Best tool for priming rifle and handgun brass?

aap2

I'm looking for a bench or press mounted priming tool because my old Lee priming tool is increasingly hard to use due to my arthritis, I would like to avoid primer tube-feeds if possible for safety reasons and I was looking at the RCBS APS press mounted tool. It looks good (primers in strips), but most of the reviews that I read are pretty bad. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Hawk Carse

A friend uses the tube fed RCBS bench priming tool.
The way the tube swings back and forth over the punch, it appears to be less likely to gang fire than the complicated setup of a progressive loader. You could use it without the tube feed if that bothered you.
https://shop.rcbs.com/WebConnect/MainServlet?storeId=webconnect&catalogId=webconnect&langId=en_US&action=ProductDisplay&screenlabel=index&productId=2886&route=C06J030

Lee makes the Ram Prime that screws into the press like a die. Handle the primers individually. They used to have one with a tray and chute feed but have replaced it with a new device that I know nothing about.
http://leeprecision.com/priming-tools/on-press-priming/

dcs shooters

RCBS, Sinclair, Forster all make them. I had a forster for some years and once set up, they work very good [;)] Here's a pic,

charliemeyer007

I think the best feel is with the Lyman 310, much easier on your hands than the Lee. The Lee Ram prime works, I gave 3 Lee Hand Press Loading systems away to new reloader's.

aap2

Thanks for the info....

bpost

The Link supplied by Hawk Carse is the way to go. Mine has seen many tens of thousands of primers and have never had an issue. it is safe, fast and easy to use. I really like the way it seats primers. You can feel the primer anvil bottom in the cup.

Sky Soldier

quote:Originally posted by bpost
The Link supplied by Hawk Carse is the way to go. Mine has seen many tens of thousands of primers and have never had an issue. it is safe, fast and easy to use. I really like the way it seats primers. You can feel the primer anvil bottom in the cup.



Which link, the RCBS or the Lee?

SS

RCrosby

Depending on how bad your arthritis is, and how averse you are to the use of feed tubes, you may want to consider the Hornady hand held priming tool.
Basic concept is the same as the Lee, including the use of a circular primer tray,(i.e. no feeding tubes) but it's larger, heavier, and much more (for me at least) comfortable to use than the Lee unit.

aap2

Thanks guys, I bought a bench-mounted RCBS tube-feed unit and it's easy to use, safe and fast. The RCBS APS strip tools looked good until I tried them, the tube-fed unit seems better and works great. Thanks again.