FrankenMauser
New member
Absolutely.
If all you care about is smashing primers into primer pockets, then that is the perfect attitude to have. "Seated is seated."
But if you want to feel the anvil touch down, and feel the pellet compress as the cup continues seating, then you need a better tool.
On-press priming does not allow that, on any press that I have ever used.
Several benchrest shooters have published articles on testing properly seated primers against primers left flush with the case head and primers simply 'smashed' into the primer pocket (a la "seated is seated"), and shown that properly seated primers offer more reliable and more consistent ignition. (Meaning better extreme spreads and lower standard deviations, resulting in less vertical dispersion.)
At one point in time, there was an Accurate Shooter article by Frank Galli, going over methodical testing of primer seating depth and how much "pre-crush" of the priming pellet was ideal. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be up any more. (Perhaps because of his move to Snipers Hide. I don't know.)
His conclusion and what the data showed: It matters if you want the best ammo you can put together.
But if you just want stuff to go bang and have an angry mass of precious metal come out the dangerous end.... Well, there's always "seated is seated".
...Until you over-seat enough to crack the pellet to the point that it falls apart, and won't go off at all when the firing pin strikes the cup. But, hey, seated is seated, right?
If all you care about is smashing primers into primer pockets, then that is the perfect attitude to have. "Seated is seated."
But if you want to feel the anvil touch down, and feel the pellet compress as the cup continues seating, then you need a better tool.
On-press priming does not allow that, on any press that I have ever used.
Oh, but it is.How it gets there is personal preference only, one is not better than the other.
Several benchrest shooters have published articles on testing properly seated primers against primers left flush with the case head and primers simply 'smashed' into the primer pocket (a la "seated is seated"), and shown that properly seated primers offer more reliable and more consistent ignition. (Meaning better extreme spreads and lower standard deviations, resulting in less vertical dispersion.)
At one point in time, there was an Accurate Shooter article by Frank Galli, going over methodical testing of primer seating depth and how much "pre-crush" of the priming pellet was ideal. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be up any more. (Perhaps because of his move to Snipers Hide. I don't know.)
His conclusion and what the data showed: It matters if you want the best ammo you can put together.
But if you just want stuff to go bang and have an angry mass of precious metal come out the dangerous end.... Well, there's always "seated is seated".
...Until you over-seat enough to crack the pellet to the point that it falls apart, and won't go off at all when the firing pin strikes the cup. But, hey, seated is seated, right?