Filling primer trays

[cfullgraf]

What did you think people meant when they said to shake the tray until all the primers are facing the right way?

I started reloading around 1980 and my first experience with correctly orienting primers was with the Lee Auto-Prime II. I do not specifically remember the instructions I used to learn how to use the tray, maybe Lee's and maybe the instructional part of the Speer reloading manual that I started with. I did not have any problems and was actually surprised how quick and easy the tray would flip all the primers anvil up.

Of course, Al Gore had not invented the internet at that time so no You Tube videos to watch. I'm sure there may have been some VHS or Beta Max videos on reloading but they would have been out of my budget and I would have preferred to buy more reloading components.

 

[Tilos]

I started reloading around 1980 and my first experience with correctly orienting primers was with the Lee Auto-Prime II. I do not specifically remember the instructions I used to learn how to use the tray, maybe Lee's and maybe the instructional part of the Speer reloading manual that I started with. I did not have any problems and was actually surprised how quick and easy the tray would flip all the primers anvil up.

Of course, Al Gore had not invented the internet at that time so no You Tube videos to watch. I'm sure there may have been some VHS or Beta Max videos on reloading but they would have been out of my budget and Imnwould have preferred to buy more reloading components.

I used that Lee auto-prime tray and some cardboard spacers to fill primer tubes:


I would hold an electric vibrating/engraving pencil against the tray and the primers flowed into the tube.
I have since bought a FA tube filler.
jmo,
.

 

[AK Hunter]

I first bought a used round tray Lee hand primer but only did about 1 or 2 tray full to know I needed something else.
Then I bought a Lee Ergo prime with the square trays it worked great until the plastic got brittle & started breaking every time I used it.
Now I use the Lyman E-Zee prime even with the short stroke problem it has. I have learned how to fix it's problems.
The square trays are easy to transfer primers just sit the tray of primers on the edge of the reloading bench without the cover, set the tray on top of the primers, gently press down while using the opposite side rim pull the whole thing over the edge of the bench, while holding pressure against both trays pick it up & flip it over, jiggle it to flip over any primers that are not cup up, then put the top on, then ready to prime.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I know we could tube 200 quicker than the Dillon can 100 but it was more work and I can hit the button on the Dillon and go back to loading while it’s filling the tube.

That is what I found also. Both the Dillon an the DAA are slower than the Vibraprime. But the auto fillers do their thing while you're doing something else...like loading, refilling cases or bullets.

The irritating thing about the DAA filler was that it didn't work as well with less than 200 primers in the hopper

 

[thorswhisper]

RCBS actually solved primer handling issues a long time ago with its APS strips.

 

[9mmepiphany]

RCBS actually solved primer handling issues a long time ago with its APS strips.

Unfortunately their marketing plan was less than attention grabbing

 

[jmorris]

RCBS actually solved primer handling issues a long time ago with its APS strips.

The only primers that ever came in the strips, to my knowledge, were CCI primers and the only primers more difficult to find were EtronX primers.

Other than that you had to load them yourself.

They also don’t have the longevity of metal, I still have people that buy the strips from me when they can’t find them anywhere else. Will only get worse as time goes by now that they only make tube fed presses.

 

[thorswhisper]

So APS is dead?

 

[GW Staar]

Almost.......RCBS still has the APS Strip Loader for sale, if it didn't come with your Pro 2000 acquisition, you might want one before they are gone. Because even if CCI quits making the APS primers you can always load any brand of primers into strips, faster than pecking a hundred into a tube.....unless you have a speed loader for tubes. Even then I can load a hundred into strips pretty danged fast.

The APS bench primer, just this month disappeared from RCBS's site. I absolutely love mine. It beats the surviving handle dragging RCBS universal bench primer to heck. I just went to Ebay to see if any are available there..........ONE. Everything to do with the Pro 2000 is getting rare, so figure out what you need plate-wise and start looking. Ebay still has quite a lot. Even APS empty strips. You need a collection of those and the loader. It won't matter much whether you get all the colors as you can just get white ones and make your own code using colored dots, applied with magic markers, on the strips. Good luck.....they are becoming collectors items already.

Jmorris got a deal on one a while back, but he sold it already....bet he made a profit. I would buy another if I could find one for a reasonable price, but I won't pay a Dillon 1050 price for one.....if I was going to spend that much on a press, it would be on one still manufactured & supported.........I wouldn't mind having a 1050 in addition to my Pro2k and Pro Chucker 7..... even if I have to dedicate another reloading wall and build another bench.

But I'm getting too old. My hunting days are over, and my shooting days have declined, so that would probably be a really dumb move.

For thorswhisper: There were 2 things I improved on the strip loading tool. 1. It needed a base so that I could load strips in my easy chair, and 2. it needed a way to insure primers were seated a little below flush to prevent any possibility of hangups during reloading. That was pretty easy to do with a piece of oak and a marble:

1. Notice the primer flipping ridges under the cover....just like a primer tray.

2. I just pull out the strip and the marble makes sure they are seated perfect.

The marble's recessing effect:


The best part!?! You can store strips safely....they aren't dangerous like filled tubes.



Each set of four is like a tube of 100. They are mounted on Office Depot removable stickers. I agree with 9mmepephany's observation above.....a great product ....lousy marketing, and the parent corporation still has not learned from their mistakes.