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View Full Version : RCBS Bench Primer Tool Review



OldLincoln
06-16-2013, 09:51 PM
I received my new RCBS Bench Primer Tool ("Tool") yesterday and bolted it to the bench with one bolt through a spare hole. That part didn't work so well but I was excited to try it. I read the instructions a few times but the pics were too dark for detail, so I followed the written instructions for assembling the Primer Rod.

They literally state..."Select the correct Plug and Sleeve and drop the Primer Plug through the Sleeve. Place the spring on top of the Primer Rod. Tighten the assembly with a small nail or paper clip."

So that's exactly what I do and then proceed to prime 100 cases. Problems right off the bat when the primer slides off the Rod and disappears. Further primers get caught between the primer retainer spring and the Rod. Next the spring pops primers into left field. I finally complete 97 cases and have 3 crushed primers left over. But don't stop reading here.

I went on the You Tube sight and watched the factory video which wasn't very enlightening. But finally I found a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4nShKxk7Gs) from a FortuneCookie45LC (http://www.youtube.com/user/FortuneCookie45LC?feature=watch) who spent the time to do it right. 32 seconds into the video ho shows his large Primer Rod Assembly, and lights went on all over the place. His has a cup on one end of the sleeve. I took mine apart and discovered my sleeve is flat on one end and cupped on the other. Why didn't they say so???

After correcting the Rod correctly, I mounted the Tool to the bench correctly, then proceeded to prime 100 cases. This is the slickest tool yet and so easy to use. I found I had good feel of the primers insertion and the leverage made for a pain free process. All primers slipped in well and I now know the crushed primers from yesterday were caused by misalignment of the primer and the case pocket BECAUSE they sat on top of the Rod not in a cup. Okay I guess I'm stupid but it does seem to me RCBS could have mentioned the fact but evidently they assume everybody buying one has already seen it up close in action.

So I now LOVE this Tool! There is one thing that bugged me but I fixed it with one of my infamous home remedies. The Primer Storage Tube bounces when it returns to the out-of-the-way position completing the primer-going-into-the-cup process. Maybe by design to make sure the primers don't jam, but it bugged me. I put a rubber band around the tube and the ram that allows the setback but it is a shock absorber so the tube does a soft bounce.

Now that I only have 3,000 cases to prime, priming is no longer my most disliked operation.

Bawanna
06-16-2013, 10:10 PM
Well you had me skeered there for a little bit but turns out it's a happy ending after all. I do love happy endings.

CJB
06-16-2013, 10:42 PM
...these truths we hold to be self evident... among these are life, liberty and the ability not to dufuss the primer rod!~


= well done!~ =

arizona98tj
07-28-2013, 04:52 PM
I've been using the RCBS bench mounted auto priming tool since the '70s. The worst thing that ever happened was a lost priming rod, between packing an unpacking, during a cross country move. Easy enough to rectify that.

I hope you get the same 40 years of solid service out of it as I've gotten from mine.

OldLincoln
07-28-2013, 05:17 PM
Thanks, me too, although that would put me well on the other side of 100 years.

Bawanna
07-28-2013, 06:37 PM
I'm ok with that, long on the other side of a 100 is ok by me.

OldLincoln
07-28-2013, 07:19 PM
I have to laugh at myself now and then. I hired my grandson (at 12, his first paying job) to paint my house trim. His dad was the last to paint it over 20 years ago. What was funny is I struggled with whether to buy the 15 year paint or the 25 year. It was $10 more for a gallon of the good stuff but they gave me a discount so I got it anyway. That was the first time I almost bought something less thinking it will outlive me anyway. Guess it's okay now to buy from Harbor Freight.

Bawanna
07-28-2013, 07:29 PM
You wipe those nasty evil thoughts out of your head right now Mr!

Nobody knows their expiration date, could be tomorrow for all we know.

Just cause a person has got years, don't mean they have to act grown up. Heck me and Jocko are poster children for that concept.

Just act like your gonna live forever and if it don't happy, it'll be surprise!

pappy42
07-29-2013, 07:07 AM
Heck, I don't even buy green bananas.

muggsy
07-29-2013, 11:54 AM
I have to laugh at myself now and then. I hired my grandson (at 12, his first paying job) to paint my house trim. His dad was the last to paint it over 20 years ago. What was funny is I struggled with whether to buy the 15 year paint or the 25 year. It was $10 more for a gallon of the good stuff but they gave me a discount so I got it anyway. That was the first time I almost bought something less thinking it will outlive me anyway. Guess it's okay now to buy from Harbor Freight.

Yeah, I know what you mean. A lifetime warranty ain't what it used to be. The last car I bought might out last me. Life is a crap shoot at best.