Hornady new primer tube filler finally available - Page 3

cryogenic419 · August 20, 2015, 05:21 AM

Hornady is marketing this as you hold it like a gun and its at the optimum angle...its not. Watched your video and found myself doing the same thing, slight angle and giving the whole unit a little jerk from time to time.

Like I said this is better than pecking them up one by one, and if you're trying to crank out ammo it really is saving a ton of time, just pricey for what it is.

Real Gun · August 20, 2015, 08:09 AM

Quote:

just pricey for what it is.

I think we can stop apologizing for what we spent. I am glad to have it. I would have spent quite a bit more to be able to stop picking up primers one by one or messing with primer boxes that are bigger than the tray.

Vance · August 20, 2015, 09:05 AM

I'm glad it's working for you guys. The FA unit never worked for me. I tried three different ones. I finally bought the Dillon RF-100 and it has worked for me since. I'm not going to apologize for spending what I did on it either. I too got tired of flipping and pecking primers.

jmorris · August 20, 2015, 10:40 AM

I had an old VP but when they stopped making it they were selling for insane prices, so I sold mine (for way too much money) and bought the Dillon filler.

Then they started making them again and even had a sale on the VP for $25/ea. I couldn't resist picking a few up at that price. They are not a "hold and pull the trigger" device. However, if you take a few minutes to learn what makes them not work, you can save quite a bit of time down the road. Hard to beat 100 primers in the flipper to tube in under 20 seconds.

Vance · August 20, 2015, 08:24 PM

My problems were not that they would not put primers in the tube. It was that I averaged 7 to 10 upside down primers in every tube. I tried many solutions I read about on various forums with no luck. With the Dillon filler I still get upside down primers, but the average has dropped to 1 in 1000. That is acceptable.

Real Gun · August 21, 2015, 06:31 AM

Quote:

My problems were not that they would not put primers in the tube. It was that I averaged 7 to 10 upside down primers in every tube. I tried many solutions I read about on various forums with no luck. With the Dillon filler I still get upside down primers, but the average has dropped to 1 in 1000. That is acceptable.

That might not be pertinent to this unit from Hornady. I would expect designers to address problems known in earlier devices. On my new Hornady, the primers are covered so close that they cannot flip while in the tray. Something would have to happen at the hole for the tube, but that is closely covered too..

Vance · August 31, 2015, 09:19 PM

OK. Being a silly gadget person. I bought one the the Hornady units. The Hornady unit performed flawlessly with small primers. 0 flipped primers there. Large primers is another story. Wolf brand large pistol primers would not feed at all with out constant firm thumps on the top of the handle unit. I only had 1 other brand of large primers, so I tried those. They were CCI large rifle primers. Those fed mostly ok but still require firm thump on top of the handle unit, but not as often as the others. Only 1 flipped primer in 200 and I'm not sure I got that one flipped correctly in the tray before I put the cover on. The large rifle primers were taller than the large pistol primers and would get caught up in the middle of the tray.

Over all my comparison of the 2 units is the Hornady unit is much better functionally, but neither unit is made of materials for longevity. They both have a cheap plastic feel. The hornady units large primer tray was quit fiddly trying to get it mounted on the handle. The small tray went right on.

I am going to call Hornady and talk to them about my problems with the large primer tray and difficulty of feeding. We'll see how this goes.

Vance · September 3, 2015, 10:05 PM

Emailed Hornady, No response. Unfortunately, they are closed when I have time to call.

This unit is being returned to Midway as defective.

Real Gun · September 4, 2015, 04:58 AM

I found it important to have the fill tube firmly seated, i.e. fully inserted, or there could be room for a primer to flip and jam the works.

gojones · September 5, 2015, 06:34 AM

I also use the primer tube process on my Hornady LNL AP. The obvious weakness to me in this process is in transferring the primers inside the filled pickup tube to the primer tube setting inside the blast shield. I can see me dropping this tube moving from the primer tray after picking up 100 primers and it going off. I think once the primers are safely transferred to the primer tube inside the blast shield, there is much less risk of an explosion. The second part of this risk is releasing the hitch pin when the filler tube is setting on top of the primer tube and letting 100 primers slide down to the bottom of the primer tube. The tubes are made to tight tolerances and escaping air around the falling primers cushions and slows the fall of the primers. Safety goggles are a must when doing this.

csmsss · September 6, 2015, 09:49 AM

I adore the RCBS APS priming strips system and it has puzzled me no end why RCBS never made a press integrating this system. Doesn't seem like it would have been all that hard to do, if you designed it in from the start. They also went el cheapo on the loader - the build quality is terrible. Every time I pick it up, I wonder..."is this the time the primer press bar is going to bust and send primers flying everywhere?". It's not a question of if it's going to break but when. Also, there is zero feedback on when you've pressed the bar just hard enough to seat the primers in the strip.

Anyway, there is a good reason for Hornady LNL AP users to ditch priming on the press, and that is clearance issues between the primer tube shield and the Hornady powder die. As in there is very little clearance. If you prime off the press, that frees you up to place your powder die pretty much anywhere you wish. Does that introduce steps and slow things down? Maybe, but then again I don't mind using a hand press to decap, resize, and expand my cases, then the APS hand primer to prime them - I can easily do that while relaxing, watching the idiot box. It's the other processes that I really need the progressive press for.

Real Gun · September 6, 2015, 07:53 PM

That's a lot of hand wringing for primer detonations that just don't happen. Load 'em up and crank away. Yeah, like it's going to light up the powder station. Jeez!

September 5, 2015, 06:34 AM	#60
gojones Member Join Date: February 27, 2010 Location: Alabama Posts: 25	I also use the primer tube process on my Hornady LNL AP. The obvious weakness to me in this process is in transferring the primers inside the filled pickup tube to the primer tube setting inside the blast shield. I can see me dropping this tube moving from the primer tray after picking up 100 primers and it going off. I think once the primers are safely transferred to the primer tube inside the blast shield, there is much less risk of an explosion. The second part of this risk is releasing the hitch pin when the filler tube is setting on top of the primer tube and letting 100 primers slide down to the bottom of the primer tube. The tubes are made to tight tolerances and escaping air around the falling primers cushions and slows the fall of the primers. Safety goggles are a must when doing this. __________________ NRA Endowment Member

August 20, 2015, 05:21 AM	#51
cryogenic419 Senior Member Join Date: March 29, 2009 Location: NW Ohio Posts: 569	Hornady is marketing this as you hold it like a gun and its at the optimum angle...its not. Watched your video and found myself doing the same thing, slight angle and giving the whole unit a little jerk from time to time. Like I said this is better than pecking them up one by one, and if you're trying to crank out ammo it really is saving a ton of time, just pricey for what it is.

August 20, 2015, 09:05 AM	#53
Vance Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2011 Location: North Bend, OR Posts: 743	I'm glad it's working for you guys. The FA unit never worked for me. I tried three different ones. I finally bought the Dillon RF-100 and it has worked for me since. I'm not going to apologize for spending what I did on it either. I too got tired of flipping and pecking primers.

August 20, 2015, 10:40 AM	#54
jmorris Senior Member Join Date: November 22, 2006 Posts: 3,077	I had an old VP but when they stopped making it they were selling for insane prices, so I sold mine (for way too much money) and bought the Dillon filler. Then they started making them again and even had a sale on the VP for $25/ea. I couldn't resist picking a few up at that price. They are not a "hold and pull the trigger" device. However, if you take a few minutes to learn what makes them not work, you can save quite a bit of time down the road. Hard to beat 100 primers in the flipper to tube in under 20 seconds.

August 20, 2015, 08:24 PM	#55
Vance Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2011 Location: North Bend, OR Posts: 743	My problems were not that they would not put primers in the tube. It was that I averaged 7 to 10 upside down primers in every tube. I tried many solutions I read about on various forums with no luck. With the Dillon filler I still get upside down primers, but the average has dropped to 1 in 1000. That is acceptable.

August 31, 2015, 09:19 PM	#57
Vance Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2011 Location: North Bend, OR Posts: 743	OK. Being a silly gadget person. I bought one the the Hornady units. The Hornady unit performed flawlessly with small primers. 0 flipped primers there. Large primers is another story. Wolf brand large pistol primers would not feed at all with out constant firm thumps on the top of the handle unit. I only had 1 other brand of large primers, so I tried those. They were CCI large rifle primers. Those fed mostly ok but still require firm thump on top of the handle unit, but not as often as the others. Only 1 flipped primer in 200 and I'm not sure I got that one flipped correctly in the tray before I put the cover on. The large rifle primers were taller than the large pistol primers and would get caught up in the middle of the tray. Over all my comparison of the 2 units is the Hornady unit is much better functionally, but neither unit is made of materials for longevity. They both have a cheap plastic feel. The hornady units large primer tray was quit fiddly trying to get it mounted on the handle. The small tray went right on. I am going to call Hornady and talk to them about my problems with the large primer tray and difficulty of feeding. We'll see how this goes.

September 3, 2015, 10:05 PM	#58
Vance Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2011 Location: North Bend, OR Posts: 743	Emailed Hornady, No response. Unfortunately, they are closed when I have time to call. This unit is being returned to Midway as defective.

September 4, 2015, 04:58 AM	#59
Real Gun Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2004 Location: SC Posts: 2,743	I found it important to have the fill tube firmly seated, i.e. fully inserted, or there could be room for a primer to flip and jam the works.

September 6, 2015, 09:49 AM	#61
csmsss Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Orange, TX Posts: 3,078	I adore the RCBS APS priming strips system and it has puzzled me no end why RCBS never made a press integrating this system. Doesn't seem like it would have been all that hard to do, if you designed it in from the start. They also went el cheapo on the loader - the build quality is terrible. Every time I pick it up, I wonder..."is this the time the primer press bar is going to bust and send primers flying everywhere?". It's not a question of if it's going to break but when. Also, there is zero feedback on when you've pressed the bar just hard enough to seat the primers in the strip. Anyway, there is a good reason for Hornady LNL AP users to ditch priming on the press, and that is clearance issues between the primer tube shield and the Hornady powder die. As in there is very little clearance. If you prime off the press, that frees you up to place your powder die pretty much anywhere you wish. Does that introduce steps and slow things down? Maybe, but then again I don't mind using a hand press to decap, resize, and expand my cases, then the APS hand primer to prime them - I can easily do that while relaxing, watching the idiot box. It's the other processes that I really need the progressive press for.

September 6, 2015, 07:53 PM	#62
Real Gun Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2004 Location: SC Posts: 2,743	That's a lot of hand wringing for primer detonations that just don't happen. Load 'em up and crank away. Yeah, like it's going to light up the powder station. Jeez!