Hornady Case feeder troubleshoot?
- Thread starter Gatehouse
- Start date
Agree, mine is not offset that much. Maybe it is adjustable. Take out the plate and have a look. If not call Hornady.
Just an update
Hornady said that the hopper was installed incorrectly, and as they hadn't made that style for over 5 years, could I try re drilling and attaching it? In return they would give me $50 Hornady credit. I took it apart and re drilled, re attached and it seemed to line up correctly. I installed and tested and bingo, it works. Every now and then a case gets stuck and sometimes it's just a matter of poking it manually to get it going again, but sometimes a case gets under the plate and I have to dump the cases and reattach. It would be nice if the plates could actually get screwed down to prevent this, but it does not happen very often, so it's not something that drives me nuts.Overall the system works fine.
I ordered and installed the EZ ject system and I'm glad I did. It was pretty cheap and it's a good upgrade. However, there must be something a bit funny with mine because sometimes it tilts the finished round a bit then jams. To prevent that I just barely poke the round with my finger and it falls right out. I am hoping this is something that will "break in" or I can find the problem, although once you get a rhythm going I barely notice it. I just give the round a tap during the downstroke and when it hits bottom it ejects. Not all of them need this so I'm wondering if it's the retaining spring or maybe even case dimension inconsistencies.
Every now and then the bullet feeder drops an upside down bullet which is easy to deal with. It wasn't doing that at first so I think it's a matter of adjusting the little springy things again. One thing about the bullet feeder that DOES drive me nuts is that the tube basically just sits inside the feeder die, and sometimes pops off and it's a bullet yard sale. I fixed that by using some electric tape (red for Hornady) There may be a better fix but this seemed reasonable, easy and basically free.
After a bit of dicking around, a bunch of rounds with missing primers and two squib loads which I think happened when I was adjusting pawls and missed visually inspecting the powder level, things seem to be operating well now. I have settled on a load of 6.5 gr CFE Pistol for the 230gr bullet in 45 ACP, and cranked the powder measure adjustment really tight. I double check the weight after every 100 rounds and it's always 6.4-6.5 which is just fine.
A couple of things I will add is a visual low primer indicator rod. It's supposed to come with the kit but I dont' think I got it. I'm sure it's easy enough to make something that works. Also I ordered the internal powder measure expander thingy and the little bracket for the side of it. Then i will have an extra space and can add the powder check die, which I have.
I have 4 primer tubes but I wouldn't mind a few extra, it would be nice to have 10 in total so I don't have to stop and reload tubes.
So overall, now that it's all set up and tweaked, I am very happy, especially as I got this set up for about half price. It's easy enough to crank out 500-600 rounds an hour. With the bullet and case feeder devices it's very fast and slick. Way nicer than my old RCBS progressive.
Like most mechanical things, it took a bit of tweaking, adjusting and trial and error. Now it's really an "ammo plant"
Hornady said that the hopper was installed incorrectly, and as they hadn't made that style for over 5 years, could I try re drilling and attaching it? In return they would give me $50 Hornady credit. I took it apart and re drilled, re attached and it seemed to line up correctly. I installed and tested and bingo, it works. Every now and then a case gets stuck and sometimes it's just a matter of poking it manually to get it going again, but sometimes a case gets under the plate and I have to dump the cases and reattach. It would be nice if the plates could actually get screwed down to prevent this, but it does not happen very often, so it's not something that drives me nuts.Overall the system works fine.
I ordered and installed the EZ ject system and I'm glad I did. It was pretty cheap and it's a good upgrade. However, there must be something a bit funny with mine because sometimes it tilts the finished round a bit then jams. To prevent that I just barely poke the round with my finger and it falls right out. I am hoping this is something that will "break in" or I can find the problem, although once you get a rhythm going I barely notice it. I just give the round a tap during the downstroke and when it hits bottom it ejects. Not all of them need this so I'm wondering if it's the retaining spring or maybe even case dimension inconsistencies.
Every now and then the bullet feeder drops an upside down bullet which is easy to deal with. It wasn't doing that at first so I think it's a matter of adjusting the little springy things again. One thing about the bullet feeder that DOES drive me nuts is that the tube basically just sits inside the feeder die, and sometimes pops off and it's a bullet yard sale. I fixed that by using some electric tape (red for Hornady) There may be a better fix but this seemed reasonable, easy and basically free.
After a bit of dicking around, a bunch of rounds with missing primers and two squib loads which I think happened when I was adjusting pawls and missed visually inspecting the powder level, things seem to be operating well now. I have settled on a load of 6.5 gr CFE Pistol for the 230gr bullet in 45 ACP, and cranked the powder measure adjustment really tight. I double check the weight after every 100 rounds and it's always 6.4-6.5 which is just fine.
A couple of things I will add is a visual low primer indicator rod. It's supposed to come with the kit but I dont' think I got it. I'm sure it's easy enough to make something that works. Also I ordered the internal powder measure expander thingy and the little bracket for the side of it. Then i will have an extra space and can add the powder check die, which I have.
I have 4 primer tubes but I wouldn't mind a few extra, it would be nice to have 10 in total so I don't have to stop and reload tubes.
So overall, now that it's all set up and tweaked, I am very happy, especially as I got this set up for about half price. It's easy enough to crank out 500-600 rounds an hour. With the bullet and case feeder devices it's very fast and slick. Way nicer than my old RCBS progressive.
Like most mechanical things, it took a bit of tweaking, adjusting and trial and error. Now it's really an "ammo plant"
For a low primer indicator, just go to local hobby store that sells white plastic tubing and bring a small primer tube to make sure the plastic fits freely in it . I stick a small Allen/Hex Key in the top through the hole in the tube for a little extra weight to make sure it contacts the primers on the lower plastic only side.
5/32" O.D. from Evergreen Scale Models was what I bought.
5/32" O.D. from Evergreen Scale Models was what I bought.
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I have never had this issue. Sounds like you plate is not sitting low enough for some reason. Maybe someone else might have an idea here.
I tried operating it with out the rod (I think mine is fiberglass) and it had problems at the last primers in the tube, flipping, not coming out. Definitely get something to add a bit of pressure and then you can mark it with a sharpie as to were the last primer is.
Thanks for the update.
