entropy
Member
Yeah, when I have to replace the Lee, it will be a Frankford Arsenal.
Best hand priming tool
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RainDodger
Member
I never used a hand priming tool until I saw the "new" Frankford Arsenal tool. It has what I consider an indispensable ability - you can adjust the primer's seating depth in .001" increments with a dial. It completely eliminates any need for a subjective "feel" when seating a primer. It's also a very heavy-duty tool and seems well constructed with quality steel and aluminum parts. Instead of having to heat up my workshop in the winter, I can sit in the house and prime in comfort. It's all good. 
Edit: oops... just saw Bill's mention of this tool above... great minds...
Edit: oops... just saw Bill's mention of this tool above... great minds...
I owned a FA hand priming tool for a short time. It was ergonomically horrible for my smaller hand, and priming was a very high effort affair. I also had problems fully seating primers regardless of how the seating depth adjustment was set. Hand soreness would set in after seating just a few dozen primers.
Perhaps something was wrong with my copy. Conversely, I can easily prime 100 cases with minimal thumb effort on a Lee Auto Prime hand priming tool.
Perhaps something was wrong with my copy. Conversely, I can easily prime 100 cases with minimal thumb effort on a Lee Auto Prime hand priming tool.
TheotherMikeG
Member
I'm happy enough with my FA. Not perfect, but I don't expect any priming tool is. I had to send the first one back due to feed issues and the inability to control seating depth, but the replacement has been solid with just a few hiccups every now and then. I'd buy it again, fwiw.
I love my old RCBS shell holder hand primer. It's fast, don't have to remove the primed case, just let it drop, it has high leverage which is easy on my old hands, etc. But it's creasing small primers (stem obviously kilted). I've done everything I can to remedy it, but no luck, so I tried a Frankford primer since everyone seemed to like them. Well guess what, not as easy to prime with and it still creased small primers, so back it went, and I don't send much back.
These were seated with the old RCBS, you can see the crease, purely cosmetic, and they always go bang, but I don't like it.
These were seated with the old RCBS, you can see the crease, purely cosmetic, and they always go bang, but I don't like it.
Blue68f100
Member
While looking at the crease it looks like the brass is not centering. Either going in to far or not enough. May be something to check and may correct the problem.
kmw1954
Member
I too am still using the Lee Auto Prime II and lovin it! With this I can adjust the die body up and down to control seating depth.
Started out with the RCBS universal hand primer, good leverage and fairly easy to use and change between large and small primers. Cons are that it takes high effort to insert large rimed cases, and once in a while, small cases (like 223) will pop out when priming effort is high (tight pocket).
Picked up a shell holder based RCBS hand primer (used from a member here) and loved it.
But with both hand primers, priming a large batch of brass gets painful on aging hands (200+ in one sitting). Ordered a Lee auto bench prime. Other than having to tap the feeding mechanism once in a while, priming with that thing was a joy! Very good leverage, but still good feel. But the high leverage was its downfall...I tend to be firm with my priming effort to make sure there a no high primers...the top part of the housing holding the shell holder failed. Putting an immediate end to the tool.
Just recently picked up a RCBS auto bench prime on sale. I was reluctant at first because of the rocking back and forth of the primer tube...but 3d printed a widget to mostly damp out the bounching. The leverage is not as high as the Lee, but that tradeoff is much better seating feel. The one down side is the time and effort to load the primers tubes...but I do intend to remedy with a vibrating primer filler...this is my primary priming tool currently.
If Lee would improve the shell holder part of the housing, I would go back to the Lee.
Picked up a shell holder based RCBS hand primer (used from a member here) and loved it.
But with both hand primers, priming a large batch of brass gets painful on aging hands (200+ in one sitting). Ordered a Lee auto bench prime. Other than having to tap the feeding mechanism once in a while, priming with that thing was a joy! Very good leverage, but still good feel. But the high leverage was its downfall...I tend to be firm with my priming effort to make sure there a no high primers...the top part of the housing holding the shell holder failed. Putting an immediate end to the tool.
Just recently picked up a RCBS auto bench prime on sale. I was reluctant at first because of the rocking back and forth of the primer tube...but 3d printed a widget to mostly damp out the bounching. The leverage is not as high as the Lee, but that tradeoff is much better seating feel. The one down side is the time and effort to load the primers tubes...but I do intend to remedy with a vibrating primer filler...this is my primary priming tool currently.
If Lee would improve the shell holder part of the housing, I would go back to the Lee.
It does it with all calibers using small primers, pistol and rifle, but I will certainly look at that, because maybe all the shell holders are cocked sideways because of wear on the tool. I didn't think of that. Doesn't do it with large primers though.
I think you're misunderstanding seating the primer below flush
It isn't about seating to the bottom of the primer pocket. It is about how much you pre-load the primer in the pocket
silicosys4
Member
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I started reloading on a Hornady LnL progressive. The priming system on that press has been troublesome from the first day. I think I've only gotten maybe 200 rounds through the LnL without a primer malfunction of some sort, whether a flipped primer, jammed shuttle, broken roller, or misaligned shuttle guide rods. Usually its loose powder flakes under the shuttle impeding it from snapping fully into position, locking up the press. I just dealt with it for years, as it was common but not common or frustrating enough to get me to throw in the towel.
Recently I had to rethink my reloading setup as I no longer have even a coffee table to reload on, so I bought a hand press and a FA hand primer.
I'm very happy with the FA hand primer. It has decent leverage and isn't too much effort to easily seat primers. The only time its been remotely problematic is in seating primers into LC brass that hasn't had the primer staking completely reamed out. Then it just took extra effort but worked fine. The feed works well, the unit is sturdy, seating effort is not tiresome for me, and the seating depth is easily adjustable. I would definitely recommend it for someone needing a solid dependable primer hand seater.
Recently I had to rethink my reloading setup as I no longer have even a coffee table to reload on, so I bought a hand press and a FA hand primer.
I'm very happy with the FA hand primer. It has decent leverage and isn't too much effort to easily seat primers. The only time its been remotely problematic is in seating primers into LC brass that hasn't had the primer staking completely reamed out. Then it just took extra effort but worked fine. The feed works well, the unit is sturdy, seating effort is not tiresome for me, and the seating depth is easily adjustable. I would definitely recommend it for someone needing a solid dependable primer hand seater.
I highly recommend the alignment tools from Bragging Rights Precision Reloading
Hornady has a different priming ram that addresses that issue
RainDodger
Member
As an aside, it IS possible to press a primer too hard against the bottom of the primer pocket. It's also possible to damage a primer when you do that, by pressing the anvil into the primer cup. Be careful not to seat a primer too deeply. Yes, a few years ago I experienced about a 10% failure to fire rate on some range ammo I loaded (9mm) and diagnosed that exact problem while talking to CCI tech support on the phone. I was using the OLD RCBS bench mounted tool (Model One I think) and it was possible to really cram those primers in there.... to the tune of about 2,000 cases... it was a painful learning experience. That's why I like the FA tool with the adjustable depth stop.
It's very hard to seat a primer so hard they fail, where in comparison it's very easy to seat one too soft and have it misfire. Seat primers firmly and make sure they bottom out.
"If the primer goes bang you don't have a problem" is what hall of fame Benchrest shooter/action maker Alan Hall told me at a registered Benchrest match a long time ago. (Short distance shooting)
That said, long distance shooters are very particular about seating primers exactly the same each time (Which generally includes unifying primer pockets to the same depth) to help in the search for very small ES/SD numbers.
"If the primer goes bang you don't have a problem" is what hall of fame Benchrest shooter/action maker Alan Hall told me at a registered Benchrest match a long time ago. (Short distance shooting)
That said, long distance shooters are very particular about seating primers exactly the same each time (Which generally includes unifying primer pockets to the same depth) to help in the search for very small ES/SD numbers.
A copy of an old primer seating post of mine.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...primers-before-shooting.832434/#post-10757047
"Primers need to be seated until the anvil legs touch the bottom of the primer pocket (Minimum), and then a little more so the cup pushes down around the legs, up until it hits the bottom of the primer pocket (Maximum).
If seated to little (Anvil legs not touching the bottom of the primer pocket), the firing pin has to seat it fully and then have enough energy left over to crush the priming compound between the cup and the anvil. Sometimes it does not, these are the ones that so often fire on the second try. The first try seats them fully, the second try fires them.
bds has some great primer pics here somewhere that shows the cup and anvil and how they are positioned with each other prior to seating. The anvil legs are sticking out of the cup just a little bit.
After fully seating the anvil's legs and the primer cup is hard against the bottom of the pocket, it takes a great deal of pressure at this point to damage the primer so much it fails.
It is fairly easy to seat a primer too soft, not fully seating it, so that it misfires, but difficult to seat them so hard it damages them to the point of not firing. This statement is based on my decades of seating primers with various tools. I have never had one fail from being seated to hard/deep. Not saying that with some primer tools and some gorilla grips it can't be done, but it is 100/1000 times less likely to happen than seating one too shallow/soft.
We have threads here all the time when failures to fire end up being primers seated too softly/shallow. I can't remember one where it turned out someone managed to crush a primer into submission. I would suggest to all to try it. Some priming systems simply cannot do it for mechanical reasons. Some might have enough travel to do it if you have the strength, That cup surrounded by the brass primer pocket is tough to crush. Very tough."
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...primers-before-shooting.832434/#post-10757047
"Primers need to be seated until the anvil legs touch the bottom of the primer pocket (Minimum), and then a little more so the cup pushes down around the legs, up until it hits the bottom of the primer pocket (Maximum).
If seated to little (Anvil legs not touching the bottom of the primer pocket), the firing pin has to seat it fully and then have enough energy left over to crush the priming compound between the cup and the anvil. Sometimes it does not, these are the ones that so often fire on the second try. The first try seats them fully, the second try fires them.
bds has some great primer pics here somewhere that shows the cup and anvil and how they are positioned with each other prior to seating. The anvil legs are sticking out of the cup just a little bit.
After fully seating the anvil's legs and the primer cup is hard against the bottom of the pocket, it takes a great deal of pressure at this point to damage the primer so much it fails.
It is fairly easy to seat a primer too soft, not fully seating it, so that it misfires, but difficult to seat them so hard it damages them to the point of not firing. This statement is based on my decades of seating primers with various tools. I have never had one fail from being seated to hard/deep. Not saying that with some primer tools and some gorilla grips it can't be done, but it is 100/1000 times less likely to happen than seating one too shallow/soft.
We have threads here all the time when failures to fire end up being primers seated too softly/shallow. I can't remember one where it turned out someone managed to crush a primer into submission. I would suggest to all to try it. Some priming systems simply cannot do it for mechanical reasons. Some might have enough travel to do it if you have the strength, That cup surrounded by the brass primer pocket is tough to crush. Very tough."
JFrank
Member
Primer pockets vary so having adjustable depth is a nice feature to have, not only for depth but we adjust for feel/ comfort of manipulating the tool to a hard stop or just off the tool body. @Walkalong has covered the reasons for setting the depth pretty well, no need to go back over that.
I will add that uniforming pocket depth and setting primers go hand in hand.
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Ok so i report to the esteemed reloading acolytes and other participants of this board. I bought a replacement primer feeder.
Loaded 200x today, zero tipped primers.
I conclude that lee primer feeder is a disposable part. Mine worked well for about 3.5k rounds.
Another conclusion that i make is that at current prices it makes no sense whatsoever to load 9mm rounds when you can get is for less that 30 cents.
Thank you for posting your recommendations. I must admit that most of them were of no use, others were apparently based on lack of knowledge and basic understanding of how a simple mechanism like a lee leadmaster works.
Loaded 200x today, zero tipped primers.
I conclude that lee primer feeder is a disposable part. Mine worked well for about 3.5k rounds.
Another conclusion that i make is that at current prices it makes no sense whatsoever to load 9mm rounds when you can get is for less that 30 cents.
Thank you for posting your recommendations. I must admit that most of them were of no use, others were apparently based on lack of knowledge and basic understanding of how a simple mechanism like a lee leadmaster works.
Offfhand
Member.
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- Apr 12, 2009
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Now that we have strayed from the topic of hand priming tools anyway, here are some interesting priming tools I've had and exerimented with: the one on top was made by Ferris Pindell, who is best known as the co-developer of the uber-accurate PPC benchrest calibers. He was also a master tool&die maker who made bullet making dies for Sierra and other bullet makers and even amateurs like me. He was forever designing and making tools and instruments to enhance the accuracy of handloads and searching for best way(s) to seat primers. Holding cases by the rim during the primer seating operation has long been recognized as a problematic link in the accuracy chain so Pindell made this tool to hold and center the case internally and supported inside the web directly in line with primer. It is a beautiful one-of-a-kind instrument and has an increditably sensitive feel. But after giving it a series of test runs we concluded that whatever theroretical accuracy advantages it offered were offset by time consumed in simply using it.
The other pics show the Gun Clinic bench primer seater that transfers and seats the primer horizontally rather than vertically like all other seaters. They were, and are, vastly superior to all other commercial offered bench type seaters but were sold in only limited numbers before disappearing back in the '70's. Another pic shows a simple instrument for precisely measuring primer depth.
The other pics show the Gun Clinic bench primer seater that transfers and seats the primer horizontally rather than vertically like all other seaters. They were, and are, vastly superior to all other commercial offered bench type seaters but were sold in only limited numbers before disappearing back in the '70's. Another pic shows a simple instrument for precisely measuring primer depth.
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So, after installation of a replacement primer feeder from lee, ive had 0 issues with primers so far (400 9 mm, 250 223). Keep your equipment in order, replace worn out parts and dont listen to ppl who have no clue what they are talking about (99% of this forum).
entropy
Member
Good advice, but that last bit wasn't very High Road.
Seems a bit counter productive to come to a forum and ask for advice, just to turn around and say 99% of us have no idea what we are talking about. That's the kind of thing that will sour people on wanting to help others.
.45Coltguy
Member
99% here don't know what we're talking about? Then, why ask for advice here? Scheese.
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