Wow, didn't expect the thread to get so long. As a general message: I accept and evaluate everyone's suggestions, but we all know everyone does everything differently, as for example some people like to figuratively speaking dip their Glocks in oil, while the really effective lubricating procedure that not just prolongs the weapon's life but increases its reliability only takes about 3 drops of oil in strategic locations, and demands the full understanding of exactly what happens and how. I think this is valid here as well, because progressives are complex machines. I started off with one, so my learning curve is very steep.
dmazur said:
Maybe I'm missing something...
Does Lee include the Explosion Deflector with the press now? Or is it a $5 accessory for those who simply don't like primer chain reactions.
If I was Lee, I would offer the durn thing free to anyone who could offer minimal proof that they owned one of the troublesome presses.
After a bit of looking at the press and observing the damage I concluded this: what "went off flying" was of course the entire plastic primer system and the
anvils of the primers, since all primers point "upwards" as they are in the tray.
Here's a picture of the press with an arrow showing the primer tray:
Maybe a bit difficult to see here, but the tray is tilted at around 45 degrees upwards and towards the press.
This actually prevented me from having to dig out the primer anvils out of my face, but my point is that if there is any kind of blast protection then it would have to cover the entire priming system to be completely safe.
This makes me wonder if the Lee blast shield is more of a liability waiver than an effective device to prevent serious damage and/or accident. At any rate from my unfortunate experience the system by itself as it is now will "direct" the blast up at an angle not pointing at the reloader, so Lee actually does have a safer design in that sense.
By the way I have looked and found no injury to myself, so I was so to speak "safe" when this happened, but too close for comfort anyway.
kingmt said:
I can fell the primers seating on my load master. If you are filling a pop as the primers seat then you need to swage the primer pockets. I swage all new to me brass. I find Speer pockets are still tight.
You need to go back to the basics & pay more attention. Learn each step until you have it perfected. Not that you won't make a mistake here & there but if you crush them often you need to make a change.
I don't know if its the caliber (9mm para) that I am loading, or just me, or your particular sensitivity that makes you say that, but I do not agree at all.
As I wrote, on the positive stroke 7 things happen almost simultaneously: de-priming, sizing, priming, throat expansion, powder filling, bullet seating and crimping. Some primers make a popping sound when de-primed followed by a "pinnnnnng" sound of the de-priming pin, some don't. Some cases are easely sized (and 9mm being conical this is very true) and some don't, all depending on the chamber size they were fired in and brass thickness, as well as surface friction between case and die. Some primer pockets are primed with a "pop", though I experience this very rarely, and some are gently pushed in in complete silence. As I wrote I use a mish-mash of brass so hence the results.
A primer being crushed or pushed into a tight pocket just offers so minute amount of resistance compared to anything else that its negligible and that's exactly what happened when this Federal primer went off.
If we were speaking of a single-stage press, or other calibre, or a press using same exact brand of brass for every cartridge I would certainly agree that the process would be much more consistent and predictable.
kingmt said:
I can't speak to how the Load Master does without a die in station 2 because I always size in that station.
Then you may be doing so contrary to the instructions in the manual. The sizing die, at least for 9x19 when it is adjusted has to hit the indexing plate when it's at the top of the positive stroke. I did set it just so, with the small adjustment of backing off maybe 1/8 or 1/16 of a turn so the die does not make physical contact with the indexing wheel but goes still as far as it can go down on the case.
If you put the sizing die in station 2 you will have a problem; you firstly lose the possibility to de-prime in that station and secondly your die will never go as far down as it can in station 1 because of the small plastic lever in the priming system that every rotating case triggers once it passes it. If you set it as low as in station 1 you will crush that lever and you will not be able to prime.
My idea is to have an empty (minus the de-priming pin) sizing die in station 2 positioned above this plastic lever, but still as far down as possible so that it centers the case as much as it can. Since for 9x19 the sizing die is conical it won't be 100% centered after station 1, but it will be better than nothing at all.
gamestalker said:
Another reason why I remain content with my single stage press.
That is probably best for very consistent and precise ammo, but I am into practical shooting and use around 200-500 rounds every time I am at the range, and that feels too little to me to keep improving my skills, hence the progressive press. I will get a single stage - but that will be exclusively for match grade rifle ammo where such diligence pays off and is more or less necessary.
JLDickmon said:
LOOK at each primer as it sits in the ram before you seat it into the case.
That may turn out to be not reloading, but a full time job for me if I am to do that for every primer and reload as much as I do.
Jokes aside, there is no issue with the Lee priming system. It puts the primer where it should be, and only on the top of the stroke it actually pushes it out of it's small hole and up into the primer pocket of the case. The big issue I am having (may post pics of it someday) are loose powder grains - I use N330 that has stick powder, that is quite sticky and like to hang on even to dry and clean surfaces - that get stuck inside the rim of the indexing wheel. This prevents the brass from being where it should be and thus the primers get misaligned. I will however solve this by cleaning the rims of the indexing wheel perhaps every 50 rounds, and get a die to center the cases better.
ChefJeff1 said:
After popping some primers on a Lee Loader, I make it a rule to keep a lid on my powder hopper and keep the lid on the powder container and primers off the table. I couldn't imagine the powder hopper igniting indoors!
I always keep the lid on my hopper on, no matter if it's empty or not.
For future reloading I will a) not put more than 100 primers in the priming tray at a time and b) have the hopper filled to no more than a third, to minimize whatever could go wrong if it goes wrong.
Certaindeaf said:
got 4k Federal recently though as CCI was not available there then. Pray for me.. lol
Be a little more careful. As many here have said, verify that the primer is sitting right and go the heck easy.
Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again. -
G.W.Bush
Hope I quoted him right, he he. Nope, for me Federal is a no-no. Does not seem to matter if or how or what may go wrong, the fact that they all can go off is just... wrong and dangerous.
As I wrote the one primer that did go off and caused my mess was already physically separated from the rest by about 1/4" and the rest of the primers were behind this primer pin that pushes the primer upwards plus a plastic "lever" that ejects them one by one. Didn't matter... they all went off anyway.
So yes, a prayer for you, but for me not using them anymore is better.