Hand Primer Tool, Best Performer and Price

[warpspeed]

I hand prime my bolt gun rifle brass using the Lee. It works quite well. I can see no reason why it would not be good for crushing Feds.

[snertley]

The Lee works fine, but sitting down and crushing 500 rounds of primers the RCBS is way more comfortable. IMO

[Carmoney]

Getting those primers crush-seated is critically important when your revolver's action is set for the optimal DA pull. Some presses will do a good job, but my little Square Deal B doesn't consistently seat them all the way, so I reseat all the primers on my match ammo by hand. I don't know the brand of my hand priming tool--it's an off-brand unit I found at Scheels a number of years ago. It's all steel and works great. Somebody had an RCBS priming tool listed on the Classifieds yesterday.

Mike,

Take the primer seating pin out of the square deal and chamfer the end that seats the primers. I did this when I got my Randy guns and dont have to re-seat. The primer pin will go up into the primer pocket after chamfer. Dave

Hmmmmm......interesting. I'll have to try that. Thanks Dave!

[LPatterson]

I am using the same RCBS hand primer I bought 40 years ago and I have called RCBS twice for free replacement parts that got a little worn. Last time they sent all the moving parts for free, not going to get that kind of service from anyone other than Dillon.

[jjanglin]

Ive modified the plunger unit on my 650 to push the primers in a little more, this helps

but I tend to forget about pushing real hard sometimes. So I bought a Auto prime unit, its an

Rcbs model 09460 and I can mount it in my vise with aluminum vise jaws and the loaded rounds that look

and feel like the primers are not below flush and a little crushed I set them aside and take

an hour now and then to reseat them, I did kinda a get a little leary of doing this so

I got a peace of pipe about 7 inch long and 1.5 inch dia, it sets over the the pimer

tower and round on the rcbs unit and gives me some comfort, allthough Ive not set off a primer with the current set up

I did years ago with a hornady set up I had, caused a terrible mess and scared heck outa

me and the dog,loooked like a small roman candle.

This rcbs unit is strong with a long handle and it will bend the brass bases if ya press to hard.

Seems like the Winchester brass has shallower primer depth than the other mixed brass I

use and usually measures 3-4 thousands below flush some of the other is as deep below flush

as 11 thousands, do any of ya all find that some 45 acp brass goes bang more consistant

than others with the light trigger pulls on the DA revolvers.

Jim/Pa

Sailors

[20nickels]

Seems like the Winchester brass has shallower primer depth than the other mixed brass I

use and usually measures 3-4 thousands below flush some of the other is as deep below flush

as 11 thousands, do any of ya all find that some 45 acp brass goes bang more consistant

than others with the light trigger pulls on the DA revolvers.

Jim/Pa

Sailors

Using mixed brass cannot help but have a slightly harder trigger pull due to the wide range of ACP brass available IMHO. Having said that, I believe having a deep, consistent primer seating has more to do with it.

[Shawn Knight]

So...

No thoughts on the Hornaday tool???

[20nickels]

So...

No thoughts on the Hornaday tool???

I've heard nothing but good about the H-day tool. I'll be getting that one.

[wide45]

The Lee tool works well, but suffers a major breakage every 5 thousand rounds. Keep in mind that Lee warns you not to use Federal primers in the feed tray.

The RCBS #90200 was either designed by idiots, or for idiots. If you turn it upside down, a vital small part falls out, and can be lost. That part can easily be replaced wrong side up, but is then likely to ignite the primers. Changing calibers requires disassembling the unit far more than it should.

[20nickels]

I need to get a hand primer tool for loading for Revo. I would appreciate your opinons as to which one is prefered (easy of use, works best and is reasonably priced). I don't think my 650 is getting them crushed enough from what I read here. Thanks, you guys are a wealth of information and are very willing to share and it's greatly appreciated.

Granderojo

This is probably the "best" although it's meant to be bench mounted. Forster Co-Ax Bench Priming Tool.

http://www.midwayusa.com/Eproductpage.Exe/...leitemid=141739

Looks like a bargain fer what it is.

If you went to a national long range benchrest match you would probably see every Mfg's hand primer represented there. I would pick based on ease of use and ergonomics.

[John Z Sr]

The Lee tool works well, but suffers a major breakage every 5 thousand rounds. Keep in mind that Lee warns you not to use Federal primers in the feed tray.

The RCBS #90200 was either designed by idiots, or for idiots. If you turn it upside down, a vital small part falls out, and can be lost. That part can easily be replaced wrong side up, but is then likely to ignite the primers. Changing calibers requires disassembling the unit far more than it should.

I've tried them all so far. The "Lee" seems to work the best, but, the handles are made of cheap cast metal and they seem to break about every 1000 or so primers. "Natchez" sells replacement parts for around $2.00 each and I buy 5 at a time so when one breaks, I've got a back up. When there are enough broken one's, I send them back to Lee and they replace. The extra work pays off when every round goes bang!! Also helps your grip strength.

[professor]

I've used the same Lee Auto-Loader for the past 8+ years, for both small and large primers, with no parts breaking to date. That's with roughly 50,000 small, and 2,000 large. [Just started shooting a 625 this past winter].

Of course, I'm also loading on a Lee Sparta turret press, so the casings first go through for resizing, depriming, and belling. Then I put in the primers using the Lee. Before each "priming" session I clean the moving parts of the Lee, and lubricate the pivot bar and cam with a little STP, which makes it easier to squeeze the handle. I'm not trying to crush the primer in one shot, either. I'll squeeze it in, then rotate the casing in the shell case holder about a third of a turn, squeeze, and repeat. Consistent crush, and no misfires due to high primers.

Oh yeah. Way back when, I checked that the steel tip of the primer rods would go into the primer pocket without a primer, and not hang up on the side of the pocket.

I think misalignment of the primer pocket might be a reason for not getting consistent primer crush in a progressive machine. If the primer pocket is just a hair off center in the casing, or if a piece of grit or walnut media gets caught in the shell holder groove, the primer pocket isn't going to be right in line with the primer as it comes up to go in the casing. As i take the primed casing out of the shell holder, I'll feel the primer depth with my index finger before dropping it in the "finished" box.

Federal primers are soft enough that you can get a primer canted over sideways and still force it into the primer pocket, even with a Lee tool. Of course, you're going to catch those mistakes when you check that each round loaded drops freely into the cylinder of your gun, right?

Anyway, I end up with the primers properly crushed before any powder goes in the casing, so there's never a need to re-seat after the shell has powder and bullet in place.

Amerc brass in 38 Spl was notorious for having primer holes and primer pockets out of round. When sorting brass, I'd just toss them away, rather than deal with a possible problem.

[ChrisC]

im still new to this but i went ahead and bought the RCBS at a local shop for 54 bucks. tonight i seated all the primers with my 550 then hand seated them with the rcbs tool and could feel and see the difference in seating depth. I then removed my resizing die and loaded like normal.. i will see tomorrow if the extra effort was worth it..

im hoping for all bangs this time....

[chemepharmd]

Just a note. If you're using Federal primers AND making sure they're well seated, then any failures will most likely be due to light strikes. If that happens, then you'll probably need to tune the trigger a little more. Doesn't sound like this is likely, but just in case.

Edited June 5, 2009 by chemepharmd

[Carmoney]

i seated all the primers with my 550 then hand seated them with the rcbs tool and could feel and see the difference in seating depth.

Bingo. I'll betcha that'll take care of it.

[Shawn Knight]

i seated all the primers with my 550 then hand seated them with the rcbs tool and could feel and see the difference in seating depth.

Bingo. I'll betcha that'll take care of it.

Figured I heard that one before.

[ChrisC]

i seated all the primers with my 550 then hand seated them with the rcbs tool and could feel and see the difference in seating depth.

Bingo. I'll betcha that'll take care of it.

perfect ignition and uniform dimples in the primers

[Carmoney]

Very glad to hear it, Bro!

[S&WIowegan]

I had a bunch of old handloads in .38 Special w/ Federal primers that wouldn't go bang in my new Carmonized 686 SSR. So, last night I sat down and crush-set all the primers with my RCBS hand tool. Shot a match last night and every round went bang!!!

FYI.....I measured the depth of the reset primers and they were .006" below flush. The primers were originally set on a 550 and were a bit below flush before resetting. I know it seems a hassle but I reset at least 200 yesterday in 15 minutes or less.

Bob

A16841

[Carmoney]

Bingo!