Sick and tired of primers on the floor.

[Col. Harrumph]

Here's hoping someone smarter than I will have solved this problem years ago!

I've been using the Rock Chucker I bought in 1975 and one problem that's annoyed me since day one is, many primers popped out by the resizing die end up on the floor. They fly down the ram slot and bounce off the press body or the priming arm (when in place) and usually end up in the tray. But only "usually."

Later models of this press seem to have solved the problem by turning the ram around so the slot is to the rear, redesigning the catcher and adopting a different re-primer. I haven't tried it, but it may be possible to turn the ram 180° on my old Mark 1 machine... but that would render the re-priming gadget unusable. (Which may be OK as I rarely use it anyway.)

Thanks for your ideas!

 

[docv]

Don't bother. The ram on the later model Rock Chuckers also toss primers everywhere.

 

[fxvr5]

Google search for primer catchers for your press. There are many different designs available that could solve your problem. For example:

https://inlinefabrication.com/produ...h-for-the-vintage-rcbs-rockchucker-rc-rc1-rc2

https://www.primercatcher.com/

https://www.ebay.com/p/RCBS-Reloadi...-for-Rock-Chucker-Supreme-iv-DRKGN/1438037163

 

[Drail]

I mounted a funnel under my Rock Chucker with a piece of vinyl tubing attached the bottom and stuck the other end in a can on the floor. All my spent primers go right in the can. The tube needs to be blown out once in a while or the primers can stick. The trick is to use a funnel that will accept a piece of tiubing with as large and inner diameter as you can find. You may have to cut some from the bottom of the funnel to get a good fit on the tubing. Experiment. Also check with RCBS - they used to sell a device for the Rock Chucker called a "Case Kicker" that controls where the primers go and even kicks the case down a ramp to the right with a small leaf spring when the ram comes back down. Hands free. I have been using one for years and it really speeds up the process. Just place a case in the shellholder, run the ram up and down all the way and the case is ejected to the right into your container.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

Roomba

 

[Muddydogs]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Improved-p...rstClass!84403!US!-1:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true

Purchase one of these a few years ago and haven't had a primer hit the floor since. I went a step further and added enough tubing to reach a powder keg setting on the floor so I never have to deal with spent primers until the 8 pound keg is full. I use the short tube the catcher came with to replace the longer tube if I'm depriming live primers to keep or dispose of so they don't get in with the spent ones.

 

[Olon]

Roomba
View attachment 827128

I once ran my vacuum by my press and heard a nice little pop and smelled something funny. Looked under the vacuum and the carpet was slightly blackened. Not sure if I ran over a live primer or some powder (I had headphones in and fairly loud), but either way I started spraying the carpet down with a mist of water before vacuuming

 

[entropy]

Take the priming arm out when you're depriming, then almost all of them will fall into the tray. Note I say almost. I sweep the floor in front of my press after depriming, and still find find the occasional primer here and there.

 

[doubleh]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Improved-p...rstClass!84403!US!-1:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true

Purchase one of these a few years ago and haven't had a primer hit the floor since. I went a step further and added enough tubing to reach a powder keg setting on the floor so I never have to deal with spent primers until the 8 pound keg is full. I use the short tube the catcher came with to replace the longer tube if I'm depriming live primers to keep or dispose of so they don't get in with the spent ones.

My press is pre-rockchucker and it came with the tray like you show but it has to be removed and emptied. A primer manages to pop over the tray now and then. My solution was to cut a piece out of a clear plastic jar to fit in front of the tray. It's already curved. I made a couple of little clips from sheet aluminum to hold it in place. Slip the plastic inside the tray, the clips on the outside and it stays where you can see what you are doing and position it where it doesn't interfere with you. It's easily put in place and removed and it stops the occasional stray primer from landing in the floor.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I once ran my vacuum by my press and heard a nice little pop and smelled something funny. Looked under the vacuum and the carpet was slightly blackened. Not sure if I ran over a live primer or some powder (I had headphones in and fairly loud), but either way I started spraying the carpet down with a mist of water before vacuuming

My wife has had primers pop in the vacuum a few times. I don't think it has ever happened with the roomba and I know it has picked up live primers.

 

[.308 Norma]

Don't bother. The ram on the later model Rock Chuckers also toss primers everywhere.

^^^What docv said. If anything, I think my later model Rock Chucker is a little worse about toss primers about than my mid-70's model was.
I set a 5 gallon plastic bucket on the floor under my Rock Chucker. It catches most of the spent primers that don't "end up in the tray" - where they should have ended up in the first place!
Oh well. It's a minor irritation. But then again, my loading area is in the corner of an unfinished basement. Sweeping spent primers up off a concrete floor once in a while isn't much of a problem for me. But I can see how it would be for someone whose loading area was in a nicer part of the house.

 

[lightman]

I've noticed a difference between depriming with a sizing die vs depriming with a universal die. It seems like the sizing die seals things up more and causes the primer to pop out with more force. I simply place a small piece of stiff cardboard in the front of the original primer catcher and it stops most of them. I have been resizing and depriming brass for a couple of months. In that time I have had maybe 2 dozen primers miss the tray out of 1-1/2 gallons of spent primers that I have collected. Sure, You could find a few on my floor and they do smart if you step on one of them bare footed! Some of those after market solutions look interesting.

I have vinyl flooring in my loading room so I do have the ability to sweep vs using the vacuum.

 

[entropy]

My wife has had primers pop in the vacuum a few times. I don't think it has ever happened with the roomba and I know it has picked up live primers.

My folks used to make me vacuum the basement, because of the live primers in the shag rug...... Like playing Minesweeper, it was, long before that game exsisted.

 

[CMV]

Does the McDonald's straw trick work on it like a Lee? That made my Lee press a lot better at not scatter random decapped primers about

 

[Rule3]

Here's hoping someone smarter than I will have solved this problem years ago!

I've been using the Rock Chucker I bought in 1975 and one problem that's annoyed me since day one is,

Thanks for your ideas!

1975

That long and you have finally had enough?

 

[fxvr5]

Apparently it's a common enough problem that there is an article on it.

https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2017/10/30/want-an-easier-way-to-catch-pesky-spent-primers-read-this/

 

[forty_caliber]

I saw a YT video a while back that showed a large drinking straw cut to length and pushed into the primer slot. I may be trying this if my Lyman American 8 keeps that nonsense up.

.40

 

[Col. Harrumph]

1975

That long and you have finally had enough?

Ah dunno, Rule. Doesn't seem that long, really.

 

[Galil5.56]

I use the end of a pie box, to catch nearly all spent primers from my RC Supreme, rather than that plastic abomination they include. My solution does not get in the way, and is held in place with rare-earth magnets. Yep, kinda redneck but it works.

 

[Col. Harrumph]

A pie box?!? Sorry Galil, but it ain't redneck unless it's a beer can.

 

[lightman]

In my post, I failed to mention that I deprime with the priming arm removed. That may make a difference!

 

[Laphroaig]

I've not had my Rockchucker for quite as long as Col. H, but long enough to have developed an involuntary reflex to cup my left hand in front of the press at about the same time as the primer pops out. That deflects most of the runners back into the cup.

 

[Galil5.56]

A pie box?!? Sorry Galil, but it ain't redneck unless it's a beer can.

OK... Moon pie.

 

[Col. Harrumph]

+1 on your choice of lubricant, Laphroaig!

 

[George P]

Get the Inline press riser and set it all inside a steam table tray; should catch all of them.