Tuning The Lock N Load Ap Auto Progressive Press
Hornady Lock N Load AP 5-Station Progressive Press with EZject System. The Hornady Lock-N-Load AP Reloading Press with Ezject makes it possible to change metering inserts quickly. Therefore, going from one powder to another is possible with the simple press of a button. For the ultimate reloading experience in changeovers, this product is perfect. Turn your progressive press into a bench mounted ammo factory! The new Lock-N-Load Bullet Feeder is the latest accessory designed for the Hornady Lock-N-Load AP reloading press. The new Lock-N-Load Bullet Feeder is designed as an accessory for the Hornady Lock-N-Load AP reloading press, but can be used with any other press with 7/8'-14 die threads.
I just finished and tested your case feeder. It works great. I’m brand new to 3D printing and this was my first “real” project, after doing the typical improvement parts for my printer.
I have been operating a DIY case feeder on my Hornady Lock-N-Load for a couple of years. I made it with a table saw and a couple of plastic breadboards. It functioned well but it was quite fiddly to make and needed frequent adjustment.
Your design is a huge improvement. I like your cam and follower the best. It’s much better than the bent-wire style of feeder like the Hornady factory unit and the one I made a couple of years ago.
I couldn’t resist some changes. I printed a tubular shaped extension to the top of the upper slider which is just a bit shorter than my shortest case; 6mm BR Norma. It replaces the short piece of clear tubing in your design and works for all my rifle cartridges. I don’t reload pistol ammo, but if I did my current extension would need to be interchangeable with a shorter one.
My earlier DIY design relied on a tall piece of 1” square hardware-store aluminum tubing mounted to the factory mounting points on the back of the press. It acted as a “spine” for the whole case delivery and feeding assembly and it acted as a tower to to stabilize the top of the factory Lee collator, which is very similar to your design. So rather than use your mounting system, I redesigned your parts so that they would mount to my existing square tubing. I wanted to retain that feature so I could mount a rather heavy motor operated collator on it. More about that in a moment.
Lock N Load Grease Gun
I made a lower bracket to connect the cam pattern component to my square tubing rather than use your lower pattern support attached to my bench because my Hornady press is mounted on an INLINE FABRICATION ULTRAMOUNT platform which puts my press 10 inches above my bench.
I also installed a small bearing, (similar to a typical skate board bearing but reduced in size), to the back end of the upper slider. That reduces the sliding friction between the “mast” of the lower slider and the upper slider. The idea is similar to a “roller cam” in an automobile and was a feature on my previous DIY case feeder. It works well.
Finally, I topped the whole thing off with a motorized case collator inspired by the Shoebox Case Feeder designed by dyspreficks and available on GitHub. The Lee style unit is an improvement over individually handling cases, but the motorized collator is a huge improvement over the Lee-style design. The Shoebox Case Feeder uses a lower unit similar to my old DIY feeder patterned from the Hornady factory design and, in my opinion, is not nearly as elegant as your design.
So, what I’m enjoying at the moment is the best of two worlds. The motorized collator similar to the one by dyspreficks which arranges cases and delivers them down to a case feeder very similar to your design except for the mounting scheme. It’s ultra-deluxe and takes the drudgery out of hand loading on a progressive press.
Tuning The Lock N Load Ap Auto Progressive Press Manual
Thank you very much for showing all of us your wonderful case feeder design.