Hornady LNL primer question

[Cdhutson]

I finally got my LNL set up today and loaded my first batch of .40 S&W (165 gr bullet, 6.6 gr Autocomp).

Overall the press works as advertised, not to difficult to set up and easy to use. I shot 50 rounds just to make sure and they all fired perfectly.

The only issue I'm having is primers not seating every time. I loaded 100 rounds and had about 10 that didn't get the primer. I know the first couple were operator error (not pushing the handle forward to seat the primer) but as I continued I noticed that the shell plate didn't line up exactly every time when seating the primer. Is this a timing issue or am I doing something wrong? I was going to call Hornady support but thought I'd ask the experts here first.

[Griz44]

Sounds like an index issue. Watch the video on how to adjust the pawls to get the shellplate to click into the ball detents properly.

[RHenriksen]

I had a similar problem - felt resistance during the stroke, and finally identified it as the primer shuttle. It has some damage to the casting, or perhaps burrs, and was causing it to hang as it traveled back & forth in its groove.

A mill file and a couple of minutes' work cleared up the problem.

[teddy salad]

I had to do two things to get consistent primering on my Hornady LNL (both fixes were found on reloading forums, so it's fairly common).

The first has been mentioned; polish or smooth the shuttle removing any felt burrs, no matter how small.

The second is to loosen your primer shroud tube 1/2 to 3/4 of an turn. If the shroud tube is slightly out-of-true it causes the primers to drop at a slight angle. While they'll usually get picked up by the shuttle eventually, you'll miss a one or more rounds in the meantime. By loosening the shroud a little the primer tube regains it's proper alignment.

[teddy salad]

.I just re-read your post. I missed the part about it not lining up. In that case I vote for Griz44's answer.

[markthenewf]

I've never been able to get my LNL press to consistently prime. Any micron of misalignment or piece of lint in the works fuddles it all up. The folks at Hornady are nice enough, but we were never able to get it all consistently functioning. I gave up on the press priming system and just prep & prime the brass prior to loading. Saves me the frustration of randomly dumping a charge through a primer hole. RCBS hand primer works for me every time.