Hornady new primer tube filler finally available

[Real Gun]

After months of delay, I got a notice from opticsplanet.com that my 6 month old backorder could be filled.

Lock-N-Load® 1911 Auto Primer Tube Filler

[Nathan]

Wow! At $72, I'm out

[g.willikers]

Here's the low down and a video.
Very neat operation:
http://www.hornady.com/store/Lock-N-...er-Filler-Tube

[jimk60]

Here is a link to Midway Priming Tools.

Hornady is 57.99 street.
I have the Frankfort Arsenal version, 48.99 street.
Many users didn't care for the FA. I love mine. Once you learn the techniques that work for you it is like magic.

I can load 100 small primers into a tube in under 5 seconds. Timed it twice this week.
Large primers are a little more problematic and take more like 15 seconds.

Beats the heck out of picking them up one at a time.

[Dragonflydf]

as much as I like Hornady reloading tools, I would never buy that for 2 reasons, first is the price, the second is who s bright idea to make something like that look like a gun ?
Go with the Frankfurt Arsenal primer loader and save some money.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/890...ProductFinding

[Vance]

The FA unit is a piece of carp. 2 different units, each with their own problems returned for a refund.
I wonder if the Hornady unit works any better? Not going to risk it. I'll continue with the manual method.

[Unclenick]

If you have no budget limitations, there's always the Dillon. I believe it even flips the primers for you.

[Real Gun]

Gosh! Cue the naysayers. $57.99, shipping included, is not a bad price, considering how picking up primers is a job I find depressing. I could have sprung for the Frankford Arsenal unit long ago, but liked what I read last year about Hornady's plan to introduce this version. I have waited patiently and thought I would provide a heads up to the forum.

[Unclenick]

Don't think of it as naysayers, but rather as a bunch of cranks getting all the alternatives laid out for readers to make their own comparison.

[Vance]

Real Gun,
Please post a review of your purchase after you get a chance to use it.

[Real Gun]

Any review would be that I like it, I returned it, Hornady repaired/replaced it, or I sold it. Someone with experience with earlier devices like the Frankford Arsenal would be able to do a better actual review. I suppose I could endorse this form of automation of primer handling, but that would apply to all brands and models. Other than that, quibbling about $58 for a satisfying improvement in the progressive press experience ends the discussion right there.

I am going to guess that some of those "cranks" don't prime on the progressive anyway.

[Vance]

I do prime on my XL650. I happen to own the Dillon RF100 primer tube loader. It works well when adjusted correctly. I would just like a smaller hand held unit. I found the FA unit to be unsatisfactory. Just want to see some results with the Hornady unit before I buy one.

[snuffy]

Soooo how does it REALLY work??¿¿ Do you have to transfer the filled Hornady tube to the Dillon tube before you can then dump them into the Dillon machine?

I had one of the early vibraprime fillers, that was the procedure, fill the vibraprime tube first, then transfer the tube to the dillon tubes,THEN you could fill the machines primer tube. The MAIN problem was it would usually flip 1-2 primers as it was filling. Nothing makes me madder than having to pull bullets to remove and replace an upside down primer. Even one-by-one primer pickup is preferred to having to pull bullets/boolits.

[Real Gun]

Soooo how does it REALLY work??¿¿ Do you have to transfer the filled Hornady tube to the Dillon tube before you can then dump them into the Dillon machine?

http://www.hornady.com/store/Lock-N-...er-Filler-Tube

Note that the tubes shown are the actual fill tubes for the Hornady LnL AP. What you will have done is eliminate the tedium and time of picking up primers one by one. I doubt if it was designed with Dillon in mind, but how different can the machines be with tubes of primers?

[GWS]

If I ever have to use (ugh) tubes again, that will be my first purchase (after the 7 station RCBS progressive). After using APS for 6 years, I'm not about to go back to pecking.

I like the very visible primer drop.....you can easily see if a primer goes in sideways, or USD.

The Dillon tool is for a rich man ...... well I suppose the same could be said for the Dillon 1050 or RCBS Pro Chucker 7 too.

[snuffy]

ttp://www.hornady.com/store/Lock-N-...er-Filler-Tube

Note that the tubes shown are the actual fill tubes for the Hornady LnL AP. What you will have done is eliminate the tedium and time of picking up primers one by one. I doubt if it was designed with Dillon in mind, but how different can the machines be with tubes of primers?

Yeah, I saw the video when it was first posted. It did NOT show enough detail to make me want to spend the money, then be stuck with something like that lousy vibraprime.

My method is to load a bunch of primer tubes while I watch something on TV. Depending on whether I'm loading 500 or more, I load enough to complete that run. Tedium? Yup, but necessary. Beats the heck outa single stage loading!

[wild willy]

Since I started SS tumbling I don't prime on the press.I deprime before I tumble.Slower? maybe I don't have a automated tube filler. I can prime 100 cases by hand not much slower than loading a primer tube by hunt and peck.The press stays much cleaner not depriming on it. I can prime cases anytime.A lot of the problems I see posted on progressive presses have to do with the priming.If your press primes 1000% fine and dandy but if it doesn't you can prime a lot of cases in the time it takes to clean up get it going again.

[snuffy]

Since I started SS tumbling I don't prime on the press.I deprime before I tumble.Slower? maybe I don't have a automated tube filler. I can prime 100 cases by hand not much slower than loading a primer tube by hunt and peck.The press stays much cleaner not depriming on it. I can prime cases anytime.A lot of the problems I see posted on progressive presses have to do with the priming.If your press primes 1000% fine and dandy but if it doesn't you can prime a lot of cases in the time it takes to clean up get it going again.

When/how do you size?

Doing anything off-press handicaps a progressive press. It's akin to loading with handcuffs on.

[wild willy]

I just take the decapping pin out of the sizing die(first station)and you are right it doesn't seem right not priming on the press.But it works for me.

[Real Gun]

Priming off the press to make sense of wet tumbling is the tail wagging the dog. But whatever works for ya. Handgun and rifle ammo may require different handling, but handgun ammo should be kept simple, or a progressive won't be used to full advantage.

[Real Gun]

One of the gripes about having to stop and fix a priming problem on the progressive is the possibility of having to empty the primer tube and pick them up all over again. I know a clever way to keep the primers in the tube while removing it, but if a primer jams the end sideways, you have to dump the whole tube. I expect this new gadget would make recovering fast and easy, relieving the despair one feels when having to dump the primers and pick them over again. The new tool helps to avoid some of the aggravation that can occur in keeping a press running well.

That's not to say that priming problems should be normal, but I continually find that those who complain, or have stopped priming on the press entirely, don't have the latest generation parts from the manufacturer. My Hornady LnL AP, for example, has a improved primer punch and slide available.

[Vance]

Some also fail to keep their priming system clean. Dirt will cause problems you don't realize. I clean my press after each caliber session. Doesn't take long to de either.

I have deprimed my brass to wet stainless steel pin tumble clean it and I still primed on the press. Works great.

[Unclenick]

Failure to keep the actual primer feed mechanism clean has lead to primer stack ignition. Search for past threads on primers going off inside a Dillon press or feed tube to see some photos of what that does. Primers with lacquer sealant are going to be less prone to depositing explosive dust than those which do not have it.

Decapping before cleaning is something I do on my old Lee Challenger press with Lee's universal decapping die. It is quick and in no way interferes with subsequent progressive loading. The main advantage is just not having primer residue dust spread around and under the progressive press's shell plate. It makes keeping things clean and running smoothly easier to do. Not a requirement, but an option.

In various jobs over the years I've seen a number of vibratory-based sorting and counting and filling mechanisms. I'm guessing that with a 3D printer, you could come up with more variations on the theme. Imagine being able to put 1000 primers in a machine at once and have 10 tubes fill simultaneously and never have to touch a primer. That you might have to let it run for fifteen or twenty minutes wouldn't much matter then. But it would have to take randomly placed primers and turn them and funnel them into place reliably. I think it's doable. Whether it is doable at a reasonable price or not, is something I hesitate to speculate on.

[GWS]

The longer I read this thread the more sure I am that RCBS screwed up twice. Once in not properly marketing the APS primer strip system, and twice for not taking it to the next step by improving upon what they had. Instead they buckled, to the glee of Dillon who would rather replace blown up press parts and convince their customers that that (no fault?) policy makes them great, rather than inventing a better, faster, safer primer system of their own.

A new vibrator that can load 10 tubes of 100 at a time? Wonderful. Ten pipe bombs to store. Why not store 20 loaded tubes?

The nice thing about what I load with is that I have that many, 2000 primers, safely in boxes like you probably do, but they are already preloaded into strips ...none touching....so when I open a box I can load right now, continuous, no pecking or vibrating required. No refilling either. The strips are perpetually snapped together between a thumb and finger and they come apart on their own and empties stack behind the press.

Search for past threads on primers going off inside a Dillon press or feed tube to see some photos of what that does

Its getting harder to find those....they are disappearing....but I saved two for you:


The hole in the ceiling/destroy your eardrums trick.


Don't assume that picking up a tube is always safe.

There was another really recent (last spring) example on TheHighRoad.Org. It went from page one "Tacked" to archives. That one was a 450 to 550 conversion. Nasty hand wounds again. Surgery required. Ahh, just found it....here's the Link.

As Mad Magazine used to say, "What.......Me Worry?" All it takes is a mistake...usually caused by inattention or a maintenance oversight, or a worn out part. I'm perfectly capable of duplicating such a mistake, yup human......that's a big reason I opted for a safer system. Now that system's days are numbered. A year, maybe 2. A shame, IMO.

[jmorris]

Well, I have to admit never seeing that one. How in the world did he light off a primer pickup tube and how in the world did it shoot up into the ceiling with all the primers going off would have forced it in the opposite direction?