Right. And it can and should be properly adjusted. It just has nothing to do with OAL conistency.
IDescribe, since you've commented on this twice, would you mind elaborating? Experience with my press indicates something different.
Normally, my assumption in cases like would be something like:
People new to the Lnl AP have initial problems with keeping the shellplate bolt adjusted properly, and people new to any press are going to have initial problems with OAL consistency, AND people just love to confuse correlation with causation, so...
BUT in your case, you already told us that your OAL inconsistency was the result of a not-completely-filled shellplate:
When I first started with the LnL AP, I noticed a large variance in OAL as well. Keeping the shell plate loaded with cases until I crimp the last round has pretty much solved the issue.
So we can move past that whole silly part of the conversation.
As to elaborating, I intially believed I provided enough detail the first time I commented, but here it is in more detail:
In order for some press component to affect OAL, it would have to support the case, support the dies, or affect the movement of the ram, and the shellplate does none of those on an LnL AP. On an LnL AP, the cases are supported by a subplate, not the shellplate. The only thing the shellplate does is slide the cases toward their next position on the subplate. The spring holds the cases against the shellplate, and between the two of them, they keep the cases in the correct spot on the subplate. But, again, it is the subplate that supports and drives the cases into the dies. In terms of driving cases into dies, the shellplate is just along for the ride.
As to the shellplate bolt specifically, the drive hub and the bolt that attaches the shellplate to the drive hub are independent of the subplate. The shellplate and drive hub sit in and pass through a hole in the subplate, but they are attached to the drive shaft inside the ram. The subplate, then, is attached to the ram independently by two screws underneath the subplate. The shellplate and subplate are independent of one another. You could remove the bolt that attaches the shellplate entirely, and the subplate, which again is what drives the cases into the dies, would be fixed to the ram just as rigidly. That shellplate bolt does not affect it, and since the subplate is what's supporting the cases and driving them into the dies, that shellplate bolt doesn't affect how the cases are driven into the dies.
So with the OP needing assistance on OAL consistency, and people more than once mentioning the shellplate, shellplate bolt attachment, and indexing, none of which affect OAL consistency, I felt compelled to mention more than once that the shellplate does not affect OAL consistency.
Copemech-OP, the most likely causes of your OAL inconsistency are:
- Your arm, and the consistency with which you pull the lever. HOWEVER, the Hornady LnL AP's use of an over-travel linkage mitigates this to some degree.
- Platform stability. I'm talking about the stability of the platform the press is mounted to. You might feel like you're pulling steadily through each cycle, but if the table the press is mounted to is rocking or shifting in some way, the press is experiencing fluctuations in force from your arm during ram travel.
- Mixed headstamps. When the cases are driven into the sizing and seating dies, they're under a lot of force, and they flex, and when they are removed from the dies and from under that force, they spring back. Different cases are made from slightly different alloys, slightly different metallurgical properties, with slightly different dimensions and different wall thicknesses, and so different cases will compress and spring back differently, possibly leading to slight cartridge OAL inconsistency.
- Inconsistency in bullet length. IF you are using an anvil that seats off the ogive (you should be), you're going to get OAL inconsistency based on inconsistency in bullet length, most of which occurs in the nose (except for with FMJ).
- And, finally, as has been determined previously, physics works differently for you than everyone else.
If this were a Dillon 650, where the shellplate does support the cases, shellplate mounting would play a role, but not on the LnL AP.
My recommendation is to use an anvil that seats off the ogive and not worry about it.
Missing primers are a different story. Let us know how that goes.