Primers going in sideways

[Sid]

I hope someone can help me with this. I do batch loading with my Lee Classic Turret Press and have loaded many thousands of cartridges with it. This evening I encountered a problem I have never had before. I was sizing and priming a batch of .32 ACP cases. I size the case on the downstroke and seat the primer on the upstroke. I always make sure the primer is properly seated in the primer cup. This time many of the primers would not seat and were going in sideways.
I put some Rem Oil in the primer cup but this didn't help at all. I would like to know the possible cause of this and a remedy. TIA

 

[44 AMP]

First off, oil and primers is a bad combination. Oil can render the priming compound inert. NOT a good thing.

IF the primers are properly in the cup, but wind up sideways in the case, it means you are doing something to make them "bounce" in the cup and change their orientation.

I don't use the Lee system but have done a lot of priming using various presses and hand tools over the years. I have had primers drop from the feed tube into the cup sideways. Happens, sometimes. IF you tap the cup when you spot this, they usually settle in place.

But if they are in the proper position, to start, and change, then it has to be something you are doing.

When you say upstroke and down stroke are you talking about the press handle, or the press RAM?

 

[marine6680]

I have seen this happen if the case isn't centered in the shell holder properly. The primer tips when it hits one edge, and the case centers as you continue to seat, but the primer is already going in sideways.


I have also seen this happen with tight primmer pockets... but its more deformed and crooked than sideways.