BJung
Member
What handprimer is similar to the old Lee handprimer? I once owned an old RCBS handprimer and didn't like it because changing out the shell holder was too much work.
Handprimer preference
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AJC1
Member
I use the rcbs universal no shell holder. Also the tray is square so dumping from the store container is not a problem. Fits the huge federal packaging trays just fine.
When I was starting out early last year, all anyone wanted to talk about were the K & M hand primers. Have seldom heard about them since.....but it's all I've ever used. Slow, as they are one at a time, but I'm also pretty slow and deliberate, so works for me.
https://kmshooting.com/product-category/general-prep-tools/primer-tools/
https://kmshooting.com/product-category/general-prep-tools/primer-tools/
AJC1
Member
21st century makes an equally precise tool, but ill say if you can't shoot the difference between match and regular primers then it's just a cool tool.
BJung
Member
I like the tray on the Lee handprimer. Is this RCBS handprimer a newer model?
Only reason I haven’t bought one is I already have a Sinclair and a 21st Century, but don’t rule it out, I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff
Broke a couple of Lee hand primers over the years. Currently have a RCBS. Broke a Lee bench prime too. Now I just prime with a Ram Prime on the press. I sometimes use the RCBS hand primer for a batch of 9mm. My hands have gotten older and weaker. My tolerance for fiddling with plastic parts that do not quite work right has gone down
GeoDudeFlorida
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BIZERKO666
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X2 on the Frankford Arsenal....
LiveLife
Member
Yes in that FA hand priming tool uses similar flat shell holders (12 comes with tool) that is compatible with Lee shell holders - https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Arsenal-Platinum-Perfect-Reloading/dp/B01B7OYUVC/ref=sr_1_1?
I am still using the original Lee Auto Prime (I ordered extra handles before they discontinued the tool and I do not like the newer XR hand primer) but hands are getting stiffer and have Lee bench prime on standby for eventual time when my hands are too stiff to prime.
GeoDudeFlorida
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I still have an original old Lee with several round trays. The FA is heavier but works about the same. I haven’t worn out either one yet.
I also like the old round tray Lee hand primer. When I learned they were discomtinued, I set my Lee hand primers aside for special uses and bought two of the RCBS universal shell holder hamd priming tool.
I keep one each set up for each primer size.
I like the RCBS hand primer tool except there are a few cases that do not work well in the tool.
25ACP is one, it is too smalll. 45 Colt kind of works in the shell holder but the small rim slips out of the shell holder if the primer is difficult to seat.
I’ve discovered one or two more that don’t work well in the shell holder but I forget which ones they are as I do not load them very often. If I remember correctly, .410 brass shotshell cases might be one of them. But I have slept a bit since the last time indulged a bit of Canadian whiskey and reloaded some 327 Fed Mag cases.
I keep one each set up for each primer size.
I like the RCBS hand primer tool except there are a few cases that do not work well in the tool.
25ACP is one, it is too smalll. 45 Colt kind of works in the shell holder but the small rim slips out of the shell holder if the primer is difficult to seat.
I’ve discovered one or two more that don’t work well in the shell holder but I forget which ones they are as I do not load them very often. If I remember correctly, .410 brass shotshell cases might be one of them. But I have slept a bit since the last time indulged a bit of Canadian whiskey and reloaded some 327 Fed Mag cases.
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JFrank
Member
BJung
Member
Does an adjustable primer seater imrprove accuracy? I would think that priming one at a time as being too time consuming.
JFrank
Member
As long as you seat the primer to the bottom of the pocket plus a slight crush you will be fine /in a no harm zone so to speak.
When it comes to long range guys we like to think reducing every variable will pay dividends and increase accuracy, ignition is an area that definitely shows on paper.
Either way they are both excellent tools that really imo are not cumbersome or slow.
AJC1
Member
Every factor you can control leads to better consistency. Precision primer control is pretty far down the list, but is a factor.
.308 Norma
Member
Sitting in front of the TV is time consuming. I do about 98% of my priming with an RCBS hand priming tool while sitting in front of the TV in the living room. Of course, I often have some cases getting clean in the vibrating tumbler in the basement at the same time.
rwilky78
Member
Frankford Arsenal hands down.
Varminterror
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I grew up on round tray Lee primers, but have largely come to despise hand priming.
I also am one who likely won’t ever use any priming system which isn’t adjustable - and absolutely won’t use a priming system which doesn’t also offer extremely dexterous feedback for seating for any of my ammo with higher expectations than simple Red-Blooded American blasting.
I also am one who likely won’t ever use any priming system which isn’t adjustable - and absolutely won’t use a priming system which doesn’t also offer extremely dexterous feedback for seating for any of my ammo with higher expectations than simple Red-Blooded American blasting.
JFrank
Member
My hands are not strong enough anymore to wrestle one of those. The newer higher end models of hand primers are super smooth.
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Charlie98
Member
There are two RCBS hand primers... the one that requires a shell holder, and the Universal. I have the Universal... it does not require shell holders, it uses a spring-loaded cleat to hold the case, which works well for about 99% of the time. Leverage is about the same or a bit better than the old Lee, which I also had. Some primers I can squeeze in with one hand, some require me to use both hands to make sure it's seated all the way.
Bottom Gun
Member
I've used three different hand priming tools but found I like the RCBS 9460 bench mounted tool better.
https://www.rcbs.com/priming-and-powder-charging/bench-mounted/automatic-priming-tool/16-9460.html
https://www.rcbs.com/priming-and-powder-charging/bench-mounted/automatic-priming-tool/16-9460.html
A similar question was asked of Frankford Arsenal about Garand ammunition in a 1960's American Rifleman magazine. My recollection was Frankford Arsenal replied that they did not seat primers according to pressure, or any other characteristic than depth. Their punches were set up from 0.00 to 0.006" below case head.
Shooters are extremely obsessive compulsive about measurements, leading to an obvious example of "the appearance of precision supports the delusion of control". I am going to claim that precision primer seating is an example of this bias, that is precise seating of primers must produce precision, because precise processes obviously produce precise outcomes. All so obvious. And so false.
Sometimes precision creates control, but that has to be tested to see if it does. Controlling one variable out of of a hundred thousand does not produce precision, nor does it actually control anything except one variable.
California rain dancers continue to dance. Get the dance right, and it has to rain. Right?
Eley pointed this out with those who measure rimfire case rims. The rim sorters then show groups where their precisely measured and sorted rim fire ammunition is more accurate. What the rim sorters are doing is something called the Texas Sharpshooter fallacy. Rim sorters shoot five shot, maybe ten shot groups and make universal population inferences on these small samples. Eley put up a chart where they were controlling somewhere between 100 and 200 dimensions per round, and yet, the rim sorters are only measuring one. Eley recommended shooting the ammunition, and finding the best lot based on wind tunnel testing of forty shot groups. Forty shots is only a start. It takes me many more groups downrange before I have real confidence in any lot of match 22lr. But it is a start. A National Champion I talked to, that person can tell if the lot is good or not based on one box of 50 rounds. Obviously that person knows what they are doing, whereas I am sort of wobble on my technique.
Primers are hugely complex in their own right, but we don't see it. The mixture varies in composition, the ingredients vary in purity, the mixture is never completely homogeneous. The ignition dwell, energy output, flame temperatures, matter ejected, these things vary per primer. And cup, anvil dimensions are just as plus and minus for each primer. And yet, the vast majority of reloaders view each and every primer as the same. You see this fallacy all the time: A primer is a primer and they are all identical to the tiniest details and their performance is identical.
I believe seating the primer below the case head is absolutely necessary for safety. I wish I had a way of measuring the gap between anvil and cup, but I don't. I do believe that cracking the primer cake in the cup will create misfires, and probably ignition irregularities based on inferences on dud rounds. I seat rifle primers by feel, and hope that what if feel leads to consistent ignition. It may not, I could be fooling myself that the pressure I feel is related to anything going on inside the pocket.
What I do know, is that if the bullets go in the middle, then my ammunition is good.
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I just like RCBS Universal hand primer, I must have been in the chips at one time because I bought one for Large and one for Small, because every time i need one, the guts are wrong size. I still have one with the shell holder, stays set up for 30-06. But seldom gets called up. The only other primer device I ever used was the one on the Rock Chucker and it has been removed years ago.
Dudedog
Contributing Member
Two or three versions later and none of the Lee ones are as good as the old round tray one IMO.
I am mostly using the FA one now.
Like .308 Norma I do most of my hand priming while watching TV. (Wear safety glasses)
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