primed casings in an auto case feeder?

[Shadow9mm]

Hey, I have a progressive press, the hornady lock n load, and am looking at getting the auto case feeder for it.

I did contact hornady, the persona I talked to said they do not recommend it, however they know of people who do it.

I would think that the inertia of the case feeder and dropping the casings would be significantly less than chambering a round. The Hornady rep agreed but said it could be subject to impact at odd angles.

My main reason for wanting to do this, is that I don't have a proper bench or a place to mount one, I am using wood working clamps to attach it to my kitchen table when I load, a poor mans inline fabrication. As such it is difficult to prime on the bench due to the force being horizontal rather than linear. Also I really prefer hand priming as I can do it in front of the tv and like to be able to feel my primers seat.

Is it ok to put primed casings in it? Anyone have experience with doing this, had any issues, or hear of any issues? I really want an auto case feed, but I don't want have a chain fire and blow myself or or my auto feed up.

My second safer option is a bullet feeder. I resize separately, due to my bench/table being wobbly which gives me an extra slot on my press. I would would need to jerry rig something to hold the bullet feeder as most seem to mount on the case feeder.

I am just trying to eliminate 1 process trying to put a bullet and case on at the same time is taking too much time and coordination. trying to decrease my times for making larger batches.

 

[Woody'sDad]

I have done it with no problem
I don’t have it as my usual procedure since I don’t have a shaky bench and seating primers is not a problem
If, if detonation would ever occur I would have to think that it would be in the hopper-no great issue if it happened there
I don’t see any way to set off one in the drop tube
Gary

 

[LE-28]

I load like that all the time.
If I need more than five stations for a particular job, like using my bullet feeder dies, I will resize, and prime on the first pass and run them through the case feeder again on second pass for final loading, and use the bullet feeder die and tubes.
When things slow down I may have to buy the bullet feeder collator.

I don't see a problem with running primed cases through the case feeder, if anything the extra little bit of weight in the head of the case makes the case feeder work better.
I've been loading like this for two different progressive press for years with no problems of any kind.

I don't think you have any more to worry about than you do dumping the already primed cases in a bowl and feeding them one at a time, by hand.

 

[Unclenick]

Ask yourself what the consequences would be if one went off? It's not going to be nearly as bad as a whole column of primers going off in a press feed tube.

As to the chances of it going off, given that the empty case is lighter and has less inertia than a loaded round, I would suppose it is less likely to go off than an accidentally dropped loaded round is.

 

[IMtheNRA]

You could fill up the tube by hand prior to installing it, that way, the auto-fed cases won't have far to fall.

 

[Carriertxv]

I have run 1000’s of various pistol caliber primed cases with a case feeder through my LNL.

 

[jetinteriorguy]

On my Loadmaster that’s how I do it with the four column tubes. They drop all the way down these tubes with no problems. I also shoot lever actions with SWC, FPRN, RN, and Truncated flat point bullets all the time and never had an issue dropping them down the loading tube of my Henry’s.