Lee auto prime+Federal primers=BOOM????

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BMcCoy

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The Lee manual says not to use Federal primers with the auto prime. I am a newb, just getting my equipment together. I bought 1000 Federal primers and was gonna buy an auto prime, but now am concerned. If it is dangerous, is there another cheap priming tool that I can use?


Ben
 
I ran thousands of Federal large rifle primers througha Lee tool years ago, with never a problem.

Of late I've used mostly Winchester. Still, never a problem.

CDD
 
Don't run them Federal primers through the Lee tool. Very dangerous... :evil:

By the way, those don't happen to be small rifle primers are they??? I would love to take one for the team and sacrifice myself to the danger and buy them from you.

:neener:Just kidding, Mate. You should be fine.

LGB
 
That wouldn't be good now would it??:p Do you guys think it would be ok, if I just put in a few at a time?

Ben
 
I dump 100 in the tray at a time, no worries. They don't take muster amongst themselves to see if it's time to blow up yet or not; don't mishandle your primers and you won't meet any suprises. You could do less, but I don't see a real benefit to that restriction.
 
BMcCoy: I did the same, and with Federal.

I complained to LEE about it and they said (with my semi-auto turret loader) use the "SAFETY PRIME", there are no limitations on that.

I've loaded over a thousand so far and it works easy enough. You need a little feel to get the seat flush, but it's not rocket science..
 
I appreciate all the answers guys. And lgbloader, they are small pistol primers:D Thanks for the offer though;)

Ben
 
I've been using a Lee Auto Prime II for over twenty years with Winchester, Remington, CCI and Federal. I've even tried to set one off during seating including cutting one in half as the ram came up and a primer (fed) was half in and half out. No Ka-Boom. Just two pieces of primer cup.

That doesn't mean it can't happen. So use the proper precautions such as safety glasses when reloading.
 
I've primed cases with thousands of federals with my Auto Prime. I've tried to prime a crimped military 9mm case and crushed the primer to pieces. Done that a few times actually... Now I sort judiciously. I have never had a primer go off from my hand prime, and I've given it plenty of opportunities. I've used small pistol primers, small rifle match/regular primers and large rifle match/regular primers, all federal.
 
What I read at Lee said that IF a primer went off in the Auto-prime, there could be a chain firing of more primers. They recommend a set number of specific primers by brand limit to avoid litigation.

The Federal is nixed because it's the easiest to fire and cause a chain of fires.
The others are listed by Lee's believed primer sensitivity by brand.

They hold no restrictions over the "Safety Primer".
 
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Just sign the disclaimer form (in other words use your own discrection) and use a little care (don't just ram and jam the suckers in there) and everything should be fine.

I've flattened some Federal pistol primers myself (by not paying 100% attention to what I was doing)
But i've never had one go off.

Safety glasses are a good option in the event if one did off.
 
It seems like I just responded to a post with this same topic recently!

I can't tell you how many thousands of Federal (and other brands), I've shoved through a Lee Auto Prime in the last 25 years. Never had an issue. It does take paying attention to what you're doing.

-Steve
 
I normally use the safety prime on my Lee Classic Turret and CCI primers. Recently it has been difficult to get any primers around here. I found some Federal Match Primers luckily. I dropped the primer arm/cup (for my LCT)while changing over from the small primer arm to the large. As luck would have it, it landed on the concrete floor at the exact angle to slightly bend the cup that holds the primer. Just enough bend to make using inconsistant. I called Lee and they sent me another one FREE. Anyway back to the story, I bought the autoprime a while back and had used it for rifle ammo (single stage). I remembered what Lee said about it in his book so I was nervous about using them. I only put 10 or so in the tray at the time. Everything went fine. Just be careful. I made sure there was only one primer in the shute by raising the autoprime ram a little and then rotating the primer tray so all the other primers went to the far side. I then shook the autoprime gently to get the primer pretty close to the center of the hole and then carefully seated the primer. You shouldn't have any problems.
 
Lee says not to use their tool with Federal primers. I'm not going to tell you it's okay. I will say I've used their tool with Federal primers. I put 50 in the tray at a time. I never had a problem. Only with Federal-- I wear safety goggles like I would if using a hammer and chisel/drift pin. I'm an experienced reloader. I primarily use Winchester primers but I've went through a couple hundred Federal. It is my understanding that Federal primers are the softest. "Softest" is not exactly the right term but you know what I mean. (I'm guessing some use Federal ammunition for self defense because they feel even a light firing pin strike will ignite the primer.)
 
I've had a kaboom with the Lee Pro1000 and Federal Primers.

I was loading some .38spl, Winchester commercial cases. A crimped primered Milspec. Winchester case had "snuck" into the brass box.

Upon pressing the ram foward, I had a loud bang, and flash. The primer tray dissintegrated like the foward face of a claymore mine, and made a shotgun pattern of plastic and primer components on a cardboard box behind the press. (Box for a Lee Auto prime II, ironically!......) Two small shards of plastic cut the thumb and knuckle of the hand (right) that was pressing foward on the ram. (I WAS WEARING SAFETY GLASSES, AND ALWAYS DO WHEN LOADING, CASTING, OR SHOOTING !!!)

I've continued to use Federal primers (It is MY press, on My property, MY COMPONENTS, and I'll do as I see fit...). Do as you please, but no preaching from the gallery, please..........BTDT

I've loaded over 2million rds on two Pro1000's, and 2 Loadmasters. I do use caution when loading Federal primers, and only use them in Revolver ammo. For semi-autos I prefer Winchester or CCI.

Most KaBooms of the primers in a progressive loader involve some sort of crimped primer so I try to avoid them altogether..........Pistol, or rifle....
 
i too have been using a lot of federal primers lately (seems to be all thats available when i find em locally)...and have yet to "set one off accidentally".

question for you Lee AutoPrime guys though...

i got an autoprime a few months ago (it was $13 @ kittery trading post, vs $85+ for an RCBS hand priming tool)...and have had nothing but crap luck with it since. ive double and triple checked that i'm using the right collet for .223, but it seems ANY of my LakeCity brass (05 and newer) is ridiculously tight to get in and out of the collet (it actually takes two hands and a LOT of force to get em in and out). LC04 and older headstamps work fine. i measured the rims of both vintages, and theres no appreciable difference (less than .002), and according to my calipers, the collet is still .03 LARGER than the rim/indents on the case.


any ideas? i'm about ready to throw the autoprime in the trash, and order the bench mounted RCBS.
 
I have also has a Federal primer go off on me. I attempted to load some military 9mm and the primer got mashed into the cup on the primer lever.

While trying to get the primer out of the cup the darn thing went off in my hand. Fortunatly I was being somewhat carefull and had the primer pointed away from me. What I had forgotten was that there was 100 fresh primers sitting in the tray right in front of me. Fortunatly no chain reaction this time.

It probably would have happened with any primer brand, not just Federal, but it sure put the fear of god in me!
 
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