Better hand priming tool

BigDaddy · Feb 8, 2018

I have used the RCBS for 20 years, The Lee felt flimsy to me and I sold it. Frankford Arsenal looks like a knock off of the RCBS, but I wonder if it would be more comfortable in my hand. The top tang on the RCBS gets old after a while.

Bountied · Feb 8, 2018

I like my Lee primer. It was my grandfathers and may be why it is still holding up. They don't make them like they used to applies I think. I like how I can feel when the primer is set vs. using the rock chucker where you have to be careful.

K-43 · Feb 8, 2018

I prefer my old Lee tool with the round primer tray. Yes it takes odd shellholders, bu they aren't difficult to swap. I used teflon grease on the cam part and it's pretty smooth/hasn't worn out after decades.
I have the Universal RCBS tool and just don't like it. I was also given one of the RCBS strip tools. Well, either buy more expensive primers or spend time putting primers in the strips. Just doesn't make sense to add unnecessary work when I can just dump in however many rows of primers out of the box with the trays.

And yes, this was grammatically atrocious.

Pinecone · Feb 8, 2018

The change from round tray to square tray was to make them "safer." I don't think there was ever any incident, but their MIGHT be one, some day.

The difference is, with the square tray, the primer is shielded when being inserted into the case. So it if detonates, it won't set off the enter tray.

But once the primer enters the case at all, the primer detonation would be mainly through the case.

My old round tray one, cracked around the top of the device, the end that holds the shell holder started to come off.

Melnic · Feb 8, 2018

Both my black (auto prime XR?) and the red (ergo prime?) lee hand primers broke the plastic top window cover. I have to tape them down so they don't accidentally rotate and then start messing up on me. When they mess up, it will almost like double feed into the staging section. I've had a few times that when correcting the plastic, I did not notice a primer flipped on me. A few have made it past the loading and I noticed when putting it into a box and had to pull it apart.

gmharle · Feb 10, 2018

I bought the RCBS universal hand primer to replace the Lee that I started with. The Lee kept breaking the plastic adapters and bending the springs. I would not recommend the Lee at all. I am happy with the RCBS so far.

Pinecone · Feb 11, 2018

What were you doing with the Lee?

I primed probably 10,000 cases with my Lee.

Rockzilla · Feb 12, 2018

Pinecone said:
What were you doing with the Lee?

I primed probably 10,000 cases with my Lee.

Same here... No problems.

-Rock

gmharle · Feb 12, 2018

Pinecone said:
What were you doing with the Lee?

I primed probably 10,000 cases with my Lee.

I used it primarily for .308 and the flat metal spring (red below) kept bending and causing it to bind and get stuck. Happened to two different size large inserts. Maybe it was me squeezing too hard.

Screen Shot 2018-02-12 at 7.37.56 AM.jpg

Pinecone · Feb 13, 2018

Hmm, that looks NOTHING like my Lee hand primer.

Sticky · Feb 13, 2018

Bountied said:
I like my Lee primer. It was my grandfathers and may be why it is still holding up. They don't make them like they used to applies I think. I like how I can feel when the primer is set vs. using the rock chucker where you have to be careful.

Agreed! The older Lee Autoprimes have worked so well for me, that when I finally broke the link in one, I scoured Ebay and found two more and snatched em up. I now have 3 and you can find replacement covers (mine were so old that they were yellowed) if you search about.

gmharle · Feb 13, 2018

This is the one that I was talking about. The Lee Ergo prime.

LGood48 · Feb 13, 2018

After using Lee hand primers since the 80s I finally got tired of broken tabs on covers, flipped primers and double stacking. Had all the models except for the newest. Switched to the Lyman EZ prime and love it. Uses standard shell holders and you can change the shell holder by simply removing the lock collar and set the new size on (assuming same primer for the new caliber). Have primed over 1000 rounds of .223 plus .45 ACP and Colt and 9mm.

Pinecone · Feb 14, 2018

gmharle said:
This is the one that I was talking about. The Lee Ergo prime.
View attachment 225604

Yeah, that is not the type that many of us are talking about.

Round tray one is the original. Square tray is the second version.

Bountied · Feb 14, 2018

That's the one I have. The one on top with the round hopper. I really like it.

K-43 · Feb 14, 2018

Yep, old round topper is my fave too. The cover is yellowing, but it hasn't cracked yet.

gmharle · Feb 14, 2018

That looks much more durable than mine.

Rockzilla · Feb 14, 2018

K-43 said:
Yep, old round topper is my fave too. The cover is yellowing, but it hasn't cracked yet.

2 of mine have the yellowing tray syndrome.
Picked up a few on eBay cheap, backups or
in case. They just keep working, primed
I don't know how many thousands of rounds
with them only thing is the yellowing of the tray.

-Rock

Bountied · Feb 15, 2018

Mine is a light yellow but doesn't seem brittle at all. All the tabs are strong and it still clicks into place. Not going to be replacing it anytime soon.

Pinecone · Feb 16, 2018

Mine cracked at the red line. That is why I got the 21st century one.

All the goodness of the Lee, with even more goodness of a better body.

Better hand priming tool

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

West of Morning Side

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Active Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Active Member

Ultimate Member

Beware of Dog

Active Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Attachments

Ultimate Member

West of Morning Side

Active Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Attachments

Users who are viewing this thread

Log in

Forum statistics