Vibra Prime

[Graham Smith]

There are definitely some issues with the Vibra Prime. It starts with the instructions being wrong about which way to turn the drop tube in the unit and then there are problems with primers occasionally hanging up and not dropping. The quality control is just not there.

It's still faster than the regular way and less expensive than the alternatives, but the unit is overpriced just the same. It's up to the buyer to decide what they are willing to pay for what degree of assistance.

[mjohn]

So far mine is working perfectly in SPP. I have used Winchester, Federal and CCI. I make sure that I do not tilt the tray at a very sharp angle when trying to fed the tube. The minimal angle is slower to feed the tube, but insures that the primers did not get flipped when feeding.

[dzhitshard]

I got mine & promptly put it to task of loading SPP.

The first 30 went down the tube very well.

After that & was getting hang ups, flipped & sideways stoppages of all imaginable sorts. Consternation about the damn internet being right again.

After I was over my minute of pissy fit I broke out my analitical brain of limited processing power & extreemly short patience & attention span.

I took it apart & found several plastic sections that I quickly took a file to & smoothed out. That fixed many of the problems but I eventually drilled and chamfered a 5/64" hole in the cover, over the feed tube & it's been aces since. Now if I get a wedged primer I poke it through the lid & quide it into the tube.

I loaded 800 into seperate tubes, from factory sealed boxes in right at 5 minutes. This was with 2 stoppages I had where I chose to remove the feed tray to correct them so I didn't risk a flipped primer.

Next time I pull it out I'm going to use an exacto knife & cut a thin strip of scotch tape to build up the interior lid of the feed chute so the SPP are less likely to have room to get tilted or flip.

Total invested time from breaking open the blister pack until the press was filled & 8 loaded primer tubes were stored & the vibraprime was put away was about 45min.

[ben b.]

I got mine and it seems to work OK. I do have a question: With the Hornady tubes I need to pull out the plastic pick-up piece from the Pimer pick-up tube, but there is step inside, as the plastic piece is wider diameter than the primer hole. step This catches & stacks primers when I try to transfer from the VP tube to the Hornady tube. Is there a work around for that? I wanted to use this VP to fill all of my primer tubes at one session, not to refill the press each time.

[dzhitshard]

I've got a number of the Hornady tubes & have looked at how to reclaim them for use. I'm thinking of cutting off the conical plastic tip leaving the part that's recessed in the tube & chamfering the hole. I started to drill a cotter pin hole in the top of the tube as is done on the bottom & then stopped because it could be confusing when I'm trying to load rapidly. I need to figure out another way to secure the primers after I cut off the tip

[ben b.]

I've got a number of the Hornady tubes & have looked at how to reclaim them for use. I'm thinking of cutting off the conical plastic tip leaving the part that's recessed in the tube & chamfering the hole. I started to drill a cotter pin hole in the top of the tube as is done on the bottom & then stopped because it could be confusing when I'm trying to load rapidly. I need to figure out another way to secure the primers after I cut off the tip

I found that I can dump them from the VP tube into the top end of a Hornady primer pick up tube. The primers enter the Hornady tube upside down. Then I hook that tube to another Hornady primer pick up tube using the connector and they slide right in, right side up. It is fairly easy & quick. I can load 10 tubes and not worry for 1,000 rds. This seems to work fine.

[dzhitshard]

LOL, nice, Great that I got logic slapped before I started my destructive testing. Thanks for the heads up on the obvious that I had missed. . . again. lol

[Todd7446]

Ben B - Another thing you can do is go to Lowe's/Home Depot and get some vinyl caps from their small parts drawers in hardware. I don't have the number, but they had some that were a perfect fit for the OD of the tubes. Now, cotter pin on one end, vinyl cap on the other = good to go.

I loaded 5 tubes that way Saturday morning and all went very well.

[ben b.]

Ben B - Another thing you can do is go to Lowe's/Home Depot and get some vinyl caps from their small parts drawers in hardware. I don't have the number, but they had some that were a perfect fit for the OD of the tubes. Now, cotter pin on one end, vinyl cap on the other = good to go.

I loaded 5 tubes that way Saturday morning and all went very well.

I don't understand. What is the point of the rubber cap? Do you cut the tube below the "step", and use the cap to hold the primers, instead of the plastic nose-piece? That would make sense, but I would have to destroy each tube's ability to revert to low-tech manual primer pick-up.

[Todd7446]

Ben B - Another thing you can do is go to Lowe's/Home Depot and get some vinyl caps from their small parts drawers in hardware. I don't have the number, but they had some that were a perfect fit for the OD of the tubes. Now, cotter pin on one end, vinyl cap on the other = good to go.

I loaded 5 tubes that way Saturday morning and all went very well.

I don't understand. What is the point of the rubber cap? Do you cut the tube below the "step", and use the cap to hold the primers, instead of the plastic nose-piece? That would make sense, but I would have to destroy each tube's ability to revert to low-tech manual primer pick-up.

I spoke a little too quickly. I bought aluminum tubes (from McMaster-Carr, I believe. Found part #'s earlier in the thread) and put cotter pins in one end and use the rubber caps on the other. I still have my original Hornady pick-up tubes intact. Yes, you could cut off the vinyl pick-up ends and put caps on there to do just what I've described, but it would destroy them for back-up picking up. Sorry for the confusion.

[gmantwo]

Was thinking about ordering one of these, but my homemade one works so well and so fast I decided it would be a waste. Especially after reading about problems. Made mine for about $10 from older Lee hand prime units.

Instructions and testimonies can be found under this thread

[ben b.]

I've loaded 2,000 with mine so far, so 20 times thru, plus a few extra while learning and messing around. It seems to work just fine; it is faster and easier than pecking at them but since you have to hold it I think it is better for filling a batch of tubes rather than stopping each 100 and doing the VP. I am filling 10 tubes at a time, then I put the VP away. The angle you hold it at was the trick for me.

[mjohn]

Well...........my VP worked perfect out of the box!!!!!!! Now the rest of the story. After 5,000 primers have been processed, through it, the VB is no longer Virbring and therefore it can not Prime.

The motor started to loose RPM's and then it just stopped. I checked the batteries with a volt meter and they are good. I bitch slapped it a couple of times and it responded briefly with a low RPM buzz and then died again.

Now, nothing and it is only 2 months old.

I think good idea, poor execution on Frankford Arsonal's part.

Too many complaints!!!!!

[bani]

loaded about 5000 small primers so far.

cci SPP / SRP always load smooth, virtually 0 hiccups.

winchester SPP loads with occasional hung primers. an upwards smack on the VP and they start feeding again.

zero flipped primers!

very very happy. no more pecking!

[Hatchet]

Being new to reloading, does this thing ever get jammed up or flip primers upside down. Also, how do you even use the tube on a Dillon or just run them straight in?

[bani]

I spoke a little too quickly. I bought aluminum tubes (from McMaster-Carr, I believe. Found part #'s earlier in the thread) and put cotter pins in one end and use the rubber caps on the other.

what's the part #s for the tubes?

[Todd7446]

I spoke a little too quickly. I bought aluminum tubes (from McMaster-Carr, I believe. Found part #'s earlier in the thread) and put cotter pins in one end and use the rubber caps on the other.

what's the part #s for the tubes?

89965K18 for small primers

89965K472 for large primers

[jmorris]

I bitch slapped it a couple of times and it responded briefly with a low RPM buzz and then died again.

You likely don't have enough force with the back of your hand, you need a bigger hammer.

[Boxer1]

I put some lithum batteries in mine last night and holy smokes it made that thing 5 times as fast.

[kevin c]

Got one of these.

Aggravation with WSP's - Lots of jams from tilted/stuck primers. it's faster to use my version of Gman2's homemade job, or to use the pick up tubes as designed (for me it takes 15 or 20 minutes to load 10 tubes, from opening the box to putting everything away).

Runs very well with Federal SP's, which is a big plus because the awkward packaging needed extra steps for Gman's set up or for regular pick up, so it's saving a bit of time. I think the Federals are just different enough dimensionally from the WSP's to avoid the hangups I got with them.

Gotta remember that battery trick, Boxer.

[phlydude]

I spoke a little too quickly. I bought aluminum tubes (from McMaster-Carr, I believe. Found part #'s earlier in the thread) and put cotter pins in one end and use the rubber caps on the other.

what's the part #s for the tubes?

89965K18 for small primers

89965K472 for large primers

Sorry to revive and older thread and go off topic but what is the difference between K18 and K25 for a small primer tube? They have the same ID, wall thickness and max pressure. But the K25 is 40% of the cost...

http://www.mcmaster.com/#89965K25

[gmg]

I to bought one of the VP's and had some trouble with it initially, especiaaly with SPP's, but after I figured out how to tilt it and tap on it they started loading fine with very few stuck primers. Now the bad part. I loaded up rounds for the MS Classic using the VP and you will not believe how many sideways primers I had stuck into the brass. It was awful. Cost me a ton of time. Lesson - if you use it, double check your loaded ammo after you load using a VP. I have gone back to using pick-up tubes. This thing will bite you in the ass.

[vluc]

I've loaded 2,000 with mine so far, so 20 times thru, plus a few extra while learning and messing around. It seems to work just fine; it is faster and easier than pecking at them but since you have to hold it I think it is better for filling a batch of tubes rather than stopping each 100 and doing the VP. I am filling 10 tubes at a time, then I put the VP away. The angle you hold it at was the trick for me.

+1, exactly what I found. Now I've loaded 3-4 thousand since I got my little unit and am quite pleased with it, just did another 1k last night with no problems. Loads win, fed and cci without a hiccup.

Edited August 14, 2013 by vluc

[ogiebb]

i have the older VP and they run really well, with the new VP i had to sand and clean up the drop hole to the tube as i always have a stuck primer that just does not want to fall down the tube...i dont use the adapter and have always dropped them straight to the dillon tubes.

[Todd7446]

I spoke a little too quickly. I bought aluminum tubes (from McMaster-Carr, I believe. Found part #'s earlier in the thread) and put cotter pins in one end and use the rubber caps on the other.

what's the part #s for the tubes?

89965K18 for small primers

89965K472 for large primers

Sorry to revive and older thread and go off topic but what is the difference between K18 and K25 for a small primer tube? They have the same ID, wall thickness and max pressure. But the K25 is 40% of the cost...

http://www.mcmaster.com/#89965K25

Huh???

89965K18, 5/16" OD, 0.183" ID, 0.065" wall

89965K25, 1/2" OD, 0.402" ID, 0.049" wall