Older Lee Auto Primer?

[demarpaint]

Before I toss in the towel on this thing I thought I'd ask here. I have an older Lee Auto Priming hand tool, with the round holder. It doesn't have much use and appears to be in very good condition. Yesterday however it developed a problem. It will not fully seat a primer any more. It partially seats them just far enough for the shell to get stuck in the shell holder. From what I can see there is no wear or broken parts, and nothing which would interfere with the primer seating. If anyone has experienced this or has a fix, please advise, before I replace the tool. They offer replacement @ half off plus shipping, but I might go a different route if I can't fix this one. TIA.

 

[orcldba]

I just wore 2 of them out. The circular end of the connecting rod (which in turn pushes the piston up, which actually seats the primer) tends to develop a rounded groove. The reason is the connecting rod is zinc and the priming piston is steel, so the wear is on the the pivot rod. They are available from Midway for $3.00
I've used the square Lee primer and the RCBS hand primer and am not wild about either one, so will go to the bench mounted Lee primer; easier on hands.

 

[demarpaint]

I just wore 2 of them out. The circular end of the connecting rod (which in turn pushes the piston up, which actually seats the primer) tends to develop a rounded groove. The reason is the connecting rod is zinc and the priming piston is steel, so the wear is on the the pivot rod. They are available from Midway for $3.00
I've used the square Lee primer and the RCBS hand primer and am not wild about either one, so will go to the bench mounted Lee primer; easier on hands.

Thanks for the reply. I had another connecting rod, which was never used and I had the same issue. Different trays, and large and small size primers make no difference, which is what has me scratching my head. It's easy enough just to toss it and replace it with something else, but I'd rather not throw in the towel yet. I was hoping someone else might have had the same issue and it's something so obvious that I'm overlooking it.

 

[RT2506]

Are you priming cases that have had crimped in primers before? Even if you think you removed the crimp it may not be enough removed. Just a thought. I have used this type tool and wore out 3 and never ran into your problem. All mine had eventually broken where the shell holder slides into the body. The head just snaps off for some reason.

 

[Clay Target Guy]

The only issue I have had out of mine was the "dog bone" piece wearing out. Lee sent me a new one at no charge.
I am with you, I love my round Lee priming tool but not so much the square one and really don't like my RCBS one

 

[demarpaint]

Are you priming cases that have had crimped in primers before? Even if you think you removed the crimp it may not be enough removed. Just a thought. I have used this type tool and wore out 3 and never ran into your problem. All mine had eventually broken where the shell holder slides into the body. The head just snaps off for some reason.

No only once or twice fired brass which is nice and clean, nothing that was ever crimped. I'm currently using my Hornady Lock-N-Load Classic press to prime the cases. It is working well but slow.