Federal Primers in a Lee Safety Prime

[Eddie O]

Just picked up a Lee Safety Prime to set up with the New 50th Lee Anniversary Kit that I wanted for reloading my .38's & 9's When I read the Ad it stated "and is safe to use with all brands of Primers"

Now I'm confused my New Lee Manual states that Federal Primers should never be used?

Does anyone have the proper info on this, has Lee now approved Federal Primers?

Wrote Lee but did not get an answer yet.

Thanks,
Eddie O

[soup]

What is the date of the manual? Could it be it is just the older manual or a generic one?

I've dealt with lee a few times. Their customer service is generally good. I'd give them a call and talk to a live person. They are usually friendly and willing to help.

[BerksCountyDave]

The deal is that Federal primer cups are generally a little bit softer than other brands. Lee says not to use them as a CYA measure. I have the safety prime on my turret press have loaded thousands of Federal primers with no issues. Don't worry about it.

[Koli01]

I just stick with the CCI's.

no kabooms yet and I've pushed some in sideways.

[Mootness]

There's a ton of energy in a primer, if you're going to do it anyway, at least don't load up the primer tray.

This is a single primer I shot off from a casing that got mangled in the die. Just a primer, no powder, check out the flame...

[Eddie O]

[QUOTE=Eddie O;1064569]Just picked up a Lee Safety Prime to set up with the New 50th Lee Anniversary Kit that I wanted for reloading my .38's & 9's When I read the Ad it stated "and is safe to use with all brands of Primers"

Now I'm confused my New Lee Manual states that Federal Primers should never be used?

Taking advice I wrote the following question to LEE and got a immediate response;
QUESTION,

I received the Lee 50th Anniversary Kit for Christmas. Anxious to start I began reading the Literature that came with the Kit. I read about the Lee Safety Prime and read "and safe with all brands of Primers". At this time there was a shortage of all re-loading supplies and the only deal I could get was 5000 Federal Primers on Gunbroker. Now I order your Lee reloading manual only to read that the Lee Safety Prime should not be used under any circumstance with Federal Primers warning of dire circumstance and even Death?

RESPONSE FROM LEE;

----- Original Message -----
From: "Lee Precision" <info@leeprecision.com>
To: edhallor@comcast.net
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 9:34:27 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: Lee Safety Prime and Federal Primers

Mr. O'Halloran:

"The Safety Prime inserts the primer into the shell while completely isolated from the primer feeder by distance and a lot of steel. Now any brand of primers may be used." This quote is taken from page 86 in our Modern Reloading-Second Edition. Federal Primers are safe with our Safety Prime, but should not be used with our Auto Prime.

Please tell me what page you read that the Safety Prime should not be used with Federal Primers as this is something I need to have changed.

Thank You,
Lee Precision

MY REPLY TO LEE,
Firstly Sir,

Let me thank you for your quick response, On page 50 of the Second Edition the exact quote is " Federal brand Primers are the most dangerious when used in the Lee tray fed Priming systems". To the average person the word "systems" is to the plural and would seem to indicate, to a person like myself that the notation "Lee tray fed priming systems" would also include the "Safety Prime" which is also a tray fed priming system. It's funny how something so small as an (S) could cause so much confusion, but it did.


Even if I had made it to page 86 I may still have had some confusion over what I had read.
I belong to several Gun Boards and most everyone loves Lee Products. However even from reloaders there is a lot of mis-information about this subject.
I checked the LEE FAQ but still could not find a clarification that put my mind at ease, thus my writing you.
I'm glad I don't have to single feed 5000 Primers, and feel much better now in using them, I did notice with the Federal Primers that all do not like to go belly up on a shake and I need to flip some carefully with a tooth pick, maybe it will just take some practice.
I will be posting your reply to the Gun Boards in the Maryland Pennsylvania area.
Again, thank you for your quick response,


Thanks To All

[Yoder]

I use Federals in my Safety Prime all the time. That's the cheesy plastic PEZ dispenser style that mounts on the press. You click the plastic gizmo down and it seats the primer into the cup on the press. There is no possible way it could explode during this step. Now it might on the down stroke when you actually seat the primer, but that could happen with any primer. Federals are my #1 go to primer. They are the only primers I have used that have NEVER misfired. Right now I'm testing Winchester to see how they compare. Remington primers are garbage and I have some CCI's I still need to try.

[Eddie O]

I just got an email back from LEE and they advise that they are in the process of putting together Version 3 of the LEE manual.

They will be correcting the confusing information about the Safety Prime using ALL Primers, which it dose.

Thanks To All
Eddie O

[Rundownfid]

Congratulations, you helped Lee present their products in a clearer way, helping all of their customers. The information on Federal rimers is correct, they are softer, but personally I have never had problems using them in either a Dillon 550 or a Lee Auto prime, that includes putting them in upside down and sideways, (although they don't work worth a damn that way).

[jns4psu]

Not to hijack too much, but has anyone had any issues using federal primers in an AR? I've always read not to use them because they were softer and could cause slam fires but wondered if this had ever actually happened to anyone.