Lee recommends "explosion shield"???

[WestKentucky]

Copied from midways product description....



"Lee Load-Master progressive 5-hole reloading kit for 32 S&W and 32 H&R Mag. Includes dies (full length size, powder through expanding and bullet seating dies), turret, shell plate powder measure, case feeder and primer feed.

WARNING:*Only CCI or Remington brand primers are safe use with this press. If you plan on using any brand besdies CCI and Remington, you must purchase the*explosion shield."

So in a word...huh? I don't plan on getting a new press and certainly not a load master if I was...but when I saw this while browsing it caught me off guard. What is it and why offer it?

 

[RandyP]

This is very old news and basically 'legalese CYA". Like some Dillon presses that 'can and have' shot their primer tubes into a ceiling after a primer chain reaction explosion, (Google 'Dillon primer explosion' ) it is 'possible' for one primer to go off in a Lee press. Thus the shield recommendation. Not unlike recommending the wearing of safety glasses while reloading.

If memory serves there was a reported issue several years ago with Federal primers in a Lee press?

 

[Hummer70]

When things get speeded up bad things are more prone to happen and while I have never heard of a primer going off in single loading I still wear safety glasses while loading.

Take a primed case and put it in your rifle/handgun and fire the primer and you will get a better idea of just how much energy is stored in that little cup and you will know.

 

[maxxhavoc]

Primer detonation can happen with any press. I have only had one primer detonation, and that was with an RCBS hand primer. No idea why it happened, I didn't notice anything unusual and BANG! No hearing in that ear for awhile. Luckily, there was no chain reaction.

Some primers (most incidents involve Federal) are more sensitive, and Federal is more likely to cause a chain reaction as well. They don't use that huge packaging for cost savings. The way RCBS and Lee set up their primer feeds are less likely to have sympathetic detonations, but when they do, it is more spectacular.

Here is one thread talking about this. It is a Lee, but links to Dillon and has a nice picture of a Hornady primer tube stuck into a ceiling.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=654508

The moral is, be safe.

 

[PapaG]

Interesting. With my old Lee 1000s, the admonition is against using anything other than Winchester or CCI. Doesn't matter now to me as I've given up on priming on them anyway. Size a zillion brass, prime with a hand tool while watching tv, and then loading the rest progressively using the first station for expanding/charging, second for seating, last for crimp. Works great and I spend much less tome fiddling around with the fragile parts of the priming mechanism and haven't had a primer crushed, seated sideways, or upside down in months. Added bonus is I can "feel" the primer being seated.

 

[splattergun]

Yeah, it's their CYA in case you use Federals and they go off. Lee and Federal don't have a cozy relationship.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Ok, I've read this entire post and everything leads to Federal primers, we all know about this.

Why is Winchester apparently included in this? I've been using them for over 40 years and have mutilated them on different occasions and have never had one go off on me.

The warning reads "only CCI and Remington primers can be used in this press without an explosion shield".

That warning always irritated me.

 

[maxxhavoc]

I don't know on the Winchester issue. With all the above said, though, I just finished loading up 1000 Federal Large pistol primers in my Pro 1000. I was more careful than usual, and wore safety glasses. I had no issues and bent a couple up trying to put them into those stupid small pistol .45 cases.

They were all I could find in the previous shortage, where powder was everywhere and primers were unobtainable. They were taking up too much space so I used them up.

 

[wally]

I have a Lee Loadmaster, a pair of Dillions, a Lee Classic Turret. Before that I had a pair of Hornady Pro7s, and the Lee 3-hole turret press.

The Loadmaster is the only one that ever has had a primer detonation, and I've got a 5 gallon bucket full of empty primers to show for my reloading career so far.

I was using small pistol Wolf primers and had the blast shield in place but didn't get a mass detonation.

The priming system on the Loadmaster is the worst design ever, otherwise its a great press.

In another thread, someone said Lee has "updated" the primer feed since I got my Loadmaster, I've ordered the new one, but haven't had time to try it yet. My Loadmaster is dedicated to .40S&W which I've just not been shooting much of lately.

 

[g.willikers]

Is a primer detonation something that is caused by rambunctious reloading practices or by a genuine flaw in the press?
I've been reloading on all kinds of equipment for a very long time and have never experienced a primer mishap.
There's plenty of folks who are ham-fisted and beat the crap out of everything they touch.
Could that be the actual cause?

 

[Schwing]

This is very old news and basically 'legalese CYA". Like some Dillon presses that 'can and have' shot their primer tubes into a ceiling after a primer chain reaction explosion

I have seen the result of this first hand. A friend recently had this happen. It hit a floor joist and dug its way in much further than I would have thought possible. The tube was completely ruined and my friend had his whits rattled a bit.

First hand, I have only ever seen one primer pop while loading. It was a federal and it was a big nothing. It made a muffled popping noise and filled my primer slide with grit and primer chunks. It was not loud at all, there was no chain reaction and it took me a few minutes to figure out that a primer popping was even the issue.

 

[gamestalker]

I've never had one go bang, but not knowing the just how powerful a primer detonation was, or I never would have done this, I decided to toss a 209 in my metal bar-b-q many years ago. What happened gave me a whole new perspective and respect for primers. The primer cup blew a hole through the metal bar-b-q that resembled that produced by a 22 RF, and it was ear ringing loud. I'm glad I wasn't on the receiving end of that projectile, it might have left a mark.

GS

 

[wally]

There's plenty of folks who are ham-fisted and beat the crap out of everything they touch.
Could that be the actual cause?

At the end of the day that is the ultimate cause, but a press like the Loadmaster that primes on the upstroke has minimal feel for the seating pressure since its also resizing and crimping the cases at the top of the ram travel where the mechanical advantage is greatest, which makes it easy to miss that something not quite right.

But the sensitivity to "chain" detonation is mostly a primer feed and reservoir design issue where the Loadmaster also falls down -- the Dillon/Hornady designs will deflect the blast straight up whereas the Loadmaster design has it at a nice angle aimed right at the operator, thus the need for the blast shield.