What are you guys using for priming tools?

[Dschapp44]

I started with a RCBS hand primer and have since switched to a Primal Rights CPS. The price tag is definitely a lot but in my opinion its well worth it and the quality of the machine is second to none. The CPS and the Giraud timmer are definitely the best made items on my reloading bench. Maybe its OCD but knowing that each primer is set identical gives me some piece of mind.

 

[Alphatreedog]

Lee Bench Prime . Even after using the Hornady priner pocket reamer/chamfer
priming .223 and .556 was near impossible with the Hand Primer tool . Mounted it on a 9" x12" x 3/4" piece of pine and sit and watch tv while priming .

 

[1J04]

RCBS Universal Priming Tool. Bought it in 97? Pretty sure it was 97. Love it..........

edit: Nah, couldn't have been 97 because I was still using my original hand primer at the time. Picked this one up some time later.

 

[bax]

I just looked at "Primal Rights CPS ". $600? Really? I use a Sinclair-handle-every-primer-separately for which I paid the extravagant sum of slightly less than $100 so I comprehend the idea of precision priming. I own a Lee and a RCBS and a Dillon so I understand the idea behind doing many cases quickly. But $600 to prime cases? Can you see the difference on the target?

 

[TheGerman]

The RCBS hand prime that takes the shell holders.

And seriously, $600 priming tools? Do you get the air filter at Jiffy Lube, too?

 

[oldnmkid]

I use the RCBS automatic with Hollands option. It is very good with lots of feel. On another forum I saw the Bald Eagle priming tool was available and got one. It is a single primer feed but, that doesn't matter. I have more time then sense! Anyway, the Bald Eagle is a little jewel. However, to me, it has zero feel. Mind you I just got it 2 days ago. So, using an old, old Lee, I set some primers to my desired depth and then adjusted the B E to do the same. Now they seat perfect. One of the things I like most about the Bald Eagle is when you reach your set depth there is an audible click and you know you are, "there" . Kind of like a torque wrench. It's about 5 times slower than the RCBS but, I'm in no hurry.

 

[dddoo7]

I have used different types of priming tools, but I currently use the CPS. I even primed on the coax for a couple of years. I have had the CPS for about 2 years and it is one tool that will not leave my bench. I realize the price is more expensive than other priming machines, but it is worth the money if you shoot. The precision is second to none with click adjust seating depth and hard stop. It is much easier and quicker to use than a hand primer. It just takes the frustration out of priming cases.

When buying tools for my reloading bench, I want precision first and foremost and speed a close second. Speed is useless if it sacrifices precision. Once in a while tools are built to achieve both precision and speed...and they often cost quite a bit of money. However, these tools are one time investments to last a lifetime and they make you smile every time you use them. When is the last time you smiled as you primed cases?

Now, if you load 50 rounds per month like most people, then you might not want to justify the money. However, if you are serious about shooting and you want both precision and speed for priming, then there is no reason not to have a CPS.

Here is my original review from 2 years ago.

https://forums.gunhive.com/topic/609/new-cps-is-here/19?page=1

 

[Curt1521]

I started with a RCBS hand primer and have since switched to a Primal Rights CPS. The price tag is definitely a lot but in my opinion its well worth it and the quality of the machine is second to none. The CPS and the Giraud timmer are definitely the best made items on my reloading bench. Maybe its OCD but knowing that each primer is set identical gives me some piece of mind.

This right here. I hated priming with my lee, and my hornady press.
I love my CPS. It's extremely fast and extremely precise.

 

[Darkside-Six]

RCBS universal hand priming tool.

 

[Keel Haul]

For my 223 and 308, I use my Dillon 550. For my 300WM match loads, I’ll seat the primers with the 550 but do the rest on a Lee single stage.

 

[Painless300]

CPS here. We cough up huge amounts of our hard earned money on chassis/stocks, actions, scopes, mounts and barrels that some of wear out or sell and upgrade in a year or two. All this to get the highest amount of precision we can squeeze out of our rifles. $600 was a tough pill to swallow when I first looked at it but after talking with a couple of guys that use it I took the plunge. I will say it is one of the best pieces of equipment on my bench. The CPS has made priming much quicker, extremely precise and easy going from large to small primers. It’s quality and revolutionary design is second to none and should last a life time.
Guess it hard for me to understand why anyone would have a negative opinion on any product if they have never used it or understand the efficiencies and precision it brings to the reloading process and what it can do for your accuracy.
Just my opinion.

 

[Barryd]

IMO the Frankford is the best hand primer made. It's adjustable for depth, seats consistently, is very ergonomic in your hand, and the tray design is awesome since it will let you flip in an entire tray of even Federals with their giant packaging. The little bumps also work very well for flipping them. It seats as accurately as my K&M's.

The primal rights looks nice, but there's no way I would ever give that guy a cent of my money. I'd seat them with a ball peen hammer first.

Agreed. Frankford Arsenal is what I use. Works great. I used and RCBS handheld before it but had issues with it. Mostly damaged primers.

 

[spife7980]

Guess it hard for me to understand why anyone would have a negative opinion on any product if they have never used it or understand the efficiencies and precision it brings to the reloading process and what it can do for your accuracy.
Just my opinion.

I don’t think anyone has a negative opinion of the product itself, I would love to have one. But for 600 bucks... yowza! And I can’t understand what that’s brings to the table for 6x the price of others.
I would like to see primer seating depth quantified in some tests. I know I’ve read some studies on inadequate seating depths robing ignition energy but so long as you seat it all the way I’m not sure what else you gain. My hand primer only gets tiring when I don’t wear gloves with it and I can tell when it’s seated all the way just by squeeze so I don’t bother knowing by measuring each particular one or being assured that my device doesn’t have a mechanical stop on it to keep from seating a primer .001” deeper.

And I don’t uniform pockets so how would I know that it’s actually seated to the bottom with the cps? If it is set for a shallow pocket and I have a deeper pocket then it could be a few thousandths short, set it for the deep one and maybe I crush a primer with a shallow pocket. I get that you can tell that pockets are loose by feel on it but can you tell by feel that it’s set all the way or does it hit a hard stop every time regardless?

 

[TacT-MecH]

I just recieved the Frankford arsenal Platinum priming tool.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...latinum-series-perfect-seat-hand-priming-tool

It has an adjustable seating depth and comes with multiple shell holders, a primer tray, and large and small primer "rams" and guides all packaged in a large plastic case. Initial impressions are good.
My RCBS universal priming tool served me well for many years, but I decided to upgrade to a tool with an adjustable seating depth.

 

[dddoo7]

I don’t think anyone has a negative opinion of the product itself, I would love to have one. But for 600 bucks... yowza! And I can’t understand what that’s brings to the table for 6x the price of others.
I would like to see primer seating depth quantified in some tests. I know I’ve read some studies on inadequate seating depths robing ignition energy but so long as you seat it all the way I’m not sure what else you gain. My hand primer only gets tiring when I don’t wear gloves with it and I can tell when it’s seated all the way just by squeeze so I don’t bother knowing by measuring each particular one or being assured that my device doesn’t have a mechanical stop on it to keep from seating a primer .001” deeper.

And I don’t uniform pockets so how would I know that it’s actually seated to the bottom with the cps? If it is set for a shallow pocket and I have a deeper pocket then it could be a few thousandths short, set it for the deep one and maybe I crush a primer with a shallow pocket. I get that you can tell that pockets are loose by feel on it but can you tell by feel that it’s set all the way or does it hit a hard stop every time regardless?

The hard stop is controlled by the dial. If you don’t want a hard stop it can be turned down out of the way. Then you can seat them by feel. The way the cps is built it has the best ability to feel of any seater I have used.

 

[ken4570tc in WY]

I don’t think anyone has a negative opinion of the product itself, I would love to have one. But for 600 bucks... yowza! And I can’t understand what that’s brings to the table for 6x the price of others.
I would like to see primer seating depth quantified in some tests. I know I’ve read some studies on inadequate seating depths robing ignition energy but so long as you seat it all the way I’m not sure what else you gain. My hand primer only gets tiring when I don’t wear gloves with it and I can tell when it’s seated all the way just by squeeze so I don’t bother knowing by measuring each particular one or being assured that my device doesn’t have a mechanical stop on it to keep from seating a primer .001” deeper.

And I don’t uniform pockets so how would I know that it’s actually seated to the bottom with the cps? If it is set for a shallow pocket and I have a deeper pocket then it could be a few thousandths short, set it for the deep one and maybe I crush a primer with a shallow pocket. I get that you can tell that pockets are loose by feel on it but can you tell by feel that it’s set all the way or does it hit a hard stop every time regardless?

Spife7980, Your point is well taken, the return spring on the Frankford I have is so strong I can't feel when the anvil makes contact at the bottom. What I did to be sure all were seated OK, was to depth uniform the pockets, measure the depth of the pocket and twenty primers and adjusted the Frankford to seat them so that all the anvils were pushed at least .001. All 496 rounds went bang. I don't have any scientific data that it was the correct call but I fully intend to investigate various seating depths with long strings with several primers to see what gives the lowest es/sd's and post my findings on the hide. If it doesn't make a spits worth of difference, I'll be the first to admit it.

 

[Painless300]

I don’t think anyone has a negative opinion of the product itself, I would love to have one. But for 600 bucks... yowza! And I can’t understand what that’s brings to the table for 6x the price of others.
I would like to see primer seating depth quantified in some tests. I know I’ve read some studies on inadequate seating depths robing ignition energy but so long as you seat it all the way I’m not sure what else you gain. My hand primer only gets tiring when I don’t wear gloves with it and I can tell when it’s seated all the way just by squeeze so I don’t bother knowing by measuring each particular one or being assured that my device doesn’t have a mechanical stop on it to keep from seating a primer .001” deeper.

And I don’t uniform pockets so how would I know that it’s actually seated to the bottom with the cps? If it is set for a shallow pocket and I have a deeper pocket then it could be a few thousandths short, set it for the deep one and maybe I crush a primer with a shallow pocket. I get that you can tell that pockets are loose by feel on it but can you tell by feel that it’s set all the way or does it hit a hard stop every time regardless?

Spife, my post probably had a negative tone and for that I apologize. The CPS for me was truly worth the money as I do reload quite a bit and really got tired of the cheaper hand primers breaking, slow priming, wearing out my grip and inconsistent seating. I have used 3 different brands and none of them can hold a candle to the CPS.
I seat my primer .003” below the case head using the hard stop and I have seen my ES shrink from the teens and 20’s to mostly single didgets.
I was amazed at how easy it is to set up and change for multiple calibers, small and large primers. I have not timed it but I would say it’s almost twice as fast with no fatigue and very consistent priming over the handlebars primers. I do not uniform my pockets either but I do buy quality brass and I am still getting great results. If you want to bottom out your primer it does have a great feel for this function as well.
I know $600 is a lot of money but for the quality and performance of this product, in my humble opinion, it is well worth it. One thing I would suggest if you decide to take the plunge is you must hard mount it to your bench for proper performance.

 

[tsu45]

Anyone using a tool that uses the preloaded APS strips?

 

[drshoot]

I was lucky enough to pick up a Primal Rights CPS light off of a prize table two years ago and it's fast and precise. I measure all reloading on those two things. This year, I realized I didn't like setting it up and I bought the full CPS. The time saved with these priming tools is about half.

 

[pilotjoe]

I use either my Hornady hand primer, which blows, or my Dillon 550. Mostly the Dillon.

I have a RCBS bench priming tool. I've had it a couple years but I've never used it. I was thinking of getting it out and trying it for my 6.5 Creedmoor.

Has anybody used one of these? Thoughts?

This is what I use. I've had it for years. Works great. Until this thread, I haven't even given any thought to doing it any other way. So far, I haven't seen anything that would make me want to change!

 

[siscoe308]

I started with a Sinclair hand tool & loved the precision it had but it was slower than a slug on salt.

For that reason I sprung for a Primal Rights CPS and have zero regrets. It is wicked fast, precise, simple to setup/ change over and bomb proof. Pure buy once, cry once & I’m cool with that.

 

[_Raining]

I use my 650 but I am not a good shot so any difference in the 650 vs a 21st century click adjustable hand primer is lost on me.

 

[sabrecross]

I still use my Lee ram priming tool for my precision ammo. It works great and I like to feel the primer seat into the case. I can also tell when the primer pockets are beginning to wear.

 

[palmettoman]

I use either my Hornady hand primer, which blows, or my Dillon 550. Mostly the Dillon.

I have a RCBS bench priming tool. I've had it a couple years but I've never used it. I was thinking of getting it out and trying it for my 6.5 Creedmoor.

Has anybody used one of these? Thoughts?

I do. Love mine.

 

[oldnmkid]

I do. Love mine.

Add the "Holland Gunsmithing" priming option to the RCBS unit and you will really love it!

 

[PatMiles]

I'm using a Sinclair hand primer I bought 20+ years ago. Sure it's slow but I'm not trying to prime 500 pieces of brass in an evening.

 

[Struggle]

I’m thinking of getting the https://www.hollandguns.com/ priming tool due to arthritis in my hands. I could probably prime about 5 cases before I was ready to self medicate. If y’all know of a better tool please so it it out.

 

[oldnmkid]

I’m thinking of getting the https://www.hollandguns.com/ priming tool due to arthritis in my hands. I could probably prime about 5 cases before I was ready to self medicate. If y’all know of a better tool please so it it out.

I also have the "Bald Eagle" priming tool. It is a single feed but, you can work it pretty fast. Anyway, even though I have the RCBS with the Holland option I use the BE because it is much easier to work the handle. I too have arthritis.