Lee Classic Cast turret primer seating probably.

[wbrco]

Need some help/advice.

Seating primers in 38 Special, mixed brass.

On the upstroke I occasionally get a piece of brass where I really have to force the handle up to get the primer to seat.

Happens on more than one brand of brass, and all commercial, so no crimped primers. The primer lever is coming down in between the the little bumps in the base, so not an alignment issue.

Also tried 2 different shell holders, a Lee and a RCBS, with same results.

I've cleaned the arm, and the sleeve, and even took a fine scotch bright pad to it to make sure no burrs. Tried rotating the shell holder, nothing seems to help.

Happens with both Cci and Win primers.

Pics below. Any advice?

 

[Jlr2267]

make sure you are using the small primer arm

 

[AnselHazen]

I use mine more like a single stage and do batches of an operation. This was happening to me more than I'd like. I have been flaring the mouth and on the downstroke seating a primer. When I started to really look for the problem I think for me it's the case walking out a little in the shellholder on the downstroke. I swapped shellholders until I found one that seemed to keep the case in better alignment with the primer once the ram came down.

 

[berettaprofessor]

Not sure but the first case in fact looks crimped. But otherwise, borrow or buy a hand primer and see if you have the same problem....then you will know it's the brass or the press.

 

[wbrco]

make sure you are using the small primer arm

Yep definitely using small arm..

 

[wbrco]

I use mine more like a single stage and do batches of an operation. This was happening to me more than I'd like. I have been flaring the mouth and on the downstroke seating a primer. When I started to really look for the problem I think for me it's the case walking out a little in the shellholder on the downstroke. I swapped shellholders until I found one that seemed to keep the case in better alignment with the primer once the ram came down.

I do try wiggling the case. Sometimes that helps, sometimes not.

Top 2 photos are the same case. I have this problem with 9 mm as well.

I'm thinking maybe rounding the outside edge of the little cup?

Or maybe the pin inside the little spring is bent a bit?

 

[AnselHazen]

What happens if you push and hold the case in the shellholder so it's all the way in the slot tight as you come down to insert a primer?

And I agree with the Professor, that PMC case looks just like some crimped Winchester Nato 9mm I have been doing. The RCBS swage die took care of them.

 

[snakeye]

If that happens I just turn the case about av half a turn and it usually goes in OK...just a quirk with priming cases...it just happens

 

[Reefinmike]

In 38 i see this in s&b and pmc brass. Tighter primer pockets. I always start slow and if i feel resistance, i make sure the case is all the way in the shellholder and give it a quick rotation as i attempt to seat. Sometimes I will Lightly bevel the pockets of troublesome cases with a chamfer tool.

 

[Mauser69]

Contaminate under primer cup

The dent on one side of your primers shows that the primer is not sitting straight in the cup. What has happened is that you shaved some brass off of one primer or shell base and the little half-moon sliver got stuck down under the cup inside the spring. Since the Lee primer arm cannot be disassembled, this is a REAL bugger to get out, but you must. Try gently clamping the cup in a small vice and pushing the plunger out as far as it will go, then work with a pin or something very fine to get in there and flip out the contaminant.

I had this happen when I first tried reloading S&B brass with their tight squared-off primer pockets - did a lot of shaving brass from primers. Problem fixed with a little chamfering of the primer pocket lips, but primer seating problems were not completely solved until I discovered the reason the primers were not sitting straight on the priming arm. Cleaning brass out of the spring on the primer arm was tough!

 

[SSN Vet]

The case shown in the pic does indeed look crimped.

 

[mdi]

The primer arm on your Lee turret isn't a precision fit (at least mine isn't). There is "slop" between the arm and the ram "channel" and the cup and the shell holder. I noticed this with some cases and especially when I used Wolf primers. I've not run into any crimped primer pockets for .38/.357 brass, but I have chamfered many "commercial" case's primer pockets anyway. Machining tolerances and mass production tolerances can "stack" and lead to misaligned parts, happens a lot. I just went with a Lee ram prime and have used one for several years...

BTW those primed cases pictured don't look "perfect", but I'd shoot them anyway...

 

[wbrco]

The dent on one side of your primers shows that the primer is not sitting straight in the cup. What has happened is that you shaved some brass off of one primer or shell base and the little half-moon sliver got stuck down under the cup inside the spring. Since the Lee primer arm cannot be disassembled, this is a REAL bugger to get out, but you must.

Yes, I've gotten them out and noticed this as one of the symptoms. Why I've cleaned and lubed the pin.

 

[Garage Dog]

When is the last time you cleaned the primer pockets?

 

[wbrco]

I don't generally clean primer pockets. However I did try that on a couple and it didn't seem to make much difference.

I think I'm going to have to invest in a $10 Lyman primer pocket reamer. I'm going to try a chamfer tool on a couple and see if I'm just fighting sharp edges.

 

[GRIZ22]

Use a hand primer and most priming issues go away.

 

[wbrco]

One of the PMC before depriming.

 

[berettaprofessor]

Well, not crimped. Look at Mauser's solution.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

To be honest it looks like the turret is misaligned.

Not sure how they work on the turret press though. I know on a load master the head can cock a little and misalign if the nut on the bottom of the ram is not torqued properly.

If it is misaligned just a smidge it can do that. Other signs are when seating. Have you seated a bullet since the priming problem started? If so look close for concentricity.

Sometimes it wont show enough to see or cause any visible signs other than priming too. Just depends on how much its tweaked.

 

[stubbicatt]

I don't think turret alignment has anything to do with it. Think about it... during priming the only parts of the press in play are the primer punch/arm and the ram/shellholder.

I am very cautious when priming on my LCCTP and I orient the shell holder to 7 or 8 o'clock, and always press the case all the way into the shell holder before lowering it onto the priming punch. If I don't, I have issues aligning the primer to the primer pocket. Perhaps this will help you some.

Oh. I never have issues with the larger case heads like 45ACP or 44 Magnum, just the 357 magnums. Even so, I still press the to be primed case all the way into the shell holder with my left thumb.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

I'd say your probably right that alignment may not be causing it.

I failed to mention that I use a sizer die without the dacapping pin to align and support the cases for better priming in the Loadmaster. Using the die will throw priming off if the head is misaligned.

I managed to load 500 rounds without a priming issue yesterday. The last time i loaded cases that were not already primed i ran 200 without issue. The setup really has improved my production of SPP pistol loads.

Though they are different and the Lee CCTP uses a shell holder rather than a plate, i wonder if using a sizer die might help with aligning the cases and increase primer seating success rates in The CCTP. Worth a try i suppose. Just considering the case doesn't align with 100% accuracy and better alignment, in theory, could be a better setup.

 

[vaalpens]

I have had a similar issue with 38 brass using the primer on the Lee classic singe stage, but this has never happened with any of my other cartridges/calibers. It is a pity I did not take any pictures, but I realized that after one very tight seating, I started seeing little indents on subsequent primers, even if they went in normally. After inspecting the seating cup I realized there was some shavings in the cup and had to clean it out. All these marked primers caused no problems when I went shooting a couple of weeks ago.

I did not fix the issue, but my conclusion just was that some of the brass must have had a very tight primer pocket or some crimping I did not see/expect.

Next time I will document the headstamp and maybe closer inspect the case when it happens again.

 

[Gadawg88]

Though they are different and the Lee CCTP uses a shell holder rather than a plate, i wonder if using a sizer die might help with aligning the cases and increase primer seating success rates in The CCTP. Worth a try i suppose. Just considering the case doesn't align with 100% accuracy and better alignment, in theory, could be a better se

The Lee turret press primes on the down stroke so the case would not be in the die when the primer is inserted. The Loadmaster primes on the upstroke and a sizing die without the pin does seem to help alignment and priming. I occasionally get the kind of resistance you are talking about when I prime on my LCT, but I just rotate the case 90 degrees in the shell holder and try again. Sometimes it takes a little more force but I almost never get improperly seated primers.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

The Lee turret press primes on the down stroke so the case would not be in the die when the primer is inserted. The Loadmaster primes on the upstroke and a sizing die without the pin does seem to help alignment and priming. I occasionally get the kind of resistance you are talking about when I prime on my LCT, but I just rotate the case 90 degrees in the shell holder and try again. Sometimes it takes a little more force but I almost never get improperly seated primers.

Oh it hit me when you said that. No help there for sure.

 

[tonyjr]

Years ago I was having that problem . It was to the point where I did not trust anymore . I replaced the plate holder . The problem was better .
I had the problem with the 25 ACP and 380 ACP . Then it started on the 9 mm and 38 .
Right now , I de-prime , polish / tumble , clean the primer pockets , pump spray [ let dry ] and reprime .
I don't really use the primer punch seater - that die is just sizing case . Next is the powder die , then seating die , next is for right height , then the crimping die .
The Lee load master has 5 holes for dies - why not use them ?
I know this is a lot more labor intensive - but I have 4 nephews and 2 nieces that all reload at my place .
Gear wise
Frankford hand de-primer [ works on the 25 ACP to the 50 AE ]
RCBS primer pocket reamer / cleaner
Lee auto primer
Frankford tumbler and Ivation ultra sonic
Lee load master .
FYI - I generally de-prime and prime while watching TV and always wear cotton gloves - if they snag - I check why