Impressive Hand Primer
To give a frame of reference, I had a Lee hand primer that lasted me about 100k rounds until the tray cover failed. I was on the fence about repairing and even more skeptical of the FA Hand Primer. I'm glad I purchased it. The thing is a monster. It could double as a hammer; heavy but not unwieldy. Adjustments are very precise. Comes with shellholders and a container. The cover with the plastic tabs are still going to be the weak failure points, but I'm very happy with my purchase.
Would you recommend this?
Yes, I would recommend to a friend
works great
after trying to use a lee primer tool that didn't work at all this one never fails
Best primer tool I've owned
I have reloaded for over 50 yr and have gone through a few priming tools in that time. I was pretty happy with my last tool (Lee Auto Prime XR) until the primer tray cover tab broke and I couldn't get a replacement because it is no longer made.. Reading reviews I decided to give this tool a try. Wow. My thumb used to tire after a long session of priming cases, but the Franklin Arsenal tool uses my grip instead of my thumb to seat the primer. It is effortless. The tool is built like a tank and is a joy to use. The primer tray cover is of similar construction to my old tool but even the cover seems to be a little more substantial than the old tool. I would have bought this tool long ago had I known how good it is.
Would you recommend this?
Yes, I would recommend to a friend
primer tool
i hope this thing works for a long time.
Hand priming tool
This product is very well made something that feels like I'll own this tool forever. The adjustment feature is accurate and easy to adjust. Same yourself some money and buy this primimg tool if you buy one of the many others youll end up buying this one.
Solid
You know this is a "real" tool the minute you pick it up-it is heavy compared to the two other hand held priming tools I have.I also have a couple of bench mounted tools (not including the one that is part of the press) and this one works far better. I like the one that is part of the press, but it has adjustment 'wheels' and it won't adjust down to hold a 5.7x28 shell. Well worth the money.
The priming tool I've been looking for.
After wearing out my Lee hand priming tools over many years of use, I decided to try this one out as a replacement. It's a little on the heavy side, but then it's heavily built. Won't be wearing this one out in my lifetime. Operates and services very much like its predecessor, and makes priming many cases very easy. So far, no jams or mis-feeds. It's a keeper.
This is a MACHINE
This is a real tool, no winky dink plastic. Works perfectly ,less effort then others I have used. You can feel the quality just holding it.
Built like a tank
I have destroyed flimsier hand priming tools. This hefty tool is built like a tank. The easily adjustable stop makes it easy to seat primers below flush with little fear of deformation or crushing. The length of the lever stroke required to seat a primer is a little longer than I would have preferred (given my hand size and arthritis), and this long stroke also slightly reduces the feel of primer resistance to seating, which is one way I weed out marginal cases. The case and shell holders included with the tool are major benefits -- less of a chance that the removable primer feeder tray or primer rams will be lost or damaged and fewer trips to the store for proprietary shell holders.
Good Tool
I bought this tool after I broke my Lee hand priming tool that I had been using for over 20 years. I read the reviews on Lee's current offerings, and some other vendors offerings, and decided to try this one as overall the reviews were better. It's a little pricey, but I don't mind paying for quality if it's there. Changing from large to small primers is very easy. The seating depth dial is a nice feature. I have only used it so far to seat Winchester large pistol primers. I found the #11 shell holder that came with the kit had a much sloppier fit than the #11 Lee shell holder (they are interchangeable) so I started using the Lee brand. Before that I had several instances of the primer not wanting to feed and the plunger jamming. I had to disassemble the tool to clear the problem. I had the same issue a couple of times using the Lee shell holder but I have now learned that if I use a toothpick to line the primer up with the shell holder I don't have to take everything apart. The primers don't feed from the tray as well as I think they should. My old Lee tool had two different trays for large and small primers. This only has one. I haven't tried small primers yet, I hope they are better instead of worse. The tool itself feels well constructed. Seating primers is a breeze. I do not think I will snap the handle on this one like I did on the old Lee model.
