Who makes the best hand priming tool?

[MNbogboy]

Mike,
No arguement about the K&M tool, I've seen it work and understand fully what it can do (at times I even wish I had one)....Years ago I set up a press soley for priming...With a homemade indicator at the end of an extension tapped into the end of the handle..I could read .002 of an inch of primer movement at about 1/32" at the indicator plate...By running the primer pin into the empty pocket I could get my "zero" then by adding the desired primer depth factor I could easily pull up on the press handle to the setting on the indicator plate...Although the leverage is not linear the indicator plate could be calibrated accordingly....I know if I still had it I think it could probably do most of what the K&M does plus give a little more leverage and maybe be a little faster....It was bulky however and required very rigid mounting parallel with the wall.....
The mechanical advantage at the indicator plate was right around 16:1 if I remember right....Yes I could easily get .002 crush actually I ran up to about .005 back then....But to be honest with you I wasn't sorting primers for length back then but I did get very consistent primer to head readings....plus or minus a thou or less....

Point I was trying to make is that with all the considerations taken in account of producing quality ammo...The primer is one with a lesser degree of variability as long as it is seated "correctly" and with reasonable "consistency"....Most of your long range hunters on this forum are not measuring every primer before and after they are seated, but they still can make their rifles shoot well....And I don't think there are very many guys and gals on here wanting to throw away any primers in this day and age.

Buying all the fancy tools in the world will not make them or anybody the world's greatest handloader...An analogy comes to mind that when I used to build dirt race cars it took a lot of money to make them competitive....But some guys had a lot more money in their cars with every gimmick in the book but that didn't make them good race car drivers...

In this case the OP was asking for advice concerning a problem but selling him every tool in the catalog won't fix it unless he finds the root cause....He can digest all the information he has collected here and form his own conclusion...

Randy

 

[Mikecr]

Good points Randy.
I wanted to throw in some contrast to 'best' in best hand priming tool.

There are reloaders thinking that best is fast, or more leverage, or more sensistive, or adjustable/fixed in depth -from casehead. But how many have really thought this through, or done some testing with it? I think few have because we are so lucky that primers seem tolerant. Afterall, primers seated incorrectly can still fire, and if so, does it matter?

From what I've seem, it can matter. I just don't know how for sure.
Wave goodbye to a previous tune, change the firing pin spring, and notice every primer still fires.
Maybe the pellet can throw sparks differently with subtle changes. It's been found that the flashole size affects results. Also that striking in force and speed(separately) affects results. Both regardless of seating, but we know we can affect results with seating to a point of misfire atleast.
We don't seem to hold any issue with flash hole or pocket uniforming as prudent. Your best gun builders pay attention to an action's timing, dragging at the trigger bar/sear, and cocking piece settings, because otherwise a customer is bound to conclude that a gun just won't shoot so well.
He might be right.

Have you ever wondered why one shot in a group left 30fps different than others?
When you're burning out to get 3/8moa to 1/4moa with a hunting cartridge, you're wondering about this. You go for perfect seating, consistent headspace, consistent neck tension, lower loaded runout, powder to the kernel, better scope, better rest, timed shooting, etc. Then it gets to pure ridiculous with bullet bearing and weight, case weighing, constant annealing, SS media, etc.
What about primers? Primer weighing!! Really?
I don't even understand why I'm using Feds over CCIs with a load. Or why swapping them changes everything. But I know it does.

I've logged that 5thou crush works better than 2thou with Feds in my Cooper 223. I've logged 2thou crush with feds in my Browning 6br, and for some reason 4thou with CCIs in a BAT 6.5wssm.
Maybe I need to revisit the Browning, and pay more attention to primers..

 

[SidecarFlip]

Inquiring minds want to know how the OP determined his primers were 0.001" proud of the case head in the first place back in 2011 when the thread started.

If you can 'see' a 0.001" protrusion above the case head, you have **** good eyes. fact is, you can't and the only way to determine if the primer is proud of the case hgead it to measure it with a depth micrometer, not eyeball it. Just say'in.....

 

[Trickymissfit]

Inquiring minds want to know how the OP determined his primers were 0.001" proud of the case head in the first place back in 2011 when the thread started.

If you can 'see' a 0.001" protrusion above the case head, you have **** good eyes. fact is, you can't and the only way to determine if the primer is proud of the case hgead it to measure it with a depth micrometer, not eyeball it. Just say'in.....

perhaps he measured them. I have a home built gauge that reads the depth to .00125 " and it's kinda crude.
gary

 

[SidecarFlip]

Well Gary, we will give him the benefit of the doubt and say he did.

My take on any priming tool is the one that you are most comfortable using. For me it's a toss up between the Lee and the RCBS as I sit in my Lazy Boy and prime brass.

 

[MNbogboy]

I know where you are coming from Mike...After Election when we entered into our on-going component shortage...I was sitting with a less than a brick of mixed primers....couple hundred CCIs, 400 WIN, 300 hundred Rems....what a dilemna.....Finally end up picking up FEDs at about half a brick per store visit and thats still all I can get....

Short story goes I did a "quicky" test on the 6.5-06 is in process of load developement.....4 different primers, 4 five shot groups....Results; SDs all single digit , average velocity within 25 fps over all 20 shots, very decent groups all (similar cloverleaf style)...But 4 different relationships to the Bullseye!..3:00, 12:00, 6:00, 9:00 O-clock (or similar disparity)......Without too much thought I concluded that the lock time variances (though very small) showed up real well with my old & decrepid bag manners.....

You are right that anybody can make them fire but reasonable care must be taken to make them fire as close to the same every time...Now if a person really wanted to get down to the nitty gritty of it, they could test different crush values with each primer to see if I could get any two of them to act exactly the same....Trouble is, with todays manufacturing pocesses and the quality controls that sometimes don't surround them, it is getting hard to find consistency within the same flat of primers!....Do a visual of the amount of compound...Check the cup lengths...Check the cup/anvil connection.....Really amazing how we get anything to shoot.....

Good shooting,
Randy

 

[Nitroman]

IMO, K&M makes the best hand priming tool, as it stands alone to provide what no other does:
Precision Reloading: K & M Primer Deluxe Seating Tool with Gauge

Agreed, none better available.

 

[Mikecr]

they could test different crush values with each primer to see if I could get any two of them to act exactly the same

This I know is too fine of an adjustment to match different primer brands.
But I do think striking adjustments 'might' do it.

I suspect the trial & error abstract of [which primer is working best for this chamber/load?] comes down to attributes in striking of primers.
In other words, IMO a particular primer doesn't work better in a gun because it's better than other primers. It's working better in THAT GUN because of THAT GUN'S striking.

I've had to learn(the hard way) that changing striking is just as significant as changing primer make, when a firing pin slipped in it's cocking piece. With this I had to do a bunch of testing to identify the best pin setting for that action/trigger/bolt/primer/load. What I found amidst this was that optimum settings for one primer brand ended up different than for another. And, I was rewarded with better shooting results than I ever would have reached, if not for this event.
Better still, I was rewarded with another new perspective in reloading.

Ever notice nobody tells us where to set our firing pins?
If one rainy day you decide to take down a bolt for total maintenance, be sure to carefully measure released pin protrusion from the boltface(or shroud), and match mark the pin as held, BEFORE disturbing it. Otherwise, you'll screw yourself till it hurts..

 

[MNbogboy]

Ever notice nobody tells us where to set our firing pins?
If one rainy day you decide to take down a bolt for total maintenance, be sure to carefully measure released pin protrusion from the boltface(or shroud), and match mark the pin as held, BEFORE disturbing it. Otherwise, you'll screw yourself till it hurts..

I am pretty lucky in this case because I have a whole safe full of mostly Savage/Stevens stuff setting the pin is a piece of cake and I always check or set them at a bolt head change....But you have a point, maybe I should play around with the settings a little more...My standard setting is between .035 and .045 yet the Savage gurus have claimed .055 as stock setting..I have checked working stuff right "out of the box" anywhere from .025 to .060 or so....All my rifles run tighter headspace than most factory chambers and never had a "problem" with my settings...But now you have me thinking...A longer setting will strike sooner (but not with as much velocity unless the preload is increased)....Primer tuning a whole new ball game (at least for me)!

I most certainly am going to play with this one when the time allows...Thanks for the heads up.

Randy

 

[housebuilder56]

I know this is an old thread but they show up in search results so reply may still be of benefit. I use a Sinclair hand primer. Not the fastest but that wasn't the original question. From my perspective it works the best over all.

But I can't quite figure out how the OP determined that .001 was sticking out of the pocket. You cannot see .001 and it would be difficult to measure in this case except with a dial indicator. I suspect the problem is in excess of .001 o inch. I have had this problem in the past and it was the primer pockets that were the problem, not the primers. Primers will crush into what ever space is available for them given the amount of force exerted, even with a hand primer let alone a regular press. The culprit in my case was rounded edge at bottom of cup and easily fixed with pocket reamer. Don't know why this happens but it does Most folks I suspect never notice a very, very slight anomaly in depth. Doubt that it matters much to anyone but a bench shooter or maybe varmint hunter. Hope this helps someone.

 

[Unofficial Gun Addict (UGA)]

Wow... Zombie thread. This one was resurrected from 2011 & again in 2013.

Since it's come back to life... My vote goes to RCBS Automatic Priming Tool.

RCBS Automatic Bench Priming Tool

It is fast, and you really get a good feel when priming. I've heard good things about the sinclair, but I wouldn't trade my RCBS for one... not a chance.

 

[700lr]

Have used the Lee for 30 years. Works great, good feel of primer seating properly. Lee factory also very good to deal with if you ever need parts.

 

[Gone Long]

Hi guys. I managed to lose the priming pins and plastic sheaths from my rcbs hand priming tool so i need to buy a new one.

I'm tossing up between replacing the rcbs with another (probably the universal this time) or going for one of the bench mounted units. I understand kM and Sinclair also make hand primers but I haven't seen one in the flesh.

Anyone willing to share opinions on how the current options rate? Am I gaining or giving up anything in moving to a bench unit like the rcbs auto priming tool?

Thanks

gone long

 

[rcoody]

Hi guys. I managed to lose the priming pins and plastic sheaths from my rcbs hand priming tool so i need to buy a new one.

I'm tossing up between replacing the rcbs with another (probably the universal this time) or going for one of the bench mounted units. I understand kM and Sinclair also make hand primers but I haven't seen one in the flesh.

Anyone willing to share opinions on how the current options rate? Am I gaining or giving up anything in moving to a bench unit like the rcbs auto priming tool?

Thanks

gone long

I have a forsters bench primer but seldom use it. I am not a bulk reloader. 50 cases.at a time would be the most i would.do

I use the Sinclair but i think the 21st century is the best..