Henry Rifle Forums

I thought I would make a thread just for my dumb questions about reloading, and any other comments related to it.

To kick it off:

1) Several sources including the Lee manual say never touch primers, but lots of forums I looked at say guys loading for 40 years handle primers with hands and no issues? The primer loader I got looks a little awkward (maybe ok have not used it yet) but placing by hand looks easy and then use press to seat it. Why not do this?

2) What is all the internet stuff, again including the Lee manual about guys blowing holes in their ceilings with primer detonation? Really? If that's the case maybe doing it in the house is not the best recipe for a happy marriage...

3) Winchester primers I bought say Standard & Magnum loads, I looked at other forums and most say they are ok to use and not "hotter" than CCI. However the Lee manual says only 20 at a time in the tray when loading, but ok to have 100 CCI ones in tray when loading. Thoughts?

4) Primers seem to be the big concern in the Lee manual. More so than Powder. No impact, etc and I get that. Then it says shake them in the tray to set them upright? I would think that firing pin in my guns is striking it REALLY hard. So unless I am whacking them with something they should be ok for normal handling correct?

Appreciate any feedback, of course it's all up to me anyway. Just looking for your experiences good, bad or ugly.

thanks, RR

One of those fellows out there is Chuck Hawkes, who writes down his opinions about firearms. You may have read some of his stuff, RR. Knowledgeable, but never 100% on top of everything; definitely stands on his evaluations and/or reviews; lots of firearms info available, including reloading.

~~~Specific article on primers: https://www.chuckhawks.com/primers.htm

~~~List of numerous firearms articles, by Hawkes and others.
https://www.chuckhawks.com/index2k_reloading.htm

I'm not promoting any of these gun writers, mainly because like all internet reporting, a grain of salt (not gunpowder) is a consideration in determining reliable info. Just some other sources for rumination...

1. I try to limit handling with my bare hands. I have some vinyl "foodservice" gloves around for times when I have to do extensive handling (which rarely happens), but retrieving an "escapee" and putting him back where he's supposed to go with your hands is no biggie.
2. Can't imagine that. The internet is full of mis-information(!)
3. I have the same Lg Pistol Win primers and routinely use 100 at a time in my primer tool's tray. Not an issue.
4. Routine handling is routine and fine. It takes quite a whack to make one go bang. Don't ask me how I know that, just trust me.

Well hopefully this little gizmo works like it's supposed to...
https://leeprecision.com/safety-primer- ... large.html

I touch all my primers as I prime on the the press.
Don't use any priming tools, Just pick them up one at a time a put in place.
Been doing it that way all along, never had an issue.
Like Evan said it takes a pretty good whack.
Heck I even once put one in backwards.
Set it back in the press and very gently pressed it back out.
Yes, I was a little nervous, but just went slow and easy.

RR, no dumb questions man.
I once heard the only dumb question is the one you don'y ask.

RP

Ya, I gotta stop googling "what happens if..."...

RanchRoper wrote:1) Several sources including the Lee manual say never touch primers, but lots of forums I looked at say guys loading for 40 years handle primers with hands and no issues?

I've never owned primers that could get from the tray in the box that I bought and into our press's primer feed tube without handling every one of them .... that is possible with some of the newer primer hand presses .... my only concern with handling primers was to make sure I didn't have anything on my hands/fingers that would contaminate the primers

RanchRoper wrote:2) What is all the internet stuff, again including the Lee manual about guys blowing holes in their ceilings with primer detonation? Really?

early on when using my first loader I did pop some primers .... it was a "Lee Loader" .... here is a link to a video about popping primers with a Lee Loader ===> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmJA_ssBATI .... watching the first half can give some appreciation for what it takes to set off a primer .... when it happened there would be a sound similar to a cap pistol and the smell of gun smoke .... nothing more .... the Lee Loader shown in the video is the only one I've ever used that had a primer go off during the seating process

RanchRoper wrote:3) Winchester primers I bought say Standard & Magnum loads, I looked at other forums and most say they are ok to use and not "hotter" than CCI. However the Lee manual says only 20 at a time in the tray when loading, but ok to have 100 CCI ones in tray when loading. Thoughts?

can't say why Lee says to only use 20 at a time .... we do prefer CCI but over the years have used most that are available on the market .... manufacturing standards require all regulars to meet one standard and all magnums to use another .... I do recommend using which ever type the book calls for but brand is a matter of personal preference

RanchRoper wrote:4) Primers seem to be the big concern in the Lee manual. More so than Powder. No impact, etc and I get that. Then it says shake them in the tray to set them upright? I would think that firing pin in my guns is striking it REALLY hard. So unless I am whacking them with something they should be ok for normal handling correct?

you are exactly correct

What is all the internet stuff, again including the Lee manual about guys blowing holes in their ceilings with primer detonation?

Funniest thing I have read today! Does the Lee manual specifically refernece 'blowing holes in the ceiling' ? If so I have no Idea where they got this BS.

Over 40 years of reloading and I have had ONE in press primer detonation - and it was nothing more than a loud 'POP' that startled me.
I sure am glad I started reloading (and most other things) prior to the internet!

Handling primers is not an issue other than previously mentioned making sure you have nothing on your hands that can contaminate them.

After you get some experience under your belt you might want to consider a hand priming tool. I use the Lee model and it's fast and easy and your hands have almost no contact with the primers. I simply slide the box open to expose the rows of primers and stop at the number I need and dump them into the primer tool tray, shake to flip them up correctly, put on the lid and prime away.

The only blowing holes in the ceiling that I have heard about was using the primer canons, I mean primer tubes on the Dillon machines. It is a known issue that comes up with some frequency on reloading forums. Dillon's "fix" was a steel outer tube to direct the blast upwards, rather than burst the thin tube. When one primer in the tube goes off, usually, most of the rest of them do also.

IIRC, I have heard of one or two instances of a couple primers going off using the safety prime, Never heard of a bunch of them going off.

All of this is anecdotal, as there are no statistics available that I am aware of. If you read a high traffic reloading forum or two for a while, you will see patterns, though.

I don't think any automatic, or semi automatic primer feed is without some risk of a mass detonation, but some are riskier than others.

FWIW, I have a Lee turret press and I place the primers in the cup by hand. It's still much faster than hand priming separately. I have never had a primer go off in the press. I have never had a primer fail to ignite using this system. In the event of a primer detonating on the press, it can only be one with this system.

Quote from the book "Tony Sailer from CH Tool...reloading is safe until you handle primers in qty...says look at the ceiling above any powered reloading machine and you will see holes above the priming station"...I see he refers to primers in a tube, must be something different.

Anyhow, good to hear they go bang and that's about it. It wasn't going to stop me anyhow, too much dough invested now. I always wear eye protection anyway when handling this stuff.

clovishound wrote:The only blowing holes in the ceiling that I have heard about was using the primer canons, I mean primer tubes on the Dillon machines. It is a known issue that comes up with some frequency on reloading forums. Dillon's "fix" was a steel outer tube to direct the blast upwards, rather than burst the thin tube. When one primer in the tube goes off, usually, most of the rest of them do also.

IIRC, I have heard of one or two instances of a couple primers going off using the safety prime, Never heard of a bunch of them going off.

All of this is anecdotal, as there are no statistics available that I am aware of. If you read a high traffic reloading forum or two for a while, you will see patterns, though.

I don't think any automatic, or semi automatic primer feed is without some risk of a mass detonation, but some are riskier than others.

FWIW, I have a Lee turret press and I place the primers in the cup by hand. It's still much faster than hand priming separately. I have never had a primer go off in the press. I have never had a primer fail to ignite using this system. In the event of a primer detonating on the press, it can only be one with this system.

1 at a time sounds good to me. Like I said the plastic safety prime looks shaky at best.

Hey RanchRoper, This again is the old guy from central Massachusetts. Like you, I am pretty much a Lee proponent when it comes to reloading tools. After a 40 year gap I got back into reloading in 2000. I bought new Lee equipment and the Lee Reloading Manual that Midway had in stock. I, too, was surprised by emphasis on primer handling and safety detailed in that Manual.
In the late 1950's I had reloaded for a couple of years with my older brother, and I can not recall a single primer incident from those days. However, in 2000 as I was retraining myself on "best in class" reloading practices described in the Lee Manual, I did carefully adhere to what was written about handling and installing primers, although I do handle primers with my fingers. Since 2000, I have reloaded approximately 8,000 cartridges and have never had a primer pop/explode when reloading. Along the way, with my M1 Garand I have a few "hang fires" because I deeply seat the primers for that rifle to prevent "slam fires" which can cause a Garand to go "fully auto" on the cartridges remaining in the enbloc clip . I suspect that Richard Lee might have encountered a serious mis-hap with primers early in his life, thus all the emphasis on primer safety.

Pitchman1968 wrote:Hey RanchRoper, This again is the old guy from central Massachusetts. Like you, I am pretty much a Lee proponent when it comes to reloading tools. After a 40 year gap I got back into reloading in 2000. I bought new Lee equipment and the Lee Reloading Manual that Midway had in stock. I, too, was surprised by emphasis on primer handling and safety detailed in that Manual.
In the late 1950's I had reloaded for a couple of years with my older brother, and I can not recall a single primer incident from those days. However, in 2000 as I was retraining myself on "best in class" reloading practices described in the Lee Manual, I did carefully adhere to what was written about handling and installing primers, although I do handle primers with my fingers. Since 2000, I have reloaded approximately 8,000 cartridges and have never had a primer pop/explode when reloading. Along the way, with my M1 Garand I have a few "hang fires" because I deeply seat the primers for that rifle to prevent "slam fires" which can cause a Garand to go "fully auto" on the cartridges remaining in the enbloc clip . I suspect that Richard Lee might have encountered a serious mis-hap with primers early in his life, thus all the emphasis on primer safety.

It sure sounds like Lee had a bad day or two at some point. I appreciate the feedback. 8000 or so is a pretty good run, and supports my thoughts on just working as safely as possible and expect good results. If the little plastic feeder doesn't do the job, I will be hand placing them in the cup. I can get a pretty good rhythm going like that I think. Plus it forces a green reloader to pay attention to what he's doing.

clovishound wrote:
FWIW, I have a Lee turret press and I place the primers in the cup by hand. It's still much faster than hand priming separately. I have never had a primer go off in the press. I have never had a primer fail to ignite using this system. In the event of a primer detonating on the press, it can only be one with this system.

CH, this is exactly what I do, never had any issues either.
But in all the thousands of primers I've put in I have had a few to not ignite, just figure you are bound to have a bad one every now and then.

RP

Those shooting lead bullets: do you lube them?

Those shooting lead bullets: do you lube them?

If purchased they will be lubed.
Avoid plain lead - go with plated.

I have 2 bags of these. Have not opened yet. But this is what I shoot with their reloads, and have shot several hundred with no issue in my barrel. So should be ok I guess.

So should be ok I guess.

Oh yea - see the blue line - thats the lube.
Some guns shoot lead better than others. A lot can depend on the load as well.

Awesome. Thanks. I only shoot lead. Never anything else. Old school I guess.

Ranch Ropers Reloading Ruminations Response Range Reveals Recurrent Report Recriminations.

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