Loading Primers

Does anyone use a bench mounted primer press. looking for info if they are better then just the Reloading press equipment. Any comments. Looking for an easier way to install the primers then with my RCBS Rockchucker Reloading press

I used a Lee handheld for years & the moved to the RCBS handheld that has a collet type shell holder system, no additional shell holders needed. It's sturdy & seems to have better leverage than my old Lee.
I did break a part on the RCBS, my fault, made a phone call & 3 days later a free replacement part was in the mail.

I never use my press for primers; always use and RCBS handheld. I have the one that doesn't need specific shell holders.... has a 'universal' clamp... very simple. Probably most of the folks here use the big progressive presses so you may not get a lot of responses to your question.

The Lyman hand held primer seater does a good job for me when I don't want to use the primer feed on my Dillon 550 or 650. The Lyman primer must have all the GI crimp removed on 5.56 (.223) or 7.62 (.308) brass to seat primers correctly on once fired GI brass however.

I've always had trouble using and held priming tools, jes don't seem to fit my hand (lifelong machinist/mechanic and well versed/practiced in handling hand tools. Tried 3 different tools). My first and longest use of a accessory/after market priming tool was a ram prime. Lyman says they are the best, most positive method and I used one for over 25 years and had no priming problems. I now use a Lee Bench Prime and after I read the instructions, looked at how the tool works, I can dump a sleeve of primers in the tray and prime 100 cases non stop...

RCBS makes a nice priming set up for the top of a RC.

Hi,

I own a couple of Lee hand primers (the single primer and round primer tray models--haven tried the latest one), and have used the more recent model RCBS hand tool, too. They all work fine, with the RCBS probably being the tougher built model.

That said, I hate those gizmos a lot of presses have with some variant of the flippy floppy thing. And as I load less these days, meaning I'm in no kind of hurry, I use the ram prime tool that goes on top of the press. I have them from Lee and C-H. IF I had to choose one and only one priming method, I'd go with Lee's version of the ram prime tool.

If speed was the criterion, I'd go with the RCBS hand tool. But I've never used a bench mounted tool, so there's still more to learn!

Rick C

The RCBS bench mounted priming tool is a good piece of kit. It works well, and is far superior to any hand-held priming tool that I have used.

I've been reloading for 51 years and used just about everything out there including all of the Lee hand tools and their bench mount unit. I've used the press supplied units including the Dillon 550 unit and finally settled on using the Lyman Ram prime and the similar Lee unit mounted on a Lee Challenger press. It's not as fast , but it is very positive and fully seats the primer. Using the Lee press allowed me to adjust the handle angle to make the process fast and positive. Now I resize all of my brass and then tumble clean them before priming. After priming, I usually finish on one of my Dillon 550's including using a Lee expander die to put a slight flare on the case neck. Then I seat the bullet and finish with a Lee FCD. Same thing with handgun cases using a powder measure, seating and crimp die in the usual Dillon fashion. Bob!!

That's a good system Bob.

Thanks for the complement, LAH. I've been using this technique since late 2014 and it has eliminated high primers, upside down, and squashed primers so common on the Dillon 550 system. Since my priming press is indoors, I can prime a bunch of cases during commercials and other slack time. Using plastic bowls and trays from frozen breakfast meals(Jimmie Dean) allows me to sort brass by 200 count batches, often 5 at a time so that when I get on the 550, I can load 1000 rounds at one sitting. The Plano plastic ammo cans sold by WalMart for $5 will hold 1000 loose rounds of 9mm, 40, or 357 Sig. I have not tried 45 ACP yet in the ammo cans. Hope this info is helpful. Bob!!! :mrgreen:

For rifle only. Yes, I use the Forster bench primer tool. A bit fiddly. I use a plastic primer tray with a chunk cut out of one side to easily load the primer tubes. The three jaws need to be adjusted just so..... But once it's set it does a good job, quickly.

Except for having to handle each primer, the Forster CO-AX press is the finest priming tool made. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Pistol gets done on the Dillon XL650.