Lee press primer warning

[bob4]

Looking into a new press. Have been looking at some lee presses and saw this:
Only CCI or Remington Brand Primers are Safe use With This press. From a blurb about lee pro Master 1000.
What's the reason ? or is this even true?

 

[Edster12]

Other primers are considered soft. Lee must have info that installation can cause the soft primer to go off while being installed in the casing. My neighbor just bought one of these and told me the same thing.

 

[jaguarxk120]

If a press or tool can not use off the shelf components from any supplier, then what good is it?

Federal, Remington, and Winchester have been making reloading supplies far longer that lee, if they can't build a press right they should go back to the drawing board.

 

[plmitch]

If you don't tell the the press they are Win's it will never know.......

 

[greyling22]

That has been in there for years, and there is probably a good reason for it. (you know, one time during product testing something went wrong when circumstances happened just right.) That said, I have or have had just about every lee press over the years and I have run every conceivable primer type through them without issue. I have run federal though a loadmaster and a pro1k without problems. Does that mean it is 100% safe, probably not. But it does not mean that I would expect instant calamity if you do. I'll attach a page from the lee manual about priming. Note the phrase "other brands of primers were not tested and must be assumed to be unsafe" or something like that. Lee does sell a blast shield to go over the primer tray on the loadmaster http://www.midwayusa.com/product/533868/lee-load-master-progressive-press-primer-explosion-deflector .

I will say that the silver primers seem to slide down the chute better than the gold ones.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

If a press or tool can not use off the shelf components from any supplier, then what good is it?

Federal, Remington, and Winchester have been making reloading supplies far longer that lee, if they can't build a press right they should go back to the drawing board.

It's a CYA move by Lee. It has nothing to do with building a press right or not being able to use off the shelf components from a manufacturer. It's to avoid legal liability.

Handloaders shouldn't have a problem ignoring this warning.
After all, if you look in the instruction manuals for every gun you own you will see that they say to only use factory loaded ammunition in them in the first place. So if you followed every company's instructions, you wouldn't be rolling your own in the first place.

 

[RussellC]

I have 3 Lee presses and have ONLY used Winchester primers....guess how many mishaps? 0. I have seen a RCBS primer holding tube uncurled and stuck in the ceiling!

P.S. I just am only speaking about the Press priming, not the handheld jobs...

Russellc

 

[Rico567]

The "L" words: Lawyers. Litigation. Lawsuits.

 

[fguffey]

Lee press primer warningor a warning about Lee

There are a lot of members in the claim's department, they claim the case has head space, but SAAMI dies not identify the case as having head space, SAAMI identifies the chamber as having a head space dimensions on the chamber drawing, and uses a head space symbol , the head space symbol is absent on the case dimensions drawing.

R. Lee said in his book he did not test Federal primers because Federal did not donate primers to be tested. Those that have R. Lee's book claim to have read the book and claim he did not say Federal primers got a bad rap because they did not donate primers to Lee for testing.

I did not purchase Lee's book on modern reloading, it was given to me by someone that knew I would read the book, I read the book, R. Lee said he did not test Federal primers because they 'FEDERAL' did not dominate primers to be tested.

Then there is that big Federal box and the difficulty Lee users have/had getting the primers from the big tray to the small Lee flip tray, nothing drives me to the curb, but the big box did give Lee users something to complain about.

F. Guffey

 

[PapaG]

My old Pros warned to use only WW or CCI. Lee needs to make up his mind.

 

[ironworkerwill]

I've used the Lee press with all makes of primers. Thousands of rounds with no problems.

Naturally, I wear safety glasses, even with CCI and Rem primers.

I don't ignore the safety precaution, I do procede with caution. As with anything it can become laxidasical.

 

[fiftybmg]

That press is very sensitive with primer handling. It's very common to have primers detonate on the press, irrespective of make. They specify harder primers to lessen the problem, but it doesn't make the problem go away.

 

[Schwing]

I have seen a RCBS primer holding tube uncurled and stuck in the ceiling!

I have seen this once as well ... yet my lee pro 1000 has never had an issue with any primers I use.

 

[mgmorden]

I've used all brands of primers (including the infamous Federal) with Lee tools and have never had an issue.

As stated, it's not likely the Lee equipment has any more of a problem with these brands than anyone else, just that they are just doing the lawyerly thing and adding in warnings.

If anything Lee errs too much on the side of caution (ie, refusing to implement primer tubes even on progressives out of fear of chain detonations and insisting on tray designs which are more troublesome).

 

[bob4]

Thanks all. Kinda thought this might be the case. No harm in asking though.

 

[blarby]

I use federal primers in mine all the time.

Carry on........


Big box to round tray isn't that hard.

Cant fit them all in your puny hand ? Get a paper plate.

Pour fed primers on paper plate. Cup paper plate into circle, and pour on dispenser tray. Agitate to correct position.

I'm fairly certain the bit about lee not getting free primers to test with is more than half of the story.

 

[jrdolall]

They offer a part to protect you from primer explosion if you want to use other primers. As it has been stated this is purely a CYA on the part of Lee. I use a Lee press and use CCI primers for pistol because that's what my LGS had when I bought my supplies.

There are generally more warning labels on a product than instructions. Can you say "Blood Sucking Lawyers"? Watch some daytime TV and count the ads for lawyers looking to help you with your car wreck, medical problems, SS Disability Claims, etc, etc. We saw a TV ad the other day that said something like this; "If you or a loved one has died....."! Really!

 

[fiftybmg]

I've used all brands of primers (including the infamous Federal) with Lee tools and have never had an issue.

As stated, it's not likely the Lee equipment has any more of a problem with these brands than anyone else, just that they are just doing the lawyerly thing and adding in warnings.

If anything Lee errs too much on the side of caution (ie, refusing to implement primer tubes even on progressives out of fear of chain detonations and insisting on tray designs which are more troublesome).

The problem is not with Lee tools in general, it's specifically with the Loadmaster primer feed. The Lee turret presses do not have this problem.

The design is not good, it's not reliable. The system is very finnicky. You spend more time getting the primers to feed than you do actual reloading, with the added bonus of one going bang on the press.

If you have a Loadmaster, you are better off priming with a hand tool, then using the press for powder and bullet seating. Which defeats the purpose of having a progressive press in the first place.

 

[Safetychain]

This is so typical. Bashing Lee or the Loadmaster is not so High Road. The Loadmaster priming mechanism is maybe the weaker of the shell stations but as has been stated before, setting it up correctly per instructions and maybe using a second re-sizing die to assure that the shell is held exactly in the correct position will result in no problems. After destroying one little plastic thingy (primer mover), which a call to Lee resulted in free replacements for the SP and LP, I have not had it happen again after nearly 8000 rounds without using the second re-sizing die. My next reloading session will likely be with a re-sizing die in the second station and let the Lee Auto Disk flare the case in the third station. But, follow the instructions, watch the videos, don't try to set a speed record and you will not have any problems. Also, I use any primer that I can buy, including Federal. Use common sense safety procedures and even without the blast/lawyer shield you will be safe.

 

[fiftybmg]

This is so typical. Bashing Lee or the Loadmaster is not so High Road. The Loadmaster priming mechanism is maybe the weaker of the shell stations but as has been stated before, setting it up correctly per instructions and maybe using a second re-sizing die to assure that the shell is held exactly in the correct position will result in no problems. After destroying one little plastic thingy (primer mover), which a call to Lee resulted in free replacements for the SP and LP, I have not had it happen again after nearly 8000 rounds without using the second re-sizing die. My next reloading session will likely be with a re-sizing die in the second station and let the Lee Auto Disk flare the case in the third station. But, follow the instructions, watch the videos, don't try to set a speed record and you will not have any problems. Also, I use any primer that I can buy, including Federal. Use common sense safety procedures and even without the blast/lawyer shield you will be safe.

Objective feedback is not product bashing.

I had two Loadmasters, one setup for small pistol and one for large. It was very seldom that I could get through a session of 200 rounds without hiccups on the primer feed, with large or small pistol primers. With a placeholder die over the priming station.

The detonations on the press that I experienced I can count on one hand, over thousands of reloaded rounds. A small number , but one is one too many. More often, I would get primers seated upside-down, and sideways.

I kept those presses for years, thinking that I was doing something wrong, and that eventually I'd get it working properly.

Eventually, to save wear and tear on my nerves, I hand-primed, then used the press.

If Lee could fit the Loadmaster with their turret press primer feed, it would improve the product.

I did everything possible to resolve the primer feed problem, including removing the factory burrs and ridges from the primer chute with very fine emery paper. Eventually, I gave up and sold the presses.

Every other aspect on the press worked well, the case feeding, powder drop and shellplate indexing. Just the priming system on the Loadmaster is a general design failure.

 

[RealGun]

Get the optional primer shield and keep cranking.

 

[Rico567]

H'm. Never owned a Loadmaster, but in pictures the primer feed looks like the same one on the Lee Pro 1000s I loaded pistol on for many years. I was never driven to prime off the press in all that time. These primer feeds are quirky, but work just fine IF:

1. They are kept scrupulously CLEAN.

2. The slide that leads from the primer tray is kept FULL of primers (about a dozen).

3. The tray is kept vibrating as the press is operated. This required the use of a rubber band on my presses to keep the metal pin on the primer slide in contact with the press frame.

If I followed the above three rules, I could load all day with never a hitch from the primer feed.

 

[BCRider]

I have to agree that reporting problems isn't bashing. And the Lee presses I've used did come with their share of issues.

The old three hole Classic uses a tray with a little ski slope delivery track. If that track is not kept scrupulously clean the primers stick and do not run in fully and sit over the seating pin correctly. With the oil on the ram it's tough to avoid some eventually getting on the plastic ski slope channel. Then the primers stick.

The fix I found is to hose the track down with brake cleaner or some other good degreaser and use a pipe cleaner to get into the edges.

I always suspected the reason they didn't recommend Federal was the fact that the primer being seated and at the most risk of being set off was right near the next one in line. My Dillon avoids this issue by shuttling the primer to be seated away from the tube far enough that only the one primer is at risk.

 

[fiftybmg]

This is the new primer feed I mentioned -

http://leeprecision.com/safety-primer-feed-small-and-large.html

It's supposed to fit the turret and single stage presses, but not the Loadmaster. The primer feed is now almost vertical, so the feed should be more consistent.

I ordered a Lee Classic Turret last week to reload rifle, I'm thinking to get that new primer feed and test it out.

 

[HEAVY METAL 1]

I have loaded for about 20 years on a Pro 1000 with a variety of primers and (hang on to your hat) I put > 100 primers in it @ a time. I have never had an issue with explosions. If you feel a bind, stop and sort it out, down ham handely force your press, you are handloading, not metal forming.