Priming a case without a priming tool...

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Put the primer on a flat hard metal surface like an anvil (or the slab side of your receiver in a pinch.) Set your deprimed case on top and use a dowel inside the case mouth to tap the case down over the primer till primer is seated flush.

Not a method I’d recommend for semi auto pistols or whatnot but if it’s the difference between having a loaded round or not, in an emergency, it’ll do. It works great for big old black powder cartridges.
 
daniel craig said:
Because I’m currently unemployed and would rather not have to spend money on another tool?
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Get this and use a hammer! I did a ton this way before I got a press. Without something to center the primer and cushion it just a little you are going to ruin more primers than you care to ruin. And in these times, ruining a primer is tossing away gold into the trash basically.

GA6604.jpg
 
How do you plan on reloading if you don't have a press? Almost all presses have a means to prime on.

Nevermind. Was writing the above when you posted the about your lee hand press above.
 
daniel craig said:
The classic loader seems like it would pair very well with my Lee hand press.


That said… The goal here is to try to not have to buy any more stuff.
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I’m sorry to hear about your situation. there are ways to prime without a tool but we cannot and should not give dangerous advice.

suggestions, if you have primers or powder... do a trade for a used priming tool. I bet someone gladly trade you

locally!
 
A priming tool presses the primer into the primer pocket. This is a simple operation. The beauty of the priming tool is that everything is aligned and it works with a single action.
You could fashion something to press the primer into the pocket. It could be done safely with a drill press or arbor press with some homemade tools.

You could make your own press like barnfrog did in this thread, post #49:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/basic-reloading-the-classic-lee-loader.883579/page-2

Just make it to press primers in.

barnfrog said:
I'm a little embarrassed to show this because it's so ugly. If it was a high school shop project it would get a D+ and only that high because it actually works as intended. I bought the Lee Classic Loader last year to start reloading. I didn't like the lack of consistency inherent with using a hammer, so I made a sort of press to use more even force. The main difference was in seating depth variation, which went from +/- 0.010" with a hammer to +/-0.002" with my press. The other nice thing was that it was a lot quieter, meaning I could load inside without driving my wife crazy.

All the materials are things I had on hand, so it didn't cost me anything other than time. I was going to build a nicer one but my boss, who is a long-time handloader and super nice guy gave me a set of RCBS dies (FL, Neck and Seating) for free. So it just made sense to go ahead and get a used press, which I did before the market went crazy. I still use my little homemade press for certain things, or when I'm at camp. If you're good with your hands you might want to see what you can rig up.

The picture should give you the general idea of using a lever to push a cylinder or ram straight down onto whatever needs to be pushed instead of struck. In the picture it is the face of the case head. The blocks at the bottom are removeable to adjust the distance from the ram to the pressing surface, depending on which operation you are doing.

Happy to answer any questions if you are interested.

View attachment 978521
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Bottom line, you need a tool one way or the other. It is far too dangerous to attempt to prime cases without some sort of fixture (i.e. a tool) to hold and align the primer into the pocket.

I will second the vote for a LEE ram-prime and they are only $20 (+ shipping if you can't find locally). In todays primer economy that is only about 100 ruined primers worth...
 
If the OP means a "priming tool" as in a separate tools, like a hand primer or bench primer, I have used the stock priming arms on three single stage presses I had. One of the best priming tools I've used is a ram prime; I installed one on a turret for my Lee turret and kept one in a dedicated priming press (an old Pacific C press).

If the OP means an item not designed for or "normally" used for priming I have tried the method Mosin 77 mentioned, except I used a chunk of hardwood as a base and a brass rod (just out of curiosity from reading an article about 40+ years ago). I learned to reload with a Lee Loader so the idea wasn't completely foreign to me and I didn't pop any primers and all 20 worked fine in my 38 Special revolver (didn't try any 44 Magnums or 45 ACPs though)..
 
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I whacked primers in a Lee (hammer actuated) Loader for many rounds. After all those disappeared, I've seated a number of primers in cases for which I did not have a shell head holder (at that exact moment) with a hammer and a flat clean surface. It is not a big deal.

Except. The hammer should of the 'soft' sort. Either plastic or rubber headed, or a sturdy bit of wood. The same sort of thing that will not screw up the bluing on a firearm. Then, make sure the 'flat clean surface' is both flat and clean from from any projections or 'lumps' of stuff that might act as a firing pin. I find it efficacious to somewhat 'pre-set' the primer by feeling the case on the primer and lining it up so the primer is being forced into the pocket and not flatted between case head and flat surface.

If one does set off a primer, the flash and fire will stream out from under the case in a full circle radially from the source. It might require a change of linen, but more than likely will not cause serious harm. But don't put fingers in the way.

This is a slow method, but it does work.
 
could one just tap the case onto a primer that is sitting on a board or table, then use a spent primer - and place on same board, and with the dowel through the case method, just tap it a touch more to get a little clearance to fully seat the primer with the spent primer? if you wanted to get fancy you could bevel the face of the spent primer with a punch.
 
daniel craig said:
The classic loader seems like it would pair very well with my Lee hand press.


That said… The goal here is to try to not have to buy any more stuff.
Click to expand...
If you mean the Lee Loader priming tool nope it won't work with any press that uses 7/8-14 dies (industry standard). But if you have a Lee Loader, and don't want to hammer on a case being primed, it will work quite well with a small arbor press...
Lee Hand Press; https://leeprecision.com/breech-lock-hand-press.html
Lee Loader; https://leeprecision.com/lee-loader-38-spl.html
 
When I first started reloading 40 years ago, I used one of those boxed Lee loaders.

Every once in awhile it would set a primer off, which in our small apartment at the time, scared the wee out of me. lol

The vise method mentioned above sounds like a safe, but slow, method.
 
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