Primer tube filler for about $10

[Sarge]

I made some better progress last night. I got a piece of plexiglass and cut it in a square about an inch bigger all the way around. I use it instead of the lee cover. Since I shaved off the nub on the dish the little finger cutout is not needed.

I took the yellow tips off of my filler tubes and cut a piece of 5/16" ID clear rubber tubing about an inch long and slid it half way on the tube. I transfer them from tube to tube.

I loaded 5 primer tubes in the time it takes to load one using the pick up method. As long as you can get the primers to cooperate and not roll on their side it seems this will be quite a time saver.

Edited September 16, 2010 by Sarge

[tunakilla]

Shoo Goo or Goop worked great for mine

[slavex]

Once the lid is on the tray you shouldn't have any trouble with primers flipping or rolling on to their sides.

[Sarge]

It is getting better but for some reason I'll get one cockeyed in the hole or on its side all the way in the hole. I think the key is to hold the plexiglass as tight as possible as it might be vibrating too much allowing just enough room.

[gmantwo]

I found that tilting the tube at about 45 degrees made a huge difference, rarely do I get a flipped primer. I also bent the "little finger" down just a little, that seemed to help keep the primers from flipping as well. If I bend it down too much, or get a stuck primer, I insert my Dillon follower rod in from the bottom and fix it.

[jtaylor996]

Guess what? Lee must be on to us. I went to order the trays from leeprecision.com, and the parts have magically disappeared from their system. If you go to the google cached site that lists the parts, then add them to your cart, you get 2 mysterious entries with no description and no price. So where do you get the trays now? Does anyone else sell the parts?

[gmantwo]

Looks like they've replaced the old round tray with a new square that will accept Federal primer trays. It's available in the parts list, small is part #PT2965A, large is #PT2965B. Not a bad thing to update

[planenut]

I'd like to see what the new one looks like if anyone is putting one together...

Thanks

[hankfan79]

How about a youtube video for those who don't follow instructions very well?

LMAO

[Sarge]

I'm still on the fence with this contraption. It DOES work but the cockeyed primers are killing me. I set mine up a little different though as I use a piece of thick plexiglass that covers the whole assembly. I am using a massager:ph34r: to do the shaking so maybe the harmonics are off. Maybe the vibration is not coarse enough?

While it is faster to load the tubes, if you are not a tinkerer or are just plain short on patience I would just stock up on some more tubes and do it the old fashioned way.

[hankfan79]

Anyone know if this does the same thing?

http://www.extremesportinggear.com/gs2763.html

[Shadowrider]

Anyone know if this does the same thing?

http://www.extremesportinggear.com/gs2763.html

It would if you held against the tumbler bowl. Wait... That one is for shotgun primers, yes?

[Youngeyes]

It is getting better but for some reason I'll get one cockeyed in the hole or on its side all the way in the hole. I think the key is to hold the plexiglass as tight as possible as it might be vibrating too much allowing just enough room.

Sarge,

I had all the problems with flipped primers and have it solved. The key is alignment of tube with tray and the level of vibration. The dillon 100 primer loader also had a problem with vibration level, which is why they now sell a rheostat to control it. I tried many ways and found a small cellphone vibrater set propery on the bottom of the tray works great. I threw out the ashtray a long time ago.

[hankfan79]

Anyone know if this does the same thing?

http://www.extremesportinggear.com/gs2763.html

It would if you held against the tumbler bowl. Wait... That one is for shotgun primers, yes?

I'm confused. Are you asking me if it is for shotgun primers or are you telling me YES it will work? LOL

[gmantwo]

Two things help to keep the primers from flipping. One is to angle the tube at about 45 degrees and the other is to partially close off the hole into the tube by bending the tiny tab down slightly, just barely. Using plexiglass would not allow you to do that, it would be too stiff. It's not enough to cover the hole, primers have room to flip then, you've got to diminish the space available a tiny bit.

[Sarge]

Thanks. Maybe when it snows I'll tinker with it a little more.

[bmgm37]

Looks like they've replaced the old round tray with a new square that will accept Federal primer trays. It's available in the parts list, small is part #PT2965A, large is #PT2965B. Not a bad thing to update

I wanted to try making one of these and since I like to prime some caliber cases by hand sometimes, I just picked up a new Lee Hand Primer that has the square trays. The bad news is they changed the design quite a bit that separates the rest of the primers from the one being seated. It now has a lifting pin that lifts one primer up as you are seating another, so the new trays will NOT work for this setup. The next bad news is they don't show any parts available on the website, but I didn't call. Many online sources show as discontinued and no longer available. I did a quick search on Ebay and found a complete new kit for $18, but some people are jacking the price as one guy wanted $49 for his

I am going to try and improve and perfect this method as I like to tinker. I will post anything I come up with, but in the meantime, if you are going to try this you better get the trays quick!!

Edited November 30, 2010 by bmgm37

[gmantwo]

I've been playing with these square trays and they are a pain. I've gotten one large primer setup to work pretty well so far. But that's all. Many more steps involved. Haven't had any luck with a small primer yet, but wanted to get a large first anyway. After you remove the metal parts, you have to drill out the pin closest to the tray, the lifting pin. It is too small a diameter for a primer to go through. When I did that, all the primers would flip. What I did then was to put a small piece of plastic, kinda like the round setup, but back off the hole. My purpose was to put a little pressure on the trailing edge of the primer as it drops into the hole. The problem is that then they don't want to go past it either. Surely we didn't concern Lee enough with our little primer tube filler to make them change the design. I'll put some pictures of what I've got to work later, hopefully today.

[gmantwo]

Well, I've about given up on the new square Lee hand prime tray. I got the one to work, but no luck with another.?? I've been buying the old style on on ebay before they're all gone. They're still pretty cheap. I've bought 3 sets now and that's probably where I'll stop....maybe not

[dskinsler83]

I built mine yesterday and finished up today...works great on my test runs so we will see...I made one small and one large

[Sarge]

I tried to get in the habit of using this thing and never fell in love with it.

I have two round trays with lids

i'll ship to anyone who PM's me with a decent offer.

[slavex]

don't use plexi, use the plastic from some packaging, the hard stuff around tools or whatever, it's only 2mm thick or something. cut it so that it fits in the hole where the primers drop, and the space between the cover and the body of the tool. You don't want it to lift the cover up at all. As noted at least a 45 degree angle helps, I actually go steeper, and then rotate the filler around the tube, back and forth. takes maybe 10 seconds to fill a tube.

[kevin c]

Got a couple AutoPrimes off EBay (don't ask what I paid ) and tried this out. I did a variation that allows me to load multiple tubes. It also keeps the AutoPrime unaltered if you ever want it back in its original form.

The top plastic cover is the same. On the bottom where the handle would go and where Gman2 glued in the tube, there is a U shaped trough. Put a double thickness of tape, the same stuff used for taping targets, on each inside wall of the U. On the floor of the U you'll need a flat block that runs from the end of the plastic up to where the opening to the top of the primer tray is located. The height of the block needs to be adjusted so that when you set the primer tube in place, the tape snugly centers the tube left and right, and the block elevates it so that the opening of the tube and tray coincide. You could fit a small balsa wood block in there, sanded to size, or you could do what I did, cutting a pad of PostIt notes to length and ~5/16" wide, removing the bottom paper and setting it in the trough. The adhesive will keep it in place. You then peel off slips of paper one or two at a time until the tube and tray opening line up.

I just remove the pickup tip from the tube and push it into place, butting the end up against the opening. It seems that the friction fit is fairly secure for the amount of weight involved, but I hold the gizmo at the "neck" where the tube and tray come together anyway. I feel a bit more secure about not having 100 primers bouncing through my reloading area, and it balances there anyway. Once full, I just pull the tube off and recap it with the pick up tip.

Works good so far.

[gmantwo]

Good adaptation!

[kevin c]

It's funny that each original Auto Prime came with a printed warning specifically saying that Federal brand primers were a no-no, but the new version actually has the Federal primer package in mind with the square tray, and even has a picture of the brand, or so I'm told. I guess the upgrade reduces their concern about possible KB's when hand priming Federal's, but it's a pity it makes this great mod hard to do.

Edited March 8, 2011 by kevin c