Armory Sponsor
Posted: 4/6/2010 4:02:46 PM EDT
|
I have been seating 308 primers in my Lee Auto Prime this pass winter without a single hitch, and now I'm priming up some 223 cases.
They slip in the shell holder just fine, but when I slide some of them out, they come out pretty hard.  I am using the proper shell holder, and tray.
I can't see any burs in the shell holder or primer pocket's. I thought maybe I was bending the case heads, but everything seems ok there. Has anybody else had this happening? I'm about ready to order a better quality one, and scrap this thing. I read so many good reviews about the Lee Auto Prime, and bought one for my first primimg tool. UPDATE 4/21/10 Bought two Possum hollow shell holders for the lee hand prime from midway, and now it works like a dream with no hangups. Just in case anyone is having the same problem, and is interested. Thanks for all the help everybody 
|
|
Quoted:
It could be burr's on the case rim from being ejected. Spin a case over your fingernail. Other than that  Thanks for the reply. They are new unprimed Lake City cases, and I checked for burr's on the rim's, uniformed the primer pocket's Could it be possible that some of the case rim's are a little thicker than others? |
I have had this trouble also with LC brass. I think the case rim is just a tad larger in diameter than most commercial brass. This combined with the tight Lee shell holder causes problems. My primer tray has scratches all over it from this issue.
This same brass goes into an RCBS shellholder just fine. I have been thinking of buying the RCBS priming tool, but the LC is the only brass I have this trouble with and my LC brass is almost worn out anyway. P.S. the more times it is fired, the worse the problem gets... 
|
|
Quoted:
Your brass isn't the problem, Lee's shell holders are too tight. Use some emery cloth or sand paper to relieve them a little, or send them to Lee with an explanation of the problem. They'll fish through their stock until they find one that works. That was the cure for me. Lee shell holders sometimes have burrs and/or an encroaching edge from stamping I guess. I used needle files to smooth them out...worked like a charm. |
|
There is a Possum Hollow shell holder for the Lee Primer tool that is made of brass, and the fit is much better. BUT I broke mine this weekend when I encountered a case with the crimp improperly removed.
A little extra force was applied and the rim broke away slightly and now the brass pops out with pressure I guess this time I will order two, they only cost $4
|
|
Thanks for all the reply s everybody!!
I thought about smoothing out the the shell holder with something. Does anybody have a particular method for getting emery cloth or a needle file into that little slot in the shell holder? I think I'm going to try that. If this doesn't cure it, I'm getting a different priming tool. I still have another 400 to load. Thanks again everybody. |
|
Quoted:
They slip in the shell holder just fine, but when I slide some of them out, they come out pretty hard. Just to be on the safe side you might want to check your primed cases for primer protrusion. The primers should be recessed a little. A finger feel will reveal a high primer or a properly recessed primer. |
|
I've had the same issue with brass in my Lee hand primer and using the Lee shell holder in my reloading press. Well, the other day I reloaded a batch of .223 brass and put up with the sticky, draggy rims sliding in/out of the shell holders. While checking them I found that several of them (one or two from every box) would not fit in the magazines of the AR. At this point I still don't know why that happened with the Lee .223 dies so I headed back to the shop and grabbed up my Pacific dies. The Pacific dies have a Pacific (Hornady) shell holder in the box with them so I used it instead of the Lee shell holder. While seating the bullets slightely deeper (some I could feel move and yet some were not touched so I have some type of issue with the Lee dies I've got to figure out) I realized not a single case rim was the list bit draggy sliding in/out of the Pacific shell holder.
I too had thought there was something funny about the case rims on some of the brass cases but when using the Pacific shell holder there is no issue. FYI |
|
Quoted:
I've had the same issue with brass in my Lee hand primer and using the Lee shell holder in my reloading press. Well, the other day I reloaded a batch of .223 brass and put up with the sticky, draggy rims sliding in/out of the shell holders. While checking them I found that several of them (one or two from every box) would not fit in the magazines of the AR. At this point I still don't know why that happened with the Lee .223 dies so I headed back to the shop and grabbed up my Pacific dies. The Pacific dies have a Pacific (Hornady) shell holder in the box with them so I used it instead of the Lee shell holder. While seating the bullets slightely deeper (some I could feel move and yet some were not touched so I have some type of issue with the Lee dies I've got to figure out) I realized not a single case rim was the list bit draggy sliding in/out of the Pacific shell holder. I too had thought there was something funny about the case rims on some of the brass cases but when using the Pacific shell holder there is no issue. FYI I figured that was part of the problem with my lee shell holder's for the primer tool. I went ahead and ordered a couple Possum hollow shell holder's for the lee auto prime like LJUnaTIC said he did, and see what happens. If that don't work, I'm gona have to bite the bullet and order a better quality primmer tool. My primer's are .005-.006 below flush, so I know that's not the problem. Thanks again for all the helpful reply's again everybody. |
|
I have 5 or 6 posts on this tool. When it works it's fantastic. When it binds up it was a nightmare.
To sum it up, my #4 shell holder was out of spec. Evidently I had two of them and didnt know it. One day it was fine then the next time at the bench it was horrors. I think they're 4 bucks. I bought 2 more and have the good ones labelled now. No problems anymore. |
Armory Sponsor