SmallCaliberCentral

I am just getting going in the reloading game and am looking for a good hand priming tool. It looks like the RCBS APS Hand Priming Tool would be a good pick but the spec says it only goes down to .32 cal cases. Does anyone know if there is a way around this or have a better solution for me? Thanks-

I use the lee hand priming tool, works great!

Goody523, I agree with Crazy2medic about the Lee. It is a good tool for the money. Hand priming is probably not a great benefit unless the primer pockets are unified and flash holes debured. On the upper end there is the Sinclair hand primer and the K&M, which is also very good and a bit less than the Sinclair. I don't know about the RCBS.

I have the plain old RCBS Hand Priming Tool. It works just fine and I am very happy with it. The APS hand priming tool uses primer strips and features a universal shellholder. Most of the time the primer strips are more expensive than the box primers. If you buy one you will probably end up buying the strip loader and blank strips to save money. Either way you will end up spending more and adding another step to load primers into the strips. The plain RCBS Hand Primer uses a tray to hold the loose primers and can handle large and small primers. It uses the same shell holders that you use with the press. I have never tried any other primer, except the one on my Rockchucker, because I am perfectly happy with the one I still have. I would get two shell holders though, that way you don't have to switch them back and forth with the press. I don't like the primer arm set up on the press because I can't feel the primers seating like I can with the hand tool. I can take the hand tool inside and watch TV while I prime cases. I can't do that with the press bolted to the bench.

As the others have noted, the Lee is a very good unit for the money. I used one for over 15 years with perfect success. The RCBS is good too, but for a number of personal reasons, mine did not stay on my bench long. All K&M stuff is good, ditto for their primer seating tool. I especially like their flash hole deburrers, as they are not dependant on case length, but have a positive stop that registers on the bottom of the case interior for perfect, uniform bevel and burr removal.

The Sincliar priming tool is the creme de la creme when it comes to priming tools. Once I started using theirs, the others seemed like pot metal junk (but again, they are all completely functional). It uses Lee shell holders, and positively grips each case squarely to perfectly align the primer pocket with the incoming primer. Made entirely of stainless steel, CNC produced, it is a true machining work of art, but very expensive. If your budget allows, it is the absolute best of the lot and will last more than a lifetime. (I wore out two Lee's over the years).

I use the Lee and the plain RCBS hand primer tools they both work great!

Rick in Oregon-

I remember reading some past posts you made re: primer pocket sizing, flash hole deburring and primer seating (which you just covered) but I can't find them. Would you be willing to just list the exact tools you use for these purposes - I know you had done some extensive testing and seemed to have come up with a set-up you really liked. I am an engineer who probably worries way more about being a perfectionist than is necessary or wise on many things. I know that if I don't buy the best equipment it will irritate me endlessly and I will ultimately just end up buying it anyway so I have resigned myself to just buying the best stuff I can right out of the gate. Thanks in advance for your help-

Goody: Sure no problem. I'm like you, and have resigned myself to biting the bullet and just pay the piper up front, as I'll end up paying mutiple times if I don't buy the best the first time out of the gate (such experience can be expensive......)

I'm not saying this is the panacea of primer pocket tooling, just what has worked out for me after alot of time and dinking around with about every tool out there (I started this quest in 1968).

Most if not all available at Sinclair:
* Forester bench-mounted primer pocket reamer/large & small carbide
cutter @ each end.
* K&M primer flash hole deburring tool (one for 22-45, one for 20,
another for 17).
* Sinclair primer seating tool (uses Lee shellholders)

I inspect every case under 10X magification after each cutting operation to ensure perfect cuts and no burrs/chips remain. I use a machinist loop for this, and find often a case needs just a little bit more attention after the initial cut. To really see inside a case to inspect the deburring op, hold the case up to a flourescent light, but just under the light itself, hold the loop against your cheek to hold steady against your eye, then move the case in to focus to see the bevel cut by the deburring tool. It will show up bright and shiny against the dull interior finish of the case, and reveal the quality of the cut/bevel.

The same holds true to inspect the finished cut of primer pocket reaming using the loop, but not necessary to hold up into the light the same way, as it's easy to see the interior of the pocket. The Opti-Visor 10X is also excellent for this close work, and eliminates the need for the loop, as it fits on the head and has two magnifiers, one for each eye.

Having an technical/engineering background myself (mech/civil), I totally understand 'anal'. Hope this helps.

The Opti-Visor is the greatest. I wear my 1.75 readers under my 4x lenses and I have the 10x loop that attaches to the left eye and swings out of the way when not needed for a total of 15.75x with the loop. A snap to go from low to high power. Essential for a good look at most anything at my age. Run around looking like a dork most of the time with that thing on.

You can not be anal about what you can not see.

Rick-

I looked on Sinclair's website and could find anything from K&M - this is the only flash hole deburring tool for a .20 cal that I found that looks like it makes sense:

http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin/cat ... type=store

Does this look like it would accomplish the same thing as the one you use from K&M?

Also, it doesn't look like they carry Forester pocket reamers - the one that looked like it might fit the bill is:

http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin/cat ... type=store

It looks like you use this model with a screwdriver type handle, not a bench mounted crank. I kind of like the idea of a crank as it seems like it will keep everything trued up square much better than I am going to be able to do with a hand held tool, but on the other hand it would be one less thing on the bench if I went with the hand held model. What are your thoughts on this thing?

I looked for Forester pocket reamer on their own web site, but all I found is a pocket chamfering tool and a pocket cleaning tool, neither of which sounds like what you were talking about.

I think there is a market for one of you guys who has all this stuff dialed in to assemble all the best pieces and parts from all the manufacturers and sell the "Super Anal, Type A Personality, Master Reloader Kit" (ok - maybe the name needs a little marketing help - I'm an M.E. as Rick guessed so this isn't my strong suit). Include your own instructions as far as the steps and procedures you follow and then sell the whole package on all these internet forums to green horns like myself!

Goody523, I use both the tools from Sinclair in your post. The flash hole tool indexes off the case mouth and is used after a case is trimmed to length. The tool is set for about 10 thousandths of cutting exposure. I perform this operation immediately after trimming on the Wilson trimmer and the case is still in the case holder. This only needs to be done once over the life of the case.

I chuck the primer pocket unifying tool in my cordless drill and also use the Wilson case holder to hold the case (easier on the hand). All the WW cases that I have done need at least three passes to allow chips to be cleared. I use a small stiff artist brush to clear the chips and to knock them off the tool. The tool is self centering and indexes off the case head so it is really hard to mess up this process. The cutting is done on the bottom of the cavity, which is not square or deep enough. It is amazing how much brass comes out of a primer pocket. After firing the tool is used to clean the pocket of residue and it seems each case will yield a little brass due to brass flow at the time of firing. On a personal note, this is the one case prep task which I find insufferably boring.

I think Bruno’s carries the K@M tool. I have not used it but have heard nothing but good things about it. If Rick uses it that says a lot.

Thanks ofr the info - I will have to check out this Brunos place as well (never heard of it) and add it to the Sinclair and Midway bookmarks (one more place for packages to show up from where my wife goes, "What the heck is this place?").

goody523

Here is a link to the primer pocket reamer Rick was talking about. It's kind of hard to find on Sinclair's web site. It's listed under case trimmers/accessories.

http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin/cat ... type=store

I'm like you when it comes to reloading. I really like spending time at the bench turning out ammo that is as perfect as I can get it. If you haven't read this article on case preparation from the 6mmbr.com web site you might want to. Now these guys get real anal!

http://www.6mmbr.com/JGcaseprep.html

While on the subject, does using a hand priming tool make that much difference in accuracy?

I have a progressive and single stage press, I only use the progressive for pistol reloading were I go through a lot of rounds. I’ve only used the single staged press for my 204 because I like to measure every charge of powder and it’s easer to do on the single stage. But I’ve been using the priming arm on the press because it’s a little quicker, and this is the first time I’ve reloaded for anything smaller that a deer so the priming arms has always been fine.

Bad Dad, The idea behind hand priming is consistantly setting the primer to the same depth and setting the primer anvil correctly under a slight pressure. A crushed anvil will break the priming compound causing inconsistant ignition. A primer not fully seated will be seated the rest of the way by the firing pin moving forward prior to ignition. The increased feel of a hand primer is what allows consistant seating and consistant ignition.