What Kind of Priming Tool Do You Use

[Engineer1911]

Another huge fan of the RCBS Automatic Bench priming tool for rifle ammo other than 223 Rem. My arthritic wrists appreciate not having to use a hand primer.

All pistol calibers are done on my Dillon 450 & 550.

 

[madd matt]

I use the hornaday. It came with the LNL classic single stage kit.

 

[AveragEd]

I have an RCBS bench-mounted tool but use two of their hand-held tools, one for large and one for small primers, for my rifle cases. I load my handgun ammo on a Dillon progressive, so it primes those cases.

Ed

 

[Just another 22 shooter]

I use my single stage RCBS press, and flare and prime in the same step.

I have an RCBS Partner press that I use this way. It is much easier on the hands than hand priming tools. And I'm usually in no big hurry as I consider hand loading my time to myself.

 

[brucev]

I presently use my RCBS single stage press (green one) to seat my primers. It works fine, but is a bit slow. Now that I'm shooting more, I'd like to upgrade to something faster. What do you fellas use (or not). Would appreciate comments both ways.

For single-stage loading, Lee Auto-Prime. Been using one since 1980. For automatic loading, I use the Hornady LnL AP.

 

[stavman11]

for handguns I use the Priming on my Press'

For .223 i use a Lee hand Primer... works great and Fast and much easier to Feel the primers seating since even reamed primer pockets can be a bit of a pain...

Like others... sit and bust out a hundred watching TV for a few Minutes..

 

[Leonard]

Off the top of my RCBS not the fastest but safe and very consistent seating depth as press ram stops at top of motion.

 

[Twoboxer]

I presently use my RCBS single stage press (green one) to seat my primers. It works fine, but is a bit slow. Now that I'm shooting more, I'd like to upgrade to something faster. What do you fellas use (or not). Would appreciate comments both ways.

The ergonomics of each of the hand primers depend on individual fit, but none of them are difficult to use.

Having said that, in my experience, the Lee has the best tray (primers flip easieist), the Hornady has the best ergonomics (fits my hand best and stands by itself), but the RCBS Universal is the one I use.

The RCBS does not require shell holders, so all my shell holders stay with the dies they belong to. It has never jammed a second primer at the ram, never flipped a primer at the ram, and never flipped a primer sliding them back from the throat into the tray.

Finally, as you bring the ram up to seat the rpimer, a metal bar slides in between it and the primer tray with the intent of shielding those primers from incident. I've not tested this lol, but it looks like it would work. Because of this feature it takes 2-3 minutes to change primer sizes - mostly spent finding the other parts lol - so being incredibly lazy I set up one for small and one for large like Scooter123.

Bench primers are terrific for those who can't or don't want to squeeze, who don't mind the handling of primers required, and who don't mind spending more time right at their bench.

 

[gregintenn]

I have the old style Lee hand primer. I wish I could find another one, as I've nearly worn mine out.

 

[RonS]

I'm probably the only reloader left who uses the priming tool that came in my Lee Turret Press, the little T bar with the priming cups on the ends. I tip one row of primers out onto my primer flipper and pick them up one at a time.

 

[Black_Talon]

I use the K&M Priming tool. It's what I use for my BR loading, and it works just great for priming pistol rounds as well. I switched to this around 8-10 years ago after using the Lee hand primer for 30+ years. It's much more robust and has a much better feel than the Lee tool.

K&M Shooting - Primer Deluxe K&M Shooting Primer Seater

 

[Doubless]

It depends... MOST of my rifle case priming is done with the older RCBS hand primer, the one that holds 100 primers at a time. And occasionally I will prime using the primer arm built into my Rock Chucker. But some of the rifle loading (5.56, 6 X 45) and all the handgun priming is done as a part of the progressive handloading I use the RCBS Piggyback II for.

 

[J. W.]

Lee Auto Prime. Inexpensive, simple, reliable and effective.


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[Kilibreaux]

I presently use my RCBS single stage press (green one) to seat my primers. It works fine, but is a bit slow. Now that I'm shooting more, I'd like to upgrade to something faster. What do you fellas use (or not). Would appreciate comments both ways.

I like ANYTHING called a "hand prime" because they provide "feel" when seating primers. No matter how well designed or built any "machine" priming system is, it will never match the human hand.
The rise of progressive loading, along with the reduction in cost that allows "newbies" to start out with a complex progressive setup is responsible for the equal rise in reported gun "kabooms." The reaon is because progressive loading is ALL about speed with everything else being secondary, where as "single-stage" loading focuses the loader on the step in progress...including primer seating.
It is worth nothing that bench-rest shooters don't "machine load," they do it all by hand because at each stage of the process they are physically handling the case and components. This is why I prefer to HAND PRIME. This is also why I moved from single-stage, to progressive, and BACK to single-stage loading over the years.

 

[alwslate]

I like the RCBS bench mounted tool that uses regular shell holders.

 

[MikeyB]

RCBS hand priming tool.

 

[MyDads38]

No, you're not the only one...

I'm probably the only reloader left who uses the priming tool that came in my Lee Turret Press, the little T bar with the priming cups on the ends. I tip one row of primers out onto my primer flipper and pick them up one at a time.

I now have 3 presses that I prime on, in addition to the older Lee Auto Prime tool. I have an older RCBS Reloader Special (1978) and older Lee 3 hole turret with T arm primer and a brand new Lee Classic Turret I just set up/started using. I am comfortable priming on all of them. Oh, and I have Lee Classic Handloaders for all my calibers, so yes, I use the mallet priming on these also!

 

[gmiller0737]

I have the older style Lee Turret Press & added the primer feed they came out with a few years back That's what I use but the primer feed is iffy at best


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[oberon]

I have the old style Lee hand primer. I wish I could find another one, as I've nearly worn mine out.

I use an old style Lee hand priming tool for .38s, .357s, and 9mm, and I have a dedicated one for 5.56x45.
I also use the Lyman 310 tong too & priming die for several others. The lymans are the best.
My presses are all equipped for priming, but I don't usually run 'em that way.
I would jump on the old style Lee stuff if it became available.
The ones with the threaded shellholder that screws into the main part of the tool.

 

[Green Frog]

I use an old style Lee hand priming tool for .38s, .357s, and 9mm, and I have a dedicated one for 5.56x45.
I also use the Lyman 310 tong too & priming die for several others. The lymans are the best.
My presses are all equipped for priming, but I don't usually run 'em that way.
I would jump on the old style Lee stuff if it became available.
The ones with the threaded shellholder that screws into the main part of the tool.

There are about 20 of them to cover every imaginable cartridge. I've made an effort to get as many as I could, but mostly just have the ones that came with 310 die sets I have acquired... fortunately that takes in most of the calibers I load for!

There are a couple that go beyond the pale such as the #s 1, 2 and 6 that will make it possible to prime about 1/3 to 1/2 of the commonly used cartridges in America. There is an online store called the 310 Shop that will probably be able to provide most sizes of the priming chamber so you don't have to chase down die sets.

Froggie

PS Upon rereading my response I see I should have made it more clear that it was the Lyman 310 tool I was referring to. OTOH, the very early Lee priming tools (screw-in shell holders) are also very popular on my bench as well as a couple of the custom made units that both decap and recap that I use primarily for loading at the range for shuetzen. If I were restricted to only one "system" it would probably be the early Lee, but I sure would miss the others!!