hand primer vs press

i like the lee hand prime work good for me. u can feel whats going on when seating the primer better. tho i like that new lee table primer and its only 25 to 30 bucks.

cheygriz said:

Consistent depth is the WRONG way to seat primers. they need to bottom out in the pocket regardless of depth.

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+1
True, but if all handloaders seated their primers to the bottoms of the primer pockets, we wouldn't see as many questions on THR - questions like: "Why do I have so many misfires?" and "Why do so many of my primers only fire on the second strike?"

The new Frankfort Arsenal has an adjustable seater ram, AND feeds primers.

Primal Rights uses pick up tubes and is also adjustable.

These two are the fastest options with greatest feel and adjustment on the market. I prefer a bench primer over hand primers - I use a Bald Eagle with a Lee Safety Prime set up to feed it.

My $.02. It's biased - because I've only been priming one way the whole time I've been reloading. (Meaning I can't compare one method with another.)

I have a single stage press only, and I use the RCBS Hand Priming tool. I *think* the "feel" people comment on is being able to tell if something odd is happening - like if the primer is encountering too much resistance going into the primer cup (Primer pocket crimp not fully removed?) or knowing if the primer is fully seated. In both instances, you're dealing with smaller moving parts that can all be held and felt with your hand. So the "fine grained" feedback is pretty high. As opposed to (as I said - I can only imagine since I've never primed with the press) trying to get that same feel transmitted through the press's ram....linkage...and up the handle to your hand. That's a LOT of metal to go through to try and get a sense for what is happening between that little primer and the primer cup.

Knock on wood: I haven't yet detonated a primer. I did put one in sideways once. And I think another was put in upside down. Sometimes they drop from the tray into the priming tube in the wrong orientation. I've developed the muscle memory of raising the primer up to the base of the shellholder so I can look at it and confirm the primer orientation is right. Then I'll put the case in the shellholder and prime it.

@otisrush - you can generally tell if your primer pockets are too loose for continued use, or feel if you’re going to have some odd SD’s if your seating tension feel is completely off.

Where does the basic misconception that primers should bottom out in the pocket come from? This seems to be a lack of the basic concept of what is going on here, or perhaps a miscommunication. They should, in fact, go well past that point to a significant amount of compression. We all know this intuitively if our ammo goes bang. This is determined by feel, sound, etc. We all know that little clunk in the last few thousandths of the priming stroke. This is your anvil compressing down against the cup, and with most brass/primers occurs at a relatively uniform depth. Not to say seating at a specific depth is the end-all, but it does confirm NO high primers and given consistent components lends to consistent compression of the primer pellet. There is a minimum point determined by your components and firearm that will preclude sufficient force to ignite the primer, and their is also a maximum where the primer pellet will be physically crushed and rendered inert. Goldilocks likes the middle ground.

Random 8 said:

Where does the basic misconception that primers should bottom out in the pocket come from?

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It's hardly a "misconception" when part of the energy from your firing pin strike is expended in seating your primer to the bottom of the pocket (where it should have been in the first place) and you have a misfire. But surprise, surprise - the primer fires on the second strike!

The misconception is that it should do more than bottom out at the edges of the cup. Appropriately seated, they are slightly compressed beyond the bottoming out point. This is a range of functionality, which will differ with individual firearms and components, not a set point. You didn't read past the first sentence, so I put the important part first this time.

When I was shooting BR lot used this.

https://www.sinclairintl.com/reload...nd-tools/sinclair-priming-tool-prod37732.aspx

This Christmas, I will have been reloading for 27 years, all sorts of calibers, handgun and rifle, etc. All priming has been done on an RCBS single stage press.

Steve in PA said:

. All priming has been done on an RCBS single stage press.

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Ditto,generally in multiples of 50.

tightgroup tiger said:

I like to prime on top of the press and set up my press so the ram is topped out when my primers are where I want them.
When I started reloading so many years ago I made this die out of old Lyman Jr turret press parts and it worked well. I machined out the body of it to fit the Lyman shell holder and machined out the plunger to sit in the ram like shell holders do.
But I was still touching all my primers.
View attachment 814144
So I finally bought a Lee Auto Prime II that had the flip tray and used it for years. It's sad they discontinued it. I never could figure out why.
View attachment 814145
It worked the same way mine did but I didn't have to touch the primers. Again, it's discontinued.
With my progressive Hornady press I prime 9mms on the press because of the thousands at a time I load on it. It does really well and I'm still not touching the primers.
If I had to start over and didn't have the Auto Prime II, I would be using a hand priming tool, I still wouldn't be touching each primer like when you prime on a single stage and I would learn the feel of how the primers are going into the cases and strengthen my hands at the same time. That can only help with using handguns. And they are auto feed like the Auto Prime above is
I have never bought one because I went the route I illustrated above but anything to keep you from touching the primers is a plus in my book.

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My brother uses one of those.
I use both the rcbs and Lee hand primers.

I'm convinced neither is safer or more accurate. They are both perfectly legit ways to get the job done, and I use both methods depending on what I'm doing.
If I want to load a few hundred rounds of .223 or 9mm, I hand prime.
If I just need to crank out a quick box of 20 hunting rounds, I just prime on the press.

I have never primed off the press. Cannot understand wanting to add another round of brass-handling for off-press priming. No interest.

I've done it both ways, but with the Lee Auto-Prime, I can sit in my warm (winter) or cool (summer) living room, versus the freezing (winter) or roasting (summer) basement where the press is.

I'll use my 550B for priming, but lately I've been hand priming. I use the LEE Auto Bench Prime, or the RCBS hand prime tool. I actually enjoy hand priming!

you can generally tell if your primer pockets are too loose for continued use, or feel if you’re going to have some odd SD’s if your seating tension feel is completely off.

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Or if you post load tumble, as they will fall out.

Pretty much I have tried it if they make it. These days I use the Lee round hand primer and will until they all wear out. Some of my stuff like 500 S&W or the WSM cases do not work in the Lee primer. For those I use a Ram Prime unit on top of the SS press. I like the CH4D type the best. I purchased that as a combo kit with their primer pocket swager. The thing with any hand held primer is the "feel" of the anvil hitting the pocket base then the little hitch as the outside cup bottoms out. It did not take me long to get the feedback figured out so that now I can feel the difference if something goes wrong. YMMV

These days I use the Lee round hand primer

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2 newer versions of the Lee hand primers and the old round ones are still the best IMO, wish I would have bought a couple spares.....