Fastest way to prime cases?

T

TruthTellers

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I've been doing a lot of loading lately (have the time while in between jobs) and I think I've finally had enough of the Lee Ram Prime system on a Lee hand press. It's nice, I can feel how deep I put the primer, but it's far too slow.

What's the fastest way to prime cases with either a handheld priming tool or a bench mounted one?

For a bit more information, I don't plan on getting a progressive press anytime soon. I plan to get a Lee Classic Turret press soon, but I don't like the hokey way it primes, so my ideal situation is a non-press mounted priming system that will work best with a turret press, but also work well for single stage loading.
 
I have a Lee Classic Turret and love the Safety Prime system. It's the fastest way to full cartridges without separate steps unless you move to a progressive. When I'm not priming on the LCT, then I'm using a Lee handprime, which I suppose is as fast as any other.
 
I've only used three different hand primers (Lee, Hornady, RCBS Universal), and far and away I like the RCBS Universal. I know a lot of folks on here like the RCBS Hand Primer (not the Universal), and I have no experience with that one, so I can't say which is better. But I really like the Universal. It doesn't require shellholders. It operates in what I think is the most efficient of the three I've tried, for a human hand. It's fairly ergonomically designed and it functioned fairly smoothly.

Cons: It has several small parts which are just begging to get lost. Also the primer boxes (small plastic rectangular pieces) have a seam, which after some time (for me about 5,000 primers) might split or break. I got RCBS to send me a pair of new ones for free, and I used a strip of duct tape wrapped around the primer boxes to prevent future issues along that line.

Other than those two issues, the thing works great and it's pretty fast. While watching TV I can easily prime 100 cases every 11 minutes. Probably if I was in a hurry I could do 150+ every 10 minutes. Again, I don't have a lot of experience with other systems, so maybe that's slow.
 
I started to say my fastest was the progressive, but playing pick up the primers with the feed tube, cleaning and setting up the unit takes time.

I would have to say a hand primer similar to the Lee Autoprime or the one of the RCBS units. I have the older RCBS with the round tray and older Lee model with a square tray. They both do a ok job but I prefer the ergonomics and overall operation of the RCBS
 
Yeah, I'm feeling good feels about hand priming tools more than bench mounted ones because it seems the bench primers use tubes that I have to load with primers while the hand primers use trays that I can just carefully dump a 100 primers into the tray in under 15 seconds while the tubes take minutes to load.

So, which hand primers are the best and fastest? I see a lot of love for the RCBS stuff...
 
A case fed progressive. Not only can you prime 100 cases in under 4 minutes, you can deprime/size them, add powder after priming, check for high or low powder charges, seat a bullet then crimp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl63cR9Y_Y0&t=4s

Of course you have to stop every hundred to top everything off, so you are looking at closer to five and a half minutes to load 100 then get ready for the next hundred.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WTZ-_v6Mks&t=6s

I can't come remotely close to that with any of my standalone priming tools.
 
Yes as indicated above, the RCBS bench mounted auto prime tool. The "auto" part will be obvious once you start to use it. Standard RCBS type shell holders are used with it.
 
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my ideal situation is a non-press mounted priming system
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The previously mentioned RCBS primers have a lot of love and I certainly have nothing against them but THIS priming system, the RCBS APS system always seemed like it would REALLY be slick. (Disclaimer: I do not own this system.) If you get the primer you really need the strip loader and THAT can run up to some money but IMhO this is a really slick system.

Note: this system might be discontinued by RCBS but as long as you get thise two items and the strips you'd be set for quite a while.

The priming tool:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012945298/rcbs-aps-bench-priming-tool

The strip loader:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012915720/rcbs-aps-primer-strip-loader

RCBS APS strips:
http://rcbs.com/Products/Priming/Accessories/APS-Unprimed-Primer-Strips.aspx

P.S. If you go to the Midway site you just might want to read the reviews...a kind person might say the reviews are "mixed". I still think it looks like a neat system.
 
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I've tried all types and truthfully, can't say that "fast" is a good term when it comes to priming or charging cases. Consistency is more important to me than speed.
 
DaleA said:
The previously mentioned RCBS primers have a lot of love and I certainly have nothing against them but THIS priming system, the RCBS APS system always seemed like it would REALLY be slick.....
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I've never used the APS system either, but when that first came out I expected that to be the ultimate priming system & to take-off like wildfire! IIRC, what was SUPPOSE to happen, is the primer mfg's (starting with CCI) would sell there primers already loaded in the strips. No fuss, no muss, just load enough!
 
Consistency is more important to me than speed.
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That is one thing I liked about the 1050 from day one, primer depth is set with an Allen wrench and doesn't require any operator "feel". It just seats them all the same. It's also nice that it swaged cases too and as an added benefit it doesn't take longer than anyother method.
 
I've only been reloading for 1.5 yrs, so. I've got an old Lee hand primer with round tray, and like it best so far. They don't offer it anymore and you can only find them used on ebay, etc. I got a RCBS universal earlier this year, and it works fine but I have to spin/twist the brass case in the holder to get the case centered over the primer/plunger to be able to press the primer into the pocket. I have to spin the brass on the majority of the cases, doesn't matter the brand of brass.

Anyone else have this issue with the RBCS universal primer??

I'm still new to this game, so speed is not a concern for me, just being safe, learning stuff about reloading and making some good hand loads.
 
The fastest is a progressive press. I also use Lee and RCBS hand primers. All 3 work well.

Taint rocket science.
 
I have a Lee Pro 1000 and use that for 30-06, 8MM using the 45ACP shell plate because the base of 45ACP =and 308 based brass (or close enough). Getting the primer system to function properly is not the voodoo some people bitch about . With that setup I can prime extremely fast. The speed is limited only by my hand-eye coordination to feed the cases onto the shellplate. The primers are all set to the same depth with that way of priming.
 
I do not get into mortal combat with reloading. There are not many primer systems I do not have and there is no shortage of Federal primers around here. EVENTHOUGH I own and have read R. Lee's book on modern reloading.

One day I started out to bust a primer in one of my primer systems, the only thing I did not try was double clutching my Lee because I can not find anywhere on any reloading forum information that would suggest a reloader would know what I am talking about. After about three hours I busted one off in my RCBS auto hand primer.

F. Guffey
 
I have a couple methods to prime my brass; I have a Lee Bench Prime and after I read the directions I can dump 100 primers into the tray and prime 100 cases non stop (been doing that for about 18 months, and about 2,500 cases primed). I also installed a ram prime on one of my Lee turrets and get a good, positive primer seat...
 
I use the RCBS APS bench priming system with the strips. I can load the strips in just a minute or two, and I have bought extra strips so I usually load 500 primer strips and once, and then prime 500 cases at a time. I can finish all of that in less than an hour, probably MUCH less, but I never really timed it. I will try to remember to time how long it takes to get 500 cases primed next time and post back.

I think the APS priming strips are safer than the priming tubes where every primer is sitting on top of each other, but that may be a sense of false security, who knows?

Obviously the fastest way is on a progressive press. I have the Dillon XL650, but I tend to prime off line just because I worry about the safety and accuracy of priming on the press. I also have the Lee Classic Turret Press that I use for load development, and I do prime on that press using the Lee Safety Prime System which I find to work very well.
 
Okay, progressive is the fastest way to prime. Well, I'm not buying a $200 to $500 press to prime cases really fast.

Someone want to explain to me the pros and cons of hand priming tools and bench mounted priming? Is it just that the bench mounted ones have better "feel" when seating primers?
 
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