Henry Rifle Forums

Caught this video this morning about what happened when hand loading primers! https://youtu.be/AZhrr_XAZ4Y?si=U6SU5CweX8gKk0dR

Mybe I will just load one primer at a time! If the primer takes more than normal hand pressure to seat STOP! He still doesn't know what exactly happened yet. Maybe use my welding gloves and face shield and I bet he does now!

I tried one of those hand primers one time and didnt care for it. I prime on the press with my rcbs primer feed. If one did go off its not close to the others which are contained in a tube feed.

He's a very fortunate man who might have been badly injured as opposed to just injured. It had to have been a Holy Frig moment.

But, he said it never occurred to him that it could happen and that could be the problem. Carelessness. It occurs to me each time I use the Lee hand primer. It's the scariest step in reloading, in my opinion.

I only add ten primers to the tray at a time and I watch them move through the tool as I'm working. Even then, I've had more than one drop in sideways. Just a few, but enough over the last decade to know stuff can happen -- even an explosion.

Yup. BE CAREFUL.

The Winchester Primers "Safety Data Sheet"

https://winchester.com/-/media/PDFs/Saf ... RFIRE.ashx

I have been using the RCBS hand primer since I got started and no issues yet but I am very careful with it. Problem is there are several primers in the primer channel even when the primer magazine is off the tool. May modify so only one can be in the channel at a time with a small door that can closed when seat the primer. This might keep flash from the others in the magazine if the one goes off.

I don't reload and that is one of the things I don't miss about it. Any dangers involved.

As well as the initial investments.

I really don't shoot that much and I'm leaving any needs up to the ammo suppliers out there.

That said, I do save all the brass and shot gun hulls.

I've been reloading for 50 years and have never used a hand primer. For the reasons in this video I refuse to hold in my hand a tray full of explosive primers. All my priming is done on one of my presses. I've only had a primer go off once or twice and that was in my single stage press. It wakes you up when it happens, but little harm is done since in the single stage press does not have a feeder of any kind. All the primers are off to the side and picked up one at a time. Also I've never reloaded without safety glasses.

My progressive presses have a stack (100) of primers in a safety shield tube. I've always feared that tube could go off so if I feel the slightest hesitation or stiffness during the priming stroke I stop and find out what is wrong. I've heard tales of these primer tubes going off, and primers embedding themselves in the ceiling.

Paul

I have a hand primer made by RCBS, but mine is a single load model. I've had it for a few decades now, and have gotten to when I need to prime a lot of cases, I bring the brass and primers up to the living room, and watch TV while priming. That's for the rifle brass though. I have a pair of Dillon Square Deal B presses, and use the primer feeds on those. I found the trick for me to be able to make a lot of ammo quickly with the Dillons, is to have a few primer pick-up tubes loaded and ready, and to have the brass and bullets positioned ergonomically around the press. Then it becomes a bit of a repetitive motion exercise to crank out a few hundred .45s or .38s.

I remember a one-page article in Shooting Times magazine about how NASA uses Winchester primers to initiate the exploding bolts holding the solid rocket boosters on the space shuttle. They did a study on rate of failure, and it's one of the few systems that do not have second or third redundancy backups.

rickhem wrote: ↑

Wed May 21, 2025 9:15 am

I remember a one-page article in Shooting Times magazine about how NASA uses Winchester primers to initiate the exploding bolts holding the solid rocket boosters on the space shuttle. They did a study on rate of failure, and it's one of the few systems that do not have second or third redundancy backups.

Cool fact. Thanks.

Headhog wrote: ↑

Tue May 20, 2025 3:04 pm

I've only had a primer go off once or twice and that was in my single stage press. It wakes you up when it happens, but little harm is done since in the single stage press does not have a feeder of any kind.

I've had three or four small pistol primers go off while seating them with the ram rod on a Lee Classic Loader. Definitely a shock to the system and something I can do without experiencing again, but it's not tremendously dangerous in that setup. I consider that risk as part of "the cost of doing business", so to speak.

I had a firecracker go off in my hand one time when I was a kid and that was way, way worse.

back in the mid '60's I had numerous primers explode while using one of their original Lee Loaders .... https://leeprecision.com/classic-lee-loaders .... the first one came as a complete surprise and scared me .... after a while having one explode didn't cause much concern .... the explosions always came with a primer pretty much sealed inside a loading die .... the a bang was pretty similar to that made by a 22LR .... along with the smell of burned power that was pretty much it