POS lee safety primer feed

[snuffy]

After seeing many glowing reports on here and other forums, I bought a classic turret from midway. Then I realized that it would be better if I got the safety primer feed and the pro disc with extension.

I spent several hours yesterday trying to get the primer feed to work. Out of maybe a hundred tries, I got 3 or four primers of each size to actually get put on the priming lever! The rest went on the floor or didn't feed at all!:banghead: The whole shebang almost went out the door into a considerable snowbank!

The disc measure works great! The first powder I tried was WC-820, which is an extremely fine ball powder. I expected it to leak a little, was not disappointed when it did. It was VERY CONSISTENT! though. I know it will work better with "normal" powders.

Now don't take this wrong, I have a LOT of Lee products, ALL of them work as advertised. I hate to have something kick my butt like this, I'm determined to get it to work. Others have them, they work, so should mine.

Is there any tricks to try? It appears to be lined up properly, and mounted correctly, it just seems to not go into the press far enough to place the primer in the cup. I tried to make it work out of the press, hand holding the primer lever and feeder in alignment, it works every time!

 

[Impax]

The way I did mine was to loosen the mounting bolt. Then operate the safety prime, remembering to push in and down, hold it there and tighten the bolt.

 

[jrumsey]

With the ram up against the sizing die does the safety prime sit to high or is to low to the cup. It may just be as easy as changing the ram travel by adjusting the sizing die. How about the spacer for the bracket that bolts to the press are they in the right order. With mine it would drag the primer out of the cup some times on the return, so I shimmed the bracket a little more to rasie the safety prime. Hope this helps.

Joe

 

[pinkymingeo]

The safety prime has to hit the primer cup dead-on. That's why the bracket is adjustable. Loosen the nut and try things until it's almost 100%. I say almost, because you'll probably drop at least 1 primer per 100rds. Some guys have resorted to grinding a corner off the washer that goes on top of the bracket for turret clearance when the thing is adjusted far enough left to their liking.

 

[snuffy]

How about the spacer for the bracket that bolts to the press are they in the right order.

Uh huh, or at least I think so. Impossible to tell from the alleged instructions! A tiny picture of a big picture printed on the instructions that focus on putting it on the classic cast press! The instruction sheet for the press is better, but you still can't see what order the spacer and washer go in. The video on the lee website is just about as useless!

Like this?

The thick spacer is under the plastic bracket, the plated, odd shaped washer is on top of the plastic thingy. As far as shimming it up or down, can't the same thing be done by moving the ram? I tried it with the ram all the way up in an empty turret hole, under each die, even not all the way up. It made no difference.

 

[RustyFN]

If the trigger is dragging the primer back out of the cup then install a washer or two under the black bracket that the primer tray sets into. Once you get it set right I think you will be very happy with it. I load the primer tray with 200 primers and once in a while I will have one primer out of the 200 that doesn't go in right. It took a little adjusting to get to that point but it wasn't that bad.
Rusty

 

[Uncle Chan]

I can't address the primer issue. I do that on a single stage seperate. As for the Auto Pro, I shoot h335 and it ain't consistent. I get anywhere from 24.5 to 25.3 grains per charge. I'm not impressed. However, I do think the turret is a good machine.

 

[jrumsey]

I used a thin SS washer for a 1/4" bolt its outside dia. was the roughly the same as the thick spacer and the hole was big enough for the 5/16" bolt used on the press. It raised the safety prime up about a 1/16" just enough that it did not drag on the primer cup, give this a try. So far for me the safety prime gets smoother the more it is used, expect a break in period.

Joe

 

[snuffy]

Shazam! Rusty and jrumsey had the answer. I simply didn't try the ram low enough for the sliding bar that transfers the primer from the chute to the cup to clear the cup. I put two standard ¼ washers under the black spacer supplied with the machine. Now it dispenses nearly every time. I expect that with use it will smooth up as it gets broken in.

I AM very happy with the rest of the classic turret. But I knew it would be a good machine, I had the older 4 holler, sold it when I got my dillon. This press is a vast improvement over the older cast aluminum press.

 

[RustyFN]

I'm glad you got it worked out Snuffy. I hope you enjoy the classic as much as I've enjoyed mine.
Rusty

 

[cracked butt]

Just visually check that it sets a primer every time. I've loaded a few lots of a 100 or so 30-06 or 6.5 swede rounds and found a primer mising while at the range.

....And don't baby the priming arm. It feels like a cheap flimsy piece of crap, but they like to be manhandled for best results.