Off press priming?

[farmerjim]

RCBS hand Priming Tool

https://www.amazon.com/RCBS-90200-Ha.../dp/B000PW71LO

Wear a soft leather driving glove and eye protection.
I set up 1-3,000 unprimed cases and do 1-300 every time I walk past them until they are all done.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I still think the original Lee tool was one of the best designs ever made. It's only drawback was the proprietary shell holders, and I keep and eye for them where ever I go. I have most of them I need but always looking still.

Randy

Attachment 200153

[Grmps]

I also like my hand primer but, like the OP, some days I can tell the weather with my knuckles and a bench primer is much more comfortable

[kmw1954]

Hoping someone can educate and enlighten me as I've seen this question asked many times on many forums over the past year that I've been following reloading.

Now I can easily understand why and how someone would do this on a single stage press but doesn't it really defeat the purpose of a progressive or even a turret press? Most turret or progressive presses are three or more stations. So by doing this one is eliminating the sizing die and the primer seating from one of the stations and adding 2 more times that the case has to be handled and put into a shell holder.

[17nut]

I really like the Lee auto bench prime.

I hate mine but it's good on my old arthritis stricked hands.
I hate that i have to fiddle the primer tray to get a decent flow, that is/was but a flip of the wrist with the auto prime.
But i do love that i can hold a cold one without pain after priming 500 cases.

[Artful]

Hoping someone can educate and enlighten me as I've seen this question asked many times on many forums over the past year that I've been following reloading.

Now I can easily understand why and how someone would do this on a single stage press but doesn't it really defeat the purpose of a progressive or even a turret press? Most turret or progressive presses are three or more stations. So by doing this one is eliminating the sizing die and the primer seating from one of the stations and adding 2 more times that the case has to be handled and put into a shell holder.

Depends on how you processed , myself dirty brass comes in , goes thru universal decapper die ,goes thru cleaning , is hand inspected for cracks and length and then primed , then bagged, when I want to load it goes thru which h ever press to be either full sized or neck sized , powder dispensed and maybe flare the mouth, bullet seated and then crimp application. You can load faster on a progressive but you still have to hit all the steps along the way to do it right.

[TexasGrunt]

Hoping someone can educate and enlighten me as I've seen this question asked many times on many forums over the past year that I've been following reloading.

Now I can easily understand why and how someone would do this on a single stage press but doesn't it really defeat the purpose of a progressive or even a turret press? Most turret or progressive presses are three or more stations. So by doing this one is eliminating the sizing die and the primer seating from one of the stations and adding 2 more times that the case has to be handled and put into a shell holder.

Because, to put it bluntly, the priming on my Hornady LnL AP sucks. Also if I resize, then prime off the press I can seat and crimp in separate stations AND use an expander, Lyman M Die or Lee with NOE inserts.

If I could unload all this Hornady LnL AP stuff I'd get the conversions I need for my Dillon 650XL and do everything there. I wouldn't need to prime off the press then.

[kmw1954]

Because, to put it bluntly, the priming on my Hornady LnL AP sucks. Also if I resize, then prime off the press I can seat and crimp in separate stations AND use an expander, Lyman M Die or Lee with NOE inserts.

If I could unload all this Hornady LnL AP stuff I'd get the conversions I need for my Dillon 650XL and do everything there. I wouldn't need to prime off the press then.

Now that is an honest and fair answer!

[ReloaderFred]

Hoping someone can educate and enlighten me as I've seen this question asked many times on many forums over the past year that I've been following reloading.

Now I can easily understand why and how someone would do this on a single stage press but doesn't it really defeat the purpose of a progressive or even a turret press? Most turret or progressive presses are three or more stations. So by doing this one is eliminating the sizing die and the primer seating from one of the stations and adding 2 more times that the case has to be handled and put into a shell holder.

If you'll notice the number of problems reloaders have with primers that either won't go off, or require a second strike to make them go off, you'll soon realize that primer seating is critical. Without a functioning primer, the round becomes a fishing sinker.

I prefer to size and decap on a single stage press. I also clean each and every primer pocket, and I'm talking thousands per year, but I made a tool that makes cleaning them a breeze, and I can whip out a thousand in an hour or less, without pain.

I use both the Lyman and RCBS Ram Prime units, which mount on the top of one of my Rockchuckers. It precisely seats each and every primer, and I can't remember the last time I had a primer fail to go off. I load sized and primed brass through both of my progressive presses, which is the way I prefer to do it.

Some will argue that primer pocket cleaning isn't necessary, but in my shop it is. I currently load 32 calibers, and when I put a round in the chamber, I know it's going to go off when I pull the trigger.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[308Jeff]

I don't mind, and don't seem to have any trouble, priming pistol brass on my LNL AP. Rifle, for some reason, seems to be a different story. But that's okay, by me. I'm only a fair pistol shot, at best. As long as those rounds are reasonably accurate, and reliable, I'm okay with priming on the press.

I put a lot of work into my rifle rounds though, and I can't stand not having that primer seat "feel" that you get by doing it as a separate operation. I've always used the Lee AutoPrime in the past, but now that I picked up the RCBS Bench Primer I'm hoping that will be my new go-to.

Didn't used to care about cleaning up pistol primer pockets, and didn't seem to have an issue with it, but now that I'm wet tumbling that part is getting done for me too.

[robg]

Use 2 Lee round tray auto prime but am tempted by the the Lee bench prime as my hands are getting old and knackered now.

[Green Frog]

I still think the original Lee tool was one of the best designs ever made. It's only drawback was the proprietary shell holders, and I keep and eye for them where ever I go. I have most of them I need but always looking still.

Randy

Attachment 200153

Hey Randy,

I share your love for the early Lee hand primer tools... and have a few duplicates of some of the more esoteric shell holders... let me know by PM which ones you are still looking for and whether you have any to swap. I've even thought of trying to make a one-off copy of the original tool in some more substantial metal to replace the monkey metal Lee used.

Froggie

[powwowell]

@TexasGrunt. Sorry about your priming problems. I bought a used Hornady LnL AP press and I've had no priming problems. To me, it's the cat's meow. I've only loaded for pistols. When I get into loading for rifles, I hope I have the same success. I'm wondering if you would share just what priming problems you are having? Small primers, large primers, pistol primers and rifle primers?

I'm a Lee fan, but I bought the Hornady because of the "fidgety" involved with a Lee Pro1000. The Pro1000 made fine ammo, but priming problems just about whipped me. I still have my Lee Classic Turret press. Priming is almost 100% with it.

[Larry Gibson]

RCBS bench prime works great for me

+1. Been using one for 35+ years or so. I C clamp it to the bench to use.

[TexasGrunt]

@TexasGrunt. Sorry about your priming problems. I bought a used Hornady LnL AP press and I've had no priming problems. To me, it's the cat's meow. I've only loaded for pistols. When I get into loading for rifles, I hope I have the same success. I'm wondering if you would share just what priming problems you are having? Small primers, large primers, pistol primers and rifle primers?

I'm a Lee fan, but I bought the Hornady because of the "fidgety" involved with a Lee Pro1000. The Pro1000 made fine ammo, but priming problems just about whipped me. I still have my Lee Classic Turret press. Priming is almost 100% with it.

The current problem is that the primer slide cam wire keeps popping out of the cup. The black plastic piece that holds it at the top starts to bend upwards and it makes the problem worse. I'm on my third top piece now. I'm using a large zip tie to hold the piece down.

I've polished and deburred the entire priming system.

[Carrier]

The current problem is that the primer slide cam wire keeps popping out of the cup. The black plastic piece that holds it at the top starts to bend upwards and it makes the problem worse. I'm on my third top piece now. I'm using a large zip tie to hold the piece down.

I've polished and deburred the entire priming system.

That sucks. I can say though that mine has worked 99.99% of the time and the other .01% of the time was me. I did no polishing or deburring.
Hornady just sent me the new black top primer shuttle wire bracket. It has a slot in it to prevent what seems to be happening to yours so you might want to contact them if you don't have it.
My press is newer than yours as I bought it new a little over 3 years ago. I have helped a couple guys that do have ones about as old as yours and after some warranty parts from Hornady and setting it up like mine they are loading with no issues.
My LNL runs as good and is easier to use than my friends 650. HOWEVER that was with no case feeders on either press. With case feeders his 650 once set up runs flawlessly and he can load more in less time. But my LNL priming system works better than his 650 and they seat .035" in the case everytime.
My case feeder works but not as well as the 650 does. It is working ok for the amount I load but Hornady could have done a better job with it. Some days I think I should have bought another LNL instead and had them setup for the two calibers I load the most.
I've have only loaded about 10,000 rounds but I use it to decap before wet tumbling so that number is probably double. Time will tell if it will continue to work as well as it has compared to my friends 650.
The fastest I've been able to load a 100 rounds with this setup was about 20 minutes. That was loading 44 magnum, looking in every case and checking powder charge 3 times. I'm just to old and not talented enough to go any faster.

Here's the new bracket and that is the large primer punch that came with the LNL. It never did seem to screw into the subplate right since new but it always worked until a few weeks ago. As you can see the threads broke away. The new one Hornady sent screws in just like the small one does.

[TexasGrunt]

That's the exact part that's giving me fits. Supposedly there's a guy on eBay that makes an upgraded part. I need to see if I can find it.

[Carrier]

That's the exact part that's giving me fits. Supposedly there's a guy on eBay that makes an upgraded part. I need to see if I can find it.

Contact Hornady. The guy I've been dealing with is Seth and he has treated me very well. He said they just came out with the one in the above picture about a month or so ago. It would be worth while to see what they say.

[TexasGrunt]

I ordered a couple of them off eBay. I'm going to give them a try as they appear to be a bit larger.

[TNsailorman]

I prime off the press for nearly everything I load. I do this while watching college football, baseball or soccor. I started out using the Lee handloader's and Lee hand primer tools(the ones with the screw in shell holder). I have 6 of them in my possession. I later went to the RCBS Posi-Prime hand primer and I have 4 of those that I use also. I not only clean the primer pocket but the first time I get a case ready to load, I uniform the primer pocket itself(this usually only needs to be done once). I also de-burr and uniform the flashole. I have had few failures to fire over the years and nearly everyone of them had a flaw traceable back to the primer itself(You would not believe how many primers I have found that do not have an anvil in them). I like to hand prime because I can feel the primer seat firmly against the bottom of the pocket and that is the big key to proper priming. my experience anyway, james