Need a hand held primer

[Offfhand]

Among bench mounted priming tools the king of the mountain is/was the one made by Gun Clinic. Nothing comes close but they are no longer made and folks who own one would be about as inclined to give up their first born as to let it go. Among hand held tools the one made by Magnum Metal is a gem, beautifully made and precisely adjustable, but also pricey and too small for many hands.
Which is why it is only my No.#3 choice. My No.#1 choice is also no longer made so glad I have extras. Attached are photos of the Gun Clinic and Magnum Metal units...

 

[Jack B.]

I am not recommending that anyone buy anything or do anything. But allow me to say a few things.



How many times has a handloader, a handloader that exercises good handloading procedure, had a primer detonate while seating it? No doubt there is 1 or 2 stories out there. But in general it's rare.

May I ask what are the chances of a primer setting off during the first seating vs. a possible second seating? Can someone offer up a percentage?

Of course I'm not the measure of all things handloading. I have handloaded in excess of 45,000 rounds pistol ammo. Compared to same that's nothing, compared to others that's 10 lifetimes worth. But in those 45,000 rounds I have not had a single primer detonation while seating them.

I also have reseated well over 20,000 primers on (gasp!) live ammo. I happen to know other revolver shooters that do the same and can say that among them roughly 200,000 reseats no issues.

Again, not saying do it, just offering a personal experience. I use an RCBS bench mounted primer. While I hate the thought of priming off press, I have been thinking that I might start doing so because I think in the long run it might save some time. In my auto-loaders, having primers seated below flush is not required but for revolvers with action work it's Federal primers seated below flush, or game over... period.

 

[Jack B.]

If in doubt , throw it out.!

 

[Dudedog]

Lee recommended against using certain type of primers in the old round tray tool.
Not to say it can't happen but I never had any issues with the round try one with CCI primers.
So along came the "safer" square tray. It wanted to feed primer sideways so you could mangle them to see if they would go off. Never managed to set on off, mangled a couple
New Triangle shaped tray is better than the square one, safer than the round one, but the old round one is still my favorite. *Triangle one is a close second)

Anyway Lee shell Holders for the priming tool are cheap.
Kit with 11 is $15.99 Lee PN 90198 (holders for most common cartridges)
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/566058/lee-auto-prime-hand-priming-tool-shellholder-pack-of-11
has #s 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,11,19
Otherwise it's about $4 for 1.
Priming tool $16.85
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/413473/lee-new-auto-prime-hand-priming-tool
Individual holders
https://www.midwayusa.com/s?userSearchQuery=lee priming tool

Don't own a Dillon but the post it notes seem worth a try, feeler gauge the right thickness might work also.

 

[9mmepiphany]

With the new triangular tray, the only warning concerns Federal Large Rifle Primers...that's a pretty large advancement from avoiding all Federal primers

 

[Rule3]

If you use a Lee Classic Turret, the priming arm pushes up against the seated primer on every cycle, which means 3 "reseatings" for every round. It doesn't pop primers.

Not really, unless you push it hard enough to collapse the little spring in the primer arm, like when actually seating a primer. and it is not
"slamming" the primer after a bullet has been seated and crimped.

 

[ATLDave]

Not really, unless you push it hard enough to collapse the little spring in the primer arm, like when actually seating a primer.

Not correct. Go look at a LCT with the ram fully lowered (arm fully up) and no brass in the shellplate. You will see that the primer arm extends well into the shellplate's vertical depth (i.e, up past where the very bottom of the brass would be). There is no "spring IN the primer arm." There is a spring around the primer arm. The sole function of that spring is to extend (and allow the retraction of) the little sleeve that holds the primer in place atop the primer arm until it is in the brass. That's all that spring does.

If you fully cycle the arm of the LCT, you will be putting the primer arm back into the seating position on every stroke. You can short-stroke it. You can seat the primer so adequately on the first stroke that no material force is applied. But the LCT returns to a seating arm/brass relationship on every full stroke.

As to "slamming," that has only to do with the speed of operation. It is inadvisable to slam much of anything during reloading work, with the exception of inertial bullet pullers! Nobody attempting to re-seat a primer in a loaded round (or an empty cartridge, for that matter) should "slam" anything.

 

[Walkalong]

Nobody attempting to re-seat a primer in a loaded round (or an empty cartridge, for that matter) should "slam" anything.

Amen to that.

 

[ATLDave]

Amen to that.

I would think consensus on this point would come easily!

In running a progressive, I have seated primers sideways, crushing and bending them flat. While I don't advise that, they did not pop (to my great relief)... because I wasn't slamming things around. Primers need velocity to pop them on a reliable basis.

 

[Rule3]

Not correct. Go look at a LCT with the ram fully lowered (arm fully up) and no brass in the shellplate. You will see that the primer arm extends well into the shellplate's vertical depth (i.e, up past where the very bottom of the brass would be). There is no "spring IN the primer arm." There is a spring around the primer arm. The sole function of that spring is to extend (and allow the retraction of) the little sleeve that holds the primer in place atop the primer arm until it is in the brass. That's all that spring does.

If you fully cycle the arm of the LCT, you will be putting the primer arm back into the seating position on every stroke. You can short-stroke it. You can seat the primer so adequately on the first stroke that no material force is applied. But the LCT returns to a seating arm/brass relationship on every full stroke.

As to "slamming," that has only to do with the speed of operation. It is inadvisable to slam much of anything during reloading work, with the exception of inertial bullet pullers! Nobody attempting to re-seat a primer in a loaded round (or an empty cartridge, for that matter) should "slam" anything.

Spring--- around, under, so sorry.

Slamming can be how hard one pushes on the arm thingy.

Lets get all technical about a Lee TP.

I do need to "look" at one. I been looking and using one for a 100 years in many calibers.
Once the primer is IN then the primer arm plunger(holder, widget, thingy) does not push the primer in any further (it can't) as the primer is seated so it's not exerting any extra force (enough) to detonate it.

AMEN, say 3 Hail Marys or whatever. On and on we go.

In the words of smart Wives everywhere. WHATEVER



For the OP

Buy a Sinclair stainless steel one at a time primer toll for $100.

And if your primed the brass and it is loaded you probably sized the brass as mentioned.

 

[ATLDave]

I been looking and using one for a 100 years in many calibers.

That's got to be some kind of record! Congratulations!

Once the primer is IN then the primer arm plunger(holder, widget, thingy) does not push the primer in any further (it can't) as the primer is seated so it's not exerting any extra force (enough) to detonate it.

That's mostly right. If the primer is seated as deeply as it can be on the first cycle, then it won't get any more seated on subsequent strokes. If not, it will. It it were dangerous to apply any additional seating force to a primer just because there's a bullet on top, then LCT users would be popping loaded rounds all the time. They aren't.

And that's because "force" isn't enough to pop a primer. Slowly deforming a primer will generally not set it off. Power sets off primers - power, unlike force, has a time component. Fast force (power) is what pops primers. And it helps if the force is concentrated on small area, which is why firing pins are shaped very differently than primer seating arms.

Since we're all in agreement that nobody should be seating primers fast (whether in an empty or full case, the first time or re-seating), we're not applying much power. And because primer seating arms are flat, not pointed like a firing pin, we're not concentrating it.

The consequences of inadvertently applying too much power (i.e., slamming things around) are worse if it happens under a loaded round. There is no apparent reason to think that the likelihood of applying too much power is greater just because there is powder and and bullet in the case.

 

[Rule3]

That's got to be some kind of record! Congratulations!

.

Plus my Grandfather who also taught my Father who had me hand loading when I was 3 years old.

What the heck was the OP topic anyway?

I got to go tend to the Ribs slow cooking on the smoker. Maybe we can debate the correct wood to use later
I am partial to a mix of Oak, Hickory and Apple to cover all bases.

 

[ATLDave]

Agreed. Save the mesquite for fajitas or pork green chile.