Hand priming ... when?

[Boriqua]

Considering hand priming but have a question. I deprime then clean my brass. Can I then prime before resizing?

Since I deprime with the lee universal deprime before cleaning the depriming pin is removed from my resizing die.

 

[delta6]

Will work.. but need to be cautious of media in primer flash hole if you tumble in corn cob or walnut hulls.

 

[Harrier]

I would not resize with a hand press, use a bench mounted press and don't forget to lube the cases or else you will be learning how to remove a stuck case.

If you are using milsurp cases then don't forget to remove the primer crimp or you will be crushing primers. If rifle cases loaded the first time,and primers are tight, it may be better to use the bench press if pistol cases then hand priming should work fine... get a good hand priming tool- it will last for years.

 

[Boriqua]

I am loading .40, 10mm, 38 and 357. When we come home my wife deprime and sorts the brass.

When I have enough I tumble a batch.

For the last how many years I prime on the press but I have to pick up the primers individually and place them on the priming arm.

I want to expedite this part and was thinking that if I can use a hand primer with a tray it would go faster and I could do it anywhere.

So I figure take the cleaned unsized but deprimed brass and use a hand primer to prime 100 cases and then run it through the resizing die and the rest of the process?

I am using a single stage lee classic and while they offer their safety prime arm thingy for use on the press.. it just looks like more trouble than it's worth

 

[Pale Rider]

I don't understand the problem that doesn't exist. After I size straight wall cases I run them in the tumbler to get off any lube still on the cases after I wipe them. Then they are ready to prime with my Lee hand primer, and load the rest of the way. Priming them before sizing serves no purpose, just do it with the hand primer after sizing. You'd also have to worry about excess lube possibly getting into the primer, ruining it. Another thing you have to consider is the length of the cases. You should check the length before reloading and it's a lot harder (if not impossible) to trim a case already primed depending on the type of trimmer you're using.

 

[High Standard]

I am loading .40, 10mm, 38 and 357. When we come home my wife deprime and sorts the brass.

When I have enough I tumble a batch.

For the last how many years I prime on the press but I have to pick up the primers individually and place them on the priming arm.

I want to expedite this part and was thinking that if I can use a hand primer with a tray it would go faster and I could do it anywhere.

So I figure take the cleaned unsized but deprimed brass and use a hand primer to prime 100 cases and then run it through the resizing die and the rest of the process?

I am using a single stage lee classic and while they offer their safety prime arm thingy for use on the press.. it just looks like more trouble than it's worth

Since you are reloading straight wall cartridges your method could work. Just be aware when you size rifle cartridges with a shoulder that the depriming pin also helps size the neck. So you will need to have that deprime pin in your die when sizing that type of cartridge. Also, just be aware that you could potentially prime a case that might not take to sizing or a mistake could be made. Once in a great while I don’t have a case properly centered in the holder and I accidentally crush it while sizing. Or I crack a neck, or discover a cracked neck while sizing. At that point you will have to deprime a primed case. I would recommend you size and clean prior to priming, that way you’ll discover all flaws in your brass prior to priming, but that is just my recommendation/opinion

Since I don’t always turn my brass around immediately after firing I size and clean my brass making them ready for loading and then store them for a few days/weeks prior to loading. Otherwise I could (and probably would) forget to size the cases prior to priming/loading them. It is just part of my process I do when prepping brass. Everybody has their own process/way of doing the same thing. So take my advice with a grain of salt.

 

[Intel6]

When I first started loading it was on a single stage press with a crappy priming system(one primer at a time with no magazine). I started hand priming for the exact reasons you are thinking about it. How I did it was to clean the brass, size and then bell it so it was what I called "RTL" or "ready to load". I would then store the brass in zip lock bags to keep them clean and ready. When I wanted to load I would take the RTL brass and use a hand primer to prime 50 or 100 cases at a time and put them in the loading block and finish the process of loading.

The nice thing was I could complete the "mindless" steps of sizing and belling whenever I had some time and them focus on the serious task of priming and loading when I was ready to. In your case you would need to make sure the flash holes in the brass are clear of cleaning media before priming but other than that you will be good. I preferer to prime just before loading because in my mind I was minimizing the amount of case processing with a primed case.

 

[Boriqua]

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice!!

 

[QuietM4]

Priming the cases is the last step I complete before adding a powder charge. You could prime after you resize, but why run the risk of somehow striking the primer during case trimming chamfer/debur, etc.

My order of operations (6.5 Creedmoor); deprime, wet tumble, lube & resize, trim case length, chamfer/debur, prime, powder, bullet.

 

[superduty38]

I expect you will have to lube your cases before sizing. If you already have a primer in, you run the risk of getting lube onto your new primer. Maybe not real likely to happen but to me, not worth the risk of killing a primer so it will not fire. Better to resize before priming to cut down on the chance of getting lube on your new primer.

 

[Boriqua]

I use carbide dies for my handgun rounds and have never used lube.

 

[delta6]

I expect you will have to lube your cases before sizing. If you already have a primer in, you run the risk of getting lube onto your new primer. Maybe not real likely to happen but to me, not worth the risk of killing a primer so it will not fire. Better to resize before priming to cut down on the chance of getting lube on your new primer.

Virtually all the current commercial case lubes available will not contaminate your primers. Prime away.

 

[TheAccountant]

How about getting rid of the deprime step and tumbling first? Then you can sort, size/deprime in one step, then prime?

I don't know how you collect brass, but I generally try to keep it separate when I collect it, mainly because I shoot both 9mm and 45 and if I tumble those together I'll get some 9mm cases locked inside some 45. With the cartridges you listed, I don't know that you'll have that issue and certainly wouldn't have the issue if you kept the 38/357 and 40/10mm separated from the get go. Crown bags work great.

 

[QuietM4]

How about getting rid of the deprime step and tumbling first? Then you can sort, size/deprime in one step, then prime?

I don't know how you collect brass, but I generally try to keep it separate when I collect it, mainly because I shoot both 9mm and 45 and if I tumble those together I'll get some 9mm cases locked inside some 45. With the cartridges you listed, I don't know that you'll have that issue and certainly wouldn't have the issue if you kept the 38/357 and 40/10mm separated from the get go. Crown bags work great.

I deprime before I wet tumble because it saves the the step of cleaning primer pockets...30 minutes tumbling around in stainless steel pins makes for a very clean primer pocket.

 

[TheAccountant]

If he's uniforming the primer pockets then fine, otherwise there's likely more variance in the brass than a little buildup is creating anyway. I think a guy is more likely to lose or split handgun brass before the buildup ever creates an issue. Hell, even if I had to toss few cases with high primers I'd still be way ahead without the extra step in there.

I think a lot of it is a carryover from when the primer compound was highly corrosive, which is not the case anymore.