LEE PRECISION Lee Auto Prime XR

The round version was bad, the square version was worse and this folding square model is near worthless. In the first 100 primers I attempted to seat, I has nearly TWENTY that were tossed in the trash. Primers jump around in the tray and get stuck sideways, or are upside down. LEE needs to hire some engineers who know how to read and write, apparently. I Emailed LEE with my complaint, and their reply was "Sorry your not happy."...........

What a letdown and it's too light for use as a boat anchor. Primers fall in loading position sideways sometimes and handle sticks down after seating a primer, every time. Tried two. Both the same. Never again. So sad that Lee ruined a decent product by going cheap.

Had no issues with the old (round) version. I use it for small pistol primers mainly. New version (square) is a disaster: primers fall out of 1st stage, primers turn sideways or upside down, handle is sticky and does not return to normal position, angle of usage is critical.

Loaded 100 rounds for small pistol primers for 45 ACP in Federal Cases. Worked like a dream. Honestly. Very easy to use and follow instruction.. I never had a single hang up or a primer end up the wrong way. They flip sometimes and look like they'll be upside down, but they never were. Just watch how it's orintated beneath the shell plate before you squeeze. It's very easy to squeeze with little force.

I have a couple of the earlier models. I liked the first one so well, I bought a second so that one is set up for large primers and the other is for small primers. Great product at a great price. Love it!

I use the tool to prime all my rifle/pistol cases. The old round lee I had was passable but the handle broke. Made to a price. The Square Shaped tool was given to me by a friend as he was not happy with its performance and had purchased another make. Again the tool is cheaply made. The plastic cases are susceptible to the lugs breaking of. The double ram is useless as it is open and allows the primer to fall out if not held upright at all times. The primer feed allows the primers to turn side on and you end up pushing in some primers sideways. I am so disappointed with the product I am assigning it to the rubbish bin. I have all Lee gear and am happy with their products over all.

This version requires a lot of attention in their use, to prevent any errors or failures.
The Lee should have improved, but did not.

I used the original Lee AutoPrime on my press for decades before deciding to try the handheld variety. What a waste. The primers don't feed well, sometimes turning upside down, or even sideways. The cover to the primer tray breaks off the tabs that secure it to the base, so now you have to tape it down for every use. I had some small rifle primers flip upside down with the cover IN PLACE. I'm sticking with my original Auto-prime. 20 years and still going strong.

I own several of these because I got them for cheap or free, so I have one set up for small primers and the other for large primers. They work extremely well and inexpensively. That's the plus side. The minus side is that it's not terribly comfortable in the hand after extended loading sessions. I keep waiting for mine to break so I can buy one with a more ergonomic design, but the stupid things won't break.

I bought the new XR version after breaking the handle on the old style version. The XR works but is not as reliable or fast as the old version. Furthermore I do get a better"feel" with the old.

The best thing with the new XR is that the handle from the XR fits the old version. I have purchased four spare part handles to the XR to use with the old style and hopefully that will last for many many years.

I have used a Lee AutoPrime for 20 years and it was excellent. Unfortunately, after 5-10 years of use things do wear out. I am on my second original AutoPrime (with the round cover), but it needs a new cover and should be replaced.

I purchased the newer square version and it is very different. The 2 stage primer movement is awkward and the feel of seating the primers is not as good. The small rifle primers get hung-up constantly.

Either bring back the Auto Prime that worked so well for decades or I need to go and find something else; maybe a Sinclair.

If I could give it zero stars I would. I had the old version and it was the best hand primer tool I had used. But, the handle broke and they do not make that tool anymore (the positive reviews of this tool here are likely the old one and not the new version that has only been out for about a year). The feed system is not good on the XR. A primer has to pop up into the open area on the tool before it slides onto the seating rod. When it's in the exposed position, it can fall out of the tool and it happens to me frequently enough that it's a problem. With small primers they get turned over in the tray and you have to stop and correct the problem. The tray cover is week and others say it's broken in short use.
The new tool is a solution to a non-problem. It seems that the old tool was only recommend with a couple of brands of primers. Why I have no idea. It worked great with every primer I put in it. As well, I have never talked to or read of anyone have one blow up on them. I am sure it's happened, I have just never heard of it. Avoid this product.
Lee, I beg you please oh please bring back your old tool with a handle that is stronger!

This tool does an OK job if you can get it to quit squirming around in your hand as you use it. Lee plated this tool to make it look 'pretty' but in so doing made it fall short in the useability department. In order to maintain a grasp on the tool while priming I had to grind off all the "Chinese chrome" plating. After this was done it performed all right-not great. Wish I had purchased a RCBS or other brand.

Good idea to reduce the number of primers that can undergo sympathetic detonation.
Construction is not as good as previous version. Clear cover cracks at the tabs that affix it to the primer tray. Clear cover popped off while in use. Small primers turned on side while moving through feed mechanism. Small primers flipped to wrong side in the tray.
Lever falls off assembly. User has to reassemble the tool frequently while in operation.
Previous Lee Auto Prime was a great piece of equipment. I have owned several and was never dissatisfied. This tool is a substantially inferior product.

safe to use with very good feel.

I've been using the Lee Auto-Priming tool for many years and I'm very satisified with the design and feel of this product. I also like the built in primer flipper feature.

I have never had a primer failure using this "No Touch" primming tool, it is easy to use, does a perfect job every time. Everything else is a copy that has it's faults.
As a custom reloader I have used this tool over 50,000 times.