Thread: Hand held priming tool, school me up ???

Possibly looking at getting a hand held priming tool and aside from the convenience of not having to sit at the loading desk seating primers on my press is there anything more to know ???
They seem to vary in price from about $50 for the Lee version up to about $180 for the RCBS version with the Hornandy and Lyman versions falling in between them.
Is there any great difference between them ? What makes the $180 RCBS version so much betrer than the Lee ?
Any horror stories ?
Thanks team
Also if anyone is thinking of offloading one at a reasonable price let me know ?

Been using the rcbs universal one for a few years. Great to use, no mucking around with shell holders as the jaws adjust to fit whatever. Have used on 22-250 up to 338lm, the latter are a bit of a struggle to get in but they do fit. Only criticism is the plastic socket the tray fits into is a little flimsy, I think Frankfort Arsenal do a similar thing around the same price. Can sit in front of the tv and do a couple of hundred really quickly.

I have the RCBS one and it's brilliant, as you say you can prime shells watching TV if you want. Easy to use , can do both LR and SR
I have mine set up for SR all the time and use the press for LR. You won't be disappointed buying one. Can't comment on the other brands but the RCBS is great. I bought mine a fair while back in Canada and they seem to be pricey over here now.

Forgot to mention it’s very easy to tell if your primer pockets are getting a bit too loose as you have much better feel for seating force than using a press, helps you cull out ones that are iffy.

Using one here but don't have the lid for it as son lost the lid or at least has put it in the same place as the priming arm for the press. Don't know what brand it is but probably nearer the $50 range I would think but works perfectly still for my 22-250 and I know he used it for 223 and 270 brass with no issues

IIRC the Lee one needs special shellholders, so I went with the Lyman one. It works well with standard Lyman shellholders, but doesn't work with Hornady or Lee ones as they are too thick and the ram can't reach far enough.

+1 for the RCBS.

Buy two - one for LR, one for SR if you load both.

I got a Lee hand primer so I could do SR primers in 223. Its works fine given price. I still do LR on press as that's what I've always done for 308, 270 etc. But dont take reloading advice from me, I've never moved beyond the basics.

Why would I need a seperate one for small and large rifle primers ?

@dannyb the K&M priming tool is pretty nice - no tray to hold the primers but you get pretty quick with a bit of practice

Originally Posted by dannyb

Possibly looking at getting a hand held priming tool and aside from the convenience of not having to sit at the loading desk seating primers on my press is there anything more to know ???
They seem to vary in price from about $50 for the Lee version up to about $180 for the RCBS version with the Hornandy and Lyman versions falling in between them.
Is there any great difference between them ? What makes the $180 RCBS version so much betrer than the Lee ?
Any horror stories ?
Thanks team
Also if anyone is thinking of offloading one at a reasonable price let me know ?

I have lots of different ones including the basis lee one and the RCBS and lyman hand held ones. My favourite is the lee "ergo" hand primer with the square primer feed. Hard to find as they stopped making them and went to a useless flip tray but if you can find one buy it as you wont regret it. Ive primed vast quantities of cases with it.

Originally Posted by omark

I have lots of different ones including the basis lee one and the RCBS and lyman hand held ones. My favourite is the lee "ergo" hand primer with the square primer feed. Hard to find as they stopped making them and went to a useless flip tray but if you can find one buy it as you wont regret it. Ive primed vast quantities of cases with it.

@omark only found this one

https://www.reloaders.co.nz/shop/Rel...ime+90250.html

Presume this is not the one you mean as it has the flip tray ?

There is a different ram for the SR and the LR on the RCBS. You change in and out between size. Only takes 2 mins to swap out. Also need RCBS shell holders. For my one anyway.
I agree with what someone said about the plastic insert being abit average but I've still had no problems.
I bent the rim on a case this morning when the case slipped half out of the shell holder while I wasn't looking, new norma brass was taking a bit of effort so didn't realise till it was too late. $1.93 I'll never see again.

I use a Lee handloading tool. Red and looks a bit like large set of pliers with a central ram . You use it as s loading press bwcause it accepts dies but with the primer attachment is the best I've used. Manual one at a time but good seatingvfeel and precise. They are about $90 and have multiple functions.

I used a Lee quite happily for many years then last year got a Lyman which is bigger and better leverage as well as the advantage of using standard shell holders (I was always misplacing the Lee ones). I much prefer to prime with hand tools and haven't primed in the press for 40 years, having done many thousands of pistol and rifle rounds in that time.