Doc Tombstone, SASS #49630 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Phoned a good friend this AM, has been reloading for years, last night he had a full tray of primers explode while loading 44 special on his Lee Pro 1000. Not my choice but I know lots of shooters use them. Here is what happened-He was working the lever on the second round of 100 when the primer exploaded, igniting the other 99. It blew every plastic part off his loader, blew bits off the ceiling and walls. Hit him in the face and hands in many places, his wife picked plastic and pimer out of him for an hour. Knocked his glasses clear across the room. He couldn't hear anything for the better part of an hour, he felt he had a minor concussion, he was bleeding from 20 or more sites on his face and hands. He knows without glasses he would be blind. Very very fortunate. He said wow am I ever lucky, I said no if you were lucky it wouldn't have happened, you are however very fortunate. He was going to call Lee untill he told me he was using Federal primers, I told him not to bother as they would probably ask him why he didn't read the directions which say not to use Fed primers. He was scared to continue being a reloader untill I loaned him one of my RCBS hand primers with the saftey barrier. He will be ordering one soon. It sort of ruined his evening to say the least. I checked out his reloading room, it looked like an IED had gone off in there, the brass casings that were on the loader and in the plastic "case feeder" that were in the line of fire so to speak, were blackened and pitted on the explosion side. What to learn from this-wear glasses -follow the manufacturers directions -use a loader with safer priming system -throw out all your hand priming tools without a safety barrier Safe loading Doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 The pro 1000 priming system sucks, period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Tombstone, SASS #49630 Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 Well Jack this one hasn't got a priming system (anymore) I'm sure my friend would agree with you, my guess is that his 1000 has loaded its last cartridge. Doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Morningwood Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 YIKES!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailboss (Santa) Dave Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Back in the day we had two casting machines and a Dillon 1000 with a 1050 on each side of it, I can remember 3 times this happened. I had the good luck of being out of the shop all times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wif Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 All on the press priming systems suck! One manufacturer even touts their safety shield that protects you "when" not if you have a primer explosion. Just my 2p Wif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geronimo Jim SASS # 21775 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 This should never happen. Learn to NEVER FORCE THE HANDLE. Primers must be crushed to explode. If you feel resistence STOP pulling the handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. T. Blade, SASS #35685Life Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 This should never happen. Learn to NEVER FORCE THE HANDLE. Primers must be crushed to explode. If you feel resistence STOP pulling the handle. +1 ........learned by experience and luckily am still around to tell about it.......minus one pair of shorts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Windshadow Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 how are federal primers different from any other brand to make them dangerous in a LEE1000? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastmaster Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 This should never happen. Learn to NEVER FORCE THE HANDLE. Primers must be crushed to explode. If you feel resistence STOP pulling the handle. 'Never' is a big word. Whatever you are talking about will happen, it is just when, no matter what you do to prevent it. You can make attempts to minimize the whatever, and that is a good thing. I do know what you mean and are trying to say. Blastmaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Dave Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Yikes. I use a Rock chucker and a hornady hand priming tool. Looking at the description online, it doesn't have a "safety sheild" or whatever like the RCBS, and I've never had a problem. Is primer detonation really a common problem with the hand priming tools? My process is to get a primer into position, squeeze the handle enough to ensure that the primer is right side up, then slide a case in and prime it. I started this shortly after starting to use it as I had one upside down primer seated and one sideways or something, don't really remember, but I guess I'm lucky they didn't detonate. One nice thing about a single stage press is that you can really feel when something isn't right, then stop and correct the problem. Grizz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Smart man ~ safety googles... Hope he recovers OK.. GG ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Dick, SASS #12880 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 And I thought I had read enough reasons previously not to use a Lee progressive. It sounds like this machine has little or nothing in the way of safety features built in to protect the shooter if this happens. In contrast, any time I have heard of this type of event on a Dillon the operator is uninjured. I've been using a 650 since about the mid 90's and have never had this happen to me. My son, who has no finesse at all, had a primer chain fire on my machine about 6-7 years ago but the safety features worked and he was uninjured. I have no doubt he tried to force something rather than stop when something didn't feel right. And no, I didn't consider for a moment joining the Flat Earth Society/Single Stage Loading Club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jake1001 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 how are federal primers different from any other brand to make them dangerous in a LEE1000? It has to do with "Brisance" All primer cups supplied to Remington, Winchester, Federal are the same, but the priming mixture they (Win. Rem. Fed.) put in the cups is different. Some people say Winchester primers are harder than Federal, not so...It's just that the mixture of primer goes off easier in a Fed primer than a Win. Lee knows this and warns against using them in their machines. Google the word Brisance and see how it pertains to explosive power. Big Jake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Federals are a bit more lively and a bit easier to set off (which is why we like em in our lightly-sprung guns). That said, the warning Lee issues on Federals came as a result of a piddling contest between lee and Federal, nothing more. Now back to the design of the Lee priming system. it is terribly uncertain, will frequently case mashed primers, AND provides zero protection if ya have a chain of primers go off. If a Lee Pro 1000 has a chain explosion of primers, ya get bunches of plastic shrapnel and fire all over the deck..... The Dillon style system is much better, though it too can snafu if ya get rammy with it, have it out of adjustment or dirty, etc. The saving grace of a Dillon is that big piece of steel water pipe they use as a primer magazine, the enclosed carosel under it, etc., so all that happens aside from ruining yer tighty whities is ya have that plastic follower rod impaled in yer ceiling. A far superior system IF it all goes to crumbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Windshadow Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Most interesting... I am still running through the 5000 Wolf I bought... where do they fall in the brisance spectrum? I do note that the Wolf seem to be a quite dirty primer when used for propelling rubber/plastic practice ammo the sort that uses these in cases with enlarged flash holes http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=489581 or http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=361904 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickamauga Charlie, SASS #47963 Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 +1 ........learned by experience and luckily am still around to tell about it.......minus one pair of shorts! HAHAHA i remember that story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireball #7709 Life Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 ...... And no, I didn't consider for a moment joining the Flat Earth Society/Single Stage Loading Club. That's funny Buffy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee Mak Jack, SASS #55905 Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I use Dillon 550's and a Lee turret. Both loaders have the primer that is to be seated well away from other primers. Might have one go off but that should be it. Been lucky, as I've been loading over 40 years and have never had a primer go off. Glad injuries weren't worse. It's a shame Lee WON'T fix their primer system as the rest of the loading press is okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Bullweed Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I believe that primers are of different hardness. I showed a 1-st Gen Colt to Jimmy Spurs who looked the gun over and said "CCI" when handing it back. The firing pin had a slight bend to it after firing about 200-400 rounds of .32-20 that I had loaded with CCI primers. I changed to Winchester primers whcih are often more available and less expensive than Federals. I have loaded about 400-600 rounds per month on single-stage equipment since 1985. No duds, no reverse primers, no primer explosions, no double charges, no problems. I enjoy loading too much to shorten this task and take chances that progressive equipment is guilty of, no matter what names they wear. If it ain't broke,..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.