Primer arm issue

[Surveyor1653]

I figure I'm not the first one so:

Why does the primer arm on my press keep falling out onto the floor? I suspected the shell holder was catching the primer cup and lifting it up on the upstroke but then I thought that maybe the channel in the ram was rough or dirty and that it was the culprit. Neither of these things is obvious as the cause, however. Any thoughts?

I'm running a Lee Turret Press, by the way. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[oknavy]

You haven't told us if this is a new press, or simply a problem that's started recently. If it has just started, there's a good chance it's just dirty.

1. Clean the channel in the ram. Use powder solvent. All those primers dropping down the ram leave a lot of crap behind.

2. Wipe the primer arm down after every session.

3. Don't gob a lot of lubricant on the primer arm; it will simply grab onto the powder & primer residue mentioned above.

 

[GlockCop]

Another good cleaner that evaporates fairly quickly is isopropyl(rubbing) alcohol. I use it to good effect on my press and dosent leave anything behind.

 

[Surveyor1653]

She's spankin new and I've only loaded 100 rounds (with frequent stops for cleaning and lube given the arm getting ejected every 5 rounds). I've lubed the channel and also the primer arm lightly with 3 in 1 oil and it still gets kicked out. I'll put some powder blast on a swab and get the oil out so that I can try the alcohol. I've only just started reloading so this is new for me. I appreciate the advice. Those old primers do drop a lot of crap down the ram, don't they?

 

[oknavy]

Dumb question: does your press lift & eject both the large & small primer arms? Whichever one you're using, swap it for the other and test it with a few dry runs to see if it does the same.

Some more recommendations:

Clean the channel a few inches down; a cleaning rod with a patch dipped in bore solvent will help. Try GlockCop's alcohol swab after that...it makes sense to me, as it doesn't leave residue. After that, run some patches down there until it's clean.

When all is dry, don't put ANY lube down that channel or on the sides of the primer arm. See if that fixes the problem.

If that doesn't work, check the primer arm for rough edges that might be catching on the channel, causing it to snag and lift out. If you find that it feels rough, you can try to sand it smooth yourself...or call Lee and have them send you a new one (they will.)

If you sand it yourself, lay it flat and try some 400 grit. Don't sand the primer anvil and spring, just the sides of the arm. Don't be heavy handed.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[Doesn'tPlayWellw/Others]

I have a Lee turret that did it constantly when I started. I have put only about 1500 rds thru it but now it is a rarity. I ran a dremel polishing wheel onto the sides of mine.
If I go real slow, it seems to creep up more, it never falls out when I have my rhythm down.

 

[Surveyor1653]

No dice. I tried clean and dry and it still kept falling out. The edges were a little rough so I put some fine grit on them and no joy. Put the large primer arm in while the ram was dirty as hell and cycled the thing about 50 times and nothing happened.

So I called Lee this morning when I got to the office and Mary (super-nice lady, don't ya know?<They're in Wisconsin>) is going to send me a new one this afternoon. She says they've received a couple of complaints in the last few weeks so they're thinking an out of spec batch might have gotten out.

Thanks for the advice, fellas. By the way, I love the Turret Press otherwise.

Michael

 

[oknavy]

Thanks for posting the follow up on your problem. As the large primer arm didn't have the same challenge, it appears you've got a relatively easy fix. Sounds like Lee is taking care of it.

 

[Surveyor1653]

A quick update: I loaded 100 rounds with the new primer arm last night with zero issues. Lee and their cust svc rep were top notch on this thing. The new piece was in the mailbox when I got home Sunday evening from out of town so it came in Saturday, two days after I called them.

 

[oknavy]

To summarize:

- you say Lee took two days to get the replacement part delivered

- this post (http://www.okshooters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85878) says it took "Dillon's legendary customer service" eight days to get the replacement part delivered

Based on comments in the Dillon post, sounds like your Volkswagen isn't just less expensive than a Porsche...it's faster, too!

Glad everything is up and running.