Like I'm four

[JetGirl]

Howdy, peeps.
I got a dilemma. I received this hand primer in the mail and it was in the following pieces...
I do NOT know the correct terminology, so please correct me as I go along:

A hand squeezy part

A grooved tray that looks like part of the hand squeezy part

A yellow lid

A spring

Some kind of pin


Now...please refer to the parts in their AnnieName plus REAL name, and tell me how to put it together and make it work.

'splain it like I'm four.

kthx

 

[shibumiseeker]

Actually your names are pretty much spot on.

Rather than retype it all:

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/PT1023.pdf

I love them, I have one for each size primer.

 

[XtremeVel]

Will be the best $15.00 you ever spent ! To keep it always operating smoothly, put a little grease on the large and small diameters on the connector rod. Seems cheaply made, but it will last for thousands of rounds.

I know winchester and CCI primers are fine to use in it. There are some that they say don't use. Just don't remember which.

I'm sure you already know, but it does not take the same shell holders as the press. Lee sells a nice set ( 11 I think ) that covers about all calibers for a reasonable price.

 

[88E30M50]

Those are pretty handy. I picked up a complete set of dies for mine from Plainfield Shooting Supply for under $16. Having primed cases with this, I'll never go back to the old way on the press.

 

[Bisley Man]

Well I had one, it BROKE!(after 20years) So I bought another. I love them.

 

[standeford]

Best thing the Lee Corporation has ever produced.

 

[shooter521]

at the "AnnieNames". Whenever I have to make something up like that, my wife asks if that's the "advanced technical term".

 

[kludge]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVB3Sfcg6wA"]YouTube - "Lee Auto Prime" Handloading Priming tool Iraqveteran8888[/ame]

Lee also sells a set (11 I think) of special shell holders and I recommend it if you are going to reload more than a few calibers.

So what you have are two trays; one for large primers and one for small primers, and a lid.

Place 50 or 100 (or whatever size batch you are going to load) into the appropriate tray. Shake it gently back and forth until the primers are anvil side up (the ugly side).

Then put the lid on the tray. Line up the grooves, push down and turn.

Insert the correct shell holder. Push down on the tray, slide the shell holder into place then release the tray. It should pop up into place.

Hold the priming tool tray/lever side up, pointed 45 deg away from your face (wear safety glasses JIC). Slide unprimed brass into the shell holder.

Squeeze the lever. Remove brass and feel the primer with your finger. Check every piece! The primer should be just below flush on the head of the case. High primers can cause slam fires in some guns. If it is just flush or too high, put it back in and give it another squeeze. (WARNING: Before reinserting the brass into the priming tool, tip the tool up so that the primers in the tray fall away from the shell holder and make sure there is no primer in position to be primed. This could cause detonation.)

Pay attention to how easily the primer goes into the brass. If it goes in way too easy, then the brass is probably stretched too far, and should be discarded. I keep a pair of pliers handy and crush the mouth of the case to ensure bad cases don't get accidentally mixed back in.

You also have two priming rods and two springs that fit over the rods. The larger diameter rod and spring goes with the large primer tray, small rod and spring with the small primer tray.

When you change primer trays you have to change to the corresponding rod and spring. The rod and spring go up into the slot on the primer tray (the slot is the sticky down part). The rod has to be able to poke through the hole in the tray so it will be obvious which end goes up.

To change trays, pull up on the hinge area of the lever an pop it out; slide the tray down and pull it out. Reassemble in reverse order.

 

[1946]

The instructions with mine said not to use it with Federal primers.

 

[JetGirl]

The instructions with mine said not to use it with Federal primers.

Why would that be?

 

[shibumiseeker]

Federal primers are softer and more subject to detonation from priming, and more subject to sympathetic detonation en masse. Lee and Federal had a falling out over this issue.

I've never had it happen, but I always wear safety glasses while I am doing any part of reloading except decap/resize, and when I use Federal primers in my autoprime I usually put in ten at a time instead of the entire box of a hundred like I do with other primers. A primer going off is a noisy event, and a hundred going off could hurt you some, but if you are using safety glasses the risk of serious injury is fairly low.

 

[shooter521]

Why would that be?

Supposedly Fed primers are softer and are subject to crushing/detonation. That said, I have heard from more than one source that it was more of a political beef LEE had with Federal than anything else.

I have used Fed primers in my LEE equipment with no issues.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Supposedly Fed primers are softer and are subject to crushing/detonation. That said, I have heard from more than one source that it was more of a political beef LEE had with Federal than anything else.

I have used Fed primers in my LEE equipment with no issues.

My understanding is that Federal also uses a more sensitive priming compound which makes them more subject to sympathetic detonation, which is the reason the Federal primer trays are larger.

It's not that one primer type is better than another overall, it's a matter of application to best suit a need.

 

[buzzard pickins]

Like your four? OK, come here princess, here is a MACY'S card, you and mommy go have fun playing dress-up. But first, bring grampa that bottle in the purple bag, and when you get back, the shiny new reloading thingy will be just like new.Nothing but the best for my little monkey-girl.

Seriously, fed primers have a thinner cup, it's a liabialty issue.

 

[JetGirl]

Thanks for the info!

Like your four? OK, come here princess, here is a MACY'S card, you and mommy go have fun playing dress-up. But first, bring grampa that bottle in the purple bag, and when you get back, the shiny new reloading thingy will be just like new.

That's all nice and everything. Except only one person has permission to call me princess. And it's not you.

Seriously, fed primers have a thinner cup, it's a liabialty issue.

That makes sense, too.

 

[ghitch75]

i have a auto-primer shell holder kit for sale if you need 1......

 

[kboom524]

These are the best things Lee ever came up with. I have 3. I keep one set up for large primers, one set up for small primers and third one I let my son use. Sometimes I will set on the couch and prime shells while watching TV. Make sure you lube the hand squeezy part where it connects with the round part of the ram. If you don,t eventually it will break. I use a little vasaline, and have never broke one since.

 

[Aszerigan]

+1 for the Lee hand primer. Love mine.

And Buzzard - that was kinda creepy.

 

[Archbishop]

'splain it like I'm four.


Kx

Don't touch my things! If it's not a toy and it's not yours then leave it alone!

This is what I tell my boys all the time, but I still end up with broken or lost things.....

Sorry couldn't resist, I would have answered it seriously, but everyone has already beat me to it.

 

[1946]

I don't know for sure, but I was sorely disappointed, because I was using Fed. Match 210 for my accurate .308 loads.
I think it has something to do with the hardness/softness of the primers themselves and the possibility of detonation.
My bad. I didn't read the above posts until after I'd posted this.