I have a LEE hand primer and was wondering if there is such a thing as seating the primer too tight in the case. I just primed 50 .223 shells for the first time the other night and just squeezed the handle till it was tight. I was thinking after that I should have asked this question before I did that. I assume they will only go in so far.
Priming question
- Thread starter KDX
- Start date
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- High River, Alberta
You don't want to squeeze them so hard that the pellet of compound is crushed. Level with the surface or a hair below is where they should be.
It just takes some practice to learn the feel of the thing. Good uniform pockets help too.
It just takes some practice to learn the feel of the thing. Good uniform pockets help too.
mike shickele
Regular
If you push the primer down too hard, you run the risk that you pushed it's key components out of place. A primer is made up of three components, explosive compound, cup, and anvil. If the anvil is out of position, it could cause the primer to malfunction. I would just use the cartridges that you loaded with the primers crushed down as plinkers. Next time, when your pushing the primers in, you should feel a slight resistance once the primer has bottemed, stop there. The cup of the primer should be slightly below the edge of the primer pocket. I have two tools that I consider very important for primer seating consistency. The first is the primer pocket uniformer, which makes all of the primer pockets the exact same depth. The second is the primer seating depth gauge, which is a go, no-go gauge that lets me know if I'm seating too deep or too shallow.
Mike
Mike
You might have issues if you're using military brass but if its commercial .223 brass you're probably doing OK. Using the Lee, you can feel the primer bottom out and then just visually check that the seated primer is flush with or slightly below the head of the casing. It should not protrude.
