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Old 03-27-2020, 04:32 PM
akoda akoda is offline
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I have my press setup and ready to do some loading. I'll start with some hornady 115 gr XTP since I can follow exact load data from the hornady manual. since my shooting is limited now I'll also make some 38spl xtp for the same reasons.

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Old 03-27-2020, 09:41 PM
Glenn54 Glenn54 is offline
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Which press? Is this your first one or just a new one?
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Old 03-28-2020, 08:06 AM
akoda akoda is offline
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Originally Posted by Glenn54 View Post
Which press? Is this your first one or just a new one?
I got the hornady lnl ap, my first press. My first dip into reloading. I wanted to reload so that I could afford to shoot more.

I bought the 3 die sets of hornady 9mms and 38/357 dies, I have been playing with those the last couple of weeks
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Old 03-28-2020, 09:14 AM
Ivan the Butcher Ivan the Butcher is offline
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I had an earlier version of the L-N-L AP. The "paws" that assist in the auto indexing can get damaged or out of adjustment if you force it with a jammed round. Best to remove shell plate and remove all the cases. Very difficult to do in the up position. The only time I called customer service, they had no idea about troubleshooting (college kid on a Saturday) So your best bet, if on a weekend, wait until normal business hours (whenever those start back up.) To get their real engineers!

Once you get used to the steps in reloading, you can get up to 600 rounds an hour. Keep an eye on your primer magazine, you don't want "Primerless" ammo. I load most with large primers so I have 9 tubes. I fill the magazine and all 9 tubes, that lets me load around 2 hours uninterrupted. Then it is time for a break!

Enjoy being your own ammo factory!

Ivan
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Old 03-28-2020, 09:32 AM
akoda akoda is offline
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I had to adjust the paws some which helps me understand their role and how a tiny turn of the adjuster impacts the indexing.

my main question now is about the taper crimp and how to determine when is too much vs. not enough. from what I have sorted out vie web, just enough expansion to put a bullet in, then seat and crimp just enough to hold while seating to col

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Old 03-28-2020, 10:02 AM
hotshot357 hotshot357 is offline
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Congratulations, welcome to the wonderful world of reloading!!
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Old 03-28-2020, 10:05 AM
Mike, SC Hunter Mike, SC Hunter is offline
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Nice press!........And Lucas white lithium grease.....I use that on my guns/presses and lots of other things. Good stuff!
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Old 03-28-2020, 11:29 AM
Ivan the Butcher Ivan the Butcher is offline
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Adjusting bullet depth & crimps (taper & roll): The easiest way is to place a correct factory round into the shell holder and adjust the dies to that! But for a number of reasons, that is possible a lot of the time.
So here goes:

In a standard 3 die set, your 3rd die is both seat to length and crimp die. We will work with that, but it is much easier to do it in two separate steps.

For roll crimp; back out the seating stem & adjust crimp on an empty sized case, then estimate (guess) where the plug should be, it may take a few tries. [warning: set too short may buckle cases! it happens, just get used to it.]

For Taper crimp: reverse the process, length the crimp. There is a problem, Adjust the crimp and the depth changes! Make several (5 max) sized and seated to length dummy cases. Then back the seating plug out one half to one turn. Now start to tighten the die down until desired crimp The test is (1) all case mouth flare is removed and mouth is tight against the bullet, but when you run a finger nail over it you still feel the small edge of the mouth. (2) drop into the chamber of your gun and it doesn't fall too far! (3) take first 3 loaded rounds and fire from the magazine. (you could spend the money on a case gauge. (in 40 years of reloading, I never bothered-I think they were a solution to the problem of impatience! not a reloading problem)

Reset the seating plug wand lock in place.

An additional seating problem, after several (up to several hundred) rounds with cast bullets (or poorly coated bullets) a build up of "Gunk" on the seating stem CAN/MAY cause the bullets to be seated short on taper crimp or buckle cases in roll crimp. JUST clean the stem with Q-tips or even a pop sickle stick. L-I-L system makes this easy!

I hope you find this helpful.

Ivan

Last edited by Ivan the Butcher; 03-28-2020 at 11:32 AM.
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Old 03-28-2020, 12:14 PM
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Rule3 Rule3 is offline
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Taper crimp after the proper seating depth.



SAAMI spec for the 9mm Luger case mouth is .380". Do not go more then .378" or so or you will not have enough case mouth to headspace the round in the chamber.
The total with the crimp is measured by the outside thickness of the brass and the width of the bullet, You are basically crimping just enough to smooth out the flare put in the brass to seat the bullet.

Plunk test a dummy round
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Last edited by Rule3; 03-28-2020 at 12:17 PM.
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