Hornady Lock & Load Progressive won't seat primers?

[Twangbanger]

Suddenly, my press won't seat a primer...the primer post isn't pushing the primer up far enough to enter the case. Has anyone encountered this? Powder or debris need cleaned out of some nook or cranny? I'm having a hard time visualizing where to "get to" to fix this problem. (All the "troubleshooting" portion of the manual has are obvious things like incorrect initial assembly of the unit...my unit has worked fine for several hundred rounds, then suddenly fritzed).


Thanks in advance...

 

[danmdevries]

Wrong size primer plunger?

I know with .38sp and maybe some others they have issues not seating fully and there's a fix, but i don't recall what it is. Not that that statement is any help to you but at one point in my reloading adventures I did come across the primer issue for .38sp.

With no shells in the plate, does the plunger come up through the hole? is the primer centered on the plunger? Is the plate indexing properly? Is the plate tightened down?

 

[Twangbanger]

Wrong size primer plunger?

I know with .38sp and maybe some others they have issues not seating fully and there's a fix, but i don't recall what it is. Not that that statement is any help to you but at one point in my reloading adventures I did come across the primer issue for .38sp.

With no shells in the plate, does the plunger come up through the hole? is the primer centered on the plunger? Is the plate indexing properly? Is the plate tightened down?

I have the large plunger in for .44 mag...it worked fine until recently. The primer is centered on the plunger, but the plunger does not come all the way up through the plate. The plate is tight and indexes properly...but I can sense that the press handle doesn't seem to be reaching the full top of the stroke. You usually can feel that little bit of "extra" movement as the primer seats, and now it isn't happening. Something sees to be preventing the full upward movement of the handle.

@#$% ! (no patience for mechanical things that don't work!)

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I had that problem when I first set mine up. I dont remember exactly what caused it but i think it was an adjustment on one of the indexing pawls. Is your shell plate indexing correctly every time? Again, this was on the first time set up but mine would kind of not index all the way at each station. Also check the slide that moves the primed into place and make sure you havent accidentally gotten a grain or two of powder in that mechanism somewhere keeping it from stroking out correctly.

Mine was one of those two things, but i remember once I figured it out, it wasn't hard to fix. Good luck.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I had that problem when I first set mine up. I dont remember exactly what caused it but i think it was an adjustment on one of the indexing pawls. Is your shell plate indexing correctly every time? Again, this was on the first time set up but mine would kind of not index all the way at each station. Also check the slide that moves the primed into place and make sure you havent accidentally gotten a grain or two of powder in that mechanism somewhere keeping it from stroking out correctly.

Mine was one of those two things, but i remember once I figured it out, it wasn't hard to fix. Good luck.

 

[WhitleyStu]

The little flat bar that brings the primer from the tube up to the bottom of the shell plate has to come forward all the way or the plunger that raised the primer can't come up through the bar. The bar runs in a track that can get powder in it. Clean the track that the bar runs in and the plunger can come up through the bar properly.

 

[fireball168]

Suddenly, my press won't seat a primer...the primer post isn't pushing the primer up far enough to enter the case. Has anyone encountered this?

Run the ram up, look at the bottom side of the primer seating position - you'll likely find it loose and partially unscrewed.

It is the piece just ahead of the brass tube in the picture below.

If you've got a couple hundred/thousand pieces through it, it is probably time to do some cleaning and polishing on the primer slide, bottom of primer tube assembly and channel. Use a smooth ceramic stone to break the high spots indicated by wear.

 

[AllenM]

is it possible something is preventing you from pushing the lever all the way forward?
Spent primer or something? oops just reread I see that that is what you are having problem with. look around in the base of the ram, probably an old primer wedged in there or a finger or something

 

[Rob377]

Run the ram up, look at the bottom side of the primer seating position - you'll likely find it loose and partially unscrewed.

It is the piece just ahead of the brass tube in the picture below.

If you've got a couple hundred/thousand pieces through it, it is probably time to do some cleaning and polishing on the primer slide, bottom of primer tube assembly and channel. Use a smooth ceramic stone to break the high spots indicated by wear.

This is what I was thinking too.
I had a similar problem yesterday, I got a few high primers. Sure enough, the primer seating punch (thingamajig in pic) was a bit loose.

 

[Twangbanger]

GodFearin' and Whitley, it looks like you guys nailed it this time...the primer bar isn't stroking all the way forward, and when I remove the primer and look down in there, sure enough, the plunger can't move upward to seat the primer properly.


Thanks everyone for your ideas...you've given me a good list of things to check, next time this happens.

 

[jdhaines]

The actual root cause may be a burr on the front rounded edge of the primer sliding bar. I had one. Here's how it happened:

When I would run out of primers the thin white plastic bar would catch in the primer slider holding in backward. Like a dummy the first time it happened I just pulled the white bar out the top of the primer tube. This caused the primer slider to slam forward. This would be fine except for my press - at rest - has the primer ram sitting slightly higher than flush meaning as the primer slider slammed home it caught on the raised primer ram and knocked a small piece of metal out leaving a burr. This burr prevented the slider from going all the way home and the primer ram was out of alignment locking the press.

What I did: Took out the primer slider, and used 400-800-2000 sandpaper and smoothed the front edge. Cleaned throughly, hit the area with one-shot dry-lube and it was smooth sailing. Hope this helps.

Prevention for reoccurence: Hold the primer slider when removing the white plastic stick so it can't slam.

 

[pinhead56]

... ditto checking the underneath side to see how tight the primer seat is or not. I sometimes also have to hit it with a little one-shot and use a punch to make sure it is moving smoothly up and down. Just move the arm a little to feel if it is moving. Whenever things bind up on an up-stroke of the ram the primer slide or priming plunger is involved.

 

[Bob.]

The actual root cause may be a burr on the front rounded edge of the primer sliding bar. I had one. Here's how it happened:

When I would run out of primers the thin white plastic bar would catch in the primer slider holding in backward. Like a dummy the first time it happened I just pulled the white bar out the top of the primer tube. This caused the primer slider to slam forward. This would be fine except for my press - at rest - has the primer ram sitting slightly higher than flush meaning as the primer slider slammed home it caught on the raised primer ram and knocked a small piece of metal out leaving a burr. This burr prevented the slider from going all the way home and the primer ram was out of alignment locking the press.

What I did: Took out the primer slider, and used 400-800-2000 sandpaper and smoothed the front edge. Cleaned throughly, hit the area with one-shot dry-lube and it was smooth sailing. Hope this helps.

Prevention for reoccurence: Hold the primer slider when removing the white plastic stick so it can't slam.

This happens I did it and fixed it the same way you did.

Bob.

 

[SW911]

Anyone having issues with the large primer slider sticking back and not advancing the next primer?

 

[WhitleyStu]

Anyone having issues with the large primer slider sticking back and not advancing the next primer?

The very first time I used it I had several primer slide issues, but I cleaned the slot it runs in and it has functioned 100%.

 

[SW911]

Mine is clean, but I'll try cleaning it again. I tried lightly lubing the channel, it got better but the same issue eventually arises. I made sure the primer tube was seated all the way down too. I'd be okay with 6 primers than stick the next two. Then get some okay then stick maybe one. Seems random.
The primers I measured were not all uniform. They varied in thickness maybe .002". I can visually see the anvil of the primer sticking up a bit more on some primers than that of others.

I forgot to mention I was using Winchester Large Pistol Primers.
With the small pistol primer set up, I have not had any issues at all.

 

[WhitleyStu]

Mine is clean, but I'll try cleaning it again. I tried lightly lubing the channel, it got better but the same issue eventually arises.....QUOTE]
If you lube the slot it will attract stray flakes of powder. I would run it dry.