FA Perfect Seat Hand Primer - disappointment

N

Nick_C_S

New member
Hi Folks,

Since about day 4 of my reloading (June '84), I have been using the Lee hand primer in its various incarnations over the decades (the first incarnation was the best - but that's another post). And for the most part, they have suited me well and certainly do the job.

But I'm getting older. My hands are getting weak and arthritic; not to mention, the constant looming threat of a tendonitis flare up. That said, I looked for a hand primer with more leverage and so I purchased a Frankford Arsenal "Perfect Seat Hand Primer."

It's winter and so I'm not doing any loading or shooting. But I thought I'd give this thing a try. In the box is every shell holder you'll need (I suppose). There was one in the tool and it just so happened to be a "#4" - the one I need, because I wanted to test it on 223 Rem.

I was particularly happy that this tool has a seat depth adjustment - because I like to give my primers a pretty good mashing - probably more than necessary, but it is a habit that has served me well. I've never measured, but I like to get them probably 8 to 10 thousandths below flush.

So I go to prime 20 "LC-16" 223 Rem cases - with reamed primer pockets. I'll spare all the details, but basically, I got to turning the adjustment all the way to max and it seated the primer just below flush - probably not even deep enough to measure. Anything less and the primer would seat proud. Kind of a bummer. I was really looking forward to that adjustability. "Cranked all the way" is not an adjustment.

I've heard nothing but good things about this product, so I am disappointed. I am hoping others would chime in and share their experiences and maybe some insight as well.

Thanks.
 
I have several RCBS hand primers, universal and regular. I bought the Lyman hand priming tool and Lyman'' shellholder set. I like the Lyman tool. But if I get a different brand shellholder in it, I will notice high primers, until I use the right shellholder.
I have no experience with FA Primer tool.
 
Nick_C_S said:
Hi Folks,

Since about day 4 of my reloading (June '84), I have been using the Lee hand primer in its various incarnations over the decades (the first incarnation was the best - but that's another post). And for the most part, they have suited me well and certainly do the job.

But I'm getting older. My hands are getting weak and arthritic; not to mention, the constant looming threat of a tendonitis flare up. That said, I looked for a hand primer with more leverage and so I purchased a Frankford Arsenal "Perfect Seat Hand Primer."

It's winter and so I'm not doing any loading or shooting. But I thought I'd give this thing a try. In the box is every shell holder you'll need (I suppose). There was one in the tool and it just so happened to be a "#4" - the one I need, because I wanted to test it on 223 Rem.

I was particularly happy that this tool has a seat depth adjustment - because I like to give my primers a pretty good mashing - probably more than necessary, but it is a habit that has served me well. I've never measured, but I like to get them probably 8 to 10 thousandths below flush.

So I go to prime 20 "LC-16" 223 Rem cases - with reamed primer pockets. I'll spare all the details, but basically, I got to turning the adjustment all the way to max and it seated the primer just below flush - probably not even deep enough to measure. Anything less and the primer would seat proud. Kind of a bummer. I was really looking forward to that adjustability. "Cranked all the way" is not an adjustment.

I've heard nothing but good things about this product, so I am disappointed. I am hoping others would chime in and share their experiences and maybe some insight as well.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I have found the same thing with this tool on .223. So I substituted the shell holder I had from my Lee tool and it worked better, maybe a little tighter tolerances to hold the case better. But, I have just cranked the setting all the way up and seat by feel now anyway on any ammo I’m using it on.
 
No experience with the FA tool, but I've used the RCBS Automatic Bench Priming Tool since I started reloading nearly 50 years ago. It works as well now as the day I bought it and I've never felt a need to try anything else.
 
But, I have just cranked the setting all the way up and seat by feel now anyway . . .
Click to expand...

That's pretty much how I wanted to do it with this new tool. I'm a "by feel" guy too.

I will give the Lee shell holder a try.

As mentioned, it's still winter here, so it might be a bit before I get to it.
 
I use the FA primer seater and like it a lot. Of course, hand grip strength is necessary. There is one thing about it that needs replacement, and it’s that square primer tray, which stinks. I replaced it with the round green one from an RCBS primer seater (broken), and it’s perfect.
 
Nathan,

I suspect you are dealing with a defect of some kind.

I bought one of the FA tools when they had a sale price going at Midway, but never had reason to measure it's adjustment range before now. With the #4 holder in place, I took a new, never-loaded LC 11 case, inserted it half way into the shell holder and adjusted the seating depth wheel from the bottom up until I found the point where the ram started to touch the head of the case. I then confirmed it was hard to slide the case in past the protruding ram (a bit of rubbing). I still had 32 clicks of additional height setting available, so I theoretically have enough ram range left to squash a primer down that far into the pocket. I confirmed that with the ram set any higher than where it started to interfere with sliding the case in, it prevented insertion or, if I put the case all the way in with the ram down, then ran it all the way up into the primer pocket, the case was well and truly trapped.

With the wheel turned to maximum height, the depth probe on my caliper says it is sticking up 0.075" above the inside bottom of the shell holder.

Compare your unit's measurements to those numbers. If it falls short, I would call FA customer service and see what they have to say about it.
 
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