Priming off Press

[TheDomFather]

The one thing that seems to be the biggest pain about reloading and slowing me down constantly is the priming system. Problem 1 is the switch over from sm to lg primers and back on both my hornady LNL AP as well as my redding T7. On my hornady I also struggled with feeling the primer seat properly. This was a constant headache for me so I decided to find a better way. I now prime all of my brass off press using Lee Precision Auto Bench prime which you can get on Amazon for $28.99 and you will also need the specific shell holders for it which are an additional $15.99 however I found it works better than anything else. Take a look here:



Let me know how you handle priming!

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I have well over 100k rounds under my belt on my LnL. I have very little trouble out of the priming system on it. Ain't no way, I would be hand priming and adding all that extra work. I would figure out what my problem was with my press.

 

[Hokie_PhD]

I too prime off the press but I use the Lee hand primer.
I wasn't happy when I learned that it used special shell holders. Otherwise I love that I can relax, and do a hundred or two shells while watching TV.

 

[Doublehelix]

I also prime off of the press, and it is really getting to be a pain in the neck!

I use the RCBS APS Bench Priming System, and it works well.

I love the fact that I can feel each primer seat and can inspect each seating before loading onto the press (Dillon XL650).

I think the primers are seated much more consistently, and I think the system is safer overall compared to the tube-feeding system on the Dillon. Also, when the system is working correctly, I don't have to worry about sidways or upside down seatings.

The main reason I started with the RCBS is for safety, but I get all of the jokes and naysayers telling me that the XL650 priming system is plenty safe, and I am starting to believe them.

It really adds a ton of extra work to the process, and I am starting to get a bit frustrated at the inability of my reloading capacity to keep up with my shooting.

For my bulk reloading (9mm, .45 ACP), I am seriously considering going back to priming on the press, and then for rifle or any precision work, I will continue to prime offline.

It saves a ton of work to prime on the press, and saves a big extra step that is getting older and older each time I have to run through 1,000 rounds of priming, and then take those same 1,000 rounds, and run them through the press after that.

Still trying to decide, but I am getting closer and closer every day to going back to on-press priming.

 

[Englishmn]

I prime off press for my classic turret use a rcbs universal hand primer no shell holder needed and not too bad to switch primer size.

 

[hdwhit]

I still use an RCBS hand priming tool; the one where you feed one primer at a time into it by hand, not the one with the primer tray they had to recall. Works great. Always has. Too slow for most people, but I only load in batches of 50, sometimes 100 cartridges at a time, so slow suits me since I reload as recreation so that I can stay sane enough to go to work to make the money to shoot so that I can reload some more.

 

[otisrush]

It's kind of funny this topic came up now. Just last night, while I was priming 100 9mm cases, I thought to myself "I'm really glad I prime off the press."

I'm not saying off-the-press is the best way to go. It just suits my brain and how it works. I've learned I can't have my processes have too many steps in them. I guess I have a simple brain. ROFL My consistency of execution of a repetitive process goes way up if I have just one or two steps I need to take. So doing it off press simplifies things. I've found, too, that if I have a just little time to spend in the loading room, I'll run down and prime 100 or 200 cases, and that's the extent of my "loading" session for the night.

I use the RCBS hand priming tool. I like the feel it gives me for getting the primer seated well.

 

[Axis II]

i started with a lee hand primer and lee single stage. i upgraded to a lee turret and hated hand priming so now i use the safety prime and do it on the press. it saves me a little time cause i size, prime, charge, seat all on the press. i tried the whole watching tv and priming, chamfer, etc but gave that up really quick.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I have well over 100k rounds under my belt on my LnL. I have very little trouble out of the priming system on it. Ain't no way, I would be hand priming and adding all that extra work. I would figure out what my problem was with my press.

I agree, my LNL is for making lots of ammo fast. Why double the time to make a round?

 

[Jack B.]

Been reloading with a single stage for years and that's all I use. I prime on the press and been doing it for years . I tried priming off the press some time back and it was a pain and slowed me down to much. I'm slow enough as it is.

 

[ATLDave]

I love loading straight-walled cartridges on my cheap Lee Classic Turret precisely because it's all done in one go - brass goes on the press straight from the tumbler, comes out a loaded round. Done. I detest reloading bottleneck rifle brass because there's the whole trimming bother, not to mention lubing and de-lubing. No freakin' way am I going to add ANOTHER thing to be done off-press. No way. I'd rather go back to buying ammo.

 

[dgod]

Amen to post #6, I used to old style RCBS Hand Primer, it was just a pain. Push comes to shove, setup the LNL for one and the RCBS Universal for either small (White Blocks) or Large (Black Block). Mine works great.

Dan

 

[thomas15]

I have tried (and still own) an RCBS hand priming tool and the RCBS bench mounted auto prime. Between the two the automatic prime tool is much nicer.

Anyway, I was have some difficulties getting primers to seat below flush on my LNL. To me priming off press is not something I want to do so I spent quite a bit of time trying to understand what the issue was with the LNL and primer mis-feeds causing stoppages.

Everything has to be clean and the shell plate tight. The prowls have to be correctly timed and the shuttle wire adjusted correctly. Also the primer feed tube needs to be clean and seated properly into the tube base. I also placed a small metal disk on the press frame under the primer punch. With all of this I was still having an occasional primer misfeed.

I was using the inlinefabrication small ergo handle. First let me say that I really love inlinefabrication and have just about everything they sell for my presses. But for some odd reason the ergo handle doesn't work well with MY particular LNL progressive. Since putting the factory handle back on I have had no primer mis-feeds and my primers are all seated below flush.

 

[goldpelican]

Very happy with the RCBS APS hand primer. Very easy to reload the strips. I find the Lee primer system on the classic turret very finicky, and it always has problems with the last couple of primers. I do reloading steps in batches, so priming is just another batch step. Means I almost always have primed brass bagged up ready to reload.

 

[USSR]

Anything other than priming off the press has got to be better. I teach my reloading courses using the RCBS hand primer.

Don

 

[TheDomFather]

Anything other than priming off the press has got to be better. I teach my reloading courses using the RCBS hand primer.

Don

Huh? not sure I understand your statement?

 

[USSR]

Huh? not sure I understand your statement?

Priming off the press is awkward, requires handling each primer individually unless you use primer tubes, and doesn't give you a good "feel" for seating the primer to insure proper depth. What with so many other options out there, why deal with it?

Don

 

[ATLDave]

I think you are using the term "off the pres" to mean using the press. Which is the opposite of everyone else's usage. For us, "off the press" means NOT USING the press

 

[murf]

funny, i just finished hand priming about 100 cases sitting at the kitchen table. i use a lee auto-prime. been doing it this way for way over twenty years. i like to be able to feel when a primer doesn't seat quite right.

don't think i'll be changing any time soon, but i am seriously thinking about drinking the blue koolaid and geting the rl550. we will see.

murf

 

[TheDomFather]

Priming off the press is awkward, requires handling each primer individually unless you use primer tubes, and doesn't give you a good "feel" for seating the primer to insure proper depth. What with so many other options out there, why deal with it?

Don

Don watch my video above you dont need to handle each primer individually. and it gives a great feel for primer seating.

 

[Walkalong]

I use an old RCBS hand primer and it is easy and fast. Since my hands (gettin' old) get tired after 4 or 5 hundred rounds anymore I have been considered the bench mounted options.

 

[.308 Norma]

I still use an RCBS hand priming tool; the one where you feed one primer at a time into it by hand, not the one with the primer tray they had to recall. Works great. Always has.

Yeah, that's me too. And I usually prime a tray or two full of cases while I'm sitting on the couch kinda watching/listening to the TV.
I had one of those Lee hand priming tools with the tray off to the side that you could put a hundred or so primers in so you didn't have to feed them one primer at a time, but never used it. Gave it away, I think.
It's not just that I enjoy handloading, so why rush it? It's also that if I wasn't "wasting" time by using my RCBS hand priming tool, I'd be "wasting" that same time by just sitting in front of the TV letting my mind go numb.

 

[USSR]

I think you are using the term "off the pres" to mean using the press. Which is the opposite of everyone else's usage. For us, "off the press" means NOT USING the press

Ah, obviously a different usage of "off". Personally, I would not say "off the press", which to me indicates whatever you are doing is coming off the press, but rather "non press". But, whatever, any way of seating primers has got to be better than using the press to do it.

Don

 

[dh1633pm]

Priming on the CO-Ax is prohibitively slow. I had a lee, but sold it for an RCBS. It doesn't need shell holders. Its about $10 more expensive than the Lee. The Lee is nice. This one is a hair better.

https://www.amazon.com/RCBS-Univers...=1502296372&sr=1-2&keywords=RCBS+Priming+Tool

 

[cfullgraf]

I prime with a hand priming tool or a bench mounted priming tool. No press mounted priming for me.

When I got my Hornady L-N-L and later my first Dillon SDB, I tried priming with the press. I did not like that I could not inspect the primer seating at least until I was confident that the priming system was functioning reliably. Both presses, I abandoned the priming system after about 800-1000 primers seated.

But, I really prefer to clean cases after resizing so it allows for priming by hand either with a hand primer tool or a bench mounted priming tool. I resize and clean the cases shortly after shooting. Small batch sizing goes quick as I do not worry about the rest of the process and I only have a "few" cases to process. I can set dies in the press and resize 100 handgun cases in less than five minutes. They tumble most of the night and it takes a few minutes in the morning to separate them from the media. The cases get stored for a future loading session.

As far as priming, I have found I can prime 100 cases with a hand priming tool (RCBS universal shell holder at present) in less time than it takes me to fill a priming tube so no time lost there. My bench tool is an RCBS APS tool. With pre-loaded strips, priming time is fast but if I have to load the strips, strip loading takes about the same time as filling primer tubes.

During loading, since I do not resize or prime, I have eliminated two major problem points for me on the progressive press and I have fewer stoppages and jams than when I was running fired case to loaded case.

I figure with my separate sizing and priming operations, my average reloading rate is about 300 cases per hour using hand case and bullet feeding.

More power to the folks that have straightened out their priming systems but I load more ammunition than I can shoot, I enjoy reloading and am happy with the trouble free time I spend in the reloading room. I have NO interest in spending time straightening out the press mounted priming systems.