How do you handle your Primers?

[fdshuster]

I think this is bordering on being anal about "handling" primers. Some probably believe they should never be touched by human hands, and use tweezers when having to pick them up.

I've been handling primers, with clean, dry hands since 1960 & have never had a problem. Been using the very old RCBS bench mounted primer seater that requires that they be handled when picking them up from the flipper tray & placing them on the top of the seating punch & never give it a second thought, or had any primer related failures.

A lot of more important things to consider.

 

[SmokinJoe]

Hey fd, I'm one of the guys that uses tweezers. I got some of those large tweezers that are straight & about 6" long, then filed a little radius on the end with a chainsaw file. I use the tweezers for single primer seating & bullet seating with my arbor press dies. I started doing this years ago because I sweat a lot & live here in the steaming SE. It was sorta cumbersome at 1st, but now it's just second nature. I like using the tweezers for bullet seating because they are a lot better for handling the bullets than my fat fingers are, plus they keep coated bullets from leaving residue on my fingers/hands & i don't get sweat on the bullets. All that said, I have seen many, many top shooters that load handling primers & bullets with their hands, even down here on hot, summer days, and they shot very well as usual. So, to each his own. Something to try if you don't want contact with primers or bullets, but want or need to handle them with your fingers, is to cut the fingers off some nitrile gloves that fit your hands, then you have a "rubber" for your fingers that gives good feel & ability to handle those little buggers, but keeps any skin contact from happening. One other thing that I haven't read in this thread is that you really should wash your hands after handling primers before eating. IIRC, some of the chemicals in primers are not good for your health.

 

[amlevin]

Do you see the mix of answers?

People are different, we all have our own Ph level, each body is a little different,,,
Some have acidic skin some base, some oily, some dry,,,

I don't have trouble, even when I single load (If I have too) but I try to keep handling to a minimum, it's easy enough to use a tray and a Lee hand seater

Yes, everyone IS different. If you want to see if your body chemistry tends to contaminate things you touch, try this test. Wash your hands well, dry them, then go about some usual reloading tasks that don't involve lube or solvent. After 15 minutes or so, just pick up a water glass that you've paid particular attention to wiping and polishing extra clean. Put it down and then inspect it for any prints that stand out.

My hands remain pretty oil free in general. No sweat, and if I start with clean hands I leave no visible prints on glass. Some people I have worked around give off enough oil from their hands to lube a freight train 8)

I've found that when I start blaming primers, eventually it's revealed that it wasn't them at all. It was some other dumb stunt I pulled. Sizing a case too short (headspace) or not cleaning the firing pin channel in my bolt. For a little $0.02-$0.03 piece, they're pretty darn reliable.

 

[ReedG]

I think Mr. Hansen pretty much has the story. My thought is why do I even want to handle every primer when I can just dump them into a tray and go. To each their own, for sure.

 

[fdshuster]

Reed: Based on the design, some priming tools require that each primer be handled. I bought my "manual" model many years ago when RCBS also offered another model (still available) that is fed by pre-loaded priming tubes. With these the primers are picked up by the tube & never have to be touched.

Mine (discontinued model) requires that the primer(s) be picked up from the loading tray & placed on top of the priming punch. I really like this design with a lot of "feel" as the primer is being seated.

Maybe someday I'll replace it, but for now it meets all my needs.

 

[amlevin]

For anyone that wants have a single feed priming tool and doesn't want to handle them, there are always tweezers. Form the tips in a semi-circle so when they close they wrap around each side of the primer.

Can also bend an offset in them for ease in picking them up.

Lots of tools like this are made by assembly workers to handle small parts that are a bugger to handle with the bare hand.

 

[FroggyOne2]

Frank,

That is the same tool that I use to seat my small primers. If I didn't have it, I don't think that I would have the ability to get those Tula SRM primers seated like they need to be.