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Again, I must consult the more experianced on a mistake I made and what to do about it

My hornady hand primer that came with my kit had a little nub on the end of the large primer ram so it would dent the bottom of the primer when used. Looked very much like a light primer strike in a pistol. But, in trying to remove the nub I ended up rounding the top of the ram, so that when I seat the primers, they have a concave surface with the reminants of the nub in the center. The bottom of the bowl measures at about .010" where the sides measure at .003-.004"

12 were done before I had that "something is wrong" feeling and stopped working. I was wondering if they would even go off, so I went into the garage with eye/ears put the double-ckecked primed case in my 629 put into a cardboard box and aimed into my corncob bucket. Primer went snap, but then it was dificult to open the cyl . Ended up getting it upen with some wiggling and saw the primer had backed out... I then packed up shop and gave up for the night.

Pending a new hand primer unit, are these cases loadable or should I deprime?

Primers that are fired without powder and bullet in cases with standard size flash holes tend to back out.

I don't think your cases are ruined for loading.

It sounds like you rocked the file or whatever trying to remove the protrusion. Remove the ram put it into a vise and take a file and carefully file the ram flat and square. You should be able to save the ram just take a little off and check then repeat.

You can also use the Small Primer Ram to seat the Large primers. I usually dont change it when I prime by hand. I have not noticed any exta indentation as a result of this.

What they said... and call up Hornady for a free replacement part.

that's good to hear. Thanks for the help!

ddstuder wrote:You can also use the Small Primer Ram to seat the Large primers. I usually dont change it when I prime by hand. I have not noticed any exta indentation as a result of this.

Any additional care needed when using this method?

7075-T7 wrote:that's good to hear. Thanks for the help!

ddstuder wrote:You can also use the Small Primer Ram to seat the Large primers. I usually dont change it when I prime by hand. I have not noticed any exta indentation as a result of this.

Any additional care needed when using this method?

Just prime as you usually would. I actually think it works better with the small ram installed.

And yes, Hornady will happily send you a replacement. They are a pleasure to deal with. When I was having trouble with stuck brass in my .223 die, they sent me a new depriming spindle (mine broke trying to extract the stuck case), and they also sent me a tub of Unique Case Lube (love that stuff), and a stuck case removal tool FREE of charge!

Good luck!