How to hold Lee Auto Primer

Live45 · April 16, 2013, 09:49 PM

In the past I've always used the primer loader on my Lee turret press, But after reading about the Lee Auto Prime on this forum I decided to try the Auto Prime. Tonight I primed a couple hundred .45 casings with it and thought it was a great way to prime. My question is how do you hold the thing? To me, the safest way is to squeeze with your thumb, thus having the casing facing away from your face. But I wondered how many people squeeze with their fingers with the casing facing their face.

MJFlores · April 16, 2013, 09:53 PM

The way I use mine is to hold it away from me and squeeze the lever with my thumb. After a bit you'll get the feel and can really be very consistent with it. Be careful not to press the lever right to the frame as this can seat primers too deep. I think it's the best priming tool out there. Mine is the old round style...I notice they're square these days.

j357 · April 16, 2013, 10:02 PM

The new 'square' version is the XR. I have experienced no problems in pushing the lever until fully engaged against the frame, held away from the user. Fully seated is the only way to ensure consistency in my opinion. You may not need to go that far, but it wont hurt IME.

jag2 · April 16, 2013, 10:28 PM

Maybe its just because I'm getting older but I need to change my grip after a while, I start to feel I'm straining my thumb. You'll have to play around with it some but you can squeeze it with your thumb but you can also press it with your thumb. Try it and you can feel the difference.

GTOne · April 17, 2013, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Be careful not to press the lever right to the frame as this can seat primers too deep.

No, the primers need to be seated all the way into the pocket if you can. Not doing so will lead to misfires.

Do indeed press all the way until you feel the primer bottom or the lever 'give' slightly right in the last bit of travel. You'll know they are seated fully then.

(Using the XR in my case, it works great for me.)

superspirit · April 17, 2013, 01:17 PM

I did it with my thumb and the primer facing away. after awhile it really wears on your thumb, so I switched to the RCBS version that squeezes with your fingers it takes like less than a 1/4 of the effort of the lee and now my lee just collects dust on the shelf. but for safety reasons I always recommend facing the case away from you when priming.

Jerry45 · April 17, 2013, 03:18 PM

I use to use my thump with my "OLD" round tray Auto Prime. Thing is over 30 years old and was till going strong... BUT.. I bought a Lee Auto Prime Ergo Prime Hand Priming Tool. I love this thing. I use a full hand grip. Leaver pointing away from body.

Sport45 · April 17, 2013, 11:48 PM

Quote:

To me, the safest way is to squeeze with your thumb, thus having the casing facing away from your face.

Indeed.

I've had a primer pop when it slammed home after pushing it past a crimp I hadn't removed. I'm glad it wasn't pointed at my face. A large rifle mag primer sends a surprising amount of flame out the end of a .30-06 case.

F. Guffey · April 18, 2013, 08:51 AM

R. Lee, in his book on modern reloading describes methods and techniques of priming, he talks about a discussing his auto primer with a reloader, his description of the reloader reminded me of a Jim Croce song named ‘You don’t mess around with Jim’, As R. Lee described the reloaders method, he could have been using 2 thumbs and 8 fingers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4qUXcXuMSE

I prefer using the Lee auto prime with as many fingers as I can get on the operating handle, when I want a primer to slide in below the case I tilt the hand primer.

The RCBS auto hand primer is designed for the fingers to be used.

I decided one day to set off a primer, after 2 hours and giving up on the Lee and went to the RCBS, finally, after wading it up and folding it, success.Warning my wife would have been a good ideal before I started.

F. Guffey

hbhobby · April 20, 2013, 09:00 PM

I alternate cuz my hands get tired after 40-50 rounds. Have never been too concerned about blast from primer cuz i always wear safty lasses when i reload.

April 16, 2013, 09:49 PM	#1
Live45 Member Join Date: January 23, 2013 Location: Central Florida Posts: 46	How to hold Lee Auto Primer In the past I've always used the primer loader on my Lee turret press, But after reading about the Lee Auto Prime on this forum I decided to try the Auto Prime. Tonight I primed a couple hundred .45 casings with it and thought it was a great way to prime. My question is how do you hold the thing? To me, the safest way is to squeeze with your thumb, thus having the casing facing away from your face. But I wondered how many people squeeze with their fingers with the casing facing their face.

April 17, 2013, 03:18 PM	#7
Jerry45 Senior Member Join Date: April 18, 2000 Location: Metairie, Louisiana Posts: 890	I use to use my thump with my "OLD" round tray Auto Prime. Thing is over 30 years old and was till going strong... BUT.. I bought a Lee Auto Prime Ergo Prime Hand Priming Tool. I love this thing. I use a full hand grip. Leaver pointing away from body. __________________ Guns are not dangerous! People are! RKBA!

April 16, 2013, 09:53 PM	#2
MJFlores Senior Member Join Date: April 8, 2013 Posts: 539	The way I use mine is to hold it away from me and squeeze the lever with my thumb. After a bit you'll get the feel and can really be very consistent with it. Be careful not to press the lever right to the frame as this can seat primers too deep. I think it's the best priming tool out there. Mine is the old round style...I notice they're square these days.

April 16, 2013, 10:02 PM	#3
j357 Senior Member Join Date: January 25, 2009 Location: Liberty Twp, OH Posts: 283	The new 'square' version is the XR. I have experienced no problems in pushing the lever until fully engaged against the frame, held away from the user. Fully seated is the only way to ensure consistency in my opinion. You may not need to go that far, but it wont hurt IME.

April 16, 2013, 10:28 PM	#4
jag2 Senior Member Join Date: June 30, 2009 Location: dallas Posts: 773	Maybe its just because I'm getting older but I need to change my grip after a while, I start to feel I'm straining my thumb. You'll have to play around with it some but you can squeeze it with your thumb but you can also press it with your thumb. Try it and you can feel the difference.

April 17, 2013, 01:17 PM	#6
superspirit Senior Member Join Date: April 8, 2013 Posts: 211	I did it with my thumb and the primer facing away. after awhile it really wears on your thumb, so I switched to the RCBS version that squeezes with your fingers it takes like less than a 1/4 of the effort of the lee and now my lee just collects dust on the shelf. but for safety reasons I always recommend facing the case away from you when priming.

April 18, 2013, 08:51 AM	#9
F. Guffey Senior Member Join Date: July 18, 2008 Posts: 7,249	R. Lee, in his book on modern reloading describes methods and techniques of priming, he talks about a discussing his auto primer with a reloader, his description of the reloader reminded me of a Jim Croce song named ‘You don’t mess around with Jim’, As R. Lee described the reloaders method, he could have been using 2 thumbs and 8 fingers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4qUXcXuMSE I prefer using the Lee auto prime with as many fingers as I can get on the operating handle, when I want a primer to slide in below the case I tilt the hand primer. The RCBS auto hand primer is designed for the fingers to be used. I decided one day to set off a primer, after 2 hours and giving up on the Lee and went to the RCBS, finally, after wading it up and folding it, success.Warning my wife would have been a good ideal before I started. F. Guffey

April 20, 2013, 09:00 PM	#10
hbhobby Senior Member Join Date: January 14, 2013 Location: Payson Az Posts: 169	I alternate cuz my hands get tired after 40-50 rounds. Have never been too concerned about blast from primer cuz i always wear safty lasses when i reload.