FA Hand DE-priming tool?

[GoodOlBoy]

Not that I have the money at the moment, but I saw this the other day and I am curious if anybody has used one. Sure would be an interesting "piece of kit" as the Brits say. Be able to sit in the easy chair, deprime from one bucket and toss in another all the while catching the spent primers in the little tube.....

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/220617/frankford-arsenal-platinum-series-hand-deprimer-tool

Anybody ever used it? Opinions?

GoodOlBoy

[jmort]

I just got a Harvey Hand Deprimer and it is substantial. That may work well, don't know, but the Harvey is solid and built for the long haul.

http://harveydeprimer.com/

[pjames32]

I use the Harvey and like it!
PJ

[country gent]

I have one I made several years ago. I use it for BPCR rounds before they go into the soap water after firing. The big thing is the actual depriming shaft set up. I use mine alot. Its nice at the range and when preping large amounts of once fired brass. Im thinking on a new desghn from copper tubing that will catch primers and be quick and easy to use. Its a matter of simple leverage applied. There are several styles of decappers and some will reprime also. Cheap not always handy usefull tools yes.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I looked at this tool and have to say it is not anything to get all worked up about. The 1st review on it on the Midway Site was somewhat cornfusing. The guy couldn't make it work but gave it 5 stars?

I can see a Harvey Deprimer as they are very well made tools. This one doesn't look all that substantial.

To knock out a few primers here and there I have a variety of Lee Bases and Punches. Otherwise if I have very many to do I consolidate the operation with sizing the case. If I really only want to deprime I have a Lee Die which I had to use on 9mm cases in order to make Makarov cases out of them,,, they simply had to be deprimed before you could trim them.

I see this particular tool as needless and 4 steps to deprime a case is simply too much work.

As a Toolmaker I tend to be a little more critical of tools than many out there. It's because I have seen too many bad solutions to problems, and usually was tasked with fixing someone else's poor idea. This looks like one of those.

My .02

Randy

[Hardcast416taylor]

The original RCBS hand primer unit, of years ago, had an option you could purchase that allowed you to deprime as well as prime.Robert

[bedbugbilly]

Interesting tool. Doubt I would every buy one as I have Lyman 310 tongs that I can hand de-prime with just as easy. If I don't a a complete set of dies for the caliber - then I can always scrounge around until I find the cartridge adapter for the cartridge and use in in a set of universal 310 tongs with a universal 310 de-priming die. I'm guessing they would take up less space in a "kit". Kind of amazing how "the wheel gets re-invented" every so often.

One thought though . . . I'm lucky as I have the 310 tongs/dies but if I didn't - that would be a cheaper alternative (even at that price) than accumulating the 310 stuff.

[bangerjim]

OK.......you hand de-prime some cases. You still have to size the rifle/pistol cases with the de-cap/sizing die!

So what is the point of a de-priming tool only? I guess I miss the point. Other than something to spend your hard-earned $$ on.

banger

[VHoward]

Some people like to deprime their spent cases and then wet tumble with stainless steel pins to get them sparkly clean inside and out including the primer pockets. I won't put dirty cases through my resizing die.

[Artful]

Some people like to deprime their spent cases and then wet tumble with stainless steel pins to get them sparkly clean inside and out including the primer pockets. I won't put dirty cases through my resizing die.

Nailed it. I have one the lee "c" presses with which to just deprime before further processing.

[jmort]

"So what is the point of a de-priming tool only? I guess I miss the point.
See posts 9 & 10. Hand priming and hand decapping are way cool. I also have a Lee Reloader C press and used it for decapping until I got the Harvey Deprimer. Keep the crud away from your presses.

[bangerjim]

I guess I am doing something wrong then! I have de-capped/resized thousands of rounds without ever cleaning the brass. And have NEVER seen any scratches or gouges in any of my SOLID CARBIDE sizing dies from Lee. Pretty hard to scratch solid carbide with only brass and powder gunk. How do you guys scratch them???????

I de-prime/size and then clean with either citric acid if cases are not too dirty or 15-20 minutes in the vibrator with walnut shells and a tablespoon of Bon Ami cleaner. Rinse in plain hot water and dry in the sun. All brass is nice and clean. Who cares about the inside being shiny.

Works for me.

banger

[Lead Fred]

six bucks from Lee, part of the Classic loader kit

141644

Heck the entire Lee Classic Loader is cheaper than that gizmo

[jmort]

"I guess I am doing something wrong then!"

No, you are doing something different. If you can avoid having unnecessary crud in and around your press, why not avoid it? If you don't care, then no one else does either. Its your train Jesse, rob it any way you like.

[cajun shooter]

bangerjim, It is quite evident from your posting that you don't do any type of precision target shooting or BPCR . Most all target shooters deprime at the range after shooting or at least once home before putting the cases in a wet tumble with SS pins and a cleaning solution.
They have several types of shooting in the gun sports and each one of them have certain things that are required.
Not cleaning your primer pockets or brass shows you have no care in what you do. If that works for you fine, but you are going to be surprised to find that you sir are in a very small minority.
In BPCR, not only are the cases deprimed, they are also annealed at every loading. Later David

[VHoward]

Gosh, I am glad I live in a country that I am allowed to make my own decisions about how I do things. I don't even need permission of the grumpy old men.

[bangerjim]

bangerjim, It is quite evident from your posting that you don't do any type of precision target shooting or BPCR . Most all target shooters deprime at the range after shooting or at least once home before putting the cases in a wet tumble with SS pins and a cleaning solution.
They have several types of shooting in the gun sports and each one of them have certain things that are required.
Not cleaning your primer pockets or brass shows you have no care in what you do. If that works for you fine, but you are going to be surprised to find that you sir are in a very small minority.
In BPCR, not only are the cases deprimed, they are also annealed at every loading. Later David


Those are two classes of our sport I do not participate in. And have no real interest in. That is the nice thing about this......there are many ways to enjoy shooting. I do not loose sleep worrying about if my primer pockets are squeeeeeeeky clean. Or the brass is glistening clean inside and out. My target accuracies are perfectly fine for what I can do and expect from my ammo and guns. I spend more time concerning myself about load make-ups, boolit quality, and fun.....rather than spending copious amounts of time and effort cleaning brass with pins. Funny this: many many pages have been penned over the years about reloading, yet very little on shiny brass.

My dies are as clean and smooth as the day I bought them. I have very little "gunk" on my cases, as I use very clean burning powders and PC all my boolits.

Whatever works for you!

banger

[country gent]

I deprime wth a homemade decapper. I do this for several reasons. one is the ease it can be done, I can hand deprime sitting in the easy chair in front of the tv or at the range as each 10 shot group is fiored while the barrel cools and Im relaxing. Another is I believe cases prime much easier and more cositantly when the primer pockets are clean and free of grit, also when clean there is less variences in depth. On some rounds the sooner they are started cleaning the better, this applies to Black Powder rounds and old corrosive primed ammo. Going from firing to soap water bath neutralizes the salts and acids much faster reducing the time it can work on the brass. Its a personal deccission to deprime on the press or seprately. Niether is right or wrong. Primer residue is glass hard and is as hard if not harder than the carbide ring in your sizing dies, but it seldom works back up into the dies. Press ram and linkage is a diffrent story though. I made my own decapper from aluminum stock and cold rolled steel. I have seen the Pope style, Harvey deprimers, lees base and decapping rod. And dies made just to decap in a press. As I stated its a personal decission when and how, alot size and decap then reprime it workss for them.

[Wayne Smith]

The other reason is to keep the lead out of my walnut. I deprime before I dry clean in walnut. That way I don't breath the lead when I dump them out.

[mold maker]

What ever flips your Bic, is alright with me.
Some folks wash their cars every week, and some never do. They both show up at the range, and shoot all they wish.
It's a personal thing that has no wrong or right way. I personally de-prime first and citric acid wash with pins. I personally like shiny clean brass. I want clean pockets and no grit or trash in my dies, or on my press.
Depriming is the dirtiest of all the processes, and keeping the crud off my press and bench would be a real plus.
I'm retired and can spend my time and funds, within reason, as i see fit. I'll have to give both the above mentioned tools a serious look.

[GoodOlBoy]

I've got several of the lee classic loader deprime tools. The problem is that I was thinking about something that would be easy to use sitting in the living room watching tv, and catching the primers and gunk.

GoodOlBoy

[mdi]

Yeah, interesting tool. I hear a lot of fellers tout the Lee Hand press for "Depriming while I watch TV". I tried that once, but as I like to concentrate on what I'm doing (I continually inspect my cases/loads during the process), and I didn't like the primer residue in my lap, it only happened once. Depriming before tumbling, depriming after tumbling, tumbling wet or dry, tumbling to achieve ultra shiny, virgin looking brass, or not tumbling at all, depriming with a dedicated tool, depriming only when sizing, depriming during "Gunsmoke" or during the liberal, skewed news program it's all a personal choice and no one can determine which is right or wrong (If you think you can, please show me your Reloading Police Badge).

Just my thinking, but stating in a post someone "obviously don't", is way outta left field. Unless you know that person personally, or that person has stated specifically he don't, it's just anonymous speculation (aka WAG), and kinda arrogant/superior acting. You obviously don't know anything about polite, gentlemanly replies on a forum. (Kinda an arrogant, idiotic statement, eh?)

[W.R.Buchanan]

I get surprised how often these threads turn into pissing matches.

I've done it too on occasion, but I have to say,

"You can catch more flies with sweetness, than you can with Sour Puss."

I really wish more people would think about what they are going to write before they swell up like toads and spew their Toad Juice all over the landscape.

This place is all about sharing ideas, and the only ideas that deserve wrath are the ones that are patently absurd or dangerous. Plenty of room for the rest of them.

So far I have found no one that knows everything, and I bet even if I did find him,,, he wouldn't cop to it.

A little more respect is definitely in order.

Randy

[dudel]

I guess I am doing something wrong then! I have de-capped/resized thousands of rounds without ever cleaning the brass. And have NEVER seen any scratches or gouges in any of my SOLID CARBIDE sizing dies from Lee. Pretty hard to scratch solid carbide with only brass and powder gunk. How do you guys scratch them???????

banger

I doubt the grit will scratch the carbide; but it can scratch the case. Get grit between the carbide and the brass, and the softer of the three takes the hit. That usually means the brass.

I clean prior to processing because it's a smoother process for me. Takes more time; but I enjoy the process. Got a small Lee C press for the universal decapper to keep the grit out of the Rockchucker and the Dillon. The Lee get's pretty dirty; and that's dirt/grit not going into the Green and Blue presses. Clean cases seem to work better in my dies than dirty ones. YMMV, and to each what works for them.

[mdi]

I clean/tumble before depriming.
I clean/tumble after depriming.
I deprime on my primary press.
I deprime on a dedicated "depriming press"
I use a universal depriming die.
I use the sizing/depriming die.
I use a Lee Loader depriming punch.
I use a universal depriming rod and base.
It all depends on how I feel at the time.

So, I guess I'm right/wrong all around...:bigsmyl2:

[country gent]

The softer material dosnt always take the wear. When lapping the soft lead or brass lapp is impregnated with compound ( basically just rolling the lapp in the compound to set it into the surface. Done with dry compound you can feel it in the surface and actually use it as a file with a light touch) and cuts the harder materials quite well. Carbide is harder and dosnt raise the burrs like softer materials do. but it can scratch. There are alot of misconceptions of carbide being the catch all do all material It has its places where it shines ( high heat, wear and low lubrication) and also others where it fails ( high vibration, impacts, and small sectional areas).

[mdi]

The softer material dosnt always take the wear. When lapping the soft lead or brass lapp is impregnated with compound ( basically just rolling the lapp in the compound to set it into the surface. Done with dry compound you can feel it in the surface and actually use it as a file with a light touch) and cuts the harder materials quite well. Carbide is harder and dosnt raise the burrs like softer materials do. but it can scratch. There are alot of misconceptions of carbide being the catch all do all material It has its places where it shines ( high heat, wear and low lubrication) and also others where it fails ( high vibration, impacts, and small sectional areas).
As far as I know, and in my experience, the lap is just a carrier for the lapping/cutting compound which actually removes metal. If measured before and after lapping I would say the lap will show definite wear...

[country gent]

After 35 years as a tool and die maker and doing a little lapping over the years yes the lap wears as do grinding wheels sand paper . THe standard practice is to impregnate the lapp and it does cut the harder material do to this effect. cutting to hard or overworking pulls the impregnated from the lap and as the compound breaks down loose grit is present cutting everything. Cheap carbide burrs are soft steel with the carbide plated on yet they do cut hardened steel. A grinding wheel that dopsnt break down dosnt cut cleanly but loads and burns the parts. Lapping is a form of grinding done by hand and can be a very precise operation done corectly.

[W.R.Buchanan]

To add to what CG says above. The term that is used in lapping is called "charging the lap." The lapping compound embeds itself in the softer surface of the lap and with it's sharp edges exposed acts like a very fine grinding wheel. As those edges degrade or as the particles get expelled from the area the cutting action slows down. You recharge and go again if needed.

The lap will continue to cut as long as the particles it is charged with are sharp. Grit has cutting edges just like a tool bit, and they also wear out.

This is why you dress a grinding wheel. To get new sharp edges to cut the material you are working. This is why you change grinding belts and why sandpaper wears out. The cutting edges of the grit dull and after that the temperature of the material you are working starts to increase due to the friction of the dull media against the material you are working.

On a surface grinder when the wheel is loaded the surface finish degrades and usually you will get burned areas on your cuts. This is how you know to dress the wheel. (Actually you should have done it long before this happens, but that's another story.)

Typically you want to reserve lapping for hardened surfaces because if you try to lap soft material the soft material will get charged right along with the lap and will continue to cut whatever you put in the hole that needed to be fitted that close.

Generally speaking there is very few instances where that tight a fit would be required in a soft material. There are other ways to get a close fit with soft materials hence reserving lapping for the hard stuff. Scraping is one way that comes to mind.

Randy

[gwpercle]

Will they ever stop coming up with new and improved, must gotta-have, neat , loading tools?????
I've been buying loading "stuff" since 1967...and I still find things I can't live without!
I will say Frankford Arsenal is creative....they came out with a case drying machine, got to looking at it...guess what??? It's nothing but a food dehydrator ...5 trays and all just like the one I make jerky with, stuck on a label saying case dryer and jacked up the price .... of course it cost more...it's a special reloading thing/tool/gizzmo. I'm not buying it ...enough is enough.
Gary
than a jerky maker

[VHoward]

And since the cases are clean, you can dry them in the dehydrator without worries. I do it.

[3006guns]

The old hand depriming tools (like the Frankford and Springfield) had a definite use.......one that we have a hard time understanding in this day of progressive presses and semi automatic everything else....

In ye olde days.....around the 1880's to early 1900's, the shooter would deprime and wash his cases of powder residue. He would then reprime, charge and seat the bullet.

Wait a minute?? No sizing? Not even neck sizing? Nope, the bullet was literally thumb pressed into the case mouth, inserted into the breech and the shooter would bang away. This was primarily a target or "bench" type reloading, although the old boys wouldn't understand the term "bench rest". They were just shooting for fun and experimenting with different loads. Note the word "fun"....seems we do it for the same reason, only faster.

It wasn't until after WWI when tools began to have the beginnings of combined operations, culminating in the sizing die we know today that deprimes, sizes and expands the case mouth to a specified diameter.

All of us have different ideas and techniques that we like. I've experimented with a lot of them over the years and to be honest fellas, the old ways are kinda fun and a great way to relax. By separating the operations it almost forces you to treat your brass like the gold it really is!

[seawolf]

I reload a lot of military brass and I wonder if the hand de-primer would even pop the primers out and if it did how far they would fly. If spent primers were o get in the carpet my wife would most likely break my dinner plate and a few other things.
Mark

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

seawolf,

just use the $6 Lee depriming tool. It has a hollow base the primers collect in. I made a replacement about 3" tall and hollowed out inside.

And, la-de-da for me, I use an arbor press to deprime!! So, I believe that makes me better than all of you...