L&s Primer Tubes

[Rico567]

This falls into the category of "you learn something new every day." Although I've had my XL650 for some time, today was the first time I learned that the aluminum tubes into which primers are loaded for charging the primer mechanism actually come in small & large sizes. I knew about the green tip = large & yellow tip = small, but I guess I had assumed that the tubes were the same size. The aluminum tubes themselves are unmarked, and must simply be visually examined for the size of the I.D. All my .223 loading had evidently been done with a small primer tube that had had a yelllow tip pre-affixed to it. All my pistol reloading on the 650 has up to now been .45 ACP. When I got a .40 S&W conversion and started up, I just grabbed the closest tube, pulled off the green tip and put on a yellow one. I was quite mystified when the primers started coming out of the other end of the tube with different sides up....until I examined the tube diameters. All my aluminum tubes are now clearly marked "S" or "L" on both ends so that this is less likely to occur.

It's also something I should have remembered. Many years ago, I loaded using a tube-based auto primer feed on the Lyman Spar-T.....and when I started thinking about it, sure enough, I remembered the large & small tubes.

With reloading, as with other things in life, the devil is in the details....

[rick t]

The large primer tube is also the same OD and ID as RCBS powder trickler tube. Just in case you want to make a longer tube to reach over your digital scales.

rick t