Ammunition & Hand Loading > Cartridge and Shotshell reloading

Hornady LNL AP Drive Hub Stuff

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unfy:
I know I've been away forever.  Apologies.  Busy in TN heh.

Anyway, I started to start poking at / setting up reloading bench.

Bolted the Hornady LNL AP to the work bench and discovered a problem.  I couldn't fully move the press/ram through it's range of motion.

Further digging showed that the drive hub wouldn't spin.  Checked the drive paws, they were fine / not binding, but the shell plate wouldn't rotate at all.

I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but apparently the drive hub got a little rusted in place  :o

Looking at the top of the ram without a shell plate installed, there's the center peg ya tighten the shell plate to and a fainter ring about 1" in diameter from center.  That'd be the edge of the drive hub.

Using a fine screw driver, I removed the two C clips at the base of the ram and pulled the pin.  Pay attention to 'washer springs'.  With that pin removed, handle is disconnected from the ram.  You could probably remove the other half of the ram handle stuff to get it completely out of the way instead of fighting with it the rest of the time - prolly not a bad idea heh.  Anyway, with the ram detached from the handle bracket, ya can move the ram all the way up/down range of motion because the locking paws don't interface with the drive sprocket anymore.

I then removed the C clip holding the drive sprocket in place and took the drive sprocket off.  I think a second C clip might then remove the entire bottom bracket from the RAM ?

Next up are two small allen screws in the side of the RAM just below the top plate.  Make sure to use a very clean / new allen wrench with very sharp edges.  They're very shallow set screws and they're put in very tight from the factory (with loctite too!).

The drive hub would still not or disconnect from the shell of the ram.  I ended up having to put the shell retaining screw into the hub and tightening it down / spinning it using a hex wrench.  With the rotation motion, the drive hub slowly backed it's way out of the top plate.

I sadly didn't take pictures of the disassembly, sorry.

The drive hub is attached to the sprocket via a small (1/2 inch ?) rod down the middle of the hollow ram.  There's a second C clip and spring washer inside the drive hub, I dunno what it's really for outside of maybe "bottom of the movement" checks ?

Using a few rounds of CLP and a brass brush, I got all the rust off of the drive hub and it's top plate.  Assembly is in reverse.

Anyway, to summarize:
* drive hub was rusted to the top plate of the ram
* remove the pin(s) connecting bottom of ram to the handle bracket
* remove drive sprocket
* use a very new/sharp allen wrench to remove the set screws for the drive hub at the top / either side of the ram
* use the shell plate retention screw and a hex wrench to losen/force the drive hub out
* have fun juggling top plate and drive hub and 1/2 drive rod to get it out of the press & ram
* took a few iterations of CLP and a brass brush to get it smooth working again
* pay attention to the owner's manual exploded diagram

Important notes:
* apparently folks have cracked / broken their drive hubs somehow (uhhhh okay) so be aware of that
* seriously. new / sharp allen wrench for those ram set screws
* make sure the hub and top plate are spotless before reassembly - these are bearing surfaces.  I also added some 3-in-1 oil (dunno if good or bad idea).

SemperFiGuy:
Hi There, unfy:

Good to hear from you.

Now: 
Here's the Real Skinny...

Youuuuuuuuuuu would rather analyze, diagnose, assess, figure out, mess with, tinker with, repair and restore a broken-down, dysfunctional non-operating Hornady LNL device and get it all properly operating again,

Than actually sit there and manufacture nice shiny reloads on a brannew device that's already set up and smoothly running.

Right....?? :)

sfg

unfy:
Ya mean the image below ?  8)

The Hornadly LNL AP is my go-to baby for progressives.  I know it well and it's served me well.  I really dunno how it got a bit rusty.  Here in TN it's been in some climate controlled storage as well as a house.  The rust really doesn't make any sense.

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