Priming With Lee Loader - Any Accidental Discharges?

[bohokii]

i dont like how they want to to whack the case out of the sizer on to the primer

i whack the case out of the sizer into the decapper cup

then lightly tap the case onto the little primer holder it gives me much more feel

the kit still needs case lube and a soft mallet



edit oops

using that method i have never popped a primer but ive only ever loaded about 200 that way so i don't have a good sampling

[jcwit]

I've poped a few primers back when I used a Lee Whack-O-Matic, "thats not an insult, just in jest". I have nerves of steel and never thought much about it. Now adays I use a K & M hand priming tool, just easier.

[stephen perry]

I have and still use LEE priming rools. All mine have been the hand held tools. I have seated more primers than most on this Forum. I always rate number of primers to number of bullets, one for each. I have shot BR since 1977. I once ordered 50,000 Berger bullets they are all gone. I have been making my own bullets for the last 10 years. I have made and shot Cast since 1962. Needles to say I have seated allot of primers.

I rate LEE hand priming tools over all the others except K&M. My K&M is not any better than my LEE just different. Not much for RCBS or Hornady both are in my junk pile. I like my CH but it is a press model. My Star Loader as are my Mec Loader and Lyman All American Loader are seperate. My Turrets and H presses are seperate also. I have 3 LEE models. The original, the tray model with-out tray and the tray model. I use the tray model at practice and at 10 shot BR Shoots. I use my K&M at 5 shot BR shoots.

Some like none of the above and make their own I have one those Custom units I use only for .222 BR and 6x47.

Priming tools are simple for a purpose to serve simple minded people. Kinda like putting gas in a truck one way in and one way out.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

[Gadzooks Mike]

I've set off a couple. Thing is, the primer sits inside a small detent and the shell sets inside a small detent, and I was holding the shell with a gloved hand. With all of that, I don't think there's any danger, but it does scare the stuff outa ya!

[Beekeeper]

Before I had to put the guns away and raise a family (could afford one or the other) I loaded several thousand bullets with a Lee Hand Loader (whackum ttype) and set off several primers.
Most of the time it was operator fault! A couple of times smaller than normal primer pockets.
I would not feel out of place even today if the only reloading gear I had were Lee Hand Loaders.


Jim

[TNsailorman]

I'll have to admit I have popped a couple or so of the primers with the old Lee tool. But I was at fault more than the system. First Lee I bought was in 1962 or 63. I paid a grand total of $4.75 for it including shipping from a company called Maryland Arms. $.50 of the 4.75 was for shipping and handling. The instructions that came with it said to used light taps with a wooden hammer or stick. I thought that I had a better idea and tried using a small plastic mallet. I quickly went to the hardware store and bought a new small wooden mallet for less than .50. I don't remember popping a primer since. I sit the assymbly on a wooden 2x4" , insert the cartidge onto the primer set up, add primer, add cartridge, in goes the primer rod and " very gently tap" two or three times with the wooden mallet. Works fine and no problems. I have to admit though that the first time you pop a primer, you will come close if not actually, to having to change drawers. I rarely use the lee tool for priming anymore, using a RCBS posi-prime or a Sinclair hand primer instead for convenience and speed. For the Lee though, you just have to remember to use wood, never steel. My experience anyway, Jmaes

[Green Frog]

The red plastic tools from the Lee Loaders or the separately available aluminum tools with screw in shell holders are virtually the same unit, and I like them a lot, along with the similar unit that Lyman used to include in their wax bullet kits (remember those?) that took the old J-type shell holders. I can't remember loading more than a few rounds under "emergency" conditions using the hammer method, but never set one off that way.

Most of the bench rest folks are using some sort of priming tool, like the K&M, Sinclair, etc, and they are just a version of the Lee and Lyman types we discuss above, and work very well. My favorites are the old schuetzen style that both decap and recap your cases. This is a lot faster, and is important when shooting the same case over and over in a relay. The most widely seen are the ones made by Jerry Simmons and Pete Allen.

I didn't mean to hijack the thread here, but it's such a small step up from a hammer, two pins and an anvil to a Simmons tool, with such a huge improvement in performance, why do it any other way?

Froggie

PS Oh yeah, the priming chamber on the Lyman 310 tool was my first "preferred" tool, and I still like that one too for some applications.

PPS Yes I have had an AD with a Simmons tool... I still haven't figured out how I did that!

[dualsport]

Nope. Nada. I collect them, have a bunch, use them often(not as much these days) and never had one pop. Surprises me this is so common. As a precaution I've always pointed whatever tool I was using to prime away from my face. I better go knock on wood.

[bsa enfield]

loaded 600 rounds this summer one primer pop. Nothing special head a little pop and same a bit of smoke. thats all.

[JIMinPHX]

I used Lee Loaders for years before I had a primer pop. once I popped one, I seemed to pop about 2 or 3 per day while using it. I started to look at my technique a little closer after that, wondering what had changed after several years of problem free loading.

What I finally came up with, was that if I had the priming rod up off the bottom of the case when I hit it with the hammer, then the primer was likely to go off. If I had the priming rod down firm against the case when I hit it, then the primer NEVER went off. It's now been over 8 years since I've popped a primer with one of those things.

I found that if I was a bit careless about hitting it hard enough & it needed a second hit to get all the way in, the rod had usually bounced up a little after the first hit & that was enough to make it go off when I hit it the second time. That's where all my popped primers came from.

I use the exact same mallet that you see in the Lee instructions. You can get them at some Home Depots. Sears used to carry them years ago. That's where mine came from.

[leadman]

I have a kit with the press type primer dedicated to the cartridge in it. The company that made it was Lee Custom Engineering, Inc.

This is not the same company as Lee Precision, the Lee we know today.

The instructions from a Lee Precision kit I have do have a statement on the front page stating this. I remember something about a law suit concerning the similar name, could be wrong.

[JIMinPHX]

I thought that Lee Custom Engineering was the predecessor to Lee Precision. I thought that the same Richard Lee was the Honcho in both companies. I'll have to check my older equipment boxes when I get home & see whether or not they have the same address on them as the new stuff does. That could have been an incorrect assumption on my part.

[legend]

In 1970 i bought a 38 special lee loader,and promptly fired the first primer i ever tried to seat.my future ex was not impressed....

[canebreaker]

I've loaded a ton of primers with my Lee auto primer. When I was starting out a friend gave me a box of cci's. 2 went off, I have used another cci since.

[TAWILDCATT]

I started with a win tong tool and never wanted a hammer model.I also had Ideal tools.always pressed the primer in.my next tool was a MODERN BOND "C"tool.still have one.next was a lyman tru line jr.then a Herters.a lee reloader press would be better than those" bang go off bangers."
any one that has one go off twice is doing something wrong.

[Green Frog]

[QUOTE=JIMinPHX;739583]What I finally came up with, was that if I had the priming rod up off the bottom of the case when I hit it with the hammer, then the primer was likely to go off. If I had the priming rod down firm against the case when I hit it, then the primer NEVER went off. It's now been over 8 years since I've popped a primer with one of those things.

I think this is the solution to the AD problem... and on the rare occasions that I do "Hand Prime," I will tend to be careful. I'd still prefer to use one of the hand tools like a Simmons or the early Lee Primer Tool.

Meanwhile, in answer to the Lee Custom vs Lee Precision question, apparently branches of the family broke up taking parts of the business with them. In addition to the names above, the name Mequon was also used. The Mequon branch seems to have faded out, taking with it a few really neat products like their simple and affordable pistol rest.

Froggie

[rickster]

If you have a drill press, mount the rod in the press as if it was a drill. Then do it like normal, using the drill press instead of a hammer, or even better, scatter some primers out on the drill table. Center the case over one of the primers and slide it under the rod. Then seat the prmer using the drill press. This is a fast, accurate and safe way to do it.

[Wayne Smith]

I gotta admit I'm the curious type. When I was 16 I started loading for my 16ga and my Dad's 30-30 with the Lee hammer tools. Right away I was aware of the potential, so I promptly deliberately popped a couple to see what would happen. No big deal. With the 30-30 the rod would jump enough to leave the case, that was about all. Once my Mom and Dad knew what the sound was I had no problem. Dad did want to see the results, though. That's when he told me that he used to drill rocks with a hand drill and crack them with blasting powder. His Dad taught him when he was about my age then.

That was 40 years ago, 1969.

[jbunny]

wellll little johnny waveing franticly in the back row.
there is and old addage, familiarety breeds contempt.
this last summer a 209 shot gun primer blew the end off my ring finger,
12 stitches and a long time to heal. a home made 410 shot shell loader.
i had loaded about 100 before with no problems. this one case was thiner
in the base wad department and the punch that i used to tap the shell
down on to the primer contacted the primer. my finger holding the punch
was close to the top of the case and blood everywhere. we were loading rd balls
and 41 cal pistol boolits at the range to shoot in our 410'sshotguns. i have
a stainless snake charmer with cyl bore. anyhow not the punch has a big hole in
the middle so it stradles the primer for thin wad cases, plus a big hoonkking
cupped washer brazed on the the punch to contain the up pressure just in
case i have another senior moment. hope this helps some one prevent
some bloodshead
jb

[1hole]

Yeah, three or four back in '65. No big deal. Not even very loud but the first one makes you jump a bit!

I had a LOT more go off when I pulled the bullets and decapped a pile of live crimped GI 30-06 ammo with a Lee Loader...still no problem but I did wear a leather work glove on my left hand for that work.