Lee Loader

Was studying on loading up some 45 Colt rounds today. I have several different bullet shapes and sizes and several powders that will work in the Colt to pick from. Finally decided on a 265gr. Semi Wadcutter GC that I believe I cast from an RCBS mold several years back. Not wanting to "waste" a good bullet decided to put a bit of "oomph" behind it using 19grains of H4227, Starline brass (once fired) and Winchester LPP, as a mag primer is recommended for that powder. Set up my Pro 2000 press as I haven't used it in quite some time either, about 30 minutes of fiddling around getting myself reacquainted with the machine and dies set. Filled a couple primer strips and was ready to go. One at a time to begin with getting a "rhythm" checking powder drop and the priming system (it's still new to me). After the first five I decided to go full auto (but slowly) and finished 50 rounds uneventful. Started checking the finished rounds and found several slightly "proud" primers. In fact all were a bit higher than I like but a few were a bit above the case head. Have a few more of these once fired cases so ran them through a primer pocket uniformer, didn't touch a thing so the pockets are fine. Seated a couple on my Lee Cast SS press and they came out the same, and I leaned on that press hard. Figured I had better do a bit of measuring, pulled a few Magtech primers out of a new box and measured them at .119 consistent. Measured a few of the Winchester LPP and they came in at .124 consistent. I don't have any CCI left around to measure. I do have a brand new box of 1000 WLPP I think I'll check some of those and see if where they are. These Winchester primers I (think) came from a 1000 I bought a few years back but I'm really not sure because these are just a couple boxes of a 100 I had laying in the cupboard. I also don't recall ever having problems with Winchester LPP before and I've used quite a lot of them over the years. Anyway, that's all I got on this issue for now. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has had any problems with them.

Edit: More info, pulled the new box of Winchester LPP (date on box 11-17) and measured three. All were .119. These new(er) ones are in the white boxes and are silver in color (like CCI) the ones that are giving me the problems are the old(er) blue boxes and are copper in color. I know I've used the blue box primers in the past but it's been a long while ago. I'm glad I only have a couple hundred left. I'd be tempted to use them for light rifle loads but they are a wee bit short for that and I really don't have anything suitable for that anyway.

Max primer height for LPP is 0.126. Min primer pocket depth is 0.117. I have had Federal primers that just wouldn't seat below the head of new lot of brass. I believe the brass was Remington. Real PITA. I don't have the measurements for either and both brass and primers are long gone. BTW I was loading 45 Colt. I have some new Starline 45 Colt brass and I checked 10 cases after reading this post. The pockets ran from 0.118 to 0.120 deep. My Lyman pocket uninformer just barely scratched the bottom of the shallower cases.

Macd wrote:Max primer height for LPP is 0.126. Min primer pocket depth is 0.117. I have had Federal primers that just wouldn't seat below the head of new lot of brass. I believe the brass was Remington. Real PITA. I don't have the measurements for either and both brass and primers are long gone. BTW I was loading 45 Colt. I have some new Starline 45 Colt brass and I checked 10 cases after reading this post. The pockets ran from 0.118 to 0.120 deep. My Lyman pocket uninformer just barely scratched the bottom of the shallower cases.

I thought LPP were maxed at .123 but no matter. Did a couple measurements this morning between the three different primers I mentioned. All the same in diameter. Measured the primer pockets on the Starline brass, 6 pieces, between .129 and .131. (thought the brass was going to be the culprit). No problem there but could be off a bit using calipers but close enough. Took a couple of the Magtech primers and ran them in the press and they seated into the brass just perfect. No extra "pressure" needed, just popped right in. According to all measurements these primers should fit fine, but they don't. All I got left for ideas are the cups are so tough on these that I'm unable to "crush fit" the anvils. Never heard of that. Fast forward an hour. I did get them seated using my Co-Ax press. For those who have never used this press (newer version) it has probably the most precise primer seating system of anything out there. Without going into the schematics of it the "proud" primed cases wouldn't go into the priming "jaws" until I loosened them a bit, then held them (jaws) with my fingers for the first seating. After that I was able to reset the priming jaws as normal and run them through again. It took a LOT of pressure on the Co-Ax to seat them. For reference I did run them through the Lee Classic Cast primer seater first AND the RCBS bench primer. No joy, so that's when I went to the Co-Ax. I'm stumped on this one guys but I'm going to chuck this last box and a half of primers. There's no reason I can find for these not to work, but they don't. In thinking back I do believe I bought these two boxes of 100 at a Bi-Mart store a couple years back when primers were really scarce and they would only sell two to a customer. I"m happy about that now....

EDIT: After thinking about this for about 10 minutes It came to me that I can just seat these primers using the Co-Ax press. Tried it, worked. Go figure. I think the reason being there is a lot less (none) "slop" in the priming system on the Forster than on the others. I really hate this kind of stuff, not knowing what the problem is and just using a bigger hammer.

EDIT: On second thought think I'll pull them all down, punch out the primers and start over with the new batch of primers. This is a pretty stout load I'm making and no sense in guessing.

I'll add to the mystery to make the holidays complete. The bulk of my 45 Colt cases are Starline, some going back 6 years and coming up to a fresh bag I bought about 3 weeks ago. In the past 5 years I have used almost exclusively the Winchester large pistol that are labeled for standard and magnum loads the copper ones. I've never come across a high primer in the Colt or the 44 magnum or the 45 ACP. I prime on a RCBS bench prime or the Dillon when I run a big run. Does nothing to answer the question but as I said adds to the mystery.

Merry Christmas and
Make Smoke,

I've heard of brass having a radius or proud ridge in pockets that will hold up seating . I've had many many rounds start easy but need a firm hand to get them fully seated .

I think what may be happening is that you used a shorter/shallower primer the first with a full power load and made a ridge at the top of the primer , it doesn't take much to make a hang up . You might use a pocket swage tool to move or flatten out the shoulder . I do know that there are a couple brass makers that simply won't take some brands of primers without being swaged or reamed . This isn't a crimped primer thing .

Note that when measuring a primer pocket make sure to consider that some have rounded/cupped bottoms.

Went out and fired a couple of these rounds in my Redhawk (strongest 45 colt I have ) they fired just fine, recoil was not bad and the bullets went in the general direction I was aiming.,..think I'm good.

I know this is an older thread, but the information herein is worth paying attention to. I've noticed that some primers are much harder to seat in a particular brand of brass, not because of tight or loose primer pockets, but because of the brand of primers or brass. The explanation given by the "posters" certainly "shed some light" on how a change in components, whether brass, primers, bullets, or powder can have an effect. (I you consider how companies stress that their published load data results are from specific brands of components they used in their testing procedures, and you can understand their liability concerns!)

I've tried to standardize on matching components in my loads with particular calibers to help get a "feel" if there are differences in primer seating, or its is caused by some brass dimension difference or defect. With the shortage of primers (and brass) these days, one sometimes has to use whatever brand is available, affecting the difference in how the load goes together and how the previous "smooth process" may be interrupted. (While most of us obsess with weighing the powder charge to the .005gr, the weight variation of the brass, bullet, and primer makes, Richard Lee" powder throw method seem positively brilliant with a load sufficiently under Max - regardless of brands!)