Maven
08-01-2009, 12:20 PM
A few months ago, Joe B. wrote about problems with his Lee Auto Prime not seating the primers fully. After my very reliable .30-06 wouldn't fire a dozen rounds or so, I began wondering whether some of the primers were bad (CCI #34's), whether the firing pin was chipped, not protruding enough or impeded by dirt in the bolt body. Btw, some of the rounds DID fire, but required several hits by the firing pin. After I got home and pulled the CB's, I found the powder was intact, thus reinforcing the bad primer idea. I then took a few of the recovered primers and seated them with my Lee Auto Prime, which I then discovered, didn't seat them to the proper depth: I used a Lachmiller bench primer to determine this. When I took the auto Prime apart, I discovered the steel part which bears on the rod that actually seats the primer (Part #1003 @ $2.50 ea. + shipping) was worn at that very spot. Although I ordered several replacements from Lee via their website, I thought I had nothing to lose by trying to fix the one I had. This is what I did:
First, I degreased part #1003 and then sanded its top surface with 180 grit sandpaper.
Second, I cut a piece of shim brass that would fit the top surface of that part and annealed it (the shim brass). You need to do this to be able to bend it to fit properly.
Third, I mixed some 5 min. epoxy and glued the annealed shim to part #1003, allowing it to cure for 24 hrs. You can probably use gap filling Crazy Glue (cyanoacrylic cement) instead of the epoxy, but the latter is pretty tenacious.
That's all there is to it. Does it work? I seated a few primers with the modified part and they were at the proper depth, so I suppose it does; i.e. at least until the new part arrives.
First, I degreased part #1003 and then sanded its top surface with 180 grit sandpaper.
Second, I cut a piece of shim brass that would fit the top surface of that part and annealed it (the shim brass). You need to do this to be able to bend it to fit properly.
Third, I mixed some 5 min. epoxy and glued the annealed shim to part #1003, allowing it to cure for 24 hrs. You can probably use gap filling Crazy Glue (cyanoacrylic cement) instead of the epoxy, but the latter is pretty tenacious.
That's all there is to it. Does it work? I seated a few primers with the modified part and they were at the proper depth, so I suppose it does; i.e. at least until the new part arrives.