Lee Precision90230 New Auto Prime Hand Priming Tool

This makes loading primers so easy!

This is a great budget hand primer! These really speed things along. Very easy to use. This is my second one. My last one primed well over 10k cases and broke to user error. I tried to force a primer in a case that wasnt swaged enough. My fault. Otherwise these are great and last a long time. Just add a little lube once in a while and its smooth as butter.

When I first used this priming tool, I was kind of disappointed. Primers would get stuck, or they wouldn't move into the press. It took me around 50 primers to stop and watch how the device works, and since then it has worked beautifully. The soft plastic elevator brings a primer from the feed chute up to the actual primer press, and gravity slides it between the two. It needs to be a smooth, fluid motion for the primers to consistently feed. If you try to rush it and move as fast as possible, you'll end up with jammed primers or primers failing to exit the top of the elevator piece. After I got that down, it works great and I can prime 100 cases in around 6-7 minutes.

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.

It works

I have been loading my own ammo for a very long time. I've always used my RCBS hand-primer tool, and it works flawlessly. I bought this Lee tool because I use a lot of Lee dies and they are high quality and I've never had any issues at all with them. My reasoning for wanting another hand-priming tool was that I could just leave the shell holder in the priming tool, and have another that was in the press - no need to swap them out every batch of ammo I process. Right now I am working through 1000 9mm rounds, and I do them in batches of 50 at a time. It's convenient to not have to keep taking the RCBS hand-primer tool apart for the shell holder. I know, I could just buy another set of shell holders, and I SHOULD have done exactly that. But instead, I opted for this tool and the set of 11 shell holders that come with it (and are specifically designed for this tool and nothing else - they do not fit my RCBS equipment). Here's my experience with it:First of all, the handle is too small. I'm not a huge guy, but still, this thing is like a child's toy in comparison to my RCBS tool. The lever on this tool is difficult to press because it's hard to get a good grip on the handle. Loading primers into the tray wasn't too bad - pretty much like the other tool I have. I simply turn the tray upside down, place it on top of the tray the primers come in, and flip it over, thus setting the primers in the tray upside down like they should be. Putting the cover on this tray is a bit cumbersome. One slip and you have a lap full of primers. Installing the shell holder is a lot easier than the RCBS tool, but the thing is, the holder moves around a lot when you are trying to set a primer into it's pocket in the casing. The primers don't press in as solidly as my RCBS tool - you can't really tell by the feel of the thing if the primer is set or not. My RCBS tool gives me the tactile feedback that assures me the primer is in as far as it can go. This Lee tool does not. It's very spongy feeling, and again, it's too small to fit comfortably in my hand. And the topper was when I was gently shaking the tool to get a primer into the ram position, the tray moved a little bit and primers came out from the place where they enter the ram pocket and fell on the floor. It was then that I gave up, and decided to send the thing back to Amazon for a refund. All in all it was a bad experience and a waste of time and money. I should have (and will) simply buy a set of shell holders that fit my RCBS tools. I don't plan on getting a new press so I just need to get a spare set of dies that work with it.Stay away from this thing if you want to get any reloading done without hassle. My RCBS priming tool works flawlessly every time. This Lee tool is junk. I'm surprised that they designed this and then sat back, looked at it, tried it out, and said "Yes - that's a good one. Let's sell it to the public.". Could this possibly be a case of a tool that was designed by people who never used it?

A most excellent design. Don't understand the negative reviews. This priming tool is pretty much stupid proof.

25 percent of the primers turned over in the load chutes, must be very diligent and check each primer before installing.