The spark of life

[Elric]

Got some documents out today, sordid gloomy.

Went to check on components, a goodly stash of WSR, WSR, sorta thin on SP. Might have found some on-line.

Good God, why did Federal decide to use such XBOX HUUGE primer trays?

 

[358156 hp]

The story I heard was that Federal went to the big trays in the interest of shipping safety. They work just fine with my Dillon primer turner, anything smaller requires ingenuity.

 

[RicinYakima]

Federal primer trays are made for international rules shipping.

 

[JonB]

There's a little trick to gettin 'em into a Lee primer tray.

 

[Ian]

The new Lee trays are square for a reason. At least some of the new (2017+) priming systems are now advertised to be suitable for ALL primer types whereas before, Federal brand was specifically excluded for safety reasons.

 

[Rick H]

....Is that why they excluded Federals? The boxes were too big to easily dump into the trays? To be honest I have used Federals continuously for years (SR's in .223/5.56's) with the old style round tray Lee priming tool without a single problem.
(I am looking for a piece of wood to knock on now that I opened my big mouth.)

 

[JonB]

....Is that why they excluded Federals? The boxes were too big to easily dump into the trays? To be honest I have used Federals continuously for years (SR's in .223/5.56's) with the old style round tray Lee priming tool without a single problem.
(I am looking for a piece of wood to knock on now that I opened my big mouth.)

I recall, it was Federal's use of a different primer compound, that was more likely to chain ignite...or maybe that was just a Lawyer thingy?

 

[Ian]

I forget now but it was more than Federal. Sensitivity was the issue, Lee automatic primer feeds have a tendency to jam and don't have much in the way of blast protection.

I've run a zillion of every kind through the pro-1000 press systems and safety-prime systems not to mention the old hand primers and I never had a single one go off. Knock on wood.

 

[462]

For what it's worth, Lee has a blast shield, now.

 

[Ian]

I always wear safety glasses (have a special pair for the gun room and machine shop with built-in 1.5 diopter "readers"). That doesn't protect my face or neck but I'm so dang ugly anyway that a few more nicks and dings wouldn't matter much.

 

[Brad]

I don’t handle primers without glasses. Too many little bits just waiting to be launched into the air.

 

[Ian]

I used to dump the Federal primers from the square packages into my cupped hand and then funnel them into the round Lee trays. Then one day I had an epiphany while looking at the 100 little high-explosive shrapnel grenades in my palm and never did that again. Not sure why I EVER thought that was a good idea.

 

[RicinYakima]

Yes, Federal does use a different, basic lead styphate, primer compound than the other US makers, normal lead styphate. The biggest reason is the Federal 100 SP and 150 LP have the softest and thinnest cups. Even their rifles, except Match and Magnum, have softer cups than the rest.