Recent hand primer purchases

[atepointer]

My buddy has an old Lee Auto Prime and it's golden thing works beautifully. I bought a Lyman last month what a POS. Ram misaligned in addition to shell holder loosely fitting so keeping a primer aligned was impossible. On the couple that did go in they were sitting proud. Buddy ordered an identical Lee Auto Primer to the one he has that works great on sale.....identical problem as my Lyman. Not sure if this is a pot luck thing you either get a good one or a bad one....or QC has gone into crapper. Just going to stay with RCBS bench for now, but I'd like to hear if anyone has a recently purchased hand primer that works well for them please.

 

[Redfoot Ranch]

I purchased Lee, both hand and bench, with the appropriate shell holders. I wasn't happy with the fit and finish of any of it and sold them off before I even attempted to use any of it.

I have 2 RCBS hand primers which take the shell holders. One set up for large and the other for small. I recently picked up a FA. as I am looking to seat to a specific depth and for the money figured I would try this. The FA comes with all need shell holders and it takes me about 10 seconds to change out from large to small or vice versa. It seems to be my go to as well.

They all work well for me!

 

[Lightning8]

I bought the Frankford Arsenal Perfect Seat Hand Primer to replace my decades old Lee that broke. By buddy had the Frankford Arsenal and recommended it. It is on sale right now at Frankford Arsenal. It is built like a tank and works very well.

 

[roostercogburn98]

+1 on the perfect seat. It does pretty good and doesn’t break the bank.

 

[Gee Kay]

i use the K&M hand primer. not the fastest way but works really well. used the hornady that came with the kit, squashed many a primer. havent looked back after getting the K&M.

 

[lash]

Being somewhat old school, I use an RCBS that takes the shell holders. I get very consistent results with both large and small primers. It’s no Primal Rights CPS, but then I’m unabashedly a poor. Many, many thousands of rounds through mine.

 

[MarinePMI]

Being somewhat old school, I use an RCBS that takes the shell holders. I get very consistent results with both large and small primers. It’s no Primal Rights CPS, but then I’m unabashedly a poor. Many, many thousands of rounds through mine.

I've had the same one as yours for going on 30 years now. I can't count how many rounds it has primed, but RCBS always replaces the plastic inserts when they get brittle and break, at no charge.

"If it's stupid, but it works...it ain't stupid"

 

[atepointer]

Thanks guys. I'd really like to have a tv priming option.....maybe will try frankford arsenal and rcbs. thanks!

 

[siscoe308]

I started out with the 21st Century hand primer. And absolutely loved it....super adjustable & an addicting ‘feel’ You can tell exactly what is going on. But it is painful slow. Single loading the primers into the cup, then priming was a big bottle neck.

http://www.xxicsi.com/priming-tools.html

So I read & researched & tried what different buddies had on their benches.

The clear winner in every Category (besides price) was the Primal Rights CPS.
Overbuilt/ same perfect reliable adjustment/ same feel & control when seating but 100x faster with the shuttle system.

CPS - Competition Primer Seater

The CPS is a big investment but if I lost mine today, I’d have have a new one ordered tomorrow.

 

[atepointer]

Being somewhat old school, I use an RCBS that takes the shell holders. I get very consistent results with both large and small primers. It’s no Primal Rights CPS, but then I’m unabashedly a poor. Many, many thousands of rounds through mine.

Lash which one if you don't mind please? Thanks

https://www.amazon.com/RCBS-90201-Universal-Hand-Priming/dp/B000KKB86A/ref=sr_1_14?crid=27YQ38C422DWL&dchild=1&keywords=rcbs+priming+tool&qid=1608476878&sprefix=rcbs+prim%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-14

Amazon.com

 

[Barryd]

Frankford Arsenal has worked well for me. No issues.

 

[lash]

Lash which one if you don't mind please? Thanks

Amazon.com

This one:

the use of RCBS or Redding shell holders allows you to use the same shell holders as on your press. Well okay, maybe not the same as on Your press...

 

[chutinlead]

After the pot metal lee hand primer gave it up on me, I went with the frankford as well. It is built really well and has the ability to adjust depth to get them where you want. Even takes the flat lee she'll holders if you have any special ones.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Clarifying Dan's OP.

I have two of the old Lee Auto prime units with the round tray. One is just worn and doesn't seat consistently anymore.
Been using the newer (10yrs old) one since the old one is a spare parts unit now.
Bought one of the new safety style Lee with the triangular feed tray and as Dan pointed out, it's a complete failure.
I will be contacting Lee to try and remedy it. Otherwise, I'll keep using the old Auto prime until it too breaks or wears out.

The newer Lee has two issues.
One, it's off center and won't seat a primer properly.
Two, it will not feed a second primer to the punch once the first one goes through, it jams up on the way through.
I haven't bothered to try the small primer parts, but I will before contacting Lee just to give them a chance to get this thing correct.

 

[x2cross]

This one:




the use of RCBS or Redding shell holders allows you to use the same shell holders as on your press. Well okay, maybe not the same as on Your press...

I've used a friend's RCBS hand primer and my personal one is the Lyman. The feel of the RCBS is really nice, but it's kind of a PITA to switch out shell holders. I've had no issues with my Lyman.

If I had to buy a new one, I'd go with the RCBS model and buy an extra shell holder to leave on it. The RCBS just feels way nicer and smoother while seating.

 

[x2cross]

My buddy has an old Lee Auto Prime and it's golden thing works beautifully. I bought a Lyman last month what a POS. Ram misaligned in addition to shell holder loosely fitting so keeping a primer aligned was impossible. On the couple that did go in they were sitting proud. Buddy ordered an identical Lee Auto Primer to the one he has that works great on sale.....identical problem as my Lyman. Not sure if this is a pot luck thing you either get a good one or a bad one....or QC has gone into crapper. Just going to stay with RCBS bench for now, but I'd like to hear if anyone has a recently purchased hand primer that works well for them please.

Is this the one you got?

 

[atepointer]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AU6CA8O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[lash]

I've used a friend's RCBS hand primer and my personal one is the Lyman. The feel of the RCBS is really nice, but it's kind of a PITA to switch out shell holders. I've had no issues with my Lyman.

If I had to buy a new one, I'd go with the RCBS model and buy an extra shell holder to leave on it. The RCBS just feels way nicer and smoother while seating.

It’s not really that hard to change out shell holders once you are familiar with it. It takes maybe all of two minutes.

 

[atepointer]

@lash you going to be over this way at all? Tuesday and Wednesday.....

 

[lash]

@lash you going to be over this way at all? Tuesday and Wednesday.....

Nope, sorry. I’m out of state.

 

[BigBlue&Goldie]

I have the K&M also, and it's a solid tool.

 

[Jgault]

I bought the Frankford Arsenal Perfect Seat Hand Primer to replace my decades old Lee that broke. By buddy had the Frankford Arsenal and recommended it. It is on sale right now at Frankford Arsenal. It is built like a tank and works very well.

This ^, the only plastic I could find on it is the primer tray and the slot the primer tray locks into, just holding it it weighs twice as much as most other hand primers and comes with a set of shell holders that at least fit every shell I use, and the depth is adjustable.

 

[CK1.0]

IMO the 21st Century priming tool is good, but slow, and a little pricey for what you get...

The Frankford perfect priming tool is both good AND fast, and is kind of a bargain as everything you need to prime just about any cartridge comes in the box. Built like a tank too. IMO it doesn’t give up much against the Primal Rights CPS, and it’s a hell of lot cheaper.

The Lee, RCBS, and Lyman are all kind of janky, especially now that the Frankford is out there for just a couple more bucks.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Update on the current manufactured Lee hand primer:
Got it out this morning and swapped it to the small primer setup.

(I did not prime anything)

Added 30 WSR primers to the tray and it worked and fed primers properly as long as I kept it faced away from me.

Switched over to the large primer setup and added 20 WLR.
Same thing. It worked fine as long as it was oriented correctly.

Switched brands and placed 20 F-210 into the tray.
It worked fine there also.

Appears this may have been operator error.

So, the only thing left is to actually prime some brass.
I'll do that later today after I get back to the house.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Got home prepped some Hornady once fired cases and set the Lee primer tool up.
First primer fed correctly and went in with no off center issues.

HOWEVER,
compared to the old Lee auto-prime, the new one has no leverage and no feel.
It's much harder to fully seat the primer and since there isn't much feel, it's very hard to tell if it's properly seated.
I tried ten pieces of brass and two had the primer correctly seated.
Took the old Lee auto-prime and they went the rest of the way in without issue.
Finished the rest of the block (50) with the auto-prime.
The new Lee will go in the cabinet and spend its days in the darkness.

 

[Amanda4461]

Another vote for the Frankford Arsenal hand primer. The only shell holder it didn’t have was for the .224 Valkyrie, but the hand tool accepted my old Lee Autoprime shell holders, which solved that problem. Plus, you can adjust the primer seating depth. Much better construction than my old Lees, but weighs more. A box of CCI primers will fit into the tray without spilling.

 

[JsnSanko]

RCBS. I bought one when all I ever did was LRP. So you have to change out the seating rod. Used to be it was two pieces. I lost both the LR and SR Seating rods after taking a break from reloading.

yes it takes shell holders but I use a Rockchucker, so no big deal.

I bought a second. New design is the seating rods are captured. So I have one always set up for small and another for large. Just change shell holders and seat 100 primers at a setting. I have a Lee also and like the RCBS betterz

 

[Smittiac]

I use the rcbs you put in the press, have a FA on the way though... ready for couch and prime.

 

[atepointer]

I use the rcbs you put in the press, have a FA on the way though... ready for couch and prime.

Do you guys know if FA is for sure made in USA? I'm making a concerted effort to buy American I've been too lazy not doing my best.....read on Amazon 'assembled in USA'. What about RCBS....100% American? Thanks guys for all the input....think I might like some couch priming too.