Lee Loader

HELP!!!

I can't figure what's happened. I was loading some .38 special on the Classic Turret and suddenly the Safety Prime stopped feeding primers. I emptied it out and thought some random bit of crud must have worked its way inside so I took it apart for cleaning and didn't see a thing wrong with it. There are no burrs anywhere to be seen and there just seems to be no reason they shouldn't be feeding. The primers fill the chute all the way to the bottom but won't go into the ... well... The Pez looking feeder part. I'm not sure what that part is really called. I've tried bumping it, shaking it, rattle the primers around, and it just stopped feeding. I'm at a loss.

Still DOA. I'm at a complete loss. I wasn't sure what Isopropyl would do to it but I took the risk using it as a solvent and scrubbed it some and nothing happened. Put it back together yet again and it still doesn't work.

Nothing seems to be broken and I still can't figure this out. Frustration level is at maximum sweat pumps are primed and anger monkeys are screaming on the backside....

Well, Lee will replace stuff that stops working.

All this time later and I finally figured it out. There is a small spring that is just a piece of wire with two bends in it that is supposed to pull the top part back. As you work the Safety Prime there is a sliding shuttle that moves the primers from the chute forward away from the rest of them (hence the "Safety" Prime I guess) and then the shuttle is supposed to move back again ready for the next primer. The shuttle on mine was staying forward and not moving back thus blocking any more primers from feeding. One screw and the chute pulls away from the priming feeder body, and a second screw and the priming body actually falls apart in your hand leaving you a fun puzzle to now reverse engineer. It took a minute but once you figure out how it works it looks like the spring wire in mine is either worn out or maybe the plastic has worn just enough that it doesn't hold the precise shape needed to function. However, now knowing how it works it takes all of maybe half a second to with finger pressure just slide the top of the priming body back just a bit and it now works just fine. So even broken or worn it still works well enough if you just know how it works.

Thanks for the breakdown on the mechanics and possible fix. .. Although if it's still having an issue I might call Lee and see about a replacement

Maximumbob54 wrote:All this time later and I finally figured it out. There is a small spring that is just a piece of wire with two bends in it that is supposed to pull the top part back. As you work the Safety Prime there is a sliding shuttle that moves the primers from the chute forward away from the rest of them (hence the "Safety" Prime I guess) and then the shuttle is supposed to move back again ready for the next primer. The shuttle on mine was staying forward and not moving back thus blocking any more primers from feeding. One screw and the chute pulls away from the priming feeder body, and a second screw and the priming body actually falls apart in your hand leaving you a fun puzzle to now reverse engineer. It took a minute but once you figure out how it works it looks like the spring wire in mine is either worn out or maybe the plastic has worn just enough that it doesn't hold the precise shape needed to function. However, now knowing how it works it takes all of maybe half a second to with finger pressure just slide the top of the priming body back just a bit and it now works just fine. So even broken or worn it still works well enough if you just know how it works.

After loading several thousand primers, mine also give up the ghost. I also took mine part and found the same "u" shaped delicate wire spring that you describe. Basically, the spring has sprung and no longer has the juice left in it to return the assembly to position. I tried to stretch it back out and it just broke. Fortunately, I buy such things with a backup so I took out the backup and I'm back in business. I guess Lee would replace it but I'm not sure that sending it would be worth the postage.

By the way, I have ordered another Maintenance spare to keep on the shelf for the next time that this happens.

Knowing that lee has an excellent warranty service I sent an email to see if they would replace the spring. Lee just emailed me and said they are sending me the spring for free.

FYI - the part is:
BP3376 RETURN SPRING

celem wrote:Knowing that lee has an excellent warranty service I sent an email to see if they would replace the spring. Lee just emailed me and said they are sending me the spring for free.

FYI - the part is:
BP3376 RETURN SPRING

It only a dollar from Lee. http://leeprecision.com/return-spring.html

I'm so stubborn and cheap that I'm still using it as it is. Works fine.

Ranch Dog wrote:Well, Lee will replace stuff that stops working.

They sure do!!! They replaced mine, quick, fast & in a hurry, as
the guy in the movie once said.