I am still trying to get the bugs worked out of the three 366's I bought. My latest problem is getting the shell plate to the positive stop of the detent ball under the shell plate. I called Hornady and the guy I spoke with didn't seem knowledgable at all with the 366. After telling him the same info three times I gave up. There has to be some kind of adjustment so the shell plate indentation stops on the detent ball. I am sure there are knowledgable people at Hornady but just haven't gotten the right ones yet. However, with the many 366 owners on here I felt that someone could give me the correct information. Thanks for your help. Jackie B.

How much does it miss the indent?

adjustment is on back of machine on the base. Lossen large nut and turn center bolt with screwdriver. Have plate stop about 1/8 to 1/16 inch short of hitting the detent. the plate can and will move into position when you insert empty. Good to have the plate able to move a little bit.

When the plate comes to the detent ball does it lock in at that spot or move back and forth? If it does not lock in, pull the plate off and clean under the plate and make sure the detent ball is full up against it's stop in the frame. Tighten the plate down until it clicks in. Adjust the plate as you like for the rim of the shells.

If all this is good, the adjustment per ntgr8 has given you is correct. I stop mine on a positive stop and just leave the plate height enough that the shells do not hang up while traveling around.

Ajax

Thanks for the info guys. When I move the shell plate it does not have a positive stop on the detent so I will assume that is where I need to start but will first take the plate off and see if the detent is up where I think it should be(?). How do you know when to stop tightening the Nut that holds the shell plate on? If the detent ball is all the way up then do I tighten the nut until I have a positive stop on the detent ball? Thanks for the help. Jackie B.

Tighten the big nut in center of shell plate so the plate will turn but not wobbel

Jack...

I run my 366s with the plate as loose as possible so that it doesn't require so much effort on the upstroke to advance the loader....most would say that my plates probably wobble.

occasionally, they do get out of adjustment. What I do is loosen two of the bolts holding it down to the table and turn it 90 degrees - so its "sideways" on the bench, otherwise reaching round to the back to do the adjustment is damn near impossible.

it takes a big wrench and a short screwdriver, hold the screw tight and loosen the nut, then hold the nut steady with the wrench and turn the screw until the spot for the hull is lined up with the opening. Tighten the nut, making sure the plate doesn't come out of adjustment - that's HARD TO DO. dang plate always wants to turn.

my loaders are so old (late 70s era machines) that I don't think the ball is even having much effect any more....the plate just gets pushed forward by the pawl until I run out of stroke, and it stops where it needs to be to get a new hull in. Like I said, I run them loose so they advance easy.

PM me if you need help...maybe we can even get on the phone and talk you through it. They're nice machines...but they do take some effort to get set up (never loaded on anything else so I don't know if they're easier or harder than other brands) and they take a full set of wrenches...but they'll last damn near forever, and I can still do 500 an hour pretty easily...

Some of the older blued shell plates have very shallow detents for the ball to locate on. The newer plates that are not blued have deeper detents.

Jim Skeel
P/W Dealer/Distributor

LOL...mine would be of the "older" variety...the detent is VERY shallow...

Mine are probably old as well, I noticed the serial number of the 410 loader is M438. The 20 ga is working great now, I loaded two cases and only had 8 crushed hulls and most of them had the AA on the side. The uprights load like a breeze. I would compare it to my 9000 almost but the 366 has a better primer system I think. I got some new parts in from Hornady which made a big difference. The guide arm(curved pin was bent forward and down) that moves the shell plate was bad so I bought a couple of new ones. Thanks for all the help. Jackie B.