Catching spent primers

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  • Last Post 10 December 2016
45ACPete posted this 08 November 2016

I neck size/deprime with the Lee collet die in my Rockchucker.  The spent primer catcher only collects about 80% of the primers.  Even when I place a bucket on the floor under the press a few primers escape on to the garage floor--when the wife finds one I catch hell as she is convinced I'll track them into the house on the soles of my shoes and gouge her beautiful hardwood floors.  Does anybody have a system that collects ALL the spent primers?  It would really promote harmony in our house if you could pass it on.  Please!

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onondaga posted this 08 November 2016

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=5733>45ACPete

If all else fails, ask your wife to sit and watch your press spit primers then ask her what she would do. That could save your marriage.

Gary

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RicinYakima posted this 08 November 2016

Not with the Rockchucker, but the RCBS Summit and Bonanza both have 100% systems. FWIW, Ric

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John Alexander posted this 08 November 2016

As far as I know all Lee presses catch almost 100%. Since it isn't hard to design a catcher that works into the press.  Apparently, some makers think your wife's floors aren't important.  I have an RCBS press relegated to other uses for that reason. John

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R. Dupraz posted this 08 November 2016

"Not with the Rockchucker, but the RCBS Summit and Bonanza both have 100% systems. FWIW, Ric"     As does the Hornady single stage and Projector progressive.

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Duane Mellenbruch posted this 08 November 2016

Find some ugly shag carpet, place a good sized piece under the press area and work away. Those primers will disappear into the shag and never be seen again. They will not track, or roll, just get lost. From time to time, you may want to shake the piece outside to see if any remain trapped in the fiber. :-)

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John Carlson posted this 10 November 2016

My Rockchucker with the Lee Collet die loading 30-06 brass catches 99% of the primers with the standard primer catcher. I hold the catcher tight against the press with a rubber band and I inserted a piece of wood in the slot for the primer arm so it's slanted down into the catcher.

John Carlson. CBA Director of Military Competition.

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45ACPete posted this 10 November 2016

Thanks, John--I'll try that.

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Wineman posted this 12 November 2016

Without the primer arm in place, my LEE Classic (never sure with LEE names, almost as bad as Herter's) turret press, about 1/10 will head West (actually North on my bench) and manage to get under my wife's car. The good news is that when she is home, the car is in place so no problem. The bad news is that I leave for work before her and finding the escapee is not happening. The trouble starts when she washes her car but luckily she has discovered a chain of car washes close to home that gives internet deals. Then I can recover the errant spent primers.

Dave

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offhand35 posted this 13 November 2016

I have a Rock Chucker press also, and have this issue when the catcher is left to itself . The primers that I can't find later wind up in my shoe and somewhere annoying in the house. I have been touching the catcher chute to the ram on each up stroke as part of the process. I will have to try the rubber band thing. There was a time I was considering a different press for depriming, but I don't have bench space for a 2nd press.

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offhand35 posted this 13 November 2016

onondaga wrote: http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=5733>45ACPete

If all else fails, ask your wife to sit and watch your press spit primers then ask her what she would do. That could save your marriage.

Gary I wouldn't want to give MY wife the opportunity to answer THAT question! :shock:

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oscarflytyer posted this 13 November 2016

fixed my old RCBS RCII. Guy on FB 3D prints a Y primer catcher attachment with trash tube. Tube is corked at bottom for easy emptying. Only trick is, you have to pull the ram and flip it 180 degrees. But well worth the effort and easy to do.

Now the problem - I am not sure where the guy is in FB. Let me see if I can find him.

Also, if you want a pic of the attachment, PM me and I will send you some pix

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oscarflytyer posted this 13 November 2016

sent a msg to the guy I think I got mine from.  I will update if I am correct.

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Millelacs posted this 14 November 2016

Using a Lee 3-hole turret press:

I cut the top half off of a one gallon plastic milk jug hung the bottom half from two cup hooks screwed to the bottom of my bench, one hook on each side of the press, using light wire

The bottom half of the milk jug is large enough that it catches the spent primers.

Voilà

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offhand35 posted this 14 November 2016

oscarflytyer wrote: fixed my old RCBS RCII. Guy on FB 3D prints a Y primer catcher attachment with trash tube. Tube is corked at bottom for easy emptying. Only trick is, you have to pull the ram and flip it 180 degrees. But well worth the effort and easy to do.

Now the problem - I am not sure where the guy is in FB. Let me see if I can find him.

Also, if you want a pic of the attachment, PM me and I will send you some pix The only problem here is that I use the primer attachment on the press for some odd calibers that don't have shell holders for my primer tool.

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oscarflytyer posted this 15 November 2016

offhand35 wrote: oscarflytyer wrote: fixed my old RCBS RCII. Guy on FB 3D prints a Y primer catcher attachment with trash tube. Tube is corked at bottom for easy emptying. Only trick is, you have to pull the ram and flip it 180 degrees. But well worth the effort and easy to do.

Now the problem - I am not sure where the guy is in FB. Let me see if I can find him.

Also, if you want a pic of the attachment, PM me and I will send you some pix The only problem here is that I use the primer attachment on the press for some odd calibers that don't have shell holders for my primer tool. yeah, that would be a show stopper for my setup.  I use a hand primer.  Always have...  my setup would not work for you

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oscarflytyer posted this 15 November 2016

Found two guys that provide 3D printed RC primer catchers. One I use, a Y design, requires the press ram be rotated 180 deg and you can't prime with the press.

Other option allows you to prime with the press. It is much closer to the original catch cup, with improvements.

If interested in either, I can provide contact info. PM me for details.

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358156hp posted this 15 November 2016

Set a medium sized garbage can under the press to collect the strays.

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45ACPete posted this 21 November 2016

Thanks for all the suggestions. I gave John Carlson's reply quite a bit of thought and finally decided to use a piece of 1/8” scrap aluminum which I cut into a “T” shape--the vertical part the width of the slot for the primer arm--the horizontal about 1/2 in. wide and bent into a shallow “U” shape (viewed from above). Some filing on the bottom edges of the “arms” allows the piece to sit down lower. The piece is a tight friction fit in the primer arm slot and effectively blocks all wayward primers so far. So simple I don't know why I didn't think of it long ago. Well, actually I do know why--primers on the garage floor just wern't a big deal to me.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 21 November 2016

don't forget industrial velcro.... or magnets ....to attach unhandy shapes to each other ...

ken

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reggleston posted this 01 December 2016

I have a lee turret press that does a pretty good job of distributing primers in all directions. My solution is to place my 32 gallon trash bag under the edge of my reloading bench during depriming/resizing operations and let the wide open mouth of the barrel catch them as they are ejected from the case. Those that don't fall down the chute to the base of the press usually wind up in the trash. For the small quantity I don't capture the shop vac picks them up.

R D Eggleston

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