bench mounted priming tool

[Dan Cash]

Bonanza Co-Ax hands down. If you do not set the case jaws up properly, you will have sideways primers but a little attention to detail enables trouble free priming. If any one has the Co-Ax device and does not want it/like it, I would take one more off your hands.

[Pressman]

Mr. Frog Person Sir: Herter's never made a primer tool.
Are you perhaps thinking of the Lachmiller?

[Zingger]

I can pipe up for the RCBS. First rate service if you ever break a primer tube......
The sensitivity is something else, you can feel the primer "bottom out" on each round. The only thing I haven't liked on mine is that the least bit of dirtiness of your shellholder tends to delay the primer assembly movement down. Keep 'er clean and runs awesome. It will take your reloading hobby to another level of precision.

[Shawlerbrook]

Another vote for the RCBS bench tool with tubes. Works like a charm and has a rhythm to it.

[Green Frog]

Mr. Frog Person Sir: Herter's never made a primer tool.
Are you perhaps thinking of the Lachmiller?

Somewhere down in the bowels of my basement is a loading tool that uses Herter’s Shell Holders... would that be a Lachmiller unit? I thought it had a Herter’s name tag affixed to it, but you know how notoriously poor amphibian memory is.

Froggie

[Eddie Southgate]

I have an old Lachmiller . Works for me when not priming on the press or using the 310 tool . Lachmiller may have been a source of tools for Herters .

[Rebel Dave]

Ram Primes for me. I have the RCBS, and the lee. Not real fast, but you get a real good feel using them. You know when the primers are seated.
Dave

[curiousgeorge]

Thanks to all for the suggestions and comments. I was leaning towards the rcbs unit but it never hurts to ask the people who are actually using the tools.
Thanks again. Steve

[44magLeo]

The only bench priming tool I have used Is the Lee. I like it. Not hard to use. Just have to let the arm spring back up on it's own. This gives just enough vibration to feed the next primer.
The feel is very good.
I like the fact you just dump primers out of the box into the tray, Put tray in toll and prime away.
I started reloading in about 1978 with an RCBS Rocker Press and primed on the press. It didn't take long to switch to a Lee hand prime tool. Filling those tubes was slow and not hard to spill primers. One oops with the rube and primers go all over.
Used the Lee tool for many years and found it was starting to bother my hands. Switched to Lee's Ergo Prime. Much better. Still was tiring.
I started to read about the Lee bench prime and some of the issues people were having. I waited a few years before I bought one. Found that most of the issues people had were operator error.
It did take a few tries to get things figured out. Now I can prime all day with no hand issues.
If you live near other reloaders perhaps you can find people that have both the RCBS and Lee units you can try. Actual use tells you more than a few opinions.
Leo

[Three44s]

My bench unit is what RCBS called their Standard model. It is made like the Lachmyer with a cam that pushes the priming rod to seat the primer. It uses standard shell holders and has no provision for feeding primers. It has been out of production for many years.

I use the RCBS hand tool that has a priming tray and also uses regular shell holders for my main priming chores.

The cases that have what I deem to be a high primer get a treatment on the Lachmyer style tool.

I have a Forester coax priming seater. I don’t like it much!

I have a Lee Ram Prime and it works fine but it does tie up a press.

Three44s

[15meter]

I've use the primer arms on single/turret presses, loading a single primer in each time. I've used the Lee ram prime, both the Lee handheld and the RCBS handheld with the primer tray.

I ended up with an RCBS bench prime unit with a bunch of dead guy stuff, was going to sell it, but I set it up just to try it out and see how it works. Glad I did.

For me it is the most consistent priming tool I've used. Sold all the other ones.

I use, Dillon primer tubes and follower instead of the RCBS tubes. They seem to work better, I had to drill a second hole further up the tube for the hairpin clip to hold the primers in until I was ready to load.

The follower makes it feed the last two or three primers much more consistently. I was having the occasional primer being spit out when the tube was almost empty.

[salpal48]

RCbS currently is one of the best on the market . that was not always the case. I have and still use on a Regular basis . " The Gun Clinic. . big , Bulky and flawless.

[fast ronnie]

I've use the primer arms on single/turret presses, loading a single primer in each time. I've used the Lee ram prime, both the Lee handheld and the RCBS handheld with the primer tray.

I ended up with an RCBS bench prime unit with a bunch of dead guy stuff, was going to sell it, but I set it up just to try it out and see how it works. Glad I did.

For me it is the most consistent priming tool I've used. Sold all the other ones.

I use, Dillon primer tubes and follower instead of the RCBS tubes. They seem to work better, I had to drill a second hole further up the tube for the hairpin clip to hold the primers in until I was ready to load.

The follower makes it feed the last two or three primers much more consistently. I was having the occasional primer being spit out when the tube was almost empty.

I really like my rcbs bench primer, but have had the same thing happen when down to the last primer or two. Next time, I think I will reach over to the dillon for the follower and give it a try. Thanks for a great idea.
Ron

[Winger Ed.]

[QUOTE=fast ronnie;4745155] Next time, I think I will reach over to the dillon for the follower and give it a try.

Hornady got with the program and sends a thin plastic rod as a follower for the tube on their AP--
same tube for their other primer tools and fit RCBS too.

Before that, I made my own.
One was a piece of Plumber's/Hardware store Silver Solder I'd scrounged.
Another was a solid piece of #12 home wiring Copper Wire I laboriously straightened out.
A piece 1/8th inch Brass brazing rod should work too, but being heavy, I wouldn't put it down the tube until it started getting low.

[15meter]

RCbS currently is one of the best on the market . that was not always the case. I have and still use on a Regular basis . " The Gun Clinic. . big , Bulky and flawless.

I've got one of the gun clinic ones, picked it up used with out primer tubes, started to make tubes for it and got the RCBS, that back burnered the Gun Clinic unit. I forgot I had it until this thread and photo popped up. In the 'tween season, the crappy weather between shooting/motorcycle riding and iceboating weather, I'll have to get it out and see if I can get it working. It's a very cool piece of hardware.

[Ed in North Texas]

Bonanza Co-Ax hands down. If you do not set the case jaws up properly, you will have sideways primers but a little attention to detail enables trouble free priming. If any one has the Co-Ax device and does not want it/like it, I would take one more off your hands.

That has been my experience, though I have to say that the Forster jaw adjustment design change makes the setup easier for me (I have both a brown and red).

Cut the edge of an RCBS square primer flipper so I can load the tubes easier.

[luv45acp]

Wow dude. All that and if you would have read his post he said he has a “Lyman Ram Prime Die” He’s asking about bench top priming systems. smh

Back when I first started reloading I used a RCBS Ram Prime die that screwed into my RCBS Single Stage RS-3 like a regular reloading die. It came with both large & small primer shaft & cups, and it worked very well for me until I got some turret presses that had either the tube style or the arm style primer seating methods. I even have a couple of hand type ones, but I know that I will always be able to go back to using the RCBS Ram Prime if I ever run into the issues you are dealing with now.

Here is what I am talking about if you are not familiar with them:
https://www.rcbs.com/priming/bench-mounted/16-9165.html


They are listed at about $31.00 at RCBS but a little less expensive at Grafs, Midway & other folks that sell such things around $25-28.00 if you are interested in one.

G'Luck! whatever ya decide to do!

[44magLeo]

Well, I guess you can call a ram prime a bench mounted priming tool. The press you put it in is mounted to a bench.
Leo

[georgerkahn]

I have and use three of the RCBS bench mounted units. Darrel Holland -- https://www.hollandguns.com/32m7/par...cessories.html -- has his Perfect Priming System which -- if not, is pretty durned close . I bought his add-on's to make one from an existing RCBS unit. If nothing else, his spring which raises the handle is, imho, worth its weight in gold! If one is really OCD to get as close to 100% repeatable, accurate loads -- the Holland system is the way to go.
geo

[country gent]

I have had and used the rcbs single prime tool with out the tubes. I made one that is a rack and pinion drive and used it a lot again a handloading of the primers. I do use the lee ram prime in my summit press also. Today at the local gun shoe I picked up the rcbs auto bench mounted tool used but clean and in good shape. It has brass primer tubes and they appear to be for 50 primers not 100. Not a big deal. came home and glued together 2 pieces of 2 x 4 to hold it in my vise. will mount it on them tomorrow