What is Your Preferred Hand-Priming Tool?

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shanesymyrozum

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Just got a RCBS Rockchucker Press, but I'm not at all enamoured with the priming system. What have you guys found is your preferred hand-primer and why?
 
normally i use my press to prime, but when i do small batches i use a lee auto prime. was very cheap, and seems to work just fine with the odd primer getting crushed/flipped if not held right.
 
My favorite by far is the RCBS Universal Priming Tool. It is smoother than the Lee Auto Prime, and no shell holders are required. I have two, one set up for small primers, and one set up for large primers.
 
I have Lee, RCBS and Hornady hand priming tools.[ I think 7 in all]
I like them all, each has it's place on my bench.
The only "beef" I have with the RCBS tool is the priming ram will fall out if you
inadvertently turn the tool upside down.
The others do not do this.
Eagleye.
 
RCBS Universal Hand Priming tool. It has good feel and is very reliable. Mine doesn't drop the ram either, I just checked after reading what Eagleye posted.
 
Eagleye said:
I have Lee, RCBS and Hornady hand priming tools.[ I think 7 in all]
I like them all, each has it's place on my bench.
The only "beef" I have with the RCBS tool is the priming ram will fall out if you
inadvertently turn the tool upside down.
The others do not do this.
Eagleye.
Click to expand...

Just checked and both of mine and they do not drop the rams. May i suggest that you look at how it is assembled. May be stripped, wrong parts or something...
 
This:

bench-mounted-primer-seater.JPG


And this:

rcbs-primer.JPG
 
MC One Shot said:
J. May i suggest that you look at how it is assembled. May be stripped, wrong parts or something...
Click to expand...

The primer rods from the hand-primers like the one I posted above will fall out if turned upside down. I don't know about the latest model with the universal shell-holder like stubblejumper mentioned.
 
RCBS Hand Priming Tool and the ram drops out of mine too and sometimes it will not go back down without a tap.
My Lee hand tool broke and Lee replaced the parts with only a photo sent via email. The Lee is okay for 20 but with the
RCBS it rarely sees any use now.
 
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I have both the old and new RCBS hand priming tools - one requires the shellholder, and the other is universal. As mentioned above, the older model has a free-floating ram that falls out if the tool is upside-down, the new model's being threaded in. I like the feel of the older tool, as the jaws flex in the newer tool giving it a mushy feel. Still, both tools work great, and I will continue to use them - one for small, the other for large primers so I don't have to reconfigure the tools. The universal does have a bit of a weak grip on my .223 cases, and sometimes they fly out of the jaws and across the room. I therefore reserve my universal primer for my large-primed cases, as they tend to have a larger diameter.
 
I have two of the old style Lee hand tool, one for large primers and one set up for small. The shell holders thead in and i bought a bunch of different holders to cover most cartridges.
 
The Lee Auto Prime came with my anniversary kit. Works excellent in my opinion. Shell holders are individually cheap, but Lee also sells a 11 shell holder pack for less than $20.00. This package came with my kit as well. I only use CCI primers (large, small, and BR). Never an issue in 1000's of rounds priming Win, Rem, Fed, and Hornady brass. Cannot comment on other brands of primers.
 
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