Lee bench priming tool
- Thread starter kochie
- Start date
The tray is difficult to deal with at times, getting the primers "flipped" correctly and then getting the tray folded and locked can be troubling, inserting the closed tray into the feed mechanism is not smooth, primers can get "flipped" again when traveling down the tray, jams are frequent, the plunger mechanism is mostly plastic and can break or crack. Other than that, works decent if you don't mind piddling with it. I use it for volume loading at times but you have to pay attention to everything going on to avoid issues.
6.5 forever
Silver $$ Contributor
I 100% agree. I love my RCBS bench primer.
I've primed more than 5000 cases on mine. Here's what I see, my .223 shell holder is a little sloppy and you need to move the case a little and the primer will seat easily enough. If you don't do this it will start to tilt the primer upon entry into the pocket and then becomes a pain. I've gotten pretty used to this and I probably ruin 1 primer out of 100 or so, simply buy getting in a hurry. I prime my 6br cases on there, no problem and can prime faster. LRP brass is no problem what so ever. I do have a brand new in the box RCBS benchtop priming tool that eventually will be used. I know already that without even using it yet that it is definitely a bit of a step above the Lee benchtop priming tool. I did my research, that is how I can be so confident.
Don Dunlap
. Ok thanks guys have to check on the ones you guys mentioned
I'd agree fully with those comments.
When mine goes TU I'll be replacing it with something a bit better designed and constructed, just not quite got to that time yet.
Bill Norris
Back in the Day
Starting using one sometime back and find it works great for my use. Better than the handheld units I tried in the past.
Ya I get it know what you mean
wkdickinson
Gold $$ Contributor
I bought mine a year or so ago and like it really well, but it does have some shortcomings. For the previous 20-25 years I have been using the Lee hand priming tool (2 of them) with no problems. But being 69 my hands don't work as well as they used to, so I decided to try the "bench prime". It has good feel for when the primer bottoms out and takes far less effort than the hand tool.
The only real complaint I have is that primers do not feed smoothly. Often it is necessary to shake the unit, or tap the primer reservoir to get them to feed. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned that they had a hard time getting the primers to flip over in the tray. My experience has been the exact opposite and find they flip far easier than the hand priming tool did.
The only real complaint I have is that primers do not feed smoothly. Often it is necessary to shake the unit, or tap the primer reservoir to get them to feed. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned that they had a hard time getting the primers to flip over in the tray. My experience has been the exact opposite and find they flip far easier than the hand priming tool did.
I've used one for the last 18 months and find it works better than others when seating Ginex primers.
The Ginex primers don't seat as well when using a K & M or F/A and are much more difficult to seat, although those 2 are better when seating Federal's.
I threw the primer tray away and use the F/A tray with no issues.
Yes the Lee bench mount is cheap and isn't the best quality but has proven to be very useful when seating the Ginex primers.
The Ginex primers don't seat as well when using a K & M or F/A and are much more difficult to seat, although those 2 are better when seating Federal's.
I threw the primer tray away and use the F/A tray with no issues.
Yes the Lee bench mount is cheap and isn't the best quality but has proven to be very useful when seating the Ginex primers.
Ok thanks
I've been using mine for 4-5 years, shortly after buying it Lee did a recall/redesign on the inserts, looked to me all they did was put a rubber o-ring around the insert rear, I did the same with the original pair and between the 4 of them I got 2 that work fairly well.
As others have mentioned, the tray needs a regular finger tap to feed SR's consistently, LR feed with very little issue.
I also have old arthritic hands and I find this priming tool easy on the hands for use with a very good feel for seating pressure. I've seated thousands of primers with no visible signs of wear so far, best part it's inexpensive.
As others have mentioned, the tray needs a regular finger tap to feed SR's consistently, LR feed with very little issue.
I also have old arthritic hands and I find this priming tool easy on the hands for use with a very good feel for seating pressure. I've seated thousands of primers with no visible signs of wear so far, best part it's inexpensive.
I use the Forster bench primer but when the tube only holds 40 odd LRP's its a PITA. I wish they would come up with a mod to hold a round flip tray like the LEE that would hold 100 primers but not cause issues........ I do keep looking at the Lee bench unit and going mmmmm I wonder, but having heard now from those that use them, i better stay with the other red company.
I bought one for a specific use. I had bought a couple hundred new cases which used LRP's and I thought I was going to break my hand held tool because the seating force was so great. For the price of the Lee bench mount tool I figured it was worth a try. A friend has one and he gave it a good review when I asked him, so I got one.
It seated those primers just fine and I have since used it for almost all of my priming. I have little trouble with it, the only issues being as some have described above, sometimes you need to tap the tray to get the primers to feed down the ramp. This is really no problem at all if you just keep an eye on it, otherwise you'll come to a point where you are trying to prime a case and there's no primer. It is easy to tell when this happens just by feel. The other issue is it will flip primer sideways once in a while. Again, it is easy to tell when this happens by feel. I avoid this problem by partially depressing the lever, raising the primer up and I just look at it to be sure it's not flipped before I insert the case. If you look at each one, it'll never flip one but if you don't look eventually you'll have a sideways primer.
To me it's no trouble to simply watch what I'm doing (be right here, right now) but if somebody wants to just crank through priming a batch of cases while they watch videos or whatever, maybe the more expensive tools are more auto-pilot friendly. Or for someone who just doesn't want these annoyances the extra $ might be well spent.
edit to add; the primers not sliding down the ramp, it's easy to see with just a casual look, It's obvious and easy to spot before you have a no-primer situation.
It seated those primers just fine and I have since used it for almost all of my priming. I have little trouble with it, the only issues being as some have described above, sometimes you need to tap the tray to get the primers to feed down the ramp. This is really no problem at all if you just keep an eye on it, otherwise you'll come to a point where you are trying to prime a case and there's no primer. It is easy to tell when this happens just by feel. The other issue is it will flip primer sideways once in a while. Again, it is easy to tell when this happens by feel. I avoid this problem by partially depressing the lever, raising the primer up and I just look at it to be sure it's not flipped before I insert the case. If you look at each one, it'll never flip one but if you don't look eventually you'll have a sideways primer.
To me it's no trouble to simply watch what I'm doing (be right here, right now) but if somebody wants to just crank through priming a batch of cases while they watch videos or whatever, maybe the more expensive tools are more auto-pilot friendly. Or for someone who just doesn't want these annoyances the extra $ might be well spent.
edit to add; the primers not sliding down the ramp, it's easy to see with just a casual look, It's obvious and easy to spot before you have a no-primer situation.
Last edited:
Bill Norris
Back in the Day
Basically, the same results I have with it and just simple attention to the feeding is all it takes to avoid any mishaps. Feels much better on the old wore out hands.
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