Federal Small Pistol Primers in Lee Hand Primer

Recce21

Recce21

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Merry Christmas CGN's,

I received a whack of Federal small pistol primers from the wife this Christmas but I have been told not to use them in my Lee hand primer.

What is the truth on this? Should I err on the safe side and exchange them for Winchester or should I try them out?
 
with my lee hand primer I have used, what I believe to be every primer possibly available, large and small pistol, large and small rifle, benchrest and magnum. from every different manufacturer .possibly upwards of 25000 over the years and in every caliber I have or have had in the past. Never a problem to speak of just use common sense when handling any primer and as stated wear safety glasses just in case.
 
dan belisle said:
Yeah, this was pretty much about a pissing match between Lee and Federal. I've used every kind of primer available in this country (and some I brought back from other countries) in mine with no issues, and I've worn out two of the hand primers. - dan
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you should really write to lee and get replacemty good about that. ents... they r usually pretty good abolut that sorta thing.

i aswell have used feds in the lee loader, and even with milsurp brass (223) ive had no problems.
 
wear eye protection

I have had winchester primers go off in a lee pro. It was just one big bang. They hit with sufficient force to break the lenses of my glasses. My face hands and chest were bleeding. Face hands and chest healed over a couple of days. If the primer had hit my eye I probably would have lost my vision.

Wear eye protection when priming. I had loaded about 10K rounds without a problem, and then bang.
 
jasonburnsdundee said:
I have had winchester primers go off in a lee pro. It was just one big bang. They hit with sufficient force to break the lenses of my glasses. My face hands and chest were bleeding. Face hands and chest healed over a couple of days. If the primer had hit my eye I probably would have lost my vision.

Wear eye protection when priming. I had loaded about 10K rounds without a problem, and then bang.
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I use Lee hand primers.
So what happened?
 
I talked to the owner of lee Precision. He gave me a check to replace the lens in the glasses and the lee pro.

Could have been much, much worse. I could have been blinded or it could have happened when my children were beside me at the loading bench.

I still load but I am very aware that it is possible for a primer to detonate and if one goes they all go.
 
I had a federal primer go off in a lee Autoprime. Blew the tool to pieces and I got some bits stuck in my gut, through a heavy shirt. Only one promer went off (small pistol).

I was advsied that sometimes the detonation sets off all the others, which can be quite spectacular.

The Federal primer uses a different compound than the others and it is easier to set off. Lee is giving good advice.

If the odds are 1 in 100,000 there is no guarantee that it will be prmer 99,999. It might be primer 312.

Personally, I have switched to CCI and Winchester and my last few cases of Federal are gathering dust, sitting as last ditch reserve if I run out.



Read below....
 
Recce21 said:
Merry Christmas CGN's,

I received a whack of Federal small pistol primers from the wife this Christmas but I have been told not to use them in my Lee hand primer.

What is the truth on this? Should I err on the safe side and exchange them for Winchester or should I try them out?
Click to expand...

I read on 24 hour campfire the original guy LEE had a fight with the owner or CEO of federal.
Lee proceeded to trash federal at every chance, including warnings in his manuals.
Many guys added to the thread they have used lee and fed together for years.

When I use my lee hand primer I do 3 things you may want to adopt...
1) Be aware of the tendency of the "on deck" primer to get pinched as you seat.

2) Have all primers except the "your up" primer on the far side of the dish. I take my time.

3) Saftey glasses, ear muffs,


and from now on gloves, heavy shirt, and keeping the tool away as I
seat.
 
Ganderite said:
I had a federal primer go off in a lee Autoprime. Blew the tool to pieces and I got some bits stuck in my gut, through a heavy shirt. Only one promer went off (small pistol).

I was advsied that sometimes the detonation sets off all the others, which can be quite spectacular.

The Federal primer uses a different compound than the others and it is easier to set off. Lee is giving good advice.

If the odds are 1 in 100,000 there is no guarantee that it will be prmer 99,999. It might be primer 312.

Personally, I have switched to CCI and Winchester and my last few cases of Federal are gathering dust, sitting as last ditch reserve if I run out.
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I'm glad someone's giving sound advice in this thread. I got lambasted last time this subject came up and I suggested there might be something to this. Notwithstanding Lee's beef with Federal, I'm inclined to agree with Ganderite that Federal primers are more volatile than others and given the design of the Lee hand primer, may increase the risk of an unpleasant experience. In my short time reloading I've noticed that Federal primers are not only easier to set off, but also much softer than other primers.

Some people need to brush up on their theory of probability. The fact that they've loaded thousands without incident is no guarantee or indication that the practice is as safe as they assume it to be. To quote Ganderite again:
Ganderite said:
If the odds are 1 in 100,000 there is no guarantee that it will be prmer 99,999. It might be primer 312.
Click to expand...
 
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