Hand priming?

I have a progressive press so that I can get one loaded round with every pull of the lever.
If there is one thing you will never see this Fine Figure of a Man doing, it's cleaning the primer pockets of a few thousand 9mm or 38 spl brass.

If the brass is clean I will resize it, tumble it and prime it by hand. If the brass is dirty I will wipe it off as best as I can, deprime it, tumble it, resize it and prime it.

I've used several different tools to prime with. I've been happy with the results of priming on both my RockChucker and my Dillon. I've also used an RCBS bench priming tool, have used broke or worn out several of the original Lee hand tools. I still have a hand tool by Raiha and a Sinclair hand tool. The bench primer worked fine but it still ties you to the bench. The Raiha is no longer made, that I know of, but was a quality tool that used RCBS type shell holders. The Sinclair is a quality tool that has a great feel.

Like many of you, I hand prime because I like sitting in front of the tv or close to the family. I would just as soon hand prime as to fill primer tubes. But when I do the whole precess on the Dillon, like it was designed to do, I get good results. Some times you get a case with a tough primer crimp, or nowadays a small primer 45 case, that breaks your rhythm, and thats why I prefer to hand prime.

FWIW, I load for rifle and pistol in batches of a minimum of 50 and up to 2500.

I like to hand prime my pistol and rifle with my Lee hand primer. I get a better feel on how the primer is fitting in the pocket. Before I prime anything I clean out the pocket first and then use a Redding primer pocket uniformer that sets the proper pocket seating depth if it needs it...

Bill- that was my preference until

I had to sit there at the bench instead of doing this in front of a TV. There is also the time factor and having to handle the primers.

Fine Figure of a Man said:

If there is one thing you will never see this Fine Figure of a Man doing, it's cleaning the primer pockets of a few thousand 9mm or 38 spl brass.

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Me either.
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But you might see me decapping a coffee can full of 223 before I anneal them and chuck them into the tumbler to clean the cases, including the primer pockets.
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As always, your mileage may vary, and please do things anyway you like. Have fun and be safe.

rskent said:

Me either.
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But you might see me decapping a coffee can full of 223 before I anneal them and chuck them into the tumbler to clean the cases, including the primer pockets.
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As always, your mileage may vary, and please do things anyway you like. Have fun and be safe.

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I also have different standards when reloading rifle ammo.

Epicurean said:

Also, I just chunked the primed brass into a plastic container; do I need to use blocks?

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While you might not really "need" to use blocks, they sure come in handy when you want to hold a block full of freshly primed cases at eye level (preferably in good light) and check for high primers.

I have never primed off the press, so I have no frame of reference for comparison. But, I don't understand the claim of better "feel", off the press or opportunity to double check case condition.

I only have a Pacific "C" press and I have plenty of "feel"; and yes, I know I can crush the primer, but never have except for mil cases I've not removed the crimp. I check case before putting it in the shell holder, and I can see the primer on the arm and verify its orientation before seating.

Priming is always done slowly and easy.

Not sitting in front of a TV is one of the attractions of priming on the press for me.

Is there any kind of ram prime with a primer feeder?

Bill M. said:

Not sitting in front of a TV is one of the attractions of priming on the press for me.

Is there any kind of ram prime with a primer feeder?

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I assume you're asking for a ss press. Hornady makes a primer feed setup for my LnL ss press. I found it on Midway IIRC, and think I've seen it a few other places as well. I believe I've seen one for a Rockchucker also, and maybe for a few others as well.

I can't comment on how it works though since I haven't bought nor used one. And the reviews I read were mixed.

chris

My Charter Arms 38spl and 44spl in my 44mag don't quite get primed correctly (about 15%) with the hand primer, I just pull the handle on my single press on those rounds to firm up the prime and then load the powder. Probably takes me a second or so longer, but I haven't had an issue since I started doing that over a year ago. Also found it quicker than to try and put the primer in that little primer holder manually. All other rounds work fine with the hand primer.

Bill M. said:

Is there any kind of ram prime with a primer feeder?

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My RCBS uses the same feeding tubes as my L&L press.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012932670?pid=457599

Works pretty slick once you get used to it.

Epicurean said:

Thanks for all the useful info. I just got thru priming 200 .45 Colt with an RCBS APS hand primer. I now have the forearms of Popeye. But I enjoyed the time with the misses watching the news. Options on the best hand primer? (I liked the time away from the bench) Also, I just chunked the primed brass into a plastic container; do I need to use blocks?

Again, muchas gracias mi amigos.

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Which hand primer are you using? Many don't provide enough leverage to prime easily. For non-match ammo I find the Original RCBS hand primer to be my favorite. It provides plenty of leverage to make priming easy.

Epicurean said:

I have a few Smith revolvers that are primer picky. Not only do they demand Federal, they can occasionally get ornery about seating depth. If I have a sense that the primer didn't fully seat I'll pull the sized and primed case from my LCT and run it though my RCBS hand primer then return it to the press - very time consuming. I've noticed a lot of you guys prime off machine and I'm considering doing the same. But first some questions. I'm loading handgun only.

Why do you choose to prime off machine? Do you size and decap dirty brass then tumble then prime, or do you tumble then size and decap? Won't dirty brass have a negative effect on the sizing die over time? Does tumbling decapped brass help clean the pocket? How much time is added by priming off press?

Thanks in advance for your help and insight.

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I use the RCBS bench priming system, I have tried the Lee (works sometimes not so good other times) The RCBS bench mount works really well for me. I decap and then wet tumble to get my primer pockets nice and clean. I do this for rifle only for pistol I prime on the Dillon 750

After 50 years of handloading, I have not yet gained enough experience that allows me to ignore the basics of handloading procedures and safety.
Yes, I have a Hornady projector that receives nothing but clean, shiney, sized and primed brass. I use an “m” die or mandrel, powder, empty hole for inspection, seat bullet and crimp (remove expansion) if necessary.

I am never in such a big hurry that justifies a ”no” answer to the question “is this the absolute best ammo I can produce”. Given the op question, the above is only a way to justify and remind myself the effort needed to handload my ammo works for my standards. YMMV

I pull the indexing rod on my LCT and prime and resize as a separate step. My LCT has been the easiest to prime with and the most consistent and I like to look at every primer once it's set. Also, I'm not in a hurry.

ArchAngelCD said:

For non-match ammo I find the Original RCBS hand primer to be my favorite.

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Yeah, me too. I tried a little Lee hand primer for a while. It required more hand and finger strength than I was willing to apply.