Lee Precision New Auto Prime

Works,Easy to use. Fast. 200 in about 10min

My first hand priming tool was loaded one by one, which was tedious. I loved it when I found one that had a circular holder, and some texture inside that would flip the primers anvil up with a little jiggling. But now Lee offers a square holder, which one can put over a whole tray of primers, hold the two together, and turn over to dump all of the primers at once, neatly into the holder. Any that remain on the slight shelf can be brushed into the deeper area with the other primers, and again, the texture on the bottom of the holder allows gentle jiggling to turn all of the primers anvil up, with a little finger action to turn over any that resist. Carefully slide the lid over the primers, which holds them flat in place, and the rest of the work is fast and easy. Grab a shell, slide it into the holder, and smoothly press the primer into the shell pocket. This priming tool has a two-stage feed, which moves the primer being loaded away from the other primers, adding a level of safety in the unusual case the primer in process were to fire. Always take a quick look to be sure that the primer being loaded is not somehow turned sideways or completely backwards, although this is rather rare. Also, press smoothly, and stop if the primer does not seat itself with the usual ease. Resistance to seating may be due to the primer being turned sideways, or it may be due to a shell that has a military crimp or an otherwise obstructed pocket. So simple an action as cutting a slight bevel at the pocket rim with a small knife can provide the funneling action that seats the primer easily and firmly. In any case, these priming tools have been getting easier/faster to use and more strongly built, and I like the controlled feel of priming by hand, so this is a tool that I would not be without! If one wears out, I don't even shop around; this is the one.

I have 3 different brands of hand loaders; The Lee Precision, Smart Reloader, and a Lyman E-Zee, The Lee band was the first one I owned and it works very well. My problem with it is I have fingers that are between short and medium length. The grip/squeeze length coupled with my mild case of arthritis makes it somewhat problematic to use. That's not to say it is a bad hand primer, it is very good and does an adequate job. I decided to try the Smart Reloader. All I will say is that it has not performed to my expectations. I should have never purchased it. The Lyman E-Zee loader is similar to the Lee Precision except that the Lyman has a much simpler method of installing the shell holders. Both of these primers use Lee and Lyman shell holders and have a fairly smooth mechanical action. The Lyman has a little shorter grip length but still slightly problematic for my finger/grip length. Lee has come out with a new hand primer called the Auto Bench Primer that looks like it is a much better tool for me. I mounts directly to you bench or to some kind of mounting plate that is used with Lee presses. It's MSRP is about $36 on the Lee website. The problem is, everyone is currently out of stock... If you receive the NRA's American Rifleman there is an advertisement for it on page 32 of the March 2016 edition. OK, this review is really about the Lee hand primer. It is an excellent reloading tool and I would highly recommend it to anyone that has medium to long grip/finger length.

It's just too convenient! Simple setup if you read the instructions. I love how the primers flip themselves the right direction and then pushes the primer in with an easy press of the thumb. Too easy. Ingenious engineering although I'm sure plastic parts will eventually wear out, but the price is good enough to just buy another if you're a heavy user.

I've heard from a number of sources that they prefer the old round-tray Auto-Prime to the new Auto-Prime XR, and I can't possibly figure out why. I finally added enough equipment to setup a second reloading station at my house, and this was one of the last components. Compatibility with my existing auto-prime shell holders was a huge plus and the new features on this primer are a win all-around. The new tray shape will accomodate an entire tray of primers - unlike the round-top version. The primer tray/spring assembly is contained now and doesn't come apart every time you want to switch over - a big improvement that saves time and frustration. The gate and lift system for feeding primers is much better than the old system (and arguably safer) that was prone to binding up when multiple primers would feed. The tray lids do not come off the way the old round version was wont to do since they now clamp onto the tray rather than twisting on. If you don't have the older Auto-Prime you aren't missing much. This is a big improvement, and for the price, you won't find a better hand primer by RCBS or anyone else. The shell-holders are cheap to buy the entire kit, but if you shoot most center-fire rifle cartridges (.223 and variants, .308 and variants) #2 and #4 will do the job for you. This tool took my single stage loading to a just slightly better level and I couldn't be more pleased with it. Kudos to Lee for logically improving/evolving their products and still keeping the prices out of reach of the competition.

i like this little priming tool... worked fine until it started seating primers caddiwappus... discovered a crack on the right side of the shell holder... i've loaded hundreds primers and it's always worked perfectly... maybe it a bit colder than usual this morning... but still... the cast might need to be made a little stronger than it is at present... i've ordered another... hope to have just a little better luck with this new one...

Funcionamiento perfecto , ya dispongo de otros productos de la marca Lee y tienen una buena relación calidad precio.

Good quality, fast delivery!

easy to use and works great

sehr stabil. Zuerst ein weing schwergängig . Funtioniert aber tadellos.

hard to use