillon

[homeyclaus]

On 1/2/2024 at 6:19 AM, cool said:

This press made in China is not sold in Europe, thank you Frankfurt Arsenal.

Fortunately there is Mark 7 and Dillon

That's why it's called "Frankford Arsenal" and not "Frankfurt Arsenal" - two very different places.

 

I doubt there is a lot from Frankford Arsenal available in Europe, I have not seen 220/240V options for any of their electrical gizmos.

 

FWIW I bought one in November. Coming from a Lee Load Master this thing is a lot less like a Rube Goldberg machine, and someone had one heck of a ball bearing fetish. I 3d-printed a new feeder, and a couple of centering bumpers, and it has been running great. 

• I didn't degrease the powder dropper enough so rifle charges weren't as consistent as I'd like them to be
• for 9mm I am running the Lee Auto Disc Pro since I needed an expander anyways
• I am going to 3d-print a bullet feeder next
• One of the ball bearing external shells on the indexing arm cracked, which prevented indexing. No idea why anyone thought this needed a ball bearing. 3d printed a bushing the same size as the bearing, it spins as smoothly on the shaft as the original bearing did, and back in business. For some reason FA only sells the whole arm as an assembly, for $15 (which is cheap) but out of stock, of course.
• Priming - one also needs to degrease the heck out of all that stuff, and once you have a primer jam, the bottom of the aluminum tube inside the primer feed tube gets chewed up, which makes a repeat occurrence much more likely. Hit it with some 300 grit, it's smooth, and no more issues

 

 

[dtuns]

I went from LNL to X-10 got it running smoothly a lot quicker than it took on LNL. I recommend checking every screw and bolt and make sure its tight.

[dtuns]

I also recommend these I had to shim 9MM and .223 shell plate up with one of each for .012" total thickness fixed a lot of the case pusher issues.

 

1	98055A513	1074-1095 Spring Steel Ring Shim, 0.2mm Thick, 70mm ID, Packs of 5	1 Pack	1	0	8.62 Per Pack	8.62
2	98089A513	18-8 Stainless Steel Round Shim, 0.1mm Thick, 70mm ID, Packs of 1

[Zachjet]

So I set my machine up, long story short I had nothing but problems with my primer assembly. I Couldn’t run more than 2-3 rounds without a flipped and crutched primer. Being the long holiday weekend I couldn’t speak to them until Tuesday  
Ultimately, my primer push rod isnt lined up with the shell plate.(see picture), but the swage rod is perfectly centered.  

Stemming from the primer problem, and my impatience I broke the base of the small primer assembly. They are sending me a new one.  I also broke one of the bearings on the indexing assembly. they are sending me out a new one as well,  but are out of stock so they sent me a link to purchase the bearings separately on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071D499GB?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

When contacted customer service yesterday and they’re mailing me out a whole bunch of new parts saying there was a bad batch with poor Quality control. seemed as if I’m not the only one to have this problem on a brand new machine. Either way, I’m not too concerned. I was just looking forward to running a lot of rounds on my few rare days off 

Edited January 4 by Zachjet

[Zachjet]

[homeyclaus]

Sounds like they're making an effort to support the machine though. My emails have gone unanswered, but with a caliper I made a better shell pusher and 3d printed it, and some other bumpers and spacers in the right places.

 

The index link's bearing are ... a fetish. There is no need for a cartridge bearing there, and I 3d printed a roller of identical dimensions, and it turns fine on the polished shaft.

[Zachjet]

So I’d be a lot more concerned if there wasn’t such an obvious problem with the primer pusher.  Clearly, that’s the problem for now.
 

Emails but I also called the phone number and that’s how I got to speak to somebody. It’s listed right on the bottom of their homepage.

 

Do you mind sharing some pictures of the modifications you made?
 

I found some 3d stuff I’m waiting for a buddy to print to help with the shell pusher hang up

https://www.printables.com/model/669623-frankford-arsenal-x-10-case-feeder-guide?fbclid=IwAR1gg90kv-41jwBTrFjeDFZgA6_0Tsd19wbKYQ10QMoWxXPblw7XN2xQAlo

 

[homeyclaus]

Sure:

 

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6364912 to center the case at the priming station. Different bump sizes are there.

 

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6364927 is the improved case pusher.

 

I also printed out this, it seems to help: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6352355 - the designer there cross-posts, I generally only post my stuff on Thingiverse. I'll take some photos of the bushing I printed that replaces the bearing. The bearing used isn't designed for point loads on the outer race, which is why they crack. A plastic disc/bushing/bearing/spacer is much better suited, and the center shaft is slick enough that it'll turn really easily if it needs to be.

[Zachjet]

That’s good stuff.   All this 3-D printed stuff is like another language to me.I can’t even print something on paper lol 
 

I’ll have to send it to my body and have him print it off for me. 

 

[homeyclaus]

Happy to make a variant of the design if you need it - I am only loading 223 and 9mm on that press at this time.

[Zachjet]

5 hours ago, homeyclaus said:

Happy to make a variant of the design if you need it - I am only loading 223 and 9mm on that press at this time.

That’s perfect for me, I’m only loading 9 now. And plan on 556/223 down the line

 

i ordered the bullet feeder and 9mm conversion kit from mid south as well 

[homeyclaus]

See use of a bushing instead of a bearing. It rotates just as smoothly as a ball bearing does, and can withstand the point loads much better. In this case it's 3d printed, but that's not a requirement.

 

 

[Zachjet]

11 minutes ago, homeyclaus said:

See use of a bushing instead of a bearing. It rotates just as smoothly as a ball bearing does, and can withstand the point loads much better. In this case it's 3d printed, but that's not a requirement.

 

 

I wonder how they hold up over time. Especially when you have to muscle through the occasional jam and whatnot 

[dtuns]

Don't email you need to call them and if you don't want to wait on hold you can leave a call back number and they will get back to you. I broke my case pusher my fault called to ask where I could by they sent me 3 new ones for free.

[homeyclaus]

1 hour ago, Zachjet said:

I wonder how they hold up over time. Especially when you have to muscle through the occasional jam and whatnot 

Better than the 627BR bearing it replaces - there is no noticeable wear after 400+ cycles. Like I said, the roller bearing's outer race isn't designed for point loads like the ones exerted by the cam, which is why they crack. The bearing race would need to be wrapped in another material to distribute the force for it to last in this application. Unsupported bearing races on cams seems to be a recurring theme on this press.

 

I know, I know, most people say plastic bad.

 

ETA: A thousand cycles in I am finding less and less need to "power through" anything. Once the priming system is degreased and the dings removed from the tube, most hang-ups happen on case insertion. You'll feel it, and can fix it by cycling the case inserter with the index finger. The press has a massive amount of leverage, which is why breaking things on it is so easy.

Edited January 4 by homeyclaus