Nice press, a lot cleaner than mine.
I used it for awhile when the press was new, 1977-78, then switched to the Lee handheld, which was about the only other tool back then. Not that the press seater was bad, just found the Lee easier. I believe you are correct, the seater had to elevated to fully seat the primer. If memory serves, I recall one had to keep a eye on the seater, it tended to want to screw down.
Sometime in the 80's I bought the Bonanza co-ax primer seater and used that for many years. I was doing lots of P. dog shooting, need to prime faster for the large volume of ammo. One night I was going to fast, hit a primer wrong, on set off a stack of primers. No lost digits, but the ears were ringing for awhile. End of that.
I think I've used most every tray style primer tool out there, Lee, RCBS, Lyman, never real satisfied with any of them. Found a Primal Rights CPS in the PX last year, have never looked back.
View attachment 7318547
Sorry for the long winded reply. Sometimes I can't shut up when traveling down memory lane.
No way man, I appreciate it! I had the RCBS hand primer 10-12 years ago when Ibwas doing this. It was alright, made the process a little faster but thats about it. No matter the tool used, its all about the "feel" of seating a primer. I dont mind using the press, it does a fine job once that feel is established. Saw your old beauty and thought Id ask. I just got my press. It looked alot brighter red in the pictures so thought I was getting a later model. When I opened the box, I was like whoa. Vintage Bonanza! I certainly wasn't going to complain. Im very happy. Once I start to recoop from the fortune I just spent, I'll start to get the extras to make life easy again but for now, I am being as cheap as possible.