Priming off the press or on the press?

[Zildjian]

For me ...I de-prime on my 550-B and re-prime off the press on my RCBS
automatic priming tool. I like being able to see and feel the primer being seated flush on bottom. Afterwards, you can manually check each case before going on to the Press . Been doing it that ways for years for both pistol and rifle and have never had any hang fires to date. Was just something
I got use to doing on when I had a Lyman turrett press...just kept doing it when I got my 550-B many yrs. ago.

[howlnmad]

For me, everything gets deprimed before it goes to the cleaner.
Plinking pistol rounds will get primed on the press. All my rifle rounds and SD rounds are done by hand. I don't mind if I have a FTF while shooting targets or cans but when I'm pulled up on freezer fodder or a BG, I want to know that primer is seated properly.

[Kevin Rohrer]

I am curious as to why some people prefer to prime off the press with a hand primer tool when their press is capable of doing it right there?

Doing it by hand gives me a better feel for seating than using some of my presses. It's also faster.

I also like using a Lachmiller hand priming press for .30 caliber casings. I's use it for more than that, but I only have the one shellholder.

[Tanker6]

I'm far from being as experienced as most here. A little over a year ago, I purchased a Lee Single Stage Anniversary Kit which has the Lee Safety Prime system with it. While it is not perfect (I get a miscue once every 100 or 200 rounds), it is pretty easy to use and use correctly.

The one thing I'll provide that I've learned from experience is this -- when you swing the arm in to put the primer in the pocket-seating-thingie (see?, I've learned all of the technical jargon....), push on the upper part of the actuating bar-thingie. This will produce the desired results more often....at least on mine. When I apply pressure/push on the lower part of the bar, I have a tendency to release a primer but it doesn't get seated in the cup correctly (and either falls to the floor or I gently catch it as it slides down the pocket-seating-thingie.

I'm currently only loading .40 and .38 special, so I've not used the large primer one as yet. Lee says to only use 100 at a time (which I've done), but don't get concerned when you can't get the last one to come out right. I usually just take it off and remove/place that one by hand when I get to it.

Hope this helps.

[engineermike]

I've heard of guys that get to prime in front of the TV but i was told of a man (not me) that let a few (ok one) (maybe one) primer/s loose to roam around in the carpet. It seems (so the story is told) that housekeepers and vacuum sweepers and primers don't mix. I guess primers going off in the shop are not as loud as primers going off in the house. Don't know if it is true but that is what someone told me once.

Mike

[Cary]

One guy reported a destroyed carpet sweeper from sucking up a live primer from the carpet. I think that was the last time he did that.
I'm in the camp that likes to have the cases all clean and prepped before loading so I usually use the hand held Lee Auto Prime. I have used the press mounted Lee Auto Prime II and it works fine as well. I use the Auto Prime II on a Lee Reloader Press which is small C-press. It does allow some feel to the process. When I start dumping powder and seating bullets my cases are prepped and ready to go.
Cary

[mehavey]

"...housekeepers and vacuum sweepers and primers don't mix."

Especially if there's some leftover spilled powder in the rug.

[abber]

If you use a hand priming tool, as do I, just get a pair of each of the shell holders that you use. I can move back and forth this way without having to move the shell holder.

[trublu]

I use a Lee classic turret.

For rifle, I batch reload with the indexing rod removed. Since the cases have to be taken off the press after depriming anyway, it's easier to prime off the press with the Lee autoprime.

When I reload pistol, I use the indexing rod and prime the cases on the press. I have had no problems picking up the primers one by one and putting them in the little cup so I never bothered trying to set up a Lee safety prime.

[ethan95]

I hate priming off my press. My lock n load press doesn't like large rifle primers. I prime everything with an RCBS hand priming tool now.

[44 AMP]

After decades of using press mounted systems (RCBS, Lyman, Dillon), I gave them up in favor of the RCBS hand primer. No more mashed primers, from too much pressure, because you couldn't feel it bottom out! And no more high primers because you can feel it bottom out, or not!

Yep, its a pain, if you are looking for loading speed. But I do things batch wise these days. Even large amounts of brass. All goes through each step then on to the next one.

I really came to hate the progressive system, too much going on at once. Got an Dillon 450 that hasn't been used in years!

I hand prime, but then, I like loading ammo. Its not just something I have to do to shoot it, for me.

[k4swb]

I have always hand primed, until just recently. I like to look at the primer on each case before I do anything else. I bought a Hornady LNL AP just recently and the priming system is completely reliable but you really can't see the thing working or check the depth until after the round is complete. After a couple of thousand rounds I'm beginning to get used to not being able to check each one before continueing but I still want to. At first I checked quite a few with the hand priming tool to make sure all was well but not so much now. It is all in my head since I know the press priming has been 100% reliable as long as I keep primers in the tube and don't forget to push the handle forward.

[flashhole]

Not being able to see the way the primer is seated would drive me nuts in a very short time. I like my old style RCBS bench mount system even though I have to handle each primer.

[CrustyFN]

But I still remember hearing all the folks who say they prefer to use the hand priming method. So I am wondering if there is some bad experience waiting to bite me down the road?

IMO no. If you take the time to set it up right you should be very happy. I had to make a couple of tweaks in the first week I had my classic turret and the safety prime has worked near flawless since, that was five years ago. Make sure the safety prime is lined up right and if the trigger drag's the primer back out of the cup on the lever then add a washer under the bracket that holds it. Sometimes it will take two washers but that is very rare.

Started with a Lee hand primer very early in the game. It's quicker

I would agree if all you want to do is prime brass. If you are loading then it defeats the purpose of the turret press having to take the case in and out a few times. I doubt you will be able to load close to 200 rounds an hour hand priming which is not hard to do using the safety prime.

[lashlaroe]

...housekeepers and vacuum sweepers and primers don't mix.

Especially if there's some leftover spilled powder in the rug.

The dust in a vacuum cleaner bag will explode just as loudly and with as much force as if there were gunpowder in there. Have you ever seen a dust explosion? Even baking flour will explode with deadly force if suspended in the air and ignited.

Fire departments know this and train appropriately.

[44 AMP]

Is batch operation.

If you are loading then it defeats the purpose of the turret press having to take the case in and out a few times. I doubt you will be able to load close to 200 rounds an hour hand priming which is not hard to do using the safety prime.

The production of rounds per hour doesn't matter to me, because I don't count my time that way. Turret and progressive presses only have partial benefits for me. So, generally, I don't bother with them.

I take a batch (say that 200 cases you load in an hour on your press), and size them all. Then a trip through the tumbler. Then after that, inspection and mouth flaring then hand priming (that way, if a case cracks when being flared, I don't waste a primer). Then powder charging (incuding a visual inspection in the loading block (to check for over/under charging), followed by bullet seating, and crimping, where appropriate. Same process with rifle rounds, except without the flaring for bottle necked rounds.

Length, and condition are checked during inspection after tumbling, and trimming and chamfering done when needed.

Yes, all together I'm sure I spend more than an hour on that batch of brass, but I don't have to spend it all at once. And, besides, I like reloading!

[CrustyFN]

Yes, all together I'm sure I spend more than an hour on that batch of brass, but I don't have to spend it all at once. And, besides, I like reloading!

I also enjoy reloading, it's a great hobby and stress reliever for me. I hope it didn't sound like I was trying to say my way is the right way, I wasn't. It is just what works for me. I bet we can find others that do it different than you and I. That's what I like about the classic turret so far is it is very versital and easy to change methods of loading. I load my rifle rounds close to how you load. Pistol I like to produce a little faster because I go through a lot more shooting a little competition throughout the year.

[NUKE HUNTER]

i prime from the press, tried the hand priming, got a sore wrist. reminded me of my youth. for me its eaiser to pull down a handle then to squeeze a handle. im getting old.

[Crashbox]

I use either method, depending on what mood I'm in and to some degree the end purpose of the rounds I'm loading. I like the speed of priming on my LNL AP but hand priming IMO is notably more consistent, much easier to tell when it's seated.