[armoredman]

I just recieved my brand new RCBS Universal Hand Priming Tool from MidwayUSA. For the last several years I have been using the priming arm on my press, and finally decided to move up a hundred years or so. What a differance, had no idea. Did 100 9mm cases in a flash, safely and easily.
NowI gotta dismount that priming arm, get it outa the way...:D

[dakotasin]

welcome to 1950 :) !

keep the arm on - you will still use it w/ some frequency.

[Landric]

I'm still behind the times, I have no desire to use a hand primer. I hear great things about them, but I have always primed on press and I like it. I don't see any reason to change, especially a reason that adds another step.

Still, I'm glad you like it. I suppose the reason they are so popular is because they work.

[PA Freedom]

I really like the Lee Auto Prime. You have to buy a special set of shellholders for it, but you can prime a pile of brass alot faster than the press mounter arm. It's nice never having to touch the primers.

[dogrunner]

I just wish I could FIND some small rifle primers!!!!!!!!

[rcmodel]

NowI gotta dismount that priming arm, get it outa the way...Yep!

Both of mine have been gathering dust in a junque box for a long long time now!

It's amazing how good it works isn't it!

especially a reason that adds another step.Priming at the press is adding another 100 steps every time you use a box of primers. You have to pick every single one up by hand and put it in the primer arm don't you?

rc

[jpwilly]

Oops double tap...

I'm still trying to figure out this double tap thing. every time I accidentally double click it only posts once??

Anyway, I'm priming on my press with the Lee Safety Prime...are these hand priming systems really that much easier / better?

[The Bushmaster]

All you guys can move up to the "new fangled" hand primers. I stay with my 23 yr old Lee Auto Prime II press mounted die system...:D

[armoredman]

Only 23? My press is 29 years old, RCBS single stage, love it. Not so old as a former friends Hollywood Gunshop turret press he had, 1920s I think, and still going strong!

[Walkalong]

Another RCBS hand primer (http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=75822&d=1207431809) believer. :)

[FROGO207]

As I have stated in other posts the Lee Autoprime is the only way for me now on, unless I have to load any of the WIN short magnum family, they don't fit the tool even though I have the proper shell holder. I have two of them, one set up for large primers and one set up for small primers.

[rokchucker]

I am a new reloader, but having good results with the RCBS hand priming tool. Doing it on the press would bother me, as there is potential to apply too much force.

[PA Freedom]

I agree that too much force can be applied using the press mounted arm, and you have to handle each and every primer. BTW- I too am stuck in the 1800's as I load every round (9mm to .45/70) on an old single stage Rockchucker and absolutely refuse to load a round on a progressive!!! I did buy a progressive press as a birthday gift for a friend, tho.

[ar10]

Yep: hand priming is the way to go :D

[dagger dog]

I think I loaded a couple hundred rounds with the press ,arm and tube, just to see how it worked, then went to the RCBS hand held.

Now I have two the RCBS, and a Lee. I like the Lee a little better it seems it is a little more sensitive and I can feel the primer bottom out better than the RCBS.

I use my thumb to push on the "flipper" on the Lee, where as the RCBS is designed for 3 or more fingers to operate the "flipper", which in my opinion makes the sensitivity go away because the force is spread out over a larger area (3 or 4 fingers).

Also the the "flipper" linkage of the RCBS bottoms out just about the time the primer fully seats and does not give me the feed back that the Lee does.

I can feel the force it takes to seat the primer fully, this is especially useful with cases that have been loaded multiple times, you can tell when the primer pockets are getting loose.

I made two longer "seater" rods for the RCBS , small and large primer, this makes the "flipper" stop well short of the grip portion.

[Rollis R. Karvellis]

I must be going backwards, I just ordered a ram prime die.

[The Bushmaster]

The Lee Auto Prime II uses a flip tray and a tube to dispense the primers one at a time to the primer seating die. You don't have to handle them at all. And as far as applying too much pressure when seating primers on a press. You will learn finess and won't have any problem with "too much pressure". You can feel (sense) can't you?

[Landric]

rcmodel said:

Priming at the press is adding another 100 steps every time you use a box of primers. You have to pick every single one up by hand and put it in the primer arm don't you?

Not at all, I use either the Lee Safety Prime on my LCT or Breech Lock Challenger or the RCBS feed tube on the Rockchucker. I ususally use the Safety Prime since I like the system better, but I don't find it takes any longer to fill the feed tube than it does to fill the safety prime tray and get all the primers facing the right way.

I prime when either resizing or belling (for handgun and straight wall rifle), so no extra step to prime.

[SSN Vet]

I picked up a Lee hand primer ~6 los ago thinking that I just had to have one.

Needless to say, I haven't used it yet.

Priming with the Safety Prime while loading semi-progressively on the LCTP is just to easy...

Hand primers are suited for batch loading, which I do very seldom.

[ar10]

The Lee Auto Prime II uses a flip tray and a tube to dispense the primers one at a time to the primer seating die. You don't have to handle them at all. And as far as applying too much pressure when seating primers on a press. You will learn finess and won't have any problem with "too much pressure". You can feel (sense) can't you?

You can do the same with a hand primer too. It just doesn't as long in the "finesse" part of the learning and you can "feel" how much pressure you're have to use. A good example is when you're priming a hundred cases and one or two either go in too tight or too loose you pull the case and check the primer pocket. I don't think the auto primers do that for you. But I'm no expert with them so I'm just guessing.

[Nate1778]

I like my Lee Safety prime (http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=154114) on my press. Is it not adaptable to other presses? As generic as it is it works every time, and quickly.

[Collegefour]

I won a RCBS Rock Chucker kit at the NRA national meeting in Phoenix last month. I had absolutely NO reloading experience whatsoever. I asked the RCBS rep why they included a hand primer tool when the press could do it. He replied that it was their not-so-subtle way of telling their customers to use the hand tool and not the press. If the company rep is saying this, I can't figure out a good reason to disagree with him. So I use the hand tool, and have never used the press (yet).

[xd45gaper]

whats so good about using a hand press vs. the priming function on your press?

[1SOW]

The Lee safety prime is pretty foolproof. never touch a primer - load 100 at a time - really hard to screw up the seat for 9mm.

Now a "DEPrimer I might want separate. I know I want separate. Heck, I'm going to get one.

Any recommendations for pistol only?

[armoredman]

xd45gaper, using the press is quite slow and tedious, and requires handling each primer inidividually. The hand primer is MUCH faster, and no skin oils or other fluids on your skin contact the primer material

[1858]

I've been using the RCBS press mounted priming system with primer tubes since '92 on two RockChuckers without touching a single primer and have no problem seating primers correctly with the right amount of force. I have seven primer tubes for different types of primers and find that the RCBS system is fast, accurate and produces excellent results. However, I wouldn't mind trying a hand priming tool just to see what all the fuss is about.

:)

[FM-793]

xd45gaper, using the press is quite slow and tedious, and requires handling each primer inidividually.

As mentioned above, this is not the case if you're using the Lee Safety Prime. Lee Safety Prime uses the same tray-type feeding system as the hand primer, so the primers are fed and not touched. In addition, you just prime on the downstroke of the sizing/decapping stage. No extra steps, no handling of primers.

I think it just comes down to whether you like to prime on the fly as part of your loading sequence or batch prime as a seperate operation as part of case prep. I prefer to prime as part of the loading sequence.

In any case, it's hardly a Catholic vs. Protestant or Sunni vs. Shi'ite type issue, even though you infidels fail to see the light.

[armoredman]

Perhaps I should have been clearer - I don't have a Lee Safety Prime. :) I have the 29 year old priming arm and changeable cups on ny RCBS RS press. I also prefer to prime in batches, and store them that way, and it's Ok if you don't, you heathen! :D

[krs]

I've used the Lee hand primer for more years than I can remember because they're cheap, they work, and I can keep one set up for each primer I use which are large and small pistol, large and small rifle. Four primer setups for under $40. and all I have to do is try to remember which is which.

Fastest priming I've ever figured out too.

Oh, and I figured out that I thought loading those silly RCBS primer tubes was dumb forty years ago, dumb and it never fails to surprise you by being empty right at the wrong time - when you're almost finished for a while.

[Smokey Joe]

As I have stated in other posts the Lee Autoprime is the only way for me now on, unless I have to load any of the WIN short magnum family, they don't fit the tool even though I have the proper shell holder.I too like the Lee Auto-prime very much. When I got a .300 WSM, I asked Lee Precision about using a Dremel tool to grind away at the top part of the Auto-Prime so that the WSM cartridges fit in. Not much sense to having a shell-holder for those cartridges if the tool itself won't accept them! Anyhow, Lee's response was "no probbie, go ahead." So I did. Since, I prime the WSM's just like I prime everything else.

When the Auto-Prime tool body broke, later (hey, it IS pot metal!) Lee replaced it w/o question. I pointed out to them that it had been dremeled out to fit WSM cartridges, and their response was that that didn't matter, the tool isn't supposed to break like that.

If Lee made the Auto-Prime out of steel it would never break just from normal use. But then it'd cost like the RCBS hand priming tool. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

Bottom line: The Lee Auto-prime can easily be adapted to prime WSM cases. Doing so doesn't harm the tool, nor Lee's warranty.

[jcwit]

I've used the Lee hand primer for years and just switched to the K & M hand primer and gives me much better feel than the Lee, also doesn't make my thumb sore.

[ar10]

I think it just comes down to whether you like to prime on the fly as part of your loading sequence or batch prime as a seperate operation as part of case prep. I prefer to prime as part of the loading sequence.

I have a question about the "loading sequence" part.
If you have a screw-up in the loading sequence. How long does it take to fix it? How much powder do you loose? And can you re-use the bullet?
Just seems to me I've read more posts on primers getting stuck in tubes than I have on hand primers,(most have been about sore hands after squeezing the handle, which could be a good thing actually :D

[1858]

Just seems to me I've read more posts on primers getting stuck in tubes than I have on hand primers,

Hmmm ... tens of thousands of rounds loaded over the years both on a single stage and progressive but not one stuck primer. I don't even see how that's possible with RCBS primer tubes. :confused:

Anyway, so what's the consensus on the best hand priming tool out there? Lee, Redding, RCBS, Hornady, Lyman etc.?

:)

[Walkalong]

I have a Lee and an RCBS. I quit using the Lee 20 plus years ago when I got the RCBS, but the Lee does a good job as well. I like the fact that the RCBS uses standard shell holders. You got to watch it though. Sometimes other brands won't work on it, sometimes.

[Ben Shepherd]

I've been using the RCBS press mounted priming system with primer tubes since '92 on two RockChuckers without touching a single primer and have no problem seating primers correctly with the right amount of force. I have seven primer tubes for different types of primers and find that the RCBS system is fast, accurate and produces excellent results

BINGO!

But I do use the priming system on the dillon 650 when running large batches, and my RCBS hand primer on occasion as well.

[FROGO207]

Smokey Joe I got out my Dremel tool and calipers tonight. The drum sander was perfect for enlarging the head on the Lee tool. Three minutes and the WSM cases fit fine. Great idea.:D Thanks

[Smokey Joe]

Frogo 207--Glad it worked for you! :)