I've used my handy dandy RCBS hand primer for years.

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I prime brass while I watch a college game or a movie. I find it's one less thing to keep up with when I'm loading on my Square Deal. So yesterday I was loading 9mm, squeezed the gripper and........... nothing. Apparently the small primer rod fell out at some point and I didn't notice it. I emailed RCBS and got this in reply:

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I'll limp along with the large primer rod until the stuff arrives but I appreciate the service, thought I'd have to shell out for the small rod and shipping.

There are companies that support their equipment and then there is everyone else.  I've had similar results with RCBS and Dillon which is why virtually all of my reloading gear is either RCBS or Dillon.

Meme removed. This is not GD dryflash3

Actually, this is something I've always wondered about. Do people with progressive presses hand prime?

I'm fixin to set up a progressive and using a single stage I've always done what you're doing and kinda wanted to keep doing so.

RCBS and Hornady have always been good to me.

Dillon, rcbs, and Hornady are great.


I won’t say anything about Lee.   Lol


One time I bought a .22 Hornet  RCBS trim die at a gun show.   Got it home and realized I needed a different (extended)shell holder.   So I ordered one from Grafs.    When it arrived, tried it out and no way would it work.

I called rcbs to try to figure out what I was doing wrong. It turns out that RCBS makes 2 different extended shell holders and I mistakenly ordered wrong one.   Lady on the phone says no problem I’ll get you the right one in the mail.

RCBS is the definition of stellar customer service when it comes to reloading. That’s a good thing to remember next time you are buying a gizmo, gadget, press or whatchamadoozy And one of your choices happens to be green.

I’ve experienced a couple of issues with my RCBS reloading stuff....... all self-induced.  Every time RCBS pulled my marshmallows out of the fire and resolved the issues, on their dime.  All my reloading equipment is RCBS because of their service......

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

I find that I get more "feel" when I hand prime. I like to do it for 223 or other high pressure rounds because I can feel if I have loose primer pockets. It also keeps me from trying to ram a primer into a crimped pocket that I didn't remove the crimp on (no telling how many primers I've lost due to that).

So if I'm not in a rush, I'll go through a prime a few thousand watching TV and then I have them ready. Makes loading day wayyyy faster.


I also use the rcbs hand primer (the universal one) and I absolutely love it.

I load with a LNL AP but hand prime 223 (only)  because I usually find crimped primer pocket (actually I find a bunch) slipped into my brass collection and that's a show stopper on a progressive.   Hand priming in advance makes the loading process fast and smooth and trouble free.

ETA: drfroglegs made a great point on finding loose primer pockets.  Thats another benefit of hand priming, especially for high use cases like .223.

I can't speak for anyone but myself.

Short answer; loading pistol, nope, the 1050 does just fine. Rifle I do hand prime, but that's because I just don't load much rifle. I really should load more rifle.

It depends on what kind of accuracy you are trying for in your rifle. At a minimum you will want to clean the primer pocket. Higher levels of accuracy will require truing and uniforming the primer pocket and uniforming/deburring the flash hole.

Another factor is the progressive press itself. Does it prime on the down or up stroke? In the Dillon line, I think the 1050/1100 are the only ones that seat the primer on the down stroke. They also have a primer pocket swager. A press that seats the primer on the up stroke gives you a sense of feel for the primer going in. BUT, that press arm is long with plenty of mechanical advantage.

I have a few different hand priming tools. After trying them I still like the Lee best for being able to feel the primer seat. Also you get a really strong thumb using the Lee.

YMMV.

What is the change to the rod?

RCBS has provided excellent customer service for me the few times I've needed it. As has LEE.

The only issue I had with RCBS was them telling me that the priming arm style on my 1985 vintage Rock Chucker did not come out until the 1990s. The guy on the phone got pissy when I politely told him that his information was incorrect.

I've read this numerous times and so when my RCBS hand priming tool broke where it holds the case holder, I shot them a quick email.

No response.

So then I emailed them with specific part numbers I needed to fix it and asked for a price on those parts, with no response.

What address do you use to email them?

This has yet to be proven to me.
About 3 weeks ago, I called RCBS about some parts for my little dandy powder measure and I emailed Hornady the same day about a primer pocket reamer not doing the job.
I received the RCBS part (free of course) in about a week and I still don't have the Hornady reamer that they are sending me.   In fact its still not showing as shipped yet.    I know these are special times, but from my point of view, RCBS is leading by a long shot.

I recently had an issue with a Hornady press side conversion bushing. Called on it last week on Wednesday and had it in my mail box yesterday. They do have a backorder on a lot of stuff. Still waiting for my case feeder to come in at Midsouth. That might be what you are running into. I do not think it is lack of trying on their part.

Ditto, absolutely. I emailed Hornaday once because a box of 55gr .224 bullets had an extra .243 bullet in it. I thought it was hilarious. They apologized, (for what I don't know), and sent me a hat, which I wear often. RCBS has sent many free small parts of the years, and my next press will also say RCBS on it.

Good to know.  I have some Hornady bits and pieces (dies, gauges, etc.) but have not had issues with any of them so could not comment on their warranty service.  I always had the impression they were a good company to work with and I'm glad to hear that confirmed.