Hand priming tool or bench

[improman]

Before I buy one id like to know whats the fastest easiest.I had bought a lee ergo..it was nothing but a problem feeding. Iam wating ease and no hand stress.Any ideas? thanks

 

[greencobra]

i use one of the old style lee auto prime tools, the one with the round tray. honestly, i've had ~30 years of problem free use with it. i hand prime everything now days. at one time i wanted to replace and retire it, but really...it works just fine.

i heard the rcbs hand tool was decent as well as their bench mounted tool but never used them myself so dunno. i wish i could be more help to you.

 

[76Too]

RCBS universal hand priming tool is my next purchase for reloading. No shellholder changeout necessary. With a hand priming tool you can ‘feel’ how loose or tight your primer pockets are and can discard any brass that doesn’t feel right. The being said, for pistol ammo where the pockets are less of a concern to me, I just use the priming station on my 550b.

 

[Uzi2]

If you are looking for a debilitating case of carpal tunnel syndrome, get any hand primer on the market.

I use the priming device on the press.

 

[NavelOfficer]

I got tired of replacing the handle and link on the Lee hand primer and just went with the press-mounted auto primer. It's slower, but I don't have to keep shimming the thing to get the primers seated deep enough. My hand tool is the older style that takes a unique shell holder, versus the newer style that uses the same s/h as the presses. Perhaps replacing the seating stem would give me the added length to seat the primers correctly, but I would still be breaking handles and links.

 

[greencobra]

but I would still be breaking handles and links.

sounds like we use the same device. for the sake of conversation, how are you breaking it? i can't even imagine, with normal use, it would break. just asking is all, not intending to start a war.

 

[slipknot]

I switched from an RCBS to a Sinclair which is adjustable so the primer is set exactly where I want it. It is a single one at a time but for benchrest shooting it gets results.

 

[NavelOfficer]

Normal usage. The white metal would give way right where the rib ends. The link would separate at the large circular end, as a rule. My brother had the shell holder cavity separate on his. I don't think they were designed for one million prime cycles.
Now that I have spare bodies, links and handles, I retired them.
The seating stem must be compressed, since it doesn't seat the primer flush or slightly below flush (hence the constant need to shim between the link and stem). Use yours long enough and you'll likely have similar results.

 

[Ranger007]

For my rifles I hand prime with a Lee Auto Prime (older/round tray version) or a Franford Arsenal Platinum Series hand priming tool. I like them both. I’ve tried RCBS Bench Automatic and its fine as well. I prfer to feel the primer seat with a hand primer but thats just me. Pistol my Dillons do it.

 

[dw617]

Normal usage. The white metal would give way right where the rib ends. The link would separate at the large circular end, as a rule. My brother had the shell holder cavity separate on his. I don't think they were designed for one million prime cycles.
Now that I have spare bodies, links and handles, I retired them.
The seating stem must be compressed, since it doesn't seat the primer flush or slightly below flush (hence the constant need to shim between the link and stem). Use yours long enough and you'll likely have similar results.

I have had 2 lee primers tools fail like this. The first one lasted for 4 years which I think is reasonable? The second one less than a year, it just broke last week. Never had an issue with the linkage wearing. I will probably look into the RCBS next as I prefer hand priming.

 

[greencobra]

Use yours long enough and you'll likely have similar results.

as i said in my post above, i've got 30 years on it. bought it in the mid 80's and tens of thousands of primed brass through it. i had to replace the spring on the large priming stem once.

I have had 2 lee primers tools fail like this. The first one lasted for 4 years which I think is reasonable? The second one less than a year, it just broke last week. Never had an issue with the linkage wearing. I will probably look into the RCBS next as I prefer hand priming.

i've been so lucky with my stuff you'd think i could shit golden turds. in 45 years of reloading, the only piece of equipment i've had fail is a lyman turret press sometime in the late 70's. i don't know what i do differently than you guys. i ride that lee tool pretty hard. i dunno.

 

[Eric H]

I absolutely love my RCBS Universal Hand Priming tool, use it for all my rifle priming. Very smooth operation with no shell holders to fuss with when changing case heads.

 

[jpm]

I absolutely love my RCBS Universal Hand Priming tool, use it for all my rifle priming. Very smooth operation with no shell holders to fuss with when changing case heads.

Same here, its a great too but it will not work with 45 Auto Rim. The rim is just too thick for it so for that I have to pull out my old Lee hand primer with the appropriate shell holder and that thing is at least 25 years old and still going.

 

[PL-52]

I never prime on the press anymore it is just as quick to prime on the bench with the Lee primer and I seldom ever spill anything unlike priming on the press.

 

[cockpitbob]

For my rifles I hand prime with a Lee Auto Prime (older/round tray version) or a Franford Arsenal Platinum Series hand priming tool. I like them both. I’ve tried RCBS Bench Automatic and its fine as well. I prfer to feel the primer seat with a hand primer but thats just me. Pistol my Dillons do it.

Lee round tray primer here too. I like the feel it gives. I can feel a loose or tight pocket and feel when it hits bottom.

 

[Tallen]

I use the RCBS hand tool (not universal). It's okay, not great but nothing wrong with it either. If you're looking for buy-once-cry-once, the Sinclair hand tool looks like a good investment.

 

[rocket500]

I use both the RCBS universal hand primer and prime on the press with my Lee press. Either way works fine.

 

[Mountain]

I have borrowed the precision LE Wilson hand priming tool and have the RCBS hand priming tool. The RCBS 'feel' is almost as good as the Wilson, plus the RCBS feeds from a tray and does not need a shell holder. I highly recommend it, but I do a lot of loading for rifle matches and practice. If I blew through the hundreds of rounds that pistol competitors do, I think it would be tough on the hands. I do have a messed up tendon in my right hand but the RCBS is comfortable enough that it's not a problem. The RCBS is many times quicker than using the priming tool on a bench type press.

 

[sieveboy]

I like ram style press priming

 

[mikey98e]

I've been using a Lee hand primer tool that takes 1 primer at a time for the past 40 years. It came out before they added the round tray to the hand primer. I like it because I can feel how the primer seats. I tried using the press mounted priming arm but didn't like not knowing how hard or easy the primer seated.
-mike

 

[daekken]

I hand prime (have some 7.62x54R to do tonight actually), but as of now I only reload rifle on a single stage. When/if I get a progressive and do pistol, it will be using the press's features for those rounds.

 

[meh]

Take a look at the Frankford Arsenal hand primer. One thing I really like about it is that you can set the depth. This helps when priming crappy cases. The only thing I don't like about it is that there is no good shell holder for .44 magnum. Instead you are supposed to use the shell holder that fits .45 Colt. It works OK, but I'd rather have a slightly smaller shell holder for .44 magnum. I only use my press anymore for priming if I'm doing just a few.

 

[Mike 53]

I really like using my RCBS bench priming tool. Doesn't bother my arthritis and is quite fast. I've got it bolted to a board and just clamp it to
the bench when using it. And it takes all of about literally 2 seconds to change from small to large primers and back. All you do is pull one out
and drop the other priming assembly in.
-Mike

 

[dw617]

Wow, just treated myself to the RCBS universal hand primer. Love it already. My Lee stuff is going in the garbage.

 

[krallstar]

RCBS universal hand priming tool is my next purchase for reloading. No shellholder changeout necessary. With a hand priming tool you can ‘feel’ how loose or tight your primer pockets are and can discard any brass that doesn’t feel right. The being said, for pistol ammo where the pockets are less of a concern to me, I just use the priming station on my 550b.

I got the uni model. I can't seat most primers all the way down. I like the idea but my lee works a lot better

 

[1776]

A hand priming tool is great for when you have to sit and look at the In-Laws for a couple of hours

 

[dw617]

I take my words back on the RCBS universal primer. It's being returned. I could not get the primers seated properly, many popped out, lost/wasted many primers. This is after I removed the crimp on 1x fired LC 223.

Ended up priming 1300 cases on my press one at a time.

Going to try the RCBS primer with the shell holder next.

 

[doxdsgn]

Second wegman on the RCBS bench priming tool. Not the cheapest solution. Works well once you get the rythym of it.