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Hand primer- i need to find one that actually works well! HELP ME fellas

BuildingConceptsllc

BuildingConceptsllc

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    • Nov 13, 2020
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    So, I really prefer the hand primer method vs my press. I can do it anywhere, and whe watching something with the kids or for myself. That's a big deal to me, as I have very limited time.

    I have a few of the hand primers that probably everyone has (Lee and hornady) and I'm just tired of how much I have to fiddle with them, or let a primer out because it's sideways or something, or struggle to get the shell out of the holder (the Lee is booger for that)

    Surely there is a hand primer that just works???? If it's expensive, so be it. I'm tired of this crazy and I will sell my other 2 to help off set it.

    Help me out here please fellas.
     
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    Threadcutter308 said:
    21st Century all the way. Buy once, cry once. I have three. If I had to buy another hand primer, I wouldn't even consider anyone else.
    Click to expand...
    If it works as advertised, I will be happy to pay it. $270 for it and 2 shell holders.... only 1 place I could find it in stock. Wish I can a coupon code or something. Shootersupply.com. ???
     
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    BuildingConceptsllc said:
    If it works as advertised, I will be happy to pay it. $270 for it and 2 shell holders.... only 1 place I could find it in stock. Wish I can a coupon code or something. Shootersupply.com. ???
    Click to expand...
    Ouch, I bought mine (granted a few years ago) for less. However, regardless of cost, the first time you seat a primer, you're gonna go nutz.....
    Everything is more expensive nowadays, but it still boils down to being a tool that you will proudly use for the rest of your life.
     
    I used to use the all metal pre-Brownells Sinclair hand primer.

    And it worked well enough, then went to the 21st and it was an improvement.

    The CPS, that's a whole other beast altogether. Well worth the expense IMO.

    When I reload I wanna get away from the family distractions and dive into myself.

    That said, to each their own.
     
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    The Frankford one is great. I've primed over 7000 cases with it and can count the times I've had to fiddle with it on one hand (and still would have a couple fingers leftover).

    The 21st Century tool works good too, but is painfully slow.

    This guy made a long, but decent video on it (just fast forward to 7:00 to see how quick it can go):
     
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    Totoro said:
    I used to use the all metal pre-Brownells Sinclair hand primer.

    And it worked well enough, then went to the 21st and it was an improvement.

    The CPS, that's a whole other beast altogether. Well worth the expense IMO.

    When I reload I wanna get away from the family distractions and dive into myself.

    That said, to each their own.
    Click to expand...
    Oh yeah, I'm totally with you on that. Me too!


    Of course I'm not taking from my 2 hours a day with my little boys, nor putting them to bed every night and praying over them when I do. Unfortunately, right now that would be only place I could "get some time"..... occasionally, I have some other times I can do it, but if I can prime while watching spy racers then it let's me get that part done, then use my alone time at the bench or better yet, shooting!
     
    Last edited:
    BuildingConceptsllc said:
    Oh yeah, I'm totally with you on that. Me too!


    Of course I'm not taking from my 2 hours a day with my lite boys, nor putting them to bed every night and praying over them when I do. Unfortunately, right now that would be only place I could "get some time"..... occasionally, I have some other times I can do it, but if I can prime while watching spy racers then it let's me get that part done, then use my alone time at the bench or better yet, shooting!
    Click to expand...
    I hear ya on that one partner!

    Time is precious with the family, make best use of it!
     
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    The CPS is a little pricey and makes you have second thoughts when placing the order, but it's a must have on my bench, ill never hand prime ever again. It's built like a tank. I've never had a flipped primer, maybe I'm just lucky on that. It's also effortless to use.. Love mine...
     
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    ceekay1 said:
    The Frankford one is great. I've primed over 7000 cases with it and can count the times I've had to fiddle with it on one hand (and still would have a couple fingers leftover).

    The 21st Century tool works good too, but is painfully slow.

    This guy made a long, but decent video on it (just fast forward to 7:00 to see how quick it can go):
    Click to expand...

    The Frankford seems great, but I've heard that it will give you a fee flipped primers fairly often???

    If that's the case, I'd rather just get the 21st C. Why is the 21st so slow? Seems like it would be as fast or very close to the frankford????
     
    ICU22250 said:
    The CPS is a little pricey and makes you have second thoughts when placing the order, but it's a must have on my bench, ill never hand prime ever again. It's built like a tank. I've never had a flipped primer, maybe I'm just lucky on that. It's also effortless to use.. Love mine...
    Click to expand...
    Yeah, $600 is a lot for a priming tool. When a hand primer is working well, I can go pretty dang fast with one. The "working well" part has been my issue. It's not out of the question though
     
    Rcbs universal.

    zero flipped primers…ever
    works with any normal case
    no “shell holders” to buy or struggle with
    no fiddling….put primers in tray, prime brass.
    tactile feedback regarding primer seating pressure….will also let you feel if something isn’t right before you crush a primer and blow your face off.
    no need to mount to anything (i don’t have a “bench” that a ton of things can be mounted to)


    cheap enough to buy two and leave one for large and one for small primers.

    if you are concerned about primer seating depth, about a need to “compress the anvil”, or other such things, you need something else…my strategy has been, seat until the handle closes completely…ive never had a failure to ignite the primer in thousands of reloads. Ymmv.
     
    Last edited:
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    I had the 21st century hand primer... The click adjustment is very nice and repeatable, and it has decent leverage.

    But you need to load primers one by one, and it's still a hand primer (limiting the # I could do in a sitting).
     
    K&M. Buy two and have one set up for small rifle and one for large rifle primers. They use Lee Auto Prime shell holders.
     
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    I use the Frankford Arsenal and I’ve never had a flipped primer. I still need to order another loading tray for it, that way I’m not searching for something to put primers in when I switch between small and large primers.
     
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    BuildingConceptsllc said:
    Yeah, $600 is a lot for a priming tool. When a hand primer is working well, I can go pretty dang fast with one. The "working well" part has been my issue. It's not out of the question though
    Click to expand...
    That's just it, "WHEN ITS WORKING WELL", never even as much as a hiccup with my CPS, and a hand primer is a hand primer, they are all gonna cause some hand fatigue, I don't get this with the CPS at all.. But that's just me.
     
    TheOfficeT-Rex said:
    I had the 21st century hand primer... The click adjustment is very nice and repeatable, and it has decent leverage.

    But you need to load primers one by one, and it's still a hand primer (limiting the # I could do in a sitting).
    Click to expand...
    Wait, I missed what you actually said at first. Do you mean you have to place a single primer each time? There is no tray where they fall into place?
     
    cooper01 said:
    I use the Frankford Arsenal and I’ve never had a flipped primer. I still need to order another loading tray for it, that way I’m not searching for something to put primers in when I switch between small and large primers.
    Click to expand...
    I think the Frankford is really the only option for what I want. It would be nice to just have 2 of them, IF ..... they work well.

    Glad I asked the questions here. I didn't even consider having to load each primer with any hand priming tool
     
    BuildingConceptsllc said:
    Wait, I missed what you actually said at first. Do you mean you have to place a single primer each time? There is no tray where they fall into place?
    Click to expand...

    correct. Have you looked at a picture? It’s manual load. Works great, but manual load. You say time is very valuable with the kiddos, so I’m telling you the CPS is much faster than everything else discussed in this thread and is foolproof as far as I’m concerned.
     
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    Cynical said:
    correct. Have you looked at a picture? It’s manual load. Works great, but manual load. You say time is very valuable with the kiddos, so I’m telling you the CPS is much faster than everything else discussed in this thread and is foolproof as far as I’m concerned.
    Click to expand...
    Yeah I did after I read your post. I meaning, I had looked before but didn't pay attention to there being no tray shown. Glad you said that!

    I just ordered 2 Frankford Arsenal priming tools. Will sell the Lee and Hornady on eBay or something I guess.



    Thanks for all the input fellas!

    If this doest do the trick, I'm going to be on to the $600 one, so hopefully this works out.
     
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    Cynical said:
    correct. Have you looked at a picture? It’s manual load. Works great, but manual load. You say time is very valuable with the kiddos, so I’m telling you the CPS is much faster than everything else discussed in this thread and is foolproof as far as I’m concerned.
    Click to expand...
    Thats a bold statement considering you have to load that tube.
     
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    cooper01 said:
    I use the Frankford Arsenal and I’ve never had a flipped primer. I still need to order another loading tray for it, that way I’m not searching for something to put primers in when I switch between small and large primers.
    Click to expand...
    Just so you know, if this doesn't work out, I AM GOING TO BLAME YOU PERSONALLY!
     
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    I too have an RCBS Universal and works fine and seems to be similar in operation to that shown in the Frankford vid posted above.
     
    ICU22250 said:
    The CPS is a little pricey and makes you have second thoughts when placing the order, but it's a must have on my bench, ill never hand prime ever again. It's built like a tank. I've never had a flipped primer, maybe I'm just lucky on that. It's also effortless to use.. Love mine...
    Click to expand...
    I bit the bullet and bought the CPS too. I used an RCBS APS hand primer for 17 years that worked well enough but the CPS is in a different league. Although astronomically expensive for a priming tool, I don't have any regrets and it seats every primer the same way every time. With the RCBS, I kept getting indented primers while seating them in 308 Lapua brass, never again with the CPS.
     
    BuildingConceptsllc said:
    The Frankford seems great, but I've heard that it will give you a fee flipped primers fairly often???

    If that's the case, I'd rather just get the 21st C. Why is the 21st so slow? Seems like it would be as fast or very close to the frankford????
    Click to expand...

    I’ve never had any issues with primers flipping at all.

    If there’s a trick to it, it’s maybe just hold it correctly? I mean it’s kind of like a Vibra-Prime in that if you give it a little shake every ~5 or so cases, and hold it so the primers are all stacked up towards the corner and are on-deck to feed, it works as smooth as can be. If one just squeezes away without paying any mind at all to whether or not it’s getting a steady supply of fresh primers, then yep, that’ll screw things up. It doesn’t require one to do anything special though.

    I think like with a lot of things: it not functioning correctly has more to do with user error than any fault of the tool.

    The 21st Century is a “load one at a time, prime case, then repeat” operation... slow AF.
     
    Last edited:
    F-Arsenal all the way, never had not one flipped primer, nor any other problems.
    Great seating depth consistency…
     
    I have the RCBS and FA hand primers. They work great.

    600 bucks for a priming tool? Seriously?
    For 600 bucks I'd rather have a FA hand primer and a Bartlein barrel.
     
    AllenOne1 said:
    Load the tube, that's what you came with? What is that 60 seconds? LOL
    Click to expand...
    I put the tool-tray on the primer tray and flip...and I’m ready to prime. He suggested the CPS was “much faster”. It’s just not and loading the tube is a part of that.…I’m not saying it’s not a great primer tool and once you’re up and priming, probably goes neck and neck, on a pure speed basis, with a tray setup. But, in that 60 seconds during which you are fiddling with your additional equipment to get the primers in the tube, I’m seating primers. So, yeah, that’s what I came with.
     
    Last edited:
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    The fastest way to use a CPS is by loading tubes with a Vibra-Prime, the DAA thingy, or the Dillon RF-100 (which is like $425 for those CPS owners who wish to continue overpaying for stuff). Incidentally, that’s also the fastest way to fill tubes for a Dillon 550 (which is cheaper than a CPS and I believe does a couple other things besides just prime cases). 🤔

    I’m starting to wonder if any of those proselytizing the way of the $600 CPS have ever even tried the $60 Frankford tool before claiming the CPS is superior?

    Whenever one of these threads pops up it seems like the “CPS fans” jump all over everyone else (really just me honestly) claiming how it’s worth every penny of $600, and how the rest of us are idiots for not accepting that “fact”.

    But having used a CPS a bunch, they’re really not that special. The only thing I can guess is that the old priming tool guys’ were using before must have been super duper shitty!?
     
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    ceekay1 said:
    The fastest way to use a CPS is by loading tubes with a Vibra-Prime, the DAA thingy, or the Dillon RF-100 (which is like $425 for those CPS owners who wish to continue overpaying for stuff). Incidentally, that’s also the fastest way to fill tubes for a Dillon 550 (which is cheaper than a CPS and I believe does a couple other things besides just prime cases). 🤔

    I’m starting to wonder if any of those proselytizing the way of the $600 CPS have ever even tried the $60 Frankford tool before claiming the CPS is superior?

    Whenever one of these threads pops up it seems like the “CPS fans” jump all over everyone else (really just me honestly) claiming how it’s worth every penny of $600, and how the rest of us are idiots for not accepting that “fact”.

    But having used a CPS a bunch, they’re really not that special. The only thing I can guess is that the old priming tool guys’ were using before must have been super duper shitty!?
    Click to expand...
    I never, not once jumped on you for any of your input into the thread. I just gave my opinion same as you, we just have a difference of opinion is all when it comes to hand primers in general. I have never tried the FA priming tool myself, im sure it's a good tool and does the job well. I just don't like the hand priming tools, the way they work in general, all the squeezing eventually starts to give discomfort in the hands. I do however love my overpriced priming tool, and I don't regret my decision one bit. I do wish the tool was a bit cheaper, but I can't put a price on another man's product.. To each his own.
     
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    ceekay1 said:
    The fastest way to use a CPS is by loading tubes with a Vibra-Prime, the DAA thingy, or the Dillon RF-100 (which is like $425 for those CPS owners who wish to continue overpaying for stuff). Incidentally, that’s also the fastest way to fill tubes for a Dillon 550 (which is cheaper than a CPS and I believe does a couple other things besides just prime cases). 🤔

    I’m starting to wonder if any of those proselytizing the way of the $600 CPS have ever even tried the $60 Frankford tool before claiming the CPS is superior?

    Whenever one of these threads pops up it seems like the “CPS fans” jump all over everyone else (really just me honestly) claiming how it’s worth every penny of $600, and how the rest of us are idiots for not accepting that “fact”.

    But having used a CPS a bunch, they’re really not that special. The only thing I can guess is that the old priming tool guys’ were using before must have been super duper shitty!?
    Click to expand...

    I have a RF-100 and had several Vibra Primes. I still use the FA primer. I'm not exactly adverse to spending money on reloading either.
     
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