Thread: Hand Primers - What You Using?!

Team,

Need a new (or secondhand) hand priming tool....


1, What's everyone using, and thoughts?

2, Ive been eyeing up the RCBS hand priming tool (takes any shell holder i believe?) or the Universal one (but unsure if worth the $160 price tag).

Was about to pull the trigger on one then thought, why not ask first,
Mike

Universal rcbs is the ducks nuts. I love mine.

Lee - older model with round trays
RCBS Universal

And my new favourite: Forrester Co Ax Priming tool - dont know if it counts as a hand primer though, as you have to place it on a flat surface?

ive always used lee ram primer

Old Lee Engineering (pre Lee Precision) hand primers.

Simple, elegant, portable.

RCBS works a treat, love it easy to use and a lot faster than using the press.

Seems like RCBS not too shabby. Which one tho...

I have a Lyman E ZEE prime as new in box on the shelf at home, I found with hornaday creedmoor brass, the primers were not seating quite deep enough and switched to a Frankford Arsenal with an adjustable depth.


$100 including shipping if interested....

Lee “ergo” but not the new one with the silly fold up tray.

Lee ram prime here

Originally Posted by LBD

I have a Lyman E ZEE prime as new in box on the shelf at home, I found with hornaday creedmoor brass, the primers were not seating quite deep enough and switched to a Frankford Arsenal with an adjustable depth.


$100 including shipping if interested....

I have the same one, it works fine with Lyman shellholders but Hornady and Lee shellholders are thicker and the ram can’t seat the primer deep enough.

Lee ram prime, in a Lee hand press

Originally Posted by Jaco Goosen

Lee - older model with round trays
RCBS Universal

And my new favourite: Forrester Co Ax Priming tool - dont know if it counts as a hand primer though, as you have to place it on a flat surface?

The round tray Lee was a very reliable tool. Square tray sucks and I wonder why they changed it?

Originally Posted by Fly-My-Pretties

Seems like RCBS not too shabby. Which one tho...

Go the Universal.
It's a bit fiddly changing the ram between small and large primers but at least you don't have to change shell holders.
If you're only loading for one cartridge though go the cheaper one with changeable shell holders.

Both have good safety features (a gate to seperate primer being seated from the tray), nice fit in the hand, good feel when seating primer.

If you are like me and work a lot with your hands I’ve found the lee bench primer to be bloody good on the hands. Have to remove the O ring to get it working a treat but bloody hell it’s so much easier on the hands. I use it for 9mm and 308 and don’t even change the primer feeder sizes over I just stick with the large for both. Have reloaded around 2k brass with it so far and very impressed.