Seating Primers

[Dave Hoback]

I’ve used the Lyman EZEE hand primer for years now and love it. Seems I get consistent results… then, I don’t go crazy checking, so who knows… could be a few Thous off maybe. I don’t worry about it.

[Ernest T]

I’ve used the Lyman EZEE hand primer for years now and love it. Seems I get consistent results… then, I don’t go crazy checking, so who knows… could be a few Thous off maybe. I don’t worry about it.

I noticed it when I got inconsistent CBTO measurements on newly seated bullets. Playing around with the calipers, I noticed daylight between the caliper and the base of the case, the primer was keeping it from touching the base. I should take those rounds apart, and reload them after ensuring the primer is at least flush with the bottom of the case, but I'm not going to. I am going to try to find out why that happens.

[Ernest T]

Lee shell holder on the left, Redding on the right. I measured the two shell holders with calipers and the measurement highlighted by the red arrow is larger than the same measurement highlighted by the yellow arrow. I tried to come up with a theory as to why one of these might cause variable primer seating depths, but gave up. In the end, I put the Lee shellholder in the press and seated 10 primers, and all of them seated below the base of the case. It's not definitive, but it certainly is suggestive that the Lee shellholder is built to work with the press primer seating geometry and the Redding shellholder is not.

[Dave Hoback]

Hmmm.. that’s kinda interesting. Well as it turns out, all my. Shell holders are Lee anyway. They were always the cheapest, LOL!

[Blue Avenger]

With no brass in the press, how far into the shell holder dose the seating pin protrude into the shell holder? CM , Im assuming all your brass is the same lot # and rim thickness should be the same.

I would suggest switching to a hand held seating tool. They all have there quirks and advantages. With only one caliber, you can leave it set up and not care about the ease of changing. The RCBS Universal is the only one that will release a case with an extreme fail to seat, such as a primer that turned sideways. But it is also the hardest to use with jaws instead of an easy slide in shell holder. Standard RCBS uses there shell holders with the counter sink on the bottom. Some brands of shell holders are flat and do not fit will. Lee requires a separate set of there shell holders. Never had an issue with any as fare a breakage. I use RCBS trays in my Lee's. They have a feed shut off.


RCBS trays interchange with Lee so you can close them off and remove them with out spillage. Also works in there presses.

[Txhillbilly]

Lee shell holder on the left, Redding on the right. I measured the two shell holders with calipers and the measurement highlighted by the red arrow is larger than the same measurement highlighted by the yellow arrow. I tried to come up with a theory as to why one of these might cause variable primer seating depths, but gave up. In the end, I put the Lee shellholder in the press and seated 10 primers, and all of them seated below the base of the case. It's not definitive, but it certainly is suggestive that the Lee shellholder is built to work with the press primer seating geometry and the Redding shellholder is not.

I prime all of my cases on my Lee classic turret presses, and use Lee, Hornady, RCBS, and Redding shell holder's. I've never had a single issue priming any case with any of them.
I think you are over thinking the process.

[jpx2rk]

I use a LEE Challenger single stage for all of my reloading, and have been using the LEE priming tools that attach to the press (2-3 different versions are available). IF you see one of those primers being proud, just slip the round into a hand held primer seater to seat it a little bit more. I usually prime all of the cases first (just one press in the house) and check them with a fingertip, and possibly set stand it up on the loading table to see if it wobbles. Then I use the handheld primer seater tool to finish it off.

[Ernest T]

I messed around with the two shellholders last night and couldn't really see "the reason" for the inconsistency with the Redding. I guess I'll be looking at YouTube videos of hand primers.