Easiest Primer Method for Stroke Victum

[spencerhut]

My uncle has had a stroke and its effecting his ability to prime cases. He's used a Lee hand primer forever, 30 plus years. I noticed his reloads are starting to have a lot of high (some very high) primers and I wanted to get him something for Christmas to make priming easy for him again. I use the RCBS APS primer on my Pro2000 and a Lee hand primer for low volume. I was thinking the APS would be a good idea for him since he would not have to handle individual primers, he lost some dexterity in the stroke too. I was thinking of getting him either the APS bench mounted or the press mounted primer system.
My uncle does just about everything in small batches of 100 or less so speed is not really an issue. The loss of dexterity makes me not want to get him anything that requires touching individual primers like a simple press mounted priming system common to most single stage presses. Good leverage, but I think he would have a hard time putting the primers into the cup.

I'm open to any other suggestions as well.

 

[Eagle103]

A Lee Classic Cast with the Safety Prime system might be a workable solution.
http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1168400221.3478=/html/catalog/classic.html
He wouldn't have to handle individual primers and would be able to use the press lever to seat them.

 

[birdbustr]

Go back and seat the primers them the rest of the way for him. I use the RCBS handprimer, but I don't think there is much difference between the Lee and RCBS. I just tried the Lee autoprime, but I don't think I will be using that anymore.

 

[Shadow500]

If he has a Lee press a safety prime may work.

Here is a video that Benedict made to show the safety prime.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SufHZhIs-mc

Chris

 

[The Bushmaster]

I would recommend that he use a Lee Auto prime II mounted on Lees "C" press. I have been priming my cases for over 20 years with this system (same one)...If you are not familiar with this system PM me your e-mail address and I will send you some photos of this system...That way you will have a better idea as to if it would work for him...

 

[spencerhut]

Looks like the Safety Prime is about the best option I can see. It's the same type of primer handling he is used to, but the press ram seats the primer. I saw the little video on youtube. Great stuff. Looks really easy to use. I will have to buy him the press also, bit it not that expensive. Now the hard part, convincing him to use it.

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

The RCBS universal hand primer with the square tray is easier to load than a Lee with smaller round tray. It is also easier to operate by hand, since it uses the whole hand, but not by a whole lot. Depending on what part(s) of his hand were most affected it might not be any better.

I would also look at the Forster priming tool.

Other than those, the RCBS APS bench or press mounted units would probably work best. Do you live close enough to load primers into strips for him ahead of time? That would be a "gift that keeps giving" year 'round.

Andy

 

[spencerhut]

I considered the APS, that is what I use. But he's old, stuck in ways, I'll be surprised if he even uses the brand new Lee press and Safe Prime. But I'll buy it anyway and see if I can talk him into it.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

 

[Shadow500]

If he is set in his ways, you may be wasting your money. I don't know why, but some people would keep using what they had even if you bought them the best press on the planet.
You may want to discuss it with him first.

I'm wondering if you can get him to use two hands on the autoprime or extend the lever a little more to get more leverage. It really doesn’t take much force to seat a primer and maybe it is good therapy for him(check with doctor). If he does not get them seated all the way he can still use the standard seater on any single stage to seat them the rest of the way before he adds a charge.

Hope this helps,

Chris

 

[spencerhut]

If he does not get them seated all the way he can still use the standard seater on any single stage to seat them the rest of the way before he adds a charge.

That is a really good point. I never thought of that, 2-step priming. I think he's using a Pacific press right now, there is no primer arm in the thing, whatever it is. The Lee I just got for him does have a primer arm so it would work for this method quite well. I'll keep that in mind if the Safety Prime is too much of a change for him.

I got the same press/priming system Lee starter kit for his son also. He's been talking about getting started in re-loading for the last year or so. Maybe they will learn how to use the thing together.