Congratulation on the weight loss. I received my New RCBS Automatic Primer today from Amazon. Almost two weeks to get it and it is missing both primer tubes. Got a hold a a CSR and they wanted give me $20 credit. One tube off their web site is $16. so a total of $32. plus taxes, So I elected to see if they can send a COMPLETE replacement in hopes all parts are included as their add states. I paid $129 Plus, so if I can find one for the $80 as some has said that is what they paid. I refuse it if and when and hope a few days instead of two weeks. And Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
I've been buying all my RCBS stuff direct from their website. Prices are just as good as Amazon, the shipping is faster, and I've never had anything show up damaged or missing parts like I have with Amazon. Some Amazon partners just don't know how to pack stuff.
I hope it works out for you. Enjoy your reloading and I hope the primers come down some day and are available. I feel guilty because I have a good supply. I purchased them when they were 28$ now people are paying 99$ for a brick.
Thanks for the honest no hype review I’m definitely getting one my RCBS hand priming tool finally wore out after 5 years and bought a Lee precision bench priming tool similarly designed to this one its all plastic what piece of crap should have known because of cheap price I guess you get for what you pay for the RCBS looks mostly metal. Congratulations on being healthy and merry Christmas
I had the same problem with midway when I ordered a case prep center and they shiped it in the same box and when they send me a survey , I told them to be more profesional when they ship things. Plus they whanted to know if I order from amazon and DAMN RIGHT!!!!! I ordered from amazon because for even a little item they ship it in a separate box. All that said , RCBS are good products and I'm glad youre having a good time reloading. God Bless.
I agree. I do it to relax and because I love it. I just ordered one of these. I have been using the Lee version but the plastic pieces keep breaking and im tired of the frustration. now i have a bunch of brass i cant load because the feeder broke a piece of plastic. so time to spend a little extra cash to buy this and it will last. Thanks for the review.
Congrats on your improved health. RCBS has a new pot with PID control. I have one and it’s great. It’s called the RCBS Pro melt 2. I like that priming system too. Merry Christmas.🎁
FWIW, I have never used a hand priming tool for the simple reason that the primers can get canted from not having a fixed platform and because they're bound to eventually cause hand pain with more than a hundred or so cases primed, possibly leading to tendonitis or carpal tunnel.
A little bit about different brands and types of primers. Which ones to use, when and why. All CCI and Reminton primer, plus Winchester's small pistol are the safest to use in automatic priming tools. Federal burns hotter and cleaner, yet are according to the Richard Lee manual "one tough dragon to control in the automatic priming systems". Modern Reloading Second Edition Richard Lee Revised 2021, page 60: To find out why some brand primers explode violently, I talked to an expert, Dave Anderson, now retired from CCI. He told me primers are charged with one of two types of charging compound. One is called "basic" and the other is "normal." The primers that use "basic compound" must not be used in Lee Priming tools because an accidental discharge is very violent. The "normal compound" is less violent and causes little damage to the tool. The user is easily protected by safety glasses. Metallic Cartridge reloading, Robert S. L. Anderson, page 20: In the firearms industry there are two types of lead styphnate primer compounds - "normal" and "basic." There are presently four manufacturers of primers in the U.S., and all of them except one uses the normal lead styphnate primer compound. Federal is the only manufacturer that presently uses basic . The common ingredient to all small arms primers is lead styphnate of which there are several different varieties. Basically it is in crystalline form and is very explosive. Normal lead styphnate is composed of large irregular crystals, which are slightly acidic when wet, somewhat more brisant at lower temperatures (good for military use), and they burn with a cool flame at ambient temperatures. However, it is somewhat harder to get an even mix of components in normal lead styphnate primers because of the larger irregular crystals and the fact that the "mix" often requires some metallic fuels (such as powdered aluminum) to help make a magnum primer. Basic lead styphnate is composed of small regular crystals and unlike the normal mix is not as acidic and will not attack primer cups when wet. Basic lead styphnate is easier to mix than normal variety and there is no need to add metallic fuels. The basic primer flame is very hot and will easily ignite most powders and therefore Federal does not offer a magnum pistol primer. However this style primer is slightly less brisant at very low temperatures (- 20degrees F. to - 40 degrees F.) which would make normal primer more suitable for military purposes. Metallic Cartridge Reloading, All New Third Edition, M.L. McPherson, page 29: Certain brands of primers might be unsafe to use in some priming tools like Lee's AutoPrime because of the potential for mass detonation. With these tools, should an operator detonate one primer, as can happen when a handloader tries to seat one primer on top of another, the detonation subjects other primers in the tray to shock and an incandescent flash. If this shock and flash can detonate a second primer, there is the potential that most or all (perhaps 100 or more) primers in the tray might detonate en masse. Such a simultaneous detonation would be a disaster. Lee has tested all available primers and, excepting CCI and Winchester, all brands produce an unacceptable number of mass explosions when the primer being seated is forced to detonate (by heating in a remote explosion-proof box). By comparing Federal and CCI primers, we can gain some understanding why brands very in this regard. Federal primers do not have a foil covering over the primer pellet; an application of a type of paint replaces the foil. That sealant is easily ignited and highly flammable, possessing a very low kindling temperature. These are beneficial characteristics; among other things, they help reduce combustion residues. However, use of this pellet sealant makes these primers very easy to ignite. Exposure of the open front of the cup to the flash from an adjacent primer easily does the job! Conversely, CCI primers have a paper foil almost completely covering the front of the pellet. This foil deters pellet ignition because it is only moderately combustible and has a relatively high kindling temperature. A short duration flash from a primer is unlikely to ignite the foil or penetrate through it to ignite the pellet underneath.
Great chat and a nice tool. Patience makes reloading relaxing and worth doing. Being impatient makes it work and will probably end up with a violent disassembly.
What depth are you seating your primers at ? Factory shells are 0.004" below flush. I get better groups with 0.007" below flush. some like 0.008" to 0.010" below. You got about 0.013" to 0.015" below flush before you bottom out.. Better to go lower for floating firing pin guns. (AR's, BLR's ,BAR's) Frankford Arsenal Platinum Hand Priming Tool can be adjusted to 0.015 below flush..
I just loaded 1K swaged primer pocket cases with a Lee auto prime....... towards the end I had to use two hands. They don't load like factory brass even after swaged. Maybe I need to find a better swager, who knows.
Barn Dweller! Hey, hope you have a great holiday and an awesome Christmas! Keep us updated on this tool--very curious to see if you like it after priming a few thousand rounds or so.
Thanks for the info, I recently bought out a long time reloader which came with many items I didn’t recognize and the auto primer was one of them. From looking at them I think I need to replace both tubes but other than that in great condition. Thanks again.
I loved my hand priming tools and I have had a few but they all wore out what I thought was to quickly. Even thought I have a Dillon 650 I still hand prime 90% of my rifle brass. It is still working good for me.
Outstanding video. When I saw you flip the primer tube with you hand, it made up my mind, I'm ordering today. I hate to say it, but Midway's starting to get to me a little. I'm going to try Amazon. By the way, I have to ask. Why do you prime most of your rifle brass by hand?
Midway is a great company but their shipping practices are absolutely unacceptable. I've had at least the orders arrive with damaged parts due to packaging.
Thanks for the review! I just bought the Frankford arsenal hand primer from Amazon but I was able to cancel the order before it shipped and purchased this RCBS instead. You mentioned you have a Dillon, why don't you use the Dillon to prime? did you have any other primer problems with it beside flipped primers? I have a Dillon 550 and it works great with pistol primers but it's 50/50 with rifle primers not being seated below flush.
I do use the Dillon for most pistol primers but for rifle I like to hand prime and I hand primer everything I load on the single stage. Like 450 Bushmaster, 458 SOCOM and other rifle cartridges that I just do not want to spend the 100$ each for the conversion units. I really should send it back the the manufacture and see if they would fix it but I like the one I am using now that I just do not need it.
Now I’ll round out with a few horror stories - {these are not meant to scare you away from reloading but rather to encourage you to always follow all the safety precautions and heed the warnings in the manuals for a safe and long Handloading journey}. Any Shoot Will Do, The A-Square Handloading and Rifle Manual, page 16: Let’s start with guys who didn’t read the safety chapter. All of these are real incidents involving experienced reloaders. #1, A commercial handloader producing handgun cartridges in quantity used to begin his day by filling a coffee can with primers to pour into the machine. He would pull out each tray and, with a flick of the wrist, empty it into the can. One day he used too much flick: one primer went off, initiating a chain reaction that filled the air with shrapnel and cost him both his eyes." [a commercial reloader that thought about how many rounds he had loaded and never had a problem whereby he did not bother with safety or safety glasses, until one day he wished he had taken heed to the warnings, but it was too late by then.] The Complete Handloader, John Wootters, page 37: The Power of Primers Never under estimate the potency of priming compounds. ... a workman at a priming manufacturing facility was carrying a bucket of loose primers ... and the whole bucket detonated. ... they never found any part of the workman except his shoes. An acquaintance of mine had ... about a hundred rifle primers detonate in a plastic medicine vial in his left hand. He lost his hand and the sight in his left eye, and he underwent a series of operations for cosmetic repairs to his face, arm, and upper body, suffering a great deal of pain, a staggering financial setback, and the loss of part of his livelihood. He was a gunsmith. Primer Precautions Such tragedies illustrate the inherent explosive power of small-arms primers, but they can be avoided totally by understanding and adhering to a few simple precautions. The first is never store primers in any kind of container other than the original factory packaging. The second is go back and reread that last sentence several times. Do not keep live primers, however few, loose in any sort of miscellaneous container, and most especially not one made of glass. A fellow UA-camr told a story of hand priming in his Lazyboy chair when one went off. They found the lid to the primer tray stuck in the ceiling above the chair. According to the story it had just missed his face. So be extra sure not to have it aimed at your face when hand priming with these tools. And safety glasses would be a very good idea as mentioned throughout all the reloading manual over and over again.
They stack the deck so it incentivizes you to order $100 or more on a free shipping racket. I've had nothing but good experiences with Midway over the last 20-30 years and I really like them overall as a company, but the shipping scam is annoying.
Gee!, I am wondering about this RCBS Automatic priming tool. Well if it's automatic then why oh why are you using a lever????? to prime Automatic bah humbug. I use the lee loader kit with a modified beer bottle caper, just as quick and cheeper.like the one below.
I've Had my Rcbs Priming tool for over 35 years. I'm now on my my 3rd set on priming tubes. Still going strong
Congratulation on the weight loss. I received my New RCBS Automatic Primer today from Amazon. Almost two weeks to get it and it is missing both primer tubes. Got a hold a a CSR and they wanted give me $20 credit. One tube off their web site is $16. so a total of $32. plus taxes, So I elected to see if they can send a COMPLETE replacement in hopes all parts are included as their add states. I paid $129 Plus, so if I can find one for the $80 as some has said that is what they paid. I refuse it if and when and hope a few days instead of two weeks. And Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
I've been buying all my RCBS stuff direct from their website. Prices are just as good as Amazon, the shipping is faster, and I've never had anything show up damaged or missing parts like I have with Amazon. Some Amazon partners just don't know how to pack stuff.
I just ordered one today. Thanks for the review! And thanks for the tip about manually moving the primer tube. Good stuff.
I hope it works out for you. Enjoy your reloading and I hope the primers come down some day and are available. I feel guilty because I have a good supply. I purchased them when they were 28$ now people are paying 99$ for a brick.
Thanks for the honest no hype review I’m definitely getting one my RCBS hand priming tool finally wore out after 5 years and bought a Lee precision bench priming tool similarly designed to this one its all plastic what piece of crap should have known because of cheap price I guess you get for what you pay for the RCBS looks mostly metal. Congratulations on being healthy and merry Christmas
I had the same problem with midway when I ordered a case prep center and they shiped it in the same box and when they send me a survey , I told them to be more profesional when they ship things.
Plus they whanted to know if I order from amazon and DAMN RIGHT!!!!! I ordered from amazon because for even a little item they ship it in a separate box.
All that said , RCBS are good products and I'm glad youre having a good time reloading.
God Bless.
I agree. I do it to relax and because I love it. I just ordered one of these. I have been using the Lee version but the plastic pieces keep breaking and im tired of the frustration. now i have a bunch of brass i cant load because the feeder broke a piece of plastic. so time to spend a little extra cash to buy this and it will last. Thanks for the review.
Thanks for reviewing. Just ordered one of these. Tired of fumbling tiny primers with my fat fingers.
Congrats on your improved health. RCBS has a new pot with PID control. I have one and it’s great. It’s called the RCBS Pro melt 2. I like that priming system too. Merry Christmas.🎁
Thanks, I will have to check them out. After the LabRadar it may have to wait for a little while......
FWIW, I have never used a hand priming tool for the simple reason that the primers can get canted from not having a fixed platform and because they're bound to eventually cause hand pain with more than a hundred or so cases primed, possibly leading to tendonitis or carpal tunnel.
A little bit about different brands and types of primers.
Which ones to use, when and why.
All CCI and Reminton primer, plus Winchester's small pistol are the safest to use in automatic priming tools.
Federal burns hotter and cleaner, yet are according to the Richard Lee manual "one tough dragon to control in the automatic priming systems".
Modern Reloading Second Edition Richard Lee Revised 2021, page 60:
To find out why some brand primers explode violently, I talked to an expert, Dave Anderson, now retired from CCI. He told me primers are charged with one of two types of charging compound. One is called "basic" and the other is "normal." The primers that use "basic compound" must not be used in Lee Priming tools because an accidental discharge is very violent. The "normal compound" is less violent and causes little damage to the tool. The user is easily protected by safety glasses.
Metallic Cartridge reloading, Robert S. L. Anderson, page 20:
In the firearms industry there are two types of lead styphnate primer compounds - "normal" and "basic." There are presently four manufacturers of primers in the U.S., and all of them except one uses the normal lead styphnate primer compound. Federal is the only manufacturer that presently uses basic . The common ingredient to all small arms primers is lead styphnate of which there are several different varieties. Basically it is in crystalline form and is very explosive. Normal lead styphnate is composed of large irregular crystals, which are slightly acidic when wet, somewhat more brisant at lower temperatures (good for military use), and they burn with a cool flame at ambient temperatures. However, it is somewhat harder to get an even mix of components in normal lead styphnate primers because of the larger irregular crystals and the fact that the "mix" often requires some metallic fuels (such as powdered aluminum) to help make a magnum primer. Basic lead styphnate is composed of small regular crystals and unlike the normal mix is not as acidic and will not attack primer cups when wet. Basic lead styphnate is easier to mix than normal variety and there is no need to add metallic fuels. The basic primer flame is very hot and will easily ignite most powders and therefore Federal does not offer a magnum pistol primer. However this style primer is slightly less brisant at very low temperatures (- 20degrees F. to - 40 degrees F.) which would make normal primer more suitable for military purposes.
Metallic Cartridge Reloading, All New Third Edition, M.L. McPherson, page 29:
Certain brands of primers might be unsafe to use in some priming tools like Lee's AutoPrime because of the potential for mass detonation. With these tools, should an operator detonate one primer, as can happen when a handloader tries to seat one primer on top of another, the detonation subjects other primers in the tray to shock and an incandescent flash. If this shock and flash can detonate a second primer, there is the potential that most or all (perhaps 100 or more) primers in the tray might detonate en masse. Such a simultaneous detonation would be a disaster. Lee has tested all available primers and, excepting CCI and Winchester, all brands produce an unacceptable number of mass explosions when the primer being seated is forced to detonate (by heating in a remote explosion-proof box). By comparing Federal and CCI primers, we can gain some understanding why brands very in this regard. Federal primers do not have a foil covering over the primer pellet; an application of a type of paint replaces the foil. That sealant is easily ignited and highly flammable, possessing a very low kindling temperature. These are beneficial characteristics; among other things, they help reduce combustion residues. However, use of this pellet sealant makes these primers very easy to ignite. Exposure of the open front of the cup to the flash from an adjacent primer easily does the job! Conversely, CCI primers have a paper foil almost completely covering the front of the pellet. This foil deters pellet ignition because it is only moderately combustible and has a relatively high kindling temperature. A short duration flash from a primer is unlikely to ignite the foil or penetrate through it to ignite the pellet underneath.
You remind me of the star of the red green show. Keep your stick on the ice my friend.
Great chat and a nice tool. Patience makes reloading relaxing and worth doing. Being impatient makes it work and will probably end up with a violent disassembly.
Just watched the video, congrats on beating diabetes, good for you! I am working on it myself.
What depth are you seating your primers at ? Factory shells are 0.004" below flush. I get better groups with 0.007" below flush. some like 0.008" to 0.010" below. You got about 0.013" to 0.015" below flush before you bottom out.. Better to go lower for floating firing pin guns. (AR's, BLR's ,BAR's) Frankford Arsenal Platinum Hand Priming Tool can be adjusted to 0.015 below flush..
I could listen to you talk all day. :)
Merry Christmas 2020 🎅
I just loaded 1K swaged primer pocket cases with a Lee auto prime....... towards the end I had to use two hands. They don't load like factory brass even after swaged. Maybe I need to find a better swager, who knows.
Barn Dweller! Hey, hope you have a great holiday and an awesome Christmas! Keep us updated on this tool--very curious to see if you like it after priming a few thousand rounds or so.
I would have one if you could use it with 209 shotshell primers. Yes you can get large or small primers, but the 209 has a larger face the the others
Thanks for the info, I recently bought out a long time reloader which came with many items I didn’t recognize and the auto primer was one of them. From looking at them I think I need to replace both tubes but other than that in great condition. Thanks again.
I loved my hand priming tools and I have had a few but they all wore out what I thought was to quickly. Even thought I have a Dillon 650 I still hand prime 90% of my rifle brass. It is still working good for me.
Proud of you BarnDweller!!👍
Outstanding video. When I saw you flip the primer tube with you hand, it made up my mind, I'm ordering today. I hate to say it, but Midway's starting to get to me a little. I'm going to try Amazon. By the way, I have to ask. Why do you prime most of your rifle brass by hand?
Midway is a great company but their shipping practices are absolutely unacceptable. I've had at least the orders arrive with damaged parts due to packaging.
Thanks for the review! I just bought the Frankford arsenal hand primer from Amazon but I was able to cancel the order before it shipped and purchased this RCBS instead. You mentioned you have a Dillon, why don't you use the Dillon to prime? did you have any other primer problems with it beside flipped primers? I have a Dillon 550 and it works great with pistol primers but it's 50/50 with rifle primers not being seated below flush.
I do use the Dillon for most pistol primers but for rifle I like to hand prime and I hand primer everything I load on the single stage. Like 450 Bushmaster, 458 SOCOM and other rifle cartridges that I just do not want to spend the 100$ each for the conversion units.
I really should send it back the the manufacture and see if they would fix it but I like the one I am using now that I just do not need it.
Now I’ll round out with a few horror stories - {these are not meant to scare you away from reloading but rather to encourage you to always follow all the safety precautions and heed the warnings in the manuals for a safe and long Handloading journey}.
Any Shoot Will Do, The A-Square Handloading and Rifle Manual, page 16:
Let’s start with guys who didn’t read the safety chapter. All of these are real incidents involving experienced reloaders.
#1, A commercial handloader producing handgun cartridges in quantity used to begin his day by filling a coffee can with primers to pour into the machine. He would pull out each tray and, with a flick of the wrist, empty it into the can. One day he used too much flick: one primer went off, initiating a chain reaction that filled the air with shrapnel and cost him both his eyes." [a commercial reloader that thought about how many rounds he had loaded and never had a problem whereby he did not bother with safety or safety glasses, until one day he wished he had taken heed to the warnings, but it was too late by then.]
The Complete Handloader, John Wootters, page 37:
The Power of Primers
Never under estimate the potency of priming compounds. ... a workman at a priming manufacturing facility was carrying a bucket of loose primers ... and the whole bucket detonated. ... they never found any part of the workman except his shoes.
An acquaintance of mine had ... about a hundred rifle primers detonate in a plastic medicine vial in his left hand. He lost his hand and the sight in his left eye, and he underwent a series of operations for cosmetic repairs to his face, arm, and upper body, suffering a great deal of pain, a staggering financial setback, and the loss of part of his livelihood. He was a gunsmith.
Primer Precautions
Such tragedies illustrate the inherent explosive power of small-arms primers, but they can be avoided totally by understanding and adhering to a few simple precautions. The first is never store primers in any kind of container other than the original factory packaging. The second is go back and reread that last sentence several times. Do not keep live primers, however few, loose in any sort of miscellaneous container, and most especially not one made of glass.
A fellow UA-camr told a story of hand priming in his Lazyboy chair when one went off. They found the lid to the primer tray stuck in the ceiling above the chair. According to the story it had just missed his face. So be extra sure not to have it aimed at your face when hand priming with these tools. And safety glasses would be a very good idea as mentioned throughout all the reloading manual over and over again.
Well if your done with the old priming tool ship it to me, I need to purchase something
High class reloading: loading on a granite bench.
Midways shipping is crazy!!
They stack the deck so it incentivizes you to order $100 or more on a free shipping racket. I've had nothing but good experiences with Midway over the last 20-30 years and I really like them overall as a company, but the shipping scam is annoying.
Gee!, I am wondering about this RCBS Automatic priming tool.
Well if it's automatic then why oh why are you using a lever????? to prime Automatic bah humbug.
I use the lee loader kit with a modified beer bottle caper, just as quick and cheeper.like the one below.
congrats on the diabetic beat down. That is great news sir.
good chow ol boy u jung peppers really komen zee machen
Want to see something funny? Play this video on half speed!