RCBS® Automatic Priming Tool

[@NipkowDisk]

I bought one of these last year because priming on the press aggravated an old on-the-job injury. This is one fantastic tool to have! I honestly do not know how I ever got along without it, the tactile feel of primer seating is outstanding in my opinion. Very much worth the purchase.

[@joelbuck5033]

I was frustrated at first that the primers kept falling on the floor. The instructions do not give enough information to show how to assemble the pin, sleeve, spring, and ram together. Once I figured out the sleeve had to be positioned to be a cup to catch the primer it worked like a charm. This may be the best RCBS tool yet. I think RCBS should include a diagram in the instructions or ship these assemblies already put together.

[@Stevesmith-yw7cr]

The best priming tool bar none. I have a Dillon RL550C and I never prime my cases on it....I always use the RCBS Auto Priming tool. The primer tube pick ups are really tight and so what I did was remove the RCBS plastic end and put on a Dillon primer tube pickup......far easier. Also, the tube slap which everyone complains about......I solved that problem with a rubber band. The factory spring is not tight enough to prevent the tube from bouncing while in use but a rubber band solved that problem.

[@googleboy7]

I use a 1/8" wooden barbeque skewer to push down the last primer(s) in the tube, on several of my presses, that use the feeder style pickup tube. No chance of damaging the primer or setting it off. Skewers are cheap and I find lots of uses for them around the shop.

[@andershallberg6668]

I bought one and found out that what you say at 0:40 is not altogether correct. The first thing one has to do is to assemble it and with a very bad instruction sheet I had a struggle. The primer cups gave me an extra hard time, as there were no explanation at all of how to assemble them. As is mentioned below I also can't get the last primer to fall down in the tube. It would be great if you could give me a safe tip of how to achieve that. Except for this the tool works OK.

[@johnnygavita]

Call ther office and leave a voice mail, they'll fix you right up. This virus BS has them closed temporarily.

[@jtee9548]

I use the looped end of the primer tube retaining pin, the one you pull out of the tube just before you start priming. Use the round loop, NOT the sharp end! The round bow, line it up with two of the slots in the plastic tip & push down, the primer pops down the tube with a tiny amount of pressure. I've done it this way as long as I can remember, around 30 years I think. Still have all my finger tips

[@LaneMaxwell]

@@jtee9548 thank you, I came here looking for exactly this

[@redneckflyfisherman4240]

I can see where this would be a good investment if loading several hundred rounds at a sitting. Not so much if you're only loading 100 rounds or less unless you just want the convenience and have the money to burn. Myself, I will be investing in one. One thing I never do is touch my primers with my bare fingers. Even if you wash your hands well (get all the case lube off) before, your fingers will still start producing oil soon after handling a few rounds. It's not just the oil itself that can contaminate the flammable material in the primer, your body's oil contains an acid that will tarnish the primer cup outer wall. This tarnish, if you're not going to shoot these rounds within the first year of loading them, will eventually begin to oxidize. This can cause the primer to seize inside the pocket damaging or breaking your decaying pin. I always use a pair of specialized tweezers to handle my primers. Yes, it's a bit tedious, but worth it to me. I never handle my brass or bullets with bare hands either. I always use light cotton gloves. You can handles several hundred rounds before the oil from your fingers saturate the glove where you're contacting the components. You can wash or discard them. They're pretty cheap if bought in bulk. My reasoning is, it's seems a bit silly to go through the trouble of cleaning and polishing your brass only to get oily fingerprints all over your freshly loaded cartridges. My only thing is I wish they would update this video with the newer model.

[@johnbailey9682]

Still picking up the primers the had way .

[@stevek8833]

What about the last primer that NEVER falls down the priming tube?

[@cen_caloutdoormans5378]

Just push it the a small wood pin or something

[@jtee9548]

You mean the one in the plastic pick up tip? I always put the primer tube in the tool, pull the retaining pin, move to the top of the tube & push that primer down just a hair with the bowed, looped end of the retaining pin. Once you do it a couple of times it becomes an automatic motion that takes two seconds.

[@mostlikelywedoitservices6926]

@@cen_caloutdoormans5378 I use a brass punch the size of the primer od. Works great.

[@72Camaro489]

Just had a slight problem with mine and I think it was an owner operator problem. The cup and spring assembly was evidently not screwed all the way to the shaft and worked its' way to be too long to drop properly and I somehow stripped the threads. Make sure the rod primer assembly is screwed together properly. There is a little hole near the top to put a small rod threw and tighten down. I will do that when I find new parts. I've heard RCBS is very good about taking care of their customers and I have a letter in now trying to find how to get one.

[@TheClayjeep]

I bought one love it had one problem with it after several hundred rounds the shalt would not drop down had to push it down. took a fine file rounded off the part where the primer goes in works great now.

[@jtee9548]

They sent me a new one no questions asked. Very friendly about it. It has lasted decades.

[@ronaldscott118]

Question----- am I able to buy just the primer tube and feders a, one?

[@mostlikelywedoitservices6926]

I bought a Lee priming garbage bench mount and the newest handheld loader, and both suffer the same dam problem. Primers are not feeding consistently to the ram. And I like Lee products. But their priming stuff is garbage. I just recently bought the RCBS priming bench tool. What a freaking pleasure. Loading the tube, not so much. But getting the primer in the shell casing is a dream come true. Thank you RCBS for making something that works almost consistently.

[@EdSigman]

Can you use Lee shellholders on the RCBS automatic Priming Tool?

[@N6249D]

Yes. No problem

[@jtee9548]

Any standard shell holder

[@normanmallory2055]

I own that tool, sometimes my primer tube will have a primer turn sideways inside the tube , have no idea what the cause is... The other thing that happens not very often is when the arm swings over to deliver a fresh primer the priming rod stays in the up position after i raise the handle , after maybe 10 seconds it will fall on it's own.. I've cleaned everything , so i have no idea what the cause is ?

[@mostlikelywedoitservices6926]

Try cleaning the tube.

[@normanmallory2055]

@@mostlikelywedoitservices6926 Nothing changed ! SP and SR it delivers 2 sometimes! LP and LR it’s fine maybe it spits one on the floor out of 50!

[@mostlikelywedoitservices6926]

Call the company. Good company.

[@normanmallory2055]

@@mostlikelywedoitservices6926 For all the years I’ve owned and used the tool I’ve never had any issues ! Then the rams started staying up after seating a primer ( 2-4 seconds ) both LP and SP So I cleaned then both with Acetone and I cleaned the inside of the housing ! Helped for a few cycles ? I explained all this to RCBS and they sent me new Rods both LP and SP! It improved it a bit ! But it still spits out a primer on the floor not so much with LP but it sure does with SP? They RCBS asked for pictures of the unit in both up stroke and down stroke ! Nothing is loose on the unit , it’s stored between uses with a hood over it ! SP I finally started using it manual with one primer from the primer tray manually , got so tired of picking up primers off the floor !

[@mostlikelywedoitservices6926]

@@normanmallory2055, Have you thought about boxing it up, sending it to RCBS, and letting them figure it out? Because there is the spring and pin that hold the primers, could that be sticking somehow? I have heard some use a rubberband to assist the spring that makes the tubes spring back. From what I get, it makes it not so loose and violent in the forward and back movement. Just like with my Lee progressive press, shells would not slide all the way automatically back. I would have to push them with my finger. Made all kinds of adjustments none worked. It was an issue of grains of powder collected to the backside of the shell plate. Gave it a good scrubbing, and the problem was solved. So yes, gun stuff can be annoying.

[@maxpowerdog]

Can you adjust primer seating depth on this unit?

[@jtee9548]

No, it's by feel. Very sensitive too.

[@spn102579]

Now that's messed up. He says to put the primers cup side down to load the tube. I'm looking right at the RCBS Automatic Bench Priming Tool manual and it says cup side up. Meanwhile I'm trying to pick them up with the tube (cup side up) and I can't do it (which leads me to this video). Nice error in the instruction manual.

[@redneckflyfisherman4240]

I know this is an old post but I checked the manual on RCBS website to verify. It's true. The manual actually tells you to load the primers in to the tube opposite of what the video says, which means you'll be loading your primers in to your bullets upside down, or reverse of what they should be if you view the cup as the open side of the primer. This is really an interpretation issue. As many would agree, when a person cups their hands, they normally do it with the open (or top of the cup) towards them in order to receive something another person might pour in to their hands, like a bunch of Peanut M&M's. For a primer, the key is understanding the parts of the primer itself. The instruction sheet (as bad as the pictures are) state "cup side up/anvil down". This is important. Contrary to what one might think, the anvil is actually located on the open side of the primer. That little clover shaped object you see when looking at the open side of the primer is the anvil. The instructions say this should be down, which is correct.

[@stephenjett7838]

why don't you make some thing for people that only want to shoot wax bullet but don;t like what o the market they want to remove the old primers and do what they need to to put new primers in

[@jasonmitchell2368]

I don't think that's a cotter pin I believe it's called hair pin. Looks like nice setup think il get one

[@blamdude2121]

Sweet.

[@johnbailey9682]

Wished mine worked . Out of 100 primers I got 1 primer to work . The rest are on the floor or somewhere near by . I call that cash in the TRASH !

[@bradskis81]

You're not using it properly then. Operator error.

[@jtee9548]

You don't have either primer rod with the little cup at the end assembled properly. You're a shamer & a blamer. God forbid you call the company and ask for advice.

[@shadetreelife3670]

I have a Lee Bench Prime, cheap product, this looks better

[@jtee9548]

Once you get going you prime cases with incredible speed and great feel. I NEVER used a press to prime after using this thing once.