hand prime vs press prime?

[DivideByZero]

I like to prime on my LnL but I use it kind of like a single stage when priming and just resize and prime after using a universal decapper and then wet tumbling. I then store my cases clean, resized, and primed - ready to load. Doing it on a progressive just makes the whole thing go faster.

 

[Paladin7]

Hand priming for me as well for both my RCBS Rock Chucker and my Hornady Lock n Load Progressive.

I prefer hand priming with an RCBS Hand Priming Tool...better feel, fast, accurate seating depth, and less complexity vs priming on either press.

The Priming system on the Rock Chucker is slower.

The Priming system on the Hornady Lock n Load is a very good one, but for me, it is just another thing to keep track of. I much prefer keeping my progressive reloading as simple as possible.

I tend to decap fired brass with a Lee Universal Decapping Die, wet tumble my brass, re-size on the Rock Chucker, hand prime, then all other operations for handgun ammo I do on my Hornady Progressive.

I can load 200 handgun rounds per hour using this method, going slow and carefully, checking powder charges every 10 to 20 rounds. Better safe than sorry...

 

[hdwhit]

Hand Prime.

I have both the old Lee hand priming tool (that used its own special shell holder) and the RCBS hand priming tool that uses standard shell holders.

 

[doubleh]

I'm another hand primer.

 

[Rule3]

Having use both methods I still do not see what there is to "feel" about seating a primer? It is seated or it's not??

 

[GLOOB]

Depends on the press. My Lee press > hand prime in feel and speed. Lightyears better. I kept trying to figure out why hand primers were even invented in the first place. But then I saw how some other presses do it.

Having use both methods I still do not see what there is to "feel" about seating a primer? It is seated or it's not??

Different headstamps/batches of brass have different depth primer pockets. So the priming device has to be able to seat primers in the deepest pocket it will ever come across. On a more typical piece of brass, it's up to the user, then, to know when to stop pressing. On a hand prime, maybe your thumb just ain't strong enough to matter. Squeeze til you can't squeeze no more. On my Challenger press, I can turn primers into pancakes if I want. But I can feel exactly what's happening.

On many progressives, you dial in the exact depth of primer seating. But this means you risk the occasional misfire, unless your brass is carefully sorted and/or reamed. Even if you ream your pockets, the rim is going to be slightly different between batches/headstamps, so operating by depth is using up some margin for error that has to be carefully controlled.

Unless all your brass is identical and clean, the bestest method for seating primers is by feel, according to basically everyone. Sorta like using a Lee rifle FCD, you have to judge by feel. With primers, the scientifically approved method is to feel for the where the primer bottoms out, then give three and a half twiddly dinks of additional pressure.

If you are measuring for 0.004" primer depth, you are wasting your time. Sometimes, a primer will be fully seated and it's not even flush, yet. Then you HAVE to crush it down to at least flush, so it's safe. (And discard that brass, later). Sometimes it seats at 0.015" deep. Sometimes the pockets are tight. Sometimes they're loose. Sometimes the pocket is so tight and/or the cup of the primer so soft, you can start bending the primer face before it's even seated. If you can't feel, you won't know what the hell is going on. With a good priming system, you can feel all of this happening.

 

[Reloadron]

I hand prime using my old Lee or my RCBS hand priming tool(s). Works for me.

Ron

 

[Rule3]

I load almost every handgun caliber and 4 rifles on a Lee Turret. Use many brands of primers. I find no "magic" touchy feely needed to seat the primers they all go bang. I have used a Lee and RCBS hand primer and find no advantage in them. Loading 100s to 1000s of handgun rounds and having to hand prime them was a pain in more ways than one

For those with progressives it seems to defeat the progressive advantage if hand priming???

 

[GLOOB]

I find no "magic" touchy feely needed to seat the primers they all go bang.

Since you have never experienced a misfire, you have no clue what the tolerances actually are. Until you know where things start to fail, you can only be 99.9999% sure you're doing it right.

 

[springer99]

The only way to seat primers is by hand-priming. Using a primer seating attachment on a press just doesn't cut it. Hand priming is the way that all the factories do it, especially on their "match-grade" ammo. That's the only way to assure high quality ammo.

 

[salpal48]

I still Use both. I don't Like the old Universal Priming You find On C type. Machines. I prefer The Lyman AA with the Push button Primer system. One set It is Flawless. lachmiller Push Button Is also Good. . It really depends on The shell Holder Choice. primer seated is One Of my special Collecting

 

[Rule3]

Since you have never experienced a misfire, you have no clue what the tolerances actually are. Until you know where things start to fail, you can only be 99.9999% sure you're doing it right.

I'll take those odds. Tolerances? as said earlier it's seated or it's not.


It is amazing that so many progressive, turret press and single stage actually come with a on board priming system. Must be one of those "solutions to a problem that doesn't exist"

 

[AnselHazen]

ansel - I have the hornady primer now too.. I definitely prefer lee hand primers, but mine does work, with 2-3% primers flipping over, not ideal in my behavior

I don't get it really, so many people seem to like hand priming. But it seems a lot of hand priming gets done away from the bench? Not being a TV watcher I guess could be one reason I haven't really warmed to hand priming. But still I found that I was fussing with the whole alignment thing way too often it seemed. Just seems to be a lot of slop where the primer sits on top of the ram to push it in.

As Rule3 says, I don't find any magic touchy feely priming. Doing it on the LCT, I can tell if they go or don't quite dependably.

 

[SARuger]

I use the LEE Safety Prime on my LCT, works flawlessly.

 

[cfullgraf]

I don't get it really, so many people seem to like hand priming.

I like to see that my primers are seated. I can't do that on any of my progressives.

I prefer to clean cases after resizing, old habits die hard, which affords me an opportunity to prime the case off the press and give the cases another inspection.

I like to reload. But it is a restful hobby so I do not wish to induce lots of worry.

I resize and prep cases shortly after shooting them. Then store them for a future reloading session. Small batches go quick. Hand gun cases are resized and expanded on a Hornady L-N-L. I just install the dies I need for the task at hand. A nice advantage of the L-N-L bushing system over the tool head system on the other progressive presses.

By resizing and priming at a different time as reloading, I can concentrate on dropping powder and seat the bullets.

I still load more ammunition faster and in greater quantity than I can shoot.

It works for me. Lessons my work load. Reduces the risks of squibs for me.

It does not work for everyone.

In recent time, large batches, 500 or more cases, of priming with a hand primer is hard on my hands so I now do large batches of priming with an RCBS APS bench priming tool.

Small runs, 100-200 or so cases, I still hand prime as it is quicker than setting up the bench tool. Then bench priming tool is stored away except when I plan to prime a large batch of cases. If the bench priming tool was permanently mounted to the bench, I'd use it for small batches as well at times.

Final note, I can fill the primer tray and prime 100 cases with a hand primer faster than filling a priming tube.

That's why I prime off the press.

 

[thomas15]

I think it really depends on how much volume you load for. If you are making 50-100 rounds per month on a single stage or turret press then hand prime if that makes you happy. If your making 500-1000+ per month then unless you are retired and have a lot of free time then placing each brass on a press to size/decap, remove brass to prime, then place back on the press to finish loading would really add a lot of time to the process.

I have hand primers and bench primers but I always prime on press because I really don't have the time to mess around with all the brass handling. I do however inspect my finished ammo and it I find some primers that are not seated below flush then I place them in a bench mounted primer tool to seat them to the proper level.

 

[iagbarrb]

You will have more control if you use a hand primer. Primers might sit better.
But I also use thevtower primer.

 

[Mel1776]

I hand prime for my single stage with an elderly, but strong, RSBS hand priming tool. I let Dillon prime on my 550 and 650.

 

[WessonOil]

I can feel the primers seating perfectly fine on my Lee Progressive Loader.

 

[scythefwd]

Thomas - if you're sitting and doing it all at once, yup, you notice the steps.

If you decap and then remove to clean (God bless a clean pocket ), then you set them aside and prime while watching tv at night ... (you can do about 200 in a half hour show pretty easily.. maybe 20 minutes on the quick side), then you set them aside and wait.

Then you go back to your press and size without decapping (expander ball but no pin), and load the rest of the way.. its not really an inconvience.

I can definitely feel the difference between using my lee classic cast and my hand primer. I can feel the difference big time on my dillon 550 too.. My hand priming tool gives me the best feel for whats happening because I dont have the mechanical leverage the press gives me.

That said, I let dillon do my priming, but not my decapping.

 

[old heeler]

I use hand primer for all my hunting loads or day at the range shooting paper. Varmint shooting depending on volume I'll use RCBS auto bench primer.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

Old reloader, new member here.
I use a Lee hand primer that I purchased about 40 years ago, for small primers, and a (similarly aged) RCBS bench primer for large primers.

I have the Lee Classic Turret for pistols and a Pacific Multi Power C for rifles. Never liked to prime on a press.

 

[AnselHazen]

I like to see that my primers are seated. I can't do that on any of my progressives.

I open up my case mouth on the upstroke, hit the clicker on the Lee Safety Prime to pop a primer in the cup and bring the ram down to seat. I take it off the press, inspect and the case goes in a container ready for when I'm going to fill with powder and seat a bullet.

I like to reload. But it is a restful hobby so I do not wish to induce lots of worry.

Why else reload?

By resizing and priming at a different time as reloading, I can concentrate on dropping powder and seat the bullets.

I have 3 steps. Size case and decap, Open case mouth and prime, and fill and seat bullet. The LCT lets me do any of those steps any time I want, I just spin the turret to the right die.

I still load more ammunition faster and in greater quantity than I can shoot.

I get that.

Final note, I can fill the primer tray and prime 100 cases with a hand primer faster than filling a priming tube. That's why I prime off the press.

Maybe the reason I like the Lee Safety Prime as much as I do is because you fill it's tray like a hand prime tool and then it's click and seat.

I do definitely see the advantage of the bench prime tool for large batches. But I don't know if I will ever go there. I am easily keeping up by moving batches of 100-200 cases through the process.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I prefer to hand prime. I have an RCBS hand primer, which I hate and a Lee hand primer, which works well, but the last few boxes of ammo that I've loaded I used a Winchester Model 1882 reloading tool to reprime my .44 WCF brass. It gives a really good feel for how the primer is being seated.





I also did a batch using an Ideal Number 6 tool. It worked just like the Winchester tool.



The only real downside to them is that they're slow.

 

[OilyPablo]

That's a cool tool!