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Lubricating the Hornady 366

11K views 20 replies 7 participants last post by  fase3 
#1 ·
I have several Hornady 366's They were purchased at different times, some used, and one new. Because they are various gauges I assumed they operated with different smoothness. The 410 buy seemed to work a little "harder" than the others so I using tactile senses cleaning and lubricating various possible friction points. Low and behold it became by far the smoothest. Using the same procedure on the others and I'm amazed how smooth and similarly they work. DOES ANYONE HAVE A LUBRICATING ROUTINE ON THE 366 THAT THEY THINKS WORKS BEST?
 
#2 ·
You are correct that proper lubrication makes the 366 work smoother. So does keeping them relatively clean.

About every six months, I do both a thorough cleaning and a lubrication on my 366s. (Errr...if I do a dumb-dumb and dump shot or powder into the works, I do it immediately thereafter! :roll: ) I pay particular attention to cleaning under the shell plate and shell plate ring. Even without a noticeable shot spill, a single pellet or two seems to find its way under the outer ring periodically. That will really make for rough going.

As for lubrication, here's my routine. I use Slip2000 on all the toggle joints, in the oil holes for the main shaft, in the cam bearings (indexing and charge bar cams) and on the actuating rod for the wad guide.

On the guide posts, shell plate stud and washer, underside of the shell plate where the detents are, charge bar cam surfaces, base of the wad guide actuator and on the outer rim of the shell plate ring under the pawl, I use Lubriplate 630AA. (Any good, light grease would probably be as good as Lubriplate, but I have used it for 35 years with good results) A light film is all that is needed.

In the measure casting assembly, I remove the charge bar and clean it and the interior of the assembly well. I wax all four sides of the charge bar with a good paste wax; my preference is TreWax or Johnson's carnuba, but others will work I'm sure. I also wax the interior of the measure casting assembly where the charge bar rides. BTW, if there is ANY roughness in the interior of the measure casting, use 400 grit sandpaper to smooth it out before waxing.

I use Armor-All Original on the rubber measure casting seals to make them ride easily on the charge bar. When installing the charge bar in the measure casting assembly, I use a light dusting of graphite powder on all the sliding surfaces.

That routine usually results in a very smooth operation. I do it with all my 366s; 12/20/28/.410. No real difference in the feel when operating any of them.
 
#3 ·
I got a 12 gauge 366 a couple months ago from E-bay. It is in decent shape but took a lot of cleaning and adjustment. I THOUGHT I had done this when I first got it. But, after 1000 or so loads I took another shot at it. I am not disagreeing with anything OldSkeeter has said but did discover the following items that really seemed to make a difference (at least on my press):

+1 on the shell plate and ring. Take them completely off and clean thoroughly and use a very light thin spray of lube

Disassemble the cup assembly below the primer seating station. Take the SMALL nut off the bottom, then use a hex wrench to take the screw out from the top. Pull the flat round plate and spring up out of there, and flush it all out with gun cleaner spray. I found powder, shot, and rust in mine. When reassembling tighten the screw down so that the large round plate is just flush with (not high and not low) the adjacent table, then lock the small nut on the bottom. Primer seating will be much smoother. I'm putting Fiocchi primers into steel head Gun Clubs that never had euro primers in them before and it feel like seating a W209 in a brass head AA.

The crimp starter die and the final taper crimp die are supposed to be free floating. They should spin easily and move up and down 1/4 inch or so. A little powder and or shot in the socket above the top of them can lock them up pretty solidly. With the press flipped over (see below) flush/dig these areas out.

If you have never completely disassembled the crimp closing die then by all means do so. On a 366 these just do not work like the crimp closer die on older Pacific/Hornady presses. Once it is apart, the function becomes obvious. What I learned is that you do not want to do a lot of messing around/adjusting on the center punch of this die. There is a lock nut on top of the center punch stem. You want at least 1-2 threads showing on the stem of the punch above this nut. Most crimp adjustments should be with the large bushing and large nut.

Unbolt the whole press from the bench and lay it on its side. Underneath the center of the table (Hornady calls this the platen) there is a shaft and the arm that advances the shell plate rotates on this. A drop or two of oil on this pivot really frees things up and makes the plate advance a lot smoother.

Before you unbolt the press run it the table up all the way and look in under the back of the press. Look underneath the vertical shaft that the wad guide mounts on. You will see a small socket in the bottom of the press. There is a hole in the bottom of this socket through to the bench. Reach down into this hole with a pencil or marker and make a mark on your bench. Once you have the press out of there drill a 1/4 inch hole through the bench at this mark. Everybody spills shot sooner or later. If you get shot down in this socket it can really screw up the action of the wad guide. It is a lot easier to vacuum it off the floor than dig it out of this socket with a dental pick.

These are just a few of the things I discovered and boy did it make a difference. The press worked a lot more smoothly.
 
#4 ·
All good points, Albatros.

There are oil holes in the top of the base casting for oiling the pivot shaft. That's what I was referring to when I mentioned the "oil holes for the main shaft."

Cleaning the primer seater assembly is something I do so routinely that I failed to mention it. Not doing so can certainly create problems.

A drop of light oil like Slip2000 on the crimp starter and final taper die shafts is a very good idea. I use an old hypodermic needle with the point blunted for those jobs. There are similarly configured "oilers" that will work well; I just had some old syringes available to me from a veterinary friend.

If you keep your 366 clean and lubricated, it will work like a charm.
 
#5 ·
Something else to keep lubed is the ejection rod in the resizing die, you need to lube it where it passes though the die plate and the top of it where it rubs the cam arm.

I know this because I bought one for a screaming deal from a guy who could not figure out why the press was so rough to operate and would lockup for no apparent reason. When I got it home I tore it completely apart and found the ejection rod had worn a slot in the die head plate and the nail head of the rod had worn a big grove into the pivot arm boss, the rod would occasionally get bound up between the boss and the actuator arm.

As long as I don't use the re-sizer it's not an issue but to make it right I will need to replace the rod and the die plate.
 
#6 ·
Wow a ton of great suggestions!! I read them all quickly, but did not see any comments about using the air compressor. Sometimes when loading shot or powder, or even when reloading there is spill. After first using a brush to get the big stuff I've used the compressor to get that rogue shot out of a tight spot and granules of powder out. Any issues with that?
Lastly, only one of my 366's was purchased new. If I had not had that one adjusting the others might have been very very difficult. I understand that one can ship the reloader to Hornady for a rebuild and they will only charge for parts. Is that true? How long does it usually take? When it comes back how does it work? Inquiring minds want to know.
 
#7 ·
Personally, I don't use compressed air for a couple of reasons. First, it scatters the shot and powder all over the reloading room. That just moves the mess somewhere else. I use a soft-bristle paint prush and small dust pan instead. A couple of old dental picks...obtained from my dental hygenist...are handy for getting shot out of tight spots. I also found that compressed air drives stuff deeper into the mechanism and just makes it harder to get out.

As for sending the unit back to Hornady, I have no experience with that. I have completely rebuilt a couple myself and it is easy enough to do. I just order parts and do the work myself, but then I like mechanical things and working on them. Once you get familiar with the 366, you will find that it is a very simple (and efficient) design. Nothing hi-tech!
 
#8 ·
A question for either of you guys (or any other 366 user):
I have got 12 gauge 366 cleaned up, adjusted and working pretty darned well except for one thing. What can anyone tell me about the little spring next to the final taper crimp station? This is the spring held in place by the round head screw that holds the shell retaining ring in place. I THOUGHT its use was obvious. I figured that when the shell came around to the final station (where the shell retainer ring ends) this spring held it in place until the shell plate rotated and forced the shell out. I have tried various adjustments on this spring and all it seems to do is cause the shell to fall over sideways (instead of dropping down through the hole) when ejecting. I finally swung this spring back so that it does not touch the shell. They eject fine and drop down through now. Unfortunately as the shell comes into the final station it sometimes tends to slide outwards (towards the eject hole) slightly. When I insert the next fresh hull I push the one in the final station it back in if it is noticeably slid out. I still THING the purpose of the spring is to prevent this but cannot figure out how to make it do its job and not screw up the ejection. Any thoughts? Do I need to call Hornady or just order a new spring? It looks like it is in good condition.
 
#9 ·
That is the purpose of the spring you talk about. I have three of the 366's and they do just what you say in that the spring holds the shell in place. I had four of the machines and sold the 410 machine to "Old Skeeter" a little while back. It's probably going to take a little fine tuning to get it where you want it. Had the 12ga. refurbished by Hornady a while back and went thru the same thing with the spring. Just took a little time and tinkering. Hope you enjoy your machine.
 
#10 ·
I tinkered with it some more this afternoon and think I am getting closer to the "sweet spot" for the spring. I do like the machine. Lately I have been loading STS with W209, 18.0 of Promo, CB1078 and 7/8 of 8. They come out looking perfect. Crimps are nice and tight and flat. I've done 500 in the last two days without a problem. I got things set up so that the shells shoot into a 5 gallon bucket under the bench. It takes longer than I expected to put 500 shells in boxes. I think I am about to the point where half the time is setting up, filling hoppers and putting shells in boxes. The other half is actually reloading. This afternoon I checked a number of shells in the middle of the loading process and am getting 18.0 grains +/- 0.1; you gotta like that!
 
#13 ·
albatros said:
I tinkered with it some more this afternoon and think I am getting closer to the "sweet spot" for the spring.
Two things about the shell retainer spring; it is properly installed with the loop toward the shell base and it should be adjusted so that the loop just touches the shell base lightly. It is, as Fase3 noted, a bit tricky to get adjusted correctly. It should not exert any pressure on the shell base; just lightly touch it. Even a tiny space between the loop and shell base is usually OK. It just ensures that the shell does not pop out of the final station as it indexes into position.
 
#15 ·
dkmenefee said:
Didn't know that spring was so tricky as I've removed mine and put it back without any special care or problem. But I've found the whole setup and adjustment of the 366 easier than a MEC 600.
On the 12-ga machine, it is pretty simple to set up; it gets trickier as you go to the smaller gauges. Like DK, I've had little trouble with them but I've been around the 366 for a long time.
 
#16 ·
The one thing I'll mention that has not yet been described is I prefer to use a very good quality silicon spray to lube my charge bar and housing. Under the bar, beside the bar, on top of the bar, both sides of the bushings and rubber washers. Anywhere it touches as it slides. A shot of silicon lube up inside the crimp die body now and again works wonders too.

Myself I vastly prefer the 366 to the MEC relative to shot and powder bottle/hopper configuration. It is a piece of cake to remove the shot and powder assy from the 366 and set it upside down on the floor or bench to work with bushings. Just be sure to hold the caps on the hoppers before you pick the assy up. The powder cap usually stays put, but several pounds of shot does not. The one thing you want to do, and that is with any progressive machine, make absolutly, positively certain that a primer has dropped each and every time. It pays dividends exponentially! The 366 does not like fast yanking of the operating handle. Smooth, deliberate, full range lever operation is essential!

Great machine, infinitely adjustable and pretty much impossible to wear out with reasonable routine cleaning and maintenance. Only draw back I've experienced is the inability to remove a hull from the machine from any location at will. They must be removed in sequence and I prefer to do it from the start. Make yourself a shell holder block with 7 or 8 holes in it and keep it close. If you need to remove a shell, just release the advance pawl and rotate the carousel backwards and remove the shells one at a time and put them in order in the block. Do what you have to, then put them in again one at a time in order to the place they were when you took them out.

Make sure you understand the operation of the shot and powder cutoffs and if you do turn one off, remember to turn it back on again. Don't ask how I know, I'd just lie to you anyway!

Once you get the procedure down pat the 366 is about as good of loader as anything less than $1,000 will buy. No, they don't cost that much, but you'll have to spend that or more to get a better one.

BP
 
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#19 ·
Thought I posted a reply yesterday but must have hit the wrong key,,,

Fase3- appreciate your addiction comment; I have used a a pair of old (30-40 year) Pacifics for a long time and a pair of Sizemasters more recently but stepping up to the 366 is like going from recreational drugs to the hard stuff!

dkmenefee- I have a set of 8 packer/stackers that I made from plywood. I use them all the time with the Sizemasters. With the 366 it is just easier to let them all shoot into a bucket and then fill boxes later.

Oldskeeter- I finally found a picture in the 366 manual that happens to show the spring. As you say, loop towards the shell (mine was backward.)

RE the powder an shot shutoffs- I have never failed to close these at the proper time (NOT) but all those holes Hornady drills under the shell retainer sure are a good idea! Unfortunately you can drop an ounce of #8 and 409 of 410 pellets drop through the holes and one (which is all it takes) gets jammed up under the shell retainer ring.

BP- I took your suggestion made a while back about a shell holder block. I used foot of 2x4 ripped in half and drilled a row of 9 holes about half way through. When things go wrong it seems that the best thing to do is disengage the drive pawl, pull all the shells out one by one, put them in a line in this block, fix the problem and them load them all back in. Usually when I do this I take advantage of the opportunity and weigh the powder in the shell that has just been charged. As I get more and more used to the press the need for this whole process becomes much rarer. A big +1 the primer drop-when I bring the handle back up and I see/feel the table start to rotate I slow way down and watch the primer drop. This has eliminated a lot of problems. I also make real sure the wad is dropped all the way down into and centered up in the wad guide. When starting a cycle I take it pretty easy until I see the rammer start down into the wad.
 
#20 ·
albatros,

Yup, operating a loading press (i.e 366) is living testament to the old saying, "The hurrier I go the behinder I get!" I always wonder how many shells an hour it costs me to stop and clean up a mess? It's not unusual to spend a good 10 to 15 minutes to clean up a missed primer mess, (i.e powder all over the place and now shells out of sequence and time.) of spilled shot, (i.e. double charge). Sometimes late at night I do 2 or 3 in a row. That's when I know bed time is way past due!

I can't crank out 500 an hour like some folks claim, but then again I don't need to. I need something to do again tomorrow night! I know! I'll box them all up.

Typicaly I load my 12 ga shells in lots of 250. I've got enough loading blocks to hold 250 shells so I fill them all and then box them and start over again. Then it's time for a couple drops of oil and dabs of Lubriplate and a couple squirts of Silicon spray and on to another 500 shells.

BP
 
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