Weighing new brass

[WildRose]

I am sure that CCI will tell you not to use primers after they have been exposed to ANY foreign material. When I first started loading (About the same time as you) I had an experienced re loader tell me not to touch the primer face with my hands because the oils in my hands would/could contaminate the priming material and cause inconsistent primer burn. effecting the consistency.

Cant prove it does but why take a chance. My priming procedure does not require that I touch a single primer with my hands until it is installed in the case and protected from contamination.

I Am interested in what they say. let us know please.

J E CUSTOM

My experience years ago when I was using the RCBS and loading one primer at a time indicates that is true. We had poor A/C at best those days and it got pretty warm in the reloading room frequently.

Had to basically pick them up by leaving them chamber side up and just pressing a finger tip down on them then putting them into the loader. Had a lot of inconsistencies with those no matter what brand we were using.

 

[Pdvdh]

That is good. I consider myself a novice. I have only been in shooting sports 55 years. Started reloading in the early 1970s. I never rule out learning new things.

Add my 55yrs to yours, and it's a wonder we're both still with the living, let alone shooting and hunting.

Just a single beneficial example to weighing casings I've experienced. While weighing 100 new .223 cases straight out of the box, one out of the 100 weighed abnormally high. Which deserved further inspection. I found a brass curly-cue inside the case. Not an itty-bitty one either. How it got thru QA/QC inspection, I have no clue. I don't recall it's weight, but the abnormal weight flagged a problem to me, immediately.
Big enough that being down there covering the flash hole itself would have been a concern.

 

[Steve Sheasly]

Will do. I am certain of what they will say. I also never touch a primer, good practice. I will post tomorrow.

 

[Pdvdh]

I am sure that CCI will tell you not to use primers after they have been exposed to ANY foreign material. When I first started loading (About the same time as you) I had an experienced re loader tell me not to touch the primer face with my hands because the oils in my hands would/could contaminate the priming material and cause inconsistent primer burn. effecting the consistency.

Cant prove it does but why take a chance. My priming procedure does not require that I touch a single primer with my hands until it is installed in the case and protected from contamination.

I Am interested in what they say. let us know please.

J E CUSTOM

CCI is going to say use mental persuasion to get their primers from their package into the primer pocket. And that if you're incapable of that, buy factory ammo. Well maybe not the factory ammo part, because they want us to buy LOTS of their primers.

I wash my hands with soap and water prior to handling primers. Most of my primers are Federal brand, so CCI advice won't apply anyhow. Whoops...

I do handle primers on a common basis. Never a problem for me. Dry skin will not affect a primer. Greasy skin, or WD40-wetted skin could. Any petroleum liquid can.

I prime with a K&M primer seater. Before beginning the priming stage of my reloading process, I wash my hands with soap and water. Then handle primers as necessary. Never a problem. Even if someone could explain how to prime with a K&M hand priming tool without touching and handling the primers with my fingers, I would continue to prime as I have been, with no reservations.
My body odor or breath is as apt to neuter the primers than my washed and dried skin. Of course, this is simply my opinion, which serves my own needs perfectly.

Discard it as necessary. No harm, no foul.

 

[J E Custom]

CCI is going to say use mental persuasion to get their primers from their package into the primer pocket. And that if you're incapable of that, buy factory ammo. Well maybe not the factory ammo part, because they want us to buy LOTS of their primers.

I wash my hands with soap and water prior to handling primers. Most of my primers are Federal brand, so CCI advice won't apply anyhow. Whoops...

I do handle primers on a common basis. Never a problem for me. Dry skin will not affect a primer. Greasy skin, or WD40-wetted skin could. Any petroleum liquid can.

I prime with a K&M primer seater. Before beginning the priming stage of my reloading process, I wash my hands with soap and water. Then handle primers as necessary. Never a problem. Even if someone could explain how to prime with a K&M hand priming tool without touching and handling the primers with my fingers, I would continue to prime as I have been, with no reservations.
My body odor or breath is as apt to neuter the primers than my washed and dried skin. Of course, this is simply my opinion, which serves my own needs perfectly.

Discard it as necessary. No harm, no foul.

The system that I use allows me to prime without ever touching the primers with my hands.

They go strait to the primer turning tray from the container that they come stored in, then in the primer feed tube, to the bench priming tool, and to the case without ever touching them.



I like the bench tools because they give me a good feel for the condition of the primer pocket also and no chance of setting of a full magazine of primers. (This was one of the problems with some thin cupped primers) When one goes off the entire magazine full of primers could ignite.

There are many different type of tools that can do the job, but this system allows me to prime without touching the primer and risk contaminating them.

Just the tool that I like and use.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Steve Sheasly]

I use the RCBS hand squeezer style. I never touch a primer either. My hands get a good work out.

 

[J E Custom]

I use the RCBS hand squeezer style. I never touch a primer either. My hands get a good work out.

I tried a hand type and still have it for field priming one at a time but stopped using it for bulk priming once i started hearing about primer explosions setting off the entire magazine full of primers with certain primers.

I have never experienced this, but if it happened in the bench model, Only one primer would explode because the magazine is well out of the way when seating the primer.

Just being cautious

J E CUSTOM

 

[WildRose]

I tried a hand type and still have it for field priming one at a time but stopped using it for bulk priming once i started hearing about primer explosions setting off the entire magazine full of primers with certain primers.

I have never experienced this, but if it happened in the bench model, Only one primer would explode because the magazine is well out of the way when seating the primer.

Just being cautious

J E CUSTOM

I've used the Hornady and Lee hand primers as well as the RCBS all of which uitilized the circular primer tray and have het to see anything bad happen.

I have had a few primers go off over the years due to double feeds and sideways insertion but in every case only one went off.

I won't say it couldn't happen because we're dealing with explosives accidents to start with but at least with the models I've used I don't consider it to be a real worry.

One thing I like about the hand primer units is that you really feel each one and whether or not it's seating properly and at the right pressure moreso than any other method I've used.

 

[J E Custom]

Wow. I have never had a primer go in any priming tool. Glad you weren't hurt. But I had heard about it happening and saw the warnings especially with some of the thin cupped pistol primers.

Knowing how explosive the priming material is, I decided to change before it happened to me. I am sure that for all of the primers in the magazine to go off (Normally 100 ) it had to be full and the flash from the one, set them all off.

They may have increased the cup thickness and solved this problem, but once I changed, I have never gone back because I never want a primer to go off accidentally, and for sure a bunch of them at one time. Here is a copy of the instructions with each lee priming tool that gives a warning about primer magazine explosions. if the manufacture warns us, it must have happened at one time or another.
https://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/PT1204.pdf

I hope this problem has been solved, because the hand priming tools are nice and handy.

A side note: I new a good shooter that stored all of his primers in Mason jars, and for many years myself and others had told him not to remove primers from the container they came in. His theory was that the jar would keep them drier. all this came to an end when the whole corner of his garage was blown off from his jars of primers going off from being pushed off the self by some varmint and hitting the concrete floor. The fire marshal did all kinds of test to see if he was
handling explosives because there was no fire. Imagine that happening today with all that is going on .

Maybe I'm to cautious, but we must be careful with primers because they are the most dangerous component we use in re loading.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[Hand Skills]

I thought this was kind of funny. Why only Federal?

I can't say I comply with the warning, but I do wear safety glasses when priming now.

 

[Pdvdh]

Priming compound is surprisingly powerful for its volume. I wouldn't want to be next to a mass ignition of primers.

As a kid I pulled a couple bullets from 22LR cases and let a strike anywhere match burn down until the flame ignited the primer compound in the empty casing on the garage floor.
Surprisingly loud, and the case takes off too fast to see. Good luck finding the cases. I'd hear them ricochet but usually not find them.

I've also seen ziplock bags full of primers hung down range and the shot from a distance with a bullet. Pretty impressive explosion. Not quite detonation speed and power, but still enough power to maim, injure, or kill, if they went off in your physical possession.

 

[J E Custom]

View attachment 110412

I thought this was kind of funny. Why only Federal?

I can't say I comply with the warning, but I do wear safety glasses when priming now.

Me to because at the time, it was the CCI pistol primers that we were warned about.

J E CUSTOM

 

[WildRose]

Wow. I have never had a primer go in any priming tool. Glad you weren't hurt. But I had heard about it happening and saw the warnings especially with some of the thin cupped pistol primers.

Knowing how explosive the priming material is, I decided to change before it happened to me. I am sure that for all of the primers in the magazine to go off (Normally 100 ) it had to be full and the flash from the one, set them all off.

They may have increased the cup thickness and solved this problem, but once I changed, I have never gone back because I never want a primer to go off accidentally, and for sure a bunch of them at one time. Here is a copy of the instructions with each lee priming tool that gives a warning about primer magazine explosions. if the manufacture warns us, it must have happened at one time or another.
https://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/PT1204.pdf

I hope this problem has been solved, because the hand priming tools are nice and handy.

A side note: I new a good shooter that stored all of his primers in Mason jars, and for many years myself and others had told him not to remove primers from the container they came in. His theory was that the jar would keep them drier. all this came to an end when the whole corner of his garage was blown off from his jars of primers going off from being pushed off the self by some varmint and hitting the concrete floor. The fire marshal did all kinds of test to see if he was
handling explosives because there was no fire. Imagine that happening today with all that is going on .

Maybe I'm to cautious, but we must be careful with primers because they are the most dangerous component we use in re loading.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

If I remember right I've had 3 in the course of loading tens of thousands of rounds and the last one was probably back in the early 90's.

In each case the only primer that went off was the one that got crushed. Even if the entire tray were to flash it should pose that big of an issue unless the loader is doing something really stupid like looking down into the case through the neck.

Yes, each one has considerable force but the tray cover doesn't have enough resistance to build any significant pressure before failing.

The only other weird thing I've had happen related to primers was once when I accidentally deprimed a live primer it went off. No damage, but it was an eye opening experience.

Novice reloaders really should find an NRA basic reloading class and take it if for no other reason than to get the safety aspects beaten into their heads instead of just winging it like most of us did. A lot of us had mentors to help us along the way but half or more of them weren't nearly as safety conscious as we need to be and we tend to mimick our mentors of course.

It's easier to learn it right from the start and always be safety conscious than it is to retroactively learn and correct ourselves as is true with most things in life.

 

[WildRose]

View attachment 110412

I thought this was kind of funny. Why only Federal?

I can't say I comply with the warning, but I do wear safety glasses when priming now.

Probabl a lawsuit over them at one time or another.