Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

[LibertyArms]

Just cant seem to get the thing to run rite. Just got it for speeding up the 223/308/45 plinking ammo. i have only gotten to the 223 stuff so far, and it wont throw consistant charges of cfe223, nor will it feed primer without tapping the white indicator rod. ? Anyone else have issues with it? I wanna throw it over the hill. lol

 

[turbo54]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

Disassemble and clean your measure. The CFE and 2000MR throw great.

What primers? Tula/Wolf?

You may find you need to sand or polish the primer slide to eliminate hangups.

 

[Jim Buck]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

I use TAC powder and it feeds and measures very well. Did you clean the powder measure per the instructions with the dry lube? Also on the primer you might sand or polish, or make sure it is clean and lubricated. I usually shoot a little air to blow the powder away and lube and it fixes the problem. Hornady help line is awesome!

 

[Wannashootit]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

Odd issues.
I've run 10,000 rounds through mine over the past two years- and never had a hiccup with the primer feed.

Does the shuttle operate/function properly when there are no primers in the tube?

Dumb question, cause I doubt it would even feed with the large tube, but you do have the small primer feed tube installed?

Suggest you follow the above advice. The only issue that happens with the primer shuttle is if you get a grain of powder that slips down in the slot, and the shuttle can't close completely- then the primer "button" below won't line up with the hole in the shuttle.

 

[blacktaco]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

I couldn't believe how accurrate mine was throwing TAC - 23.0 nearly every round. Clean the drop - then clean it again. DONT use brake cleaner.
Also - make sure the case drop is setup properly, once setup the case should push the drop arm all the way to the top.
On the primers - I don't understand how the white rod could ever get in the way whe seating...unless you ran it out of primers? Eta - nevermid! Reread your post. On the white rod, glue a hollow point to the top of the rod. I used some super glue and a 230gr hollow point 45acp - never had a problem again. Forgot about that...lol

 

[jetsurgeon]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

Here's a tip I just solved with Hornady's support for my press.

I picked up a new #16 shell plate for loading .223, well it didn't go so well. The cases would rock/tilt so much in the shell plate, the cases would crash into the dies on the up stroke. Man was that freaking annoying!

Anyway I loaded up an empty case with a sharp bullet, ran the case all the way up to the top, then measured the bullet tip deflection from side to side. Total bullet tip deflection was 12/64 of an inch.

Called Hornady, the tech said the shell plates are supposed to have some play in them with the cases installed, that's when I asked him to measure his in the shop. He responded about 6/64 of an inch.

That's when I told him my plate had 12/64" play in it, he then reluctantly said he would ship out a new plate, but I'd have to ship back the old plate. I agreed.

New plate arrived, fixed all the crashing problems with 223, the cases now only have 7/64" play in them at full upstroke. I can successfully run the 223's with fantastic speed through the press with the case feeder.

Hope this helps,
J

P.S. Polish up the surfaces where anything slides on/across them.

 

[Ballistic308]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

make sure the powder charge cylinder is being cycled from absolute bottom to the absolute top of it range. If it falls short from maxing out at the top of its cycle it will not dump all powder.

Good luck.

 

[Mikee6]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

Mine works great. Just make sure you clean all the parts with the gun cleaner and dry lube like they say. I also keep a can of dust off to blow out any powder that may get under the primer seat

 

[jkonzal]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

When I set mine up, I had a primer feed problem. Smoothed all the edges of the slide and got no results. Finally, after MUCH headache, I took my case chamfer tool and put an extremely slight chamfer on the hole of the slide and it has worked great since!!!

 

[244]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

Is your primer feed tube's notched end down? It would be hard to fill it and put it in upside down, but is the "notch" missing? This could cause a lip for the primers to catch on while feeding down the tube.

I had to polish the shuttle and chamfer the hole in it. It helped, but the slide would stick. After a call to Hornady and a LOT of trial and error, I finally got it adjusted to feed primers correctly. The feed tube and the shuttle primer feed hole were ever so slightly out of tune and would hang up. For me, the shuttle wouldn't move freely, but it may be something similar with yours.

 

[Neo]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

Make sure the Primer Shuttle is going back far enough. It should be slightly past center as you can see in the Pic. This is the small primer shuttle with the shield and tube removed.

As to the powder issue I haven't tried CFE but mine holds +/- .1 with XBR

 

[leadbullet]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

get a Dillon??

 

[244]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: -Neo-</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Make sure the Primer Shuttle is going back far enough. It should be slightly past center as you can see in the Pic. This is the small primer shuttle with the shield and tube removed.</div></div>

Neo's picture helps as I didn't explain well upon rereading it. The chromed bent rod can be adjusted to give more or less shuttle movement. Take off the primer tube guide (like in the picture) to see how yours is lining up. Adjust in SMALL increments to fine tune primer feeding.

 

[jetsurgeon]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

The Dillon "Low Primer Alert" can be installed on the Hornady LNL AP, just takes a few passes of electrical tape around the outside of the primer tube to take up the slack so the Dillon fits tight.

 

[sentry1]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

On the topic of powder in the LnL AP, is there a powder that works well with the powder dispenser and would be good for 175gr bullets for a .308 and 55gr bullets for a 5.56?

 

[244]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sentry1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">On the topic of powder in the LnL AP, is there a powder that works well with the powder dispenser and would be good for 175gr bullets for a .308 and 55gr bullets for a 5.56? </div></div>

Ball powders typically throw smoother, so I'm guessing you are wanting a recommendation for a ball powder. There are some extruded (stick) powders that are pretty fine grained and throw pretty well too.

The optimum powder burn rates (velocity wise) for the 175 grain .308 is going to be slower than for a 55 grain .223. You are going to have to choose which one is more important and live with the reduced velocity in the other. You could always get two different powders or choose a lighter .308 bullet or a heavier .223 bullet and then the optimum burn rates would be nearly the same.

Ball powders to investigate (that also have reduced temperature sensitivity):

Alliant's Power Pro 2000 and Power Pro Varmint
Accurate 2460
Many have good luck with Ramshot's TAC, but I do not know its temperature sensitivity. <span style="color: #3366FF"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">IIRC, TAC and Accurate 2230 are the exact same powder.</span></span></span> <span style="color: #FF0000">I remembered <span style="font-style: italic">incorrectly</span> AA2230 is the same powder as X-Terminator. Sorry</span>

Stick powders to look at with small grain size and good temperature stability:

Alliant AR-Comp
IMR 8208

There are other powders that would work too. The standard powder to which others are judged in this general burn rate category is Hodgdon's Varget. It has larger extruded grains, however, and some do not like the way it meters.

 

[turbo54]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

I did a statistical analysis on Varget through that measure.

99.97% of all charges (six sigma) will be +/- .35gr

That sounds like a lot, but FGMM is +/- .5gr

Find the node, find the center of the node, set the measure so the mean of 10 charges is on the center of the node, and you'll be more than good to go for all but the most rigorous accuracy challenges (bench rest).

 

[sentry1]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

@244: Exactly the advice I was looking for, thank you! Would moving up to a 62-ish gr .223 bullet fix that issue with the optimum burn rate requirement, or is that not enough? Just curious, I don't have a problem with buying two batches of powder.

I assume your recommendations for powder have a burn rate optimized for the 175 gr .308? What would you suggest for .223?


@turbo54: You're talkin' my language bubba. Great advice, it's going in my Green Book 'o Things To Know

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 244</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Ball powders to investigate (that also have reduced temperature sensitivity):

Alliant's Power Pro 2000 and Power Pro Varmint
Accurate 2460
Many have good luck with Ramshot's TAC, but I do not know its temperature sensitivity. IIRC, TAC and Accurate 2230 are the exact same powder.

Stick powders to look at with small grain size and good temperature stability:

Alliant AR-Comp
IMR 8208
</div></div>

 

[244]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

Here are the online load data links for:

Hodgdon
Alliant
Ramshot
Accurate

If the 55 grain .223 bullets are FMJ for plinking, you would be money ahead to buy two different powders as the added cost of heavier match type bullets will quickly overcome the cost of a second powder type.

If you choose to buy two powders I recommend you add Accurate 2200 to the list for the light bullet .223 Rem application and compare it with the other powders.

 

[sentry1]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

Hodgdon H335 seems like a good choice for .223 ammo, and Varget for the .308? Also, what could I use for .40 S&W reloading?

I'm planning on making a bulk purchase, so I don't get hit with that $27 Hazmat charge again and again.

 

[244]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sentry1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hodgdon H335 seems like a good choice for .223 ammo, and Varget for the .308? Also, what could I use for .40 S&W reloading?

I'm planning on making a bulk purchase, so I don't get hit with that $27 Hazmat charge again and again. </div></div>

H335 is a "standard" powder for the 5.56/.223 and, I believe, used to be what the mil loaded in it. It is a ball powder. That said, there are better powders available now. CFE223 should perform better than H335 and it is a ball powder too. AA2230/TAC follow CFE223 for a ball powder. AA2200 has nearly the same charge weight and velocity of H335, but improved cleanliness and temperature INsensitivity. AR-Comp is a very good choice for an extruded powder followed by IMR8208 (assuming 55 grain bullets).

In .308 Win, CFE223 compares better, velocity wise, against Varget, but required a larger charge weight. Alliant's Power Pro 2000 is essentially the equal to CFE223 in velocity and charge weight. Alliant's AR-Comp is also nearly equal to CFE223 and PP2000 velocity wise, but does so with a lighter charge weight. I looked at 150 and 168 grain bullets to arrive at these conclusions.

I stand corrected (by myself), you can use one powder for loading 55 grain bullets in 5.56/.223 and 150 or 168 grain bullets in .308 Win and have excellent results. Since an extruded powder (Varget) was one of your choices, I wouldn't hesitate to use AR-Comp. IMR8208 starts to fall off from AR-Comp and Varget in .308, especially with heavier bullets, but not by too much. CFE223 and PP2000 would be top ball powder choices to use in both, IMHO.

 

[sentry1]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

Gotcha. CFE223 and H335 are the same price over at Brownell's, so no biggie doing that swap. I'm still getting a lb of Varget, since I'll measure out the .308 charges manually instead of setting it up in the LnL press, and everyone seems to swear by it.

How about Hodgdon Titegroup for the .40 S&W reloads?

P.S. Sorry to the OP for totally hijacking his thread.

 

[ejb]

Re: Any tips for a hornady AP progressive?

chanfer the top of your primer pickup shuttle a little with a case mouth chanfer tool worked for me