Any advice on hand primers?

[ThePants]

I've generally primed 100 at a time. And a few time 200 cases. I could definitely see having the bench primer if you were turning out several 100 at a time on a progressive. But I would think filling those tubes with primers would be royal PIA.

Nothing like a relaxing day on the couch, watching your favorite sport / show and before you know it, 500+ primed cases are completed.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Shoulda got a Lee auto-advance cast iron turret because the priming system and everything else is awesome.

 

[kmk1012]

My old RCBS was the first new tool I bought, it's only lasted me 21 years and counting

 

[Mikej]

Nothing like a relaxing day on the couch, watching your favorite sport / show and before you know it, 500+ primed cases are completed.

Not for me. I've tried that. I need to keep an eye on the subject. I did try watching TV and priming but a little slip/error in handling and you have an unprimed shell in with the primed shells. Plus, seeing each shell, again, is one more chance to notice something wrong with the brass. But if you works for you, you GO!

 

[ThePants]

Not for me. I've tried that. I need to keep an eye on the subject. I did try watching TV and priming but a little slip/error in handling and you have an unprimed shell in with the primed shells. Plus, seeing each shell, again, is one more chance to notice something wrong with the brass. But if you works for you, you GO!

You have a Good practice.

We all develop process and procedures that work / work better for our available time.

I have a single stage and a progressive. I don't wet tumble (ultrasonic or otherwise) I prefer to do my size / decapping on a single stage. Allows for a more detailed inspection and isolation of damaged brass prior to priming.

Dry tumbling media is messy. single stage decap / size keeps that primer guk away from my progressive opens up a station for powder cop and separate seating and crimping stations (more control / easier adjustment).

I have primed on my progressive, but I have occasionally missed the forward push to prime.

Sometimes I wonder wich part of the process is my least favorite. For me, It used to be priming.

Offline hand priming has been more consistent for me, especially avoiding hot days in the garage. Even when I am enjoying AC and TV, I look at the brass to pick it up and place in the holder. Best practice would be to look at it again after priming.

Love my Frankford Arsenal hand primer. The square tray works well with oversized federal primer sleeves too.

 

[Mikej]

You have a Good practice.

We all develop process and procedures that work / work better for our available time.

I have a single stage and a progressive. I don't wet tumble (ultrasonic or otherwise) I prefer to do my size / decapping on a single stage. Allows for a more detailed inspection and isolation of damaged brass prior to priming.

Dry tumbling media is messy. single stage decap / size keeps that primer guk away from my progressive opens up a station for powder cop and separate seating and crimping stations (more control / easier adjustment).

I have primed on my progressive, but I have occasionally missed the forward push to prime.

Sometimes I wonder wich part of the process is my least favorite. For me, It used to be priming.

Offline hand priming has been more consistent for me, especially avoiding hot days in the garage. Even when I am enjoying AC and TV, I look at the brass to pick it up and place in the holder. Best practice would be to look at it again after priming.

Love my Frankford Arsenal hand primer. The square tray works well with oversized federal primer sleeves too.

View attachment 1266876

That Frankford looks like the same ergonomics as the RCBS primer. and i just deal with the round tray. They probably both need a little shake through the process.

 

[Dr Prepper]

Hand Primer Seating Tool | Frankford Arsenal

The Perfect Seat Hand Primer seating tool works with both small and large primers and its sel-righting primer trays holds 100+ primers

www.frankfordarsenal.com

Yeah this one looks a lot better than the rcbs one with the universal jaws. The other thing I HATE about the rcbs one is the jaws have a lot of slop in them so its easy for the shell to not be centered or get canted. It sounds like a great idea until you start using it a lot. I'd much prefer to have a solid shell holder for this operation its fairly often (depending on the type of brass) that one doesn't center and you have to fiddle f*** with it to get it to center so you don't crush one.
Also the change over from one size to the other is a little bit of a pain. And not having a height adjustability... I would LOVE that feature even is not up to bench rest standards anything would be nice over simply going by 100% feel. Also the universal shell holder sounds nice but its harder to slide a shell between those jaws than just slide on into a non spring loaded shell holder.

Idk, this thread is making me realize I should just sell mine and get a diff one. Before reloading is banned too!
I didn't rush into this purchase I took my time and based it on reviews and well.. This time I think I got burned. PRS wasn't as big way back when I bought this but I wish I knew better.
This is def a time where I failed the buy once cry once scheme.

 

[Dr Prepper]

Heck of a price on this.

RCBS Hand Priming Tool

Priming cases with a hand priming tool can save valuable time. The RCBS Hand Priming Tool not only seats primers quickly, a safety mechanism separates...

www.midwayusa.com

I don't mind changing shell holders. It would seem I'd already have them if I was priming brass for loading? Why on earth would I need a separate shell holder set?

For us Co-Azz guy's who don't usually use shell holders. one of the main reasons I went with the RCBS it to avoid them entirely. Now I'm ready to get into them. That Frankford looks very tempting but idk at this point if I just want to go overkill and get it over with. I don't need primal rights or anything crazy but just a higher end hand primer.

 

[Dr Prepper]

Nice pants! I have the same pair. I went with the Frankfort Hand primer. Good advice on tge WD 40 as well.

Looks like a solid choice.

 

[HighlandLofts]

I have several hand priming tools RCBS, Lee, Hornady.
Then I boughtthe Lee Auto Bench Prime and love to. Actually I have two of them
One set up for small primers.
One set up for large primers. They run about $40.

 

[quneur]

Not for me. I've tried that. I need to keep an eye on the subject. I did try watching TV and priming but a little slip/error in handling and you have an unprimed shell in with the primed shells. Plus, seeing each shell, again, is one more chance to notice something wrong with the brass. But if you works for you, you GO!

I use a round tray Lee. Because of the thumb pressure design, it takes a lot of pressure to seat a primer. Whenever something screws up, its noticeable. Its a hard press to even up the primer with the case then a harder press to seat the primer a little deeper. Anything that changes from this routine, I know something is wrong.

Then those I may miss, I always run a finger across the primer to double check the depth and I switch the case orientation when I put back on the tray as a place holder.

Lastly, charging a case without a primer would spill out powder all over the bench. So, I'm not really worried about the priming stage. There's are other processes/stages which are more critical of mistakes.

 

[Mikej]

charging a case without a primer would spill out powder all over the bench.

I will confirm this ^^ !

 

[Ckgworks]

Filling primer tubes:
This is what my kids do when helping reload....child labor I know . In all seriousness they want to help and learn and it's a step where they actually help alot and it makes them feel it.

I've generally primed 100 at a time. And a few time 200 cases. I could definitely see having the bench primer if you were turning out several 100 at a time on a progressive. But I would think filling those tubes with primers would be royal PIA.

I have always used the RCBS hand tool as shown above and have multiple shell holders for each caliber, that way once a box is primed someone else can start reloading. Doesn't happen all the time but sometimes the reloading room gets turned into a production assembly line sweat shop.

 

[CLT65]

Heck of a price on this.

RCBS Hand Priming Tool

Priming cases with a hand priming tool can save valuable time. The RCBS Hand Priming Tool not only seats primers quickly, a safety mechanism separates...

www.midwayusa.com

I don't mind changing shell holders. It would seem I'd already have them if I was priming brass for loading? Why on earth would I need a separate shell holder set?

I use the RCBS unit too. I like the looks of that Frankford Arsenal one; I'd be tempted if I didn't already have several of the RCBS.

The RCBS tool can be quirky. I've modified mine in a couple small ways that make them work better for me. It's handy to have one in small and another in large. I've found them used at gun shows for $10. Apparently not everyone likes them. To each their own.

I also prime off the press, even when using a progressive. I feel it gives me better control and quality. I'll have my shiny wet-tumbled brass and a brick of primers, sit down and watch TV while priming a bucket of brass. I've had lots of practice over the years and have no problem with the distraction. Mistakes don't get by me with this method.

 

[boattail]

I have broken the old style Lee, the new style Lee, and the RCBS hand primers. When I was single staging everything the press mounted primer was too slow for me. I have a progressive now and if I need to prime a few cases I can do it on the press one at a time or set the press up and run a big batch through.

I really liked using my hand primers but the shear number of rounds I was loading made them impractical and it is the reason I broke them all.

 

[ma96782]

Some guys like : Brunettes, Blondes, Red Heads, or whatever else. Me thinks that....there is never a "correct answer" to such loaded questions about "the best". Then, add in the cost factor. OMG, what's a cheap date? Will spending more......ensure success? Cough, cough.....

Anyway, speaking of your Hand Primer.
I started with a LEE (with the round primer tray). I broke it several times over the years. But (back then), there were always cheap parts available and I got to buying "extra" parts. Such as this one.

The blue arrow points to where the part usually fails for me. Lee has since discontinued this old style and will not sell me any more parts.

So, I was forced to invest in their new tool.

Lee Precision, Inc.. New Auto-Prime

Lee Auto Prime hand priming tool is a fast, safe, and effective way of priming cases. Lee Auto Prime uses inexpensive Lee Auto Prime shell holders only.

leeprecision.com

Yup......I loved the old design. So, I bought the newest one (as a backup). And it's still in the box. Anticipating the time.....when the old tool will finally fail.

Then, I happened upon this (in a plastic sandwich bag) at a gun show.

Yeah.....$5. I bought it. Dam.....if it's not all of the parts needed for the entire LEE hand priming tool (minus shell holder).

Anyway.....to conclude this post. IMHO.....if you're going to be priming off of the press.....just buy it.

Aloha, Mark

 

[gmerkt]

We've done these threads on hand priming tools before, might as well do it again.

My cousin introduced me to the original Lee Auto Prime (round tray) in the 1980's and I used those for many years. With a number of free replacement parts provided by Lee. Somewhere along the line, I came up with a cartridge that Lee didn't make a shell holder for and I had to buy the RCBS. Which I never liked. When my last original Lee Auto Prime broke, I discovered that they were no longer made, having been superseded by the new design Auto Prime. Which I struggled with in its early years, but eventually got it worked out with many replacement parts from Lee. Then they came out with the Lee Auto Bench Prime, which I much prefer because operation is done by pressing down, not gripping. Which is easier on old hands. The base casting of the Auto Bench Prime has broken twice, I'm on the third one but Lee has always sent me a new one when asked.

I was just looking at prices, it seems like the RCBS has come down in price a little in spite of inflation, I could be wrong. The Lee Auto Prime and Auto Bench Prime are under $40. I think the Auto Bench Prime has come down in price, but I might be wrong about that due to potentially faulty memory. You can't be expected to remember the price of everything you buy.

The price of the Frankford Arsenal product surprised me at around $90. But it looks good, I like the adjustable rod feature. For use with the RCBS when I had it, I made over-length rods out of steel rod stock when they were needed a few times for some deeper primer pockets.

I still have but rarely use a now quite old RCBS bench primer, it loads one at a time. It has rods for large and small primers. Like this:



I have it mounted on a piece of board so I can easily clamp it to a bench. I have several reloading tools that I don't want to leave bolted to the bench all the time.