Priming Cases

For these next steps please wear safety glasses. They are not expensive and could save your eyes. I have not had anything happen but why not take a few seconds to put them on. They don't have to be anything fancy.

For this step you will need safety glasses a Lee Hand Loader, prepped brass, primers for your load, shell holder and Lee priming tool. The priming tool came with my Lee Hand Loader in a little tube with instructions. It is easy to use and put away.

After the cases are inspected install the Lee priming tool in the Lee hand loader. There is a top portion which holds the shell holder for your case and a bottom portion which acts as a ram extender.

Screw in the top portion.

Slide in the bottom portion where the shell holder would normally go.

Insert the shell holder into the top portion.

Close the handle until you see the ram come up close to the bottom of the shell holder.

Select a primer from your box of primers. Make sure you are following your load's recipe and are using the correct primers for your loads.

Dump a few primers out into a tray. Careful here because they tend to roll off the table easy.

There is an inside and outside to the primers. Make sure you have the correct side and place a primer onto the ram while it is sitting just at the bottom of the shell holder and the handle is about 3/4 closed.

Inside of primer left outside right.

Place the shell in the shell holder.

Squeeze the handle together slowly. Sometimes you will feel the primer seat and sometimes it will just feel like it moved into the shell. You will need to remove the shell from the shell holder and inspect the bottom of the shell to make sure it is flush with the case and not sticking out.

Soon you will have them all done and by the time you do 25 or so you will be a priming expert, at least on that shell you will.

Good Shooting!

Case Inspection

This part of the reloading process can be done throughout the reloading process. I would look at the cases after cleaning and then again after resizing and de-priming. I would measure them right before priming them. The cases should not be over max length. My LEE dies came with a spec sheet but you can find all this information in many reloading manuals and on line as well. Another good manual to have is in magazine for and is called Hodgdon's Annual. It will have the latest information on many loads, cases and bullets.

You can trim them if they are too long and get them to all the same size. They really should not elongate the first couple of times you reload them and especially not after firing factory loads. 

Usually the cases that have been loaded hot or at max will start to exhibit stretching and deforming. Also if your using brass that you have scavenged from somewhere, maybe the range or bought used somewhere. 

Look for cracks at the mouth of the case and look at the base of the case for deformities. The case pictured above has a crack or dent in the mouth and will be discarded. Why take a chance!

I have seen deformities at the base of shells from cowboy action shooters using lever action guns. The best is usually your own brass or new brass. 
Auto loaders need certain case length and need smooth cases in order to load and eject without jamming. Depending on the pistol or rifle they can be picky on which cases will properly cycle through the gun. This is not the case with revolvers or bolt action guns.
At the next level say for competition shooting having all the cases exactly the same as far as size and weight are important but that is another topic and best discussed for advanced re-loaders in a future article.

For Now Good Shooting!