"Best" Stand Alone Priming Tool?

[SARuger]

I tried Redding's "slide prime" on a Big Boss press. That is the best priming system I have used so far. I bought the slide prime unit for my older Boss, but it will not work. I'm looking for a good deal on a Big Boss or Big Boss 2.

[Kevin Rohrer]

Another oft-asked question.

The Lee is the most popular and the one I use. Just buy extra pieces when the pot-metal breaks.

Tried the RCBS unit that uses separate shell holders. I continually lost tiny pieces trying to assemble it and gave-up. What a piece of Dreck; RCBS should be ashamed to sell the ***.

[Shawlerbrook]

RCBS Automatic Bench Priming Tool https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/45...-RCBS-_-457599

Used on since the early 70's

I'll vote for this ^^^^^^^^^

[Lloyd Smale]

my vote goes to the old lee hand primer. Ive primed 100s of thousands of pieces of brass with them. Tried others that were more expensive and kept coming back to the lee.

[GhostHawk]

RCBS Universal hand tool, and if you buy one buy 2 so never have to fuss changing.

Not that with a little practice changing is hard, cause it isn't. But for me it is the only fly in the oinment.

No messing with shell holders, switch from .444 marlin to 9mm it don't care. But if you don't buy 2 you do have to switch the internals out.

Solid cast aluminum handle, solid linkage, and in almost 4 years I have not had a problem with mine.

[ioon44]

I still use the RCBS Bench Priming Tool I got in the 1970's for rifle loads but all of my pistol loads are primed on my 550.

[Ole Joe Clarke]

My priming tools.



Have a blessed day.

[farmerjim]

RCBS hand prime (not universal)
It's fast and easy.

[mozeppa]

i have 4 rcbs APS machines....each is bolted to a piece of 4" long 3" square steel tube.

they are stored on the wall until needed ....i grab one, lock the square tube in the bench vise. and rock & roll!

i've done 5000 primed brass in 6 hours

[blikseme300]

Hand priming tools work well if your hands are up to it. Arthritis and then CTS in both hands put a stop to my using the old style Lee units. The RCBS bench tool is what I now use and it works perfectly. For filling the tubes I use a Frankford Arsenal vibra prime.

[375supermag]

Hi...

I have used the RCBS APS bench-mounted priming system ever since it was first made available.
It does require that the strips be in good condition and that it be kept reasonably clean but it works well.
I have primed untold thousands of cases on mine over the years and will use it as long as I can continue to get new strips when the ones I have wear out.

[dverna]

Hand priming tools work well if your hands are up to it. Arthritis and then CTS in both hands put a stop to my using the old style Lee units. The RCBS bench tool is what I now use and it works perfectly. For filling the tubes I use a Frankford Arsenal vibra prime.

Same here. Old age sucks. Got the RCBS a few months ago and it works well.

[SARuger]

Hand priming tools work well if your hands are up to it. Arthritis and then CTS in both hands put a stop to my using the old style Lee units. The RCBS bench tool is what I now use and it works perfectly. For filling the tubes I use a Frankford Arsenal vibra prime.

I've been looking at the vibra prime. Is it worth the money?

[blikseme300]

I've been looking at the vibra prime. Is it worth the money?

Some people swear by it, others swear at it. I do did some tweaking with a blade to get rid of mold flash but that's all. I use mostly CCI primers, large and small, and they seem to work better than the Federal LPP I had. I also needed to hold and squeeze the tray and unit a bit to make it work. No biggie once learned.

Once I figured how to hold it, along with my mouth, I can fill a tube with 100 primers in about 10 seconds. It's not a perfect piece of equipment but with some patience I made it work for me. There is no going back for me. I am currently recovering from CTS surgery on my weak hand but will carry on with my hobbies as well as life.

Learning to adapt and use other tools to get things done colors your perspective and choices. What works well for others my not be for you because of physical limitations. This does not make any of those tools inferior, they just don't fit you.

[prestonj12]

The old Lee hand primer worked great. I have a new one with the square primer tray. Not near as good as the old round one.


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[dragon813gt]

I prefer the Lee Safety Prime over all others. I know it's press mounted but it's the quickest and easiest to use for me. I have four different version of the Lee hand primer. I have the RCBS hand primer. I think I have a few others. I don't like any of them. I'm young and it hurts my hands over long sessions. I can't imagine someone w/ arthritis using them.

[Green Frog]

If I am priming ONLY, I like the very old LEE aluminum tools with the screw-in shell holders and the old Lyman tool that uses the J-type shell holders and came with the old wax bullet loading sets.

For rifles, I frequently prefer to de-cap and re-cap at the same time, so I use one of the old style tools emulating the ones made by the likes of Pope and Schoyen for schuetzen use around the turn of the last century. As somebody already said above, it depends on you and what you are comfortable with and want to do.

Froggie

[poacherjo]

I used to use the old bench mount" Bonanza " priming press now it's owned by Forester and then I went to the RCBS bench mount but now I either use the 550 press or the RCBS hand tool. I can feel the primer go in the best with the hand tool and it's fast

[Morgan61]

I still use the RCBS hand primer that came with the Rockchucker press that I bought 12 years ago.

[hermans]

RCBS bench mounted unit, been using that for the last 25 years or so for all my rifle reloading, great feel when seating the primer, made from steel, so should outlast me for sure.