Hand priming tool

[olyinaz]

Hey guys, which hand priming tool do you prefer? Any reason?

Thanks!

[wolfdog]

I have the Lee and the RCBS, I may be wierd but Ilike the Lee better. Nothing I can put my finger on but its the one I usually will grab first.

[Rusty]

I have the Lee.

[AJMD429]

I have two different Lee ones (the older one doesn't have a 'primer tray'), and like them both.

[J Miller]

I have the original smaller Lee and the Lee Auto Prime. I've used the RCBS tool and prefer the Lees.

Joe

[Stan in SC]

I have the Lee Auto prime but I prefer to use the Lee ram prime.

Stan in SC

[Malamute]

I have a couple of the Lees, though I've broken a couple of them. They used to be lifetime guaranteed, but I think they have a time limit on them now.

Keep the parts lubed! They will wear out.

[Don McDowell]

I go tired of replacing the thumblevers on the Lee and went with the RCBS, of the two models of RCBS I like the universal tool as there isn't any shellholders to fuss with. I use the older style RCBS for the fatter cases like 44-77,50-70 etc that won't fit into the universal tool.
I did get one of the new improved Lee tools, and that is about a nifty a way to throw primers on the floor as they ever could of come up with. That two stage lift thing is a blowup waiting in the wings...

[JWG]

I have a Hornady, great ergonomics, it will stand up on it's own, but a pain to change trays. I also have a Lee, one of the older ones - very easy to set up. I have some arthritis in my hands so it can be a "pain" to operate

[Hayseed]

I have two Lee, one is the old autoprime with round trays and other is new style with square trays . I like the older one with round trays better .
I also have the RCBS hand primer . It works good too but is a bit slower for change over to another cartridge.

[olyinaz]

Thanks guys.

[jnyork]

I got one of the Lee hand primers years ago, primed about 8-10 cartridges and the handle broke off. Threw the dang thing away, pot metal junk, went back to using my RockChucker press.

[3leggedturtle]

I got one of the Lee hand primers years ago, primed about 8-10 cartridges and the handle broke off. Threw the dang thing away, pot metal junk, went back to using my RockChucker press.

I had that happen about 3 times. Even tho I kept it lubed would still break. I bought a Lee Ram-prime 2 years ago and abosuletly love it. Seats on the down stroke, very easy to feel when the primers is seated.. Ps Anyone want to trade anything for a hand prime tool? Just takes up space now. 3leg

[2ndovc]

I broke two Lees and bought an RCBS and have't had an issue since.

jb

[Pete44ru]

Although I started out with the Lee, when they were first introduced, I now have an RCBS - but (since I'm not into heavy production, here) actually prefer an old, extra, Lyman Tong Tool that I leave setup for priming.


.

[samb]

Broke the thumb lever on two old style Lee's. Have the new style Lee, seams better. Like my little brothers RCBS.

[jcw]

Have an old Lee and I like it except that it doesn't take standard shell holders. It does have a great "feel" wen seating primers though. Also have the RCBS. Once I got used to it I liked it. Not so much love at first though. It seems to be the one I use most these days.

[J Miller]

I broke a couple of the original Lee priming tools too. But I also learned that to prevent this you "feel" when the primer hits bottom, then quit pressing on the handle.
I haven't broken one since. Yes I still have three of the old ones and use them occasionally.

Joe

[Chuck 100 yd]

I also broke a couple of those cheesy Lee levers before getting the RCBS prime tool.
Joe, some primer pocket/primer combinations require lots of leverage to bottom the primer completely.
Those Lee levers would pop off with very little force.

[4t5]

Two lee hand primers,one for small and one for large primers,five years and going....

[rimrock]

I like my old style Lee hand primer better than my Lee auto prime because the auto prime always hangs up on the last primer, and because I get more consistent seating with the hand held one.

[3leggedturtle]

I also broke a couple of those cheesy Lee levers before getting the RCBS prime tool.
Joe, some primer pocket/primer combinations require lots of leverage to bottom the primer completely.
Those Lee levers would pop off with very little force.

The ones that I broke took very little pressure. The broken pieces looked crystallized, like they were pot metal, not completely pressed or cast all the way. Or however they were formed. I stil have a couple of them levers NIB but just don't use it anymore.

[ollogger]

I have 2 Lees small & large, Ive broke a few levers, but after 10 or 20 thousand
primers I dont see it as a problem, Just have a spare,



ollogger

[J Miller]

I also broke a couple of those cheesy Lee levers before getting the RCBS prime tool.
Joe, some primer pocket/primer combinations require lots of leverage to bottom the primer completely.
Those Lee levers would pop off with very little force.

No kidding. Primed scads of military brass with mine, I'm quite aware of how much pressure it can take to seat some of them.

I also broke a couple of those cheesy Lee levers before getting the RCBS prime tool.
Joe, some primer pocket/primer combinations require lots of leverage to bottom the primer completely.
Those Lee levers would pop off with very little force.

The ones that I broke took very little pressure. The broken pieces looked crystallized, like they were pot metal, not completely pressed or cast all the way. Or however they were formed. I stil have a couple of them levers NIB but just don't use it anymore.

I think I remember comments about the thumb levers breaking many many years ago and Lee changing the way the part was cast. I do know that after a few years those I used seemed to stop breaking.

As for the metal they were made from it wasn't the strongest stuff around. Pot metal was probably a bit better material though.

Joe

[Don McDowell]

I had the top of the tool that holds the shell holder pop off the first lee I bought about 25 years ago, then the second one broke the thumblever,but that was no biggy, cuz I had spare parts from the first one, then the third thumb lever broke, and that's when I said nuffs nuff... The RCBS universal tool is the one that gets the most use. The older style RCBS that uses the shellholder only gets the bigger cases, so changing the shellholder is no big deal.
The new lee hand tool is stouter built but that idiotic two stage primer lift is a sure way to increase the number of primers you use so I only use it for small primers, as I don't load a lot of those.

[JerryB]

I use a Lee Auto Prime that I bought abut 35 years ago.

[Griff]

Yep the Lee Auto-Prime tool has a cheap pop-metal lever, but... I've got three, small pistol, large pistol and large rifle... which is the one I use most. Over the past 35 or so years, I've had four, and only one has broken the lever. And, even that was after several years of use.

[44-40 Willy]

I've got two of the Lee hand primers. One set up for 357 and the other for 44-40. I've had them for over 12 years now with no problems.

[Ysabel Kid]

I use the Lee exclusively. Great little tool!