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Old November 2, 2012, 04:59 PM   #1
Pond, James Pond
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Alternative priming techniques

I am frustrated.

I judiciously ordered all my reloading gear last month, so that I could finally get into .308 reloading.

It all arrives, I buy all my components and then.... I notice that I failed to order an auto-prime shell holder.
You know... the one that in no way resembles any other available shell holders in my collection.

And my usual supplier will be out of stock for another week to 10 days!!

So, are there any other means of priming cases that do not involve the autoprimer or buying any other bits, no matter how slow, that I can use to at least get, say, ten cartridges ready to compare to factory loads, until the Lee #2 is back in stock?
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Old November 2, 2012, 05:05 PM   #2
mrawesome22
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Prime on the press.
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Old November 2, 2012, 05:33 PM   #3
Pond, James Pond
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Prime on the press.
Cool!
But... Not done that before. Any vid links you can recommend?

I did get some little metal thing-ummees in my turret press kit.
Can they just work as they are, or do I need other bits to make it all work?

I'll use the auto-prime normally so this is just to tide me over, hence why I don't want to buy extras.
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Old November 2, 2012, 05:58 PM   #4
the led farmer
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insert this:

like so:

voila...your primed.

the thing is the primer arm. i highly recommend the large/small safety prime
lee safety prime for the classic turret (which i believe you use)

it's a bit tricky to get the hang of, it takes some dicking with to adjust it right but once you get it dialed it's very fast.

(edit:sorry for the massive pics i'm out the door)
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Old November 2, 2012, 08:06 PM   #5
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^^^ This.

You'll want the primer arm in there anyway when depriming. Without it, about half the spent primers will manage to come out the slot in the ram rather than falling through it.
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Old November 2, 2012, 10:57 PM   #6
A pause for the COZ
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Not sure about the Classic cast turret, but on my Deluxe turret.
I know I know they call it Deluxe......

If its any thing like mine that primer arm likes to pop out and land on the floor at the most inopportune times. Bending over to pick it up is bad enough, but once it bent the cup that holds the primer rendering it useless.
kept me from priming my rifle loads until a replacement could be procured.

I now have three ways to prime. Not going to be with out an option again.

Found this idea on the Interweb.... Just attach a zip tie as shown and the primer arm pop outs will be a thing of the past. It works great.

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Old November 2, 2012, 11:06 PM   #7
Brian Pfleuger
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You won't have that problem with the Classic turret. The priming system is a major reason why it's a better press that the Deluxe.
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Old November 2, 2012, 11:18 PM   #8
A pause for the COZ
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Quote:
You won't have that problem with the Classic turret. The priming system is a major reason why it's a better press that the Deluxe.
No doubt about it being a better system. If you just look at the photo of mine you will see at least 3 mods that are there just to compensate for the decapping/priming problems.

Good part is it works great. The bad part is it works great. I cant justify the purchase of a classic cast turret.

I did talk my self into a Classic Cast Single stage press though.
I like it allot.


Last edited by A pause for the COZ; November 2, 2012 at 11:26 PM.
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Old November 2, 2012, 11:33 PM   #9
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It will be a happy day when your shell holders arrive. For me nothing is better than priming off the press.
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Old November 3, 2012, 01:48 AM   #10
Pond, James Pond
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Great guys!!

Question answered. I still plan to prime by hand: it is just the way I have ended up doing things and it does not require additional purchases.

Quote:
insert this: PIC OF LEE DOO-DAH

like so: PIC OF PRESS
Exactly what I wanted to find out: now I know what those things are for!

Quote:
You'll want the primer arm in there anyway when depriming. Without it, about half the spent primers will manage to come out the slot in the ram rather than falling through it.
Also a benefit: it took me a while to work out what that twang sound was every few decaps: then I saw all the spent primers on my garage floor!!
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Old November 3, 2012, 10:10 AM   #11
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I have the new Lee Ergo Prime, it is the BOMB, I don't prime on the press anymore

Smokeyloads
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Old November 3, 2012, 10:14 AM   #12
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I have two of the "old" Auto Primes but I really want to try the Ergo. It looks cool all red body.
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Old November 3, 2012, 01:28 PM   #13
Pond, James Pond
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Well, I tried the turret method and it worked very well.

I can't say that I prefer it to the auto-prime, but I must say it was really easy to use and all my .308 cases (except 3 range pick-ups that seem to need the primer pocket reamed a bit more: the previous primers had been peened in place)
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Old November 3, 2012, 02:06 PM   #14
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I can say I like priming on my Turret press so much better than hand priming with the auto-prime that I gave away my handpriming tool to a friend. (I gave him my Lee press that has no provision for on-press priming.)

When loading in continuous mode, it is also MUCH faster to prime on-press.

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Old November 4, 2012, 05:02 PM   #15
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I have been using the Auto-Prime II for more years then I care to count and always will . Dedicate a $25.00 Lee press to it , no special shell holders required . You'll never look back or second guess yourself for doing it !
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Old November 6, 2012, 09:11 PM   #16
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I use an RCBS bench-mounted dedicated priming tool because priming on the press aggravates a very old injury. In my opinion I don't know how I ever got along without it, it is a truly superb priming tool.
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Old November 6, 2012, 10:12 PM   #17
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Crashbox - thanks very much for mentioning your bench-mount RCBS priming tool. Just found it on Midway's site. I've been using the original hand-priming tool and like it (particularly instead of the "universal") because of the comfortable, familiar feel of the seat. But it is a PITA for quantity and my old hands can't work as many as they used to. The old "feel" apparently is what this bench-mount device tries to duplicate. Assume it takes standard RCBS shellholders.

Just one thing I don't understand, from the photo: how do you load the primers into the tubes, so that they are all right-side up?

For that matter, where do the tubes go? Underneath?

I'm referring to Midway product #457599, "RCBS Automatic Bench Priming Tool," NOT the RCBS APS priming tool that requires the primers to be in strips.

Last edited by FloridaVeteran; November 6, 2012 at 10:19 PM. Reason: specifying which model between two
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Old November 7, 2012, 08:42 PM   #18
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My first off the press priming tool was a Lee from about 1970, with the screw on shell holders. Have also had several on the press priming systems, the RCBS bench primer, a couple of the newer Lee priming tools, and a Hornady LnL press.
My Lee Classic Turret with the Safety prime is multiple times easier than any of them and has MUCH better feel in seating the primers. I wish the LnL has as good a system as the Safety Prime, and it is not bad.
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Old November 8, 2012, 09:08 PM   #19
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Led Farmer - I have a Lee basic manual press that I use now only for de-priming, because of the really handy tube that collects the spent primers and keeps them from spilling out to a place where only a grandchild can find it.

But when I used it to reload, I tried the safety prime arm/gizmo. It worked well. I abandoned that because I could not get away from the seating feel of an RCBS hand-primer. The feel of the seat was more important than the speed - I never tried to compare the two because there's too much in-between stuff to make that worthwhile.

I can't remember now, unfortunately, but there is a big difference between Lee and RCBS manual presses and hand primers. One of them takes the same shell holder for both functions and one does not, as I recall. Anticipating dementia, I bought multiples of everything and don't have to change out, within a caliber.

James - sorry about that. Kinda' like a rowboat with one oar.
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Old November 9, 2012, 02:43 PM   #20
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I have my rockchucker mounted along side my progressive... I FLsize all brass and decap all brass on that, then I prime using the Lee hand primer, then I load on the progressive....
really works out well that way, kinda like staging up all the work needed before it gets to the progressive -)

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Old November 9, 2012, 04:03 PM   #21
Pond, James Pond
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Quote:
One of them takes the same shell holder for both functions and one does not, as I recall.
I can help you with that.

It must be the RCBS because I have the Lee, and I have to wait for a second shellholder before I can hand-prime again!!

Still, with the press accessory, I've primed my .308 cases and I'm going to reload my first ever rifle rounds this weekend!!
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Old November 25, 2012, 01:52 AM   #22
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Exibar and James Pond - LOL - I think it's great that I am not considered crazy in trying to create greatest efficiency (for my own purpose) relative to equipment available, quantity processed, etc.

As noted, I use the Lee for depriming, because of the cool collection tube for spent primers. I also have a beloved Rockchucker for precision loading or any unusual in-between work. But since my neighbor has a gee-whiz 5-stage progressive, I de-prime, tumble and clean the primer pockets, then prime with an RCBS manual primer (think of your first real girlfriend). After that, it's next door to the mac-daddy machine for some volume output.

Based on my old-fart analysis of that, I have come to the conclusion that buying cleaned, trimmed, resized and primed load-ready brass from places like Brass Brothers is not such a bad deal. I buy ACP cases from them, but load my Long Colts from Step 1.

Whatever. The great value I find here is the difference of experiences and results. I will stop learning the day my wife stops telling me stuff, which well might be after the day I die.
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Old November 25, 2012, 04:22 PM   #23
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Quote:
Crashbox - thanks very much for mentioning your bench-mount RCBS priming tool. Just found it on Midway's site. I've been using the original hand-priming tool and like it (particularly instead of the "universal") because of the comfortable, familiar feel of the seat. But it is a PITA for quantity and my old hands can't work as many as they used to. The old "feel" apparently is what this bench-mount device tries to duplicate. Assume it takes standard RCBS shellholders.

Just one thing I don't understand, from the photo: how do you load the primers into the tubes, so that they are all right-side up?

For that matter, where do the tubes go? Underneath?

I'm referring to Midway product #457599, "RCBS Automatic Bench Priming Tool," NOT the RCBS APS priming tool that requires the primers to be in strips.
My apologies for taking SOOOO long to respond to this, I just happened to review the postings and noticed.

Yes, it does take standard RCBS shellholders. The tubes are inserted into the top portion of the dispensing "lever". You load the tube up and (after you make certain the little cotter pin is correctly inserted cross-ways in the tube!) you invert the tube and insert it into the "lever", then pull the cotter pin and you're good to go.

It is truly an amazing tool IMO.
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