Het wha'ts the BEST hand held priming tool ?? Lee ? RCBS ? Frankford ? OR ? Thxs RJ
Hand held priming tools
- Thread starter remington jim
- Start date
BattleRife
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I got an RCBS and don't like it. It does the job but requires complete disassembly to do the most common task (changing the shellholder). My opinion is it was over-built after being under-thought, something I find with RCBS products in general.
The Lee is about the simplist of all the hand helds, but it wears out pretty quickly and parts are almost impossible to get.
The plunger lever is short and if you have Artritis in your thumb joints, working with it can be painful
RCBS makes a good unit, with more leverage but it's quite a bit larger. As mentioned it's over engineered. I have two of them on hand, one for ''small'' diameter primers and one for ''large'' diameter primers. That way it's easy just to change out the Shell head holders. Don't turn it upside down, the primer plunger is free floating.
Lee makes a handy bench mounted model. I have one and it works very well, after I filed off the sharp edges and angles so it would all fit together properly.
I mounted it on a piece of 1/2 inch aluminum plate, so that I didn't have to screw it to the loading bench. It doesn't allow as much ''feel'' when seating the primers, but it's easy on the arthritis.
Another great tool, but again, bench mounted is the RCBS/APS, which is as slick as it gets but uses strips with 25 primers. I've only seen them in boxes containing 40 of these strips. They are refillable, several times and if you're in a rush to prime anywhere from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand cases, they're very fast, but like the Lee, lack the ''feel'' of seating the primer on the bottom. I was gifted this system and like it.
I don't believe RCBS makes it anymore but I've got over a thousand primers in strips that are full and can easily be refilled.
I've never had the kit for "small" primers, which is to bad, because this unit would be perfect for loading large amounts of 223rem/30carbine or pistol cases.
When/if the gunshows open again, I will be on the look out for some "small" primer strips for this unit. The other parts I can make.
The Frankford Arsenal hand held primer is the Cadilac of all the units.
It's very smooth, fits nicely in the hand and has lots of leverage.
The bad, it takes proprietary shell head holders which, like the unit are expensive. Non standard or obsolete shell head holders have to be custom made.
They offer a kit from the US, which costs $250 plus shipping etc.
I used one of the FFA units, that belonged to a freind. It was very nice to use. Is likely the most tedious of all the units to set up and requires removing four screws to change out the shell holder and primer ram pin.
The primer ram pin is adjustable so that all primers are seated identically.
I didn't like the Hornady or Lyman hand tools. Got rid of them both very shortly after purcase.
K&M is a lovely little unit but it's a one primer put into the seater, by hand, every time. Fine for anyone not loading more than 20 cartridges at a time.
The plunger lever is short and if you have Artritis in your thumb joints, working with it can be painful
RCBS makes a good unit, with more leverage but it's quite a bit larger. As mentioned it's over engineered. I have two of them on hand, one for ''small'' diameter primers and one for ''large'' diameter primers. That way it's easy just to change out the Shell head holders. Don't turn it upside down, the primer plunger is free floating.
Lee makes a handy bench mounted model. I have one and it works very well, after I filed off the sharp edges and angles so it would all fit together properly.
I mounted it on a piece of 1/2 inch aluminum plate, so that I didn't have to screw it to the loading bench. It doesn't allow as much ''feel'' when seating the primers, but it's easy on the arthritis.
Another great tool, but again, bench mounted is the RCBS/APS, which is as slick as it gets but uses strips with 25 primers. I've only seen them in boxes containing 40 of these strips. They are refillable, several times and if you're in a rush to prime anywhere from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand cases, they're very fast, but like the Lee, lack the ''feel'' of seating the primer on the bottom. I was gifted this system and like it.
I don't believe RCBS makes it anymore but I've got over a thousand primers in strips that are full and can easily be refilled.
I've never had the kit for "small" primers, which is to bad, because this unit would be perfect for loading large amounts of 223rem/30carbine or pistol cases.
When/if the gunshows open again, I will be on the look out for some "small" primer strips for this unit. The other parts I can make.
The Frankford Arsenal hand held primer is the Cadilac of all the units.
It's very smooth, fits nicely in the hand and has lots of leverage.
The bad, it takes proprietary shell head holders which, like the unit are expensive. Non standard or obsolete shell head holders have to be custom made.
They offer a kit from the US, which costs $250 plus shipping etc.
I used one of the FFA units, that belonged to a freind. It was very nice to use. Is likely the most tedious of all the units to set up and requires removing four screws to change out the shell holder and primer ram pin.
The primer ram pin is adjustable so that all primers are seated identically.
I didn't like the Hornady or Lyman hand tools. Got rid of them both very shortly after purcase.
K&M is a lovely little unit but it's a one primer put into the seater, by hand, every time. Fine for anyone not loading more than 20 cartridges at a time.
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https://21stcenturyinnovation.com/b...-precision-click-head-bench-rest-priming-tool
best priming tool ever made
best priming tool ever made
I think the take away from this is that there is no "best" option, like most things, it comes down to personal preference. I have used an RCBS hand primer that I bought second hand for about 30 years now and it works fine for me. Are there things I would like to change? Sure, as mentioned, you have to take a few things apart to change shell holders but I don't find this particularly difficult and I tend not to swap out calibers that often. In some cases I have bought extra shell holders so I don't have to pull them out of the press when I prime. I will say that some brands of shell holders don't always fit nicely with the RCBS primer (I think some of the old Lyman ones won't fit).
Don't know if this helps but there it is.
Don't know if this helps but there it is.
farmgunner82
Member
- Location
- S.E Ontario duck blind
I agree, the RCBS hand held priming tool takes minimal time to change a shell holder or the plunger. It's a quality tool that does the job well, and will continue to do so for many years to come. Just like the rockchuckers out there on so many benches. Also the primer tray is quite handy as you never have to touch a primer or worry about contaminating them with oils from skin contact.
I just purchased the K&M. That is a perfect description.
I wore out the plastic on the 'ol RCBS. Was time for a new one and had it down to either the K&M or the RCBS Universal. After using the K&M I am missing the tray and will be looking to buy the RCBS Universal soon.
Recently bought the Frankford hand primer.
Happy so far, but also use my Hornady LNL Classic press for the offbeat calibers that I have standard shell holders for.
The LNL classic press works fine, once you find the right adjustment.
Sort of like the RCBS Berdan Depriming tool.
Both are acceptable for my arthritis.
Happy so far, but also use my Hornady LNL Classic press for the offbeat calibers that I have standard shell holders for.
The LNL classic press works fine, once you find the right adjustment.
Sort of like the RCBS Berdan Depriming tool.
Both are acceptable for my arthritis.
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I have the RCBS APS, an RCBS hand primer that uses standard shell holders, the old Lee round tray Auto Prime tool and the the Lee Auto Prime II that mounts on the press. I guess I'm stuck in my ways but I keep going back to the old Lee tool. Like most things Lee they are simplicity personified. I had the foresight to buy a good stock of replacement parts which worked out well since they are no longer available but to be honest very few parts have ever broken. I attribute this to keeping all the moving components well lubed as the pot metal parts can wear quickly without it. I have lost track of how many thousands of rounds I have primed using this tool and it is still doing the job. Given that I have been reloading for about 40 years and with my supply of spares I don't expect to ever have to change to anything else although the Frankford tool has piqued my interest from time to time.
I use the Frankford one for my large rifle primer set up, and an RCBS one for my small rifle one. I found the Frankford 223 holder to be to loose on the rim and if you had a slightly tight primer pocket it would kind of screw up the rim. Same issue with the lee auto primer holder as well.
Which Lee tool? I really like my Lee Auto Prime XR (out of production but apparently still available on shelves). I have no concerns about durability, but I haven't had to swap in the updated feeder/tray assembly yet.
It can be stiff, which I don't mind since I don't currently have problems with fingers - And it keeps me from applying too much leverage.
I have both old and new versions of the Lee, an RCBS, and a FA. Prefer the original Lee of all of them. As mentioned, it comes down to personal preference. - dan
