Anyone use the APS system of priming?

I've no experience with them but it looks like a handy convenience.

A friend bought one when they first came out with them.

He likes it well enough.
When he can find primers in ASP strips.
And of course they cost more when he can find them.

Otherwise, he has to reload the ASP strips before he can reload ammo with it.

rc

I recently bought one from a fellow who is selling his reloading tools because of declining health. It is the press mounted model. It came with a tool to quickly load primers into the strips. I have loaded about 2k primers into strips and then primed cases. Both the press and the strip loader work very well. You can load any brand of primers you wish on the strips. The strips are colored coded for the different sizes of primers and the strips are reusable. They each hold 25 primers and can be snapped together. I will continue to use it because it is a fast efficient way to prime cases.

You can either buy pre-loaded APS strips, or you can load them yourself. You can NOT buy pre-loaded primer tubes.

I can load up four APS strips in about the same time it would take me to hunt-n-peck them into a primer tube. And, when I'm done, I'm 100% positive that all the primers are oriented the right way, and I'm not going to wind up with any rounds with a primer loaded backwards... because I can SEE them in the strips, and verify that everything's correct.

I have tow RCBS Pro2000 presses, with the APS primer system. I also have a Hornady LnL AP. The LnL gets used strictly for case prep tasks - all my loading is done on the presses that have the APS system. I just find it more reliable - requiring considerably less "tweaking" than a tube-based primer feeding system, and changing from small to large primers is literally a 30-second task.

In addition, when I have to hand-prime, it's either with an RCBS universal hand priming APS tool, or more recently, with their press-mounted APS tool (better leverage, and less fatigue on the hand after squeezing 100 primers).

In short - yeah, I'm a big fan of the APS system, and haven't had any issues with it in the 6 or so years I've been using it.

I have the RCBS Universal hand priming tool that uses the APS strips. It works well. The strip loading tool wrks well as well but it is an extra step versus the standard hand priming tool for using the APS hand priming tool.

Of course, RCBS sells pre-loaded strips.

I have played with the bench mounted APS priming tool and had some issues getting it to work, probably in part that I did not want to bolt it down to the bench. I bolted the tool to a board and c-clamped the board to the bench. I have set the bench mounted tool to aside for the moment.

I like the APS system that I am probably going to buy an RCBS Pro2000 progressive as soon as they are in stock.

I have an RCBS APS bench priming tool and a Pro2000 press that uses APS primer strips. I find both to be very convenient. Preloaded strips are a breeze to use and the manual strip loader isn't bad at all once you get the hang of it.

I use the APS press mounted system and really like it. It seats the primers consistently at .004" below flush. That is what I adjusted it for, and it stays that way.

The strip loader works well, as long as you use a light touch with it. If you try to be heavy handed, it will fight back. I very seldom use CCI primers, so all my primers are loaded into strips via the strip loader. It's no big deal.

Hope this helps.

Fred

Not hard at all. Someone recently posted a tip to break the lead off the end of a sharpened pencil and use it as a poker. (The pencil, not the lead. )

Easey to load-easy to remove. I bought the strip loader. My plan was to
Buy the hand priming tool because it looked like a real easy method. I had the tool on back order for 6+ months with RCBS. I finally gave up. I had already loaded 1000's large/large mag primers on strips so I popped them back out and used them on my Lee classic. Let me know if anyone would like a once used strip loader.

To me, the hand held APS tool and the strip loader combination is unbeatable. Like many of you, I struggled for years with the Lee AutoPrime. It has great feel, but invariably the little lid would pop off, and primers would orient sideways or upside down as they pleased. This was an aggravating feature of that tool. Now? No backwards or sideways primers, and the feel of the tool is every bit as good, once you get used to it.

-- I still like the feel of the Lee Autoprime better.

The primers in strips are more readily available these days it seems than those not in strips. An added plus is I really prefer CCI primers anyways.

I have loaded 90k+ in the last six years with the APS\Pro2000. It's not a perfect system but works well as long as the APS guts are kept clean. Loading 4 strips (100 primers) takes about the same time as loading a single primer tube, although I prefer to spend an extra buck or two to get the primers already loaded.
I never had a primer pop using the original Lee Auto Prime, but I can see where it could happen. I don't like the New-n-Improved Lee Auto Prime.
Federal is the only brand of primer that can give me a little trouble with the APS system. Obviously, CCI primers work perfectly.

I love the APS system. I have done over 300,000 rounds in my pro2000 and probably 90% of them were preloaded APS strips. Sure it is hard to find them locally. I just mail order them in bulk and move on.

Works great. I have not touched a primer in years. I just don't handle them anymore.

Another aspect is the safety deal of the APS system over a primer tube. In all of my years using an APS Pro2000, I have only heard of one primer popped and that was 2nd hand info. If you search on the web you can find pictures of primer tube blow ups or even on this site.

Yikes!

I started using the press mounted tool about 3 months ago. My old week hands just can’t prime hundreds of casings with a hand primer anymore. I have not been able to get them preloaded because of the shortage, but I’m still looking. I find loading the strips a little tedious but not more than loading tubes. I think it’s a good system, consistent seating depth and easy to for me to use, and it should be great with loaded strips.

Magnum Shooter said:

I started using the press mounted tool about 3 months ago. My old week hands just can’t prime hundreds of casings with a hand primer anymore. I have not been able to get them preloaded because of the shortage, but I’m still looking. I find loading the strips a little tedious but not more than loading tubes. I think it’s a good system, consistent seating depth and easy to for me to use, and it should be great with loaded strips.

Click to expand...

Thanks to BDS and his "where to find 'em" thread on this forum, I noticed CCI APS small pistol primers (5000 primers sleeves) were in stock at Graf's & sons on July 1st.....went straight to the site and ordered a sleeve ($203 including Hazmat) of course they promptly went out of stock the next day. Received my primers in 7 days and that's including a weekend and the 4th holiday. Was I surprised! (The site said expect 3 weeks).

As for the tedium of loading primers viva strip loader I modified mine to help. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=710373&highlight=APS+Primers

Rule 3, I loaded in tubes for 20 years, then graduated to Lee Hand Primers for another 20, then bought a Pro 2000 and an APS handprimer. The Pro 2000 can be fitted with a tube primer option if you want.....IMO dumb....after using APS for over 4 years I wouldn't go back to tubes or trays.

As for the strips, if you are going to empty them, and peck them, don't throw away the strips....check out "used APS strips" on Ebay...your primers can be half the price of what you've been paying, if you sell the strips. So Rule 3! Where did you find APS primers to buy, and not regular loose primers? Here at the Local Sportsman's Warehouse you can buy primers these days....but not APS primers.

How do the preloaded strips of primers work out for you. Is it a convenience or a just a way to sell additional tools?

Click to expand...

I bought a bunch of them back in '08 or '09. When I use them, I use a Lee hand de-priming tool to push them out of the strips. Not very convenient for me.

Hand Primer Review

Then there's the caddy....Bench strip primer machine for sale