Centerfire cartridge priming tool

A centerfire cartridge priming tool intended for hand held use and including a one piece molded tool body and a shell casing holder integrally embedded in an end of the tool body. A lever is pivotally attached to the body adjacent the shell casing holder and is functioned to force a new primer into the priming chamber of the shell.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The invention relates to tools for use in inserting cartridge primers into 
centerfire cartridges or shells during reloading. More particularly, the 
invention relates to priming tools which can be hand held and which are 
readily portable. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
A prior art hand held priming tool is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,555,959 
issued Jan. 19, 1971 to Lee. Priming tools of the type shown therein are 
effective as a convenient, portable tool but the manufacturing costs of 
such tools make them relatively expensive to manufacture. The priming tool 
shown in the Lee patent includes a cast metal body having a generally 
axially extending cavity therein. One end of the metal body is machined to 
include internal threads whereby a machined shell holder having 
complementary threads can be threadably journalled in the end of the body. 
The priming tool also includes a relatively complicated lever mechanism to 
provide means for forcing a primer into the priming chamber of a shell 
casing, the lever mechanism including a machined elongated pusher arm 
having cam surfaces on both of its opposite ends. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides an improved shell priming tool which is 
substantially less complicated in construction than any prior art priming 
tool, and markedly less expensive to manufacture. The shell priming tool 
of the invention is also more convenient to operate and requires less 
physical strength and effort than prior art priming tools. 
A particular advantage of the priming tool of the invention is that it 
includes an improved lever assembly which permits the operator to force 
the primer into the shell priming chamber without substantial effort and 
also permits the operator to easily grasp the tool and apply the required 
force. The lever assembly is also designed to eliminate the need for the 
machined elongated pusher arm required in the prior art priming tool 
referred to above. The lever assembly of the priming tool of the invention 
thus eliminates the costs of construction of the elongated pusher arm. 
Another advantage of the priming tool of the invention is that its 
structure avoids the necessity of a cavity extending the entire length of 
the priming tool body to house a lever assembly and thereby permits the 
priming tool body to be constructed as a one piece molded plastic unit 
while still providing required strength. By constructing the tool body of 
molded plastic, little machining of parts is required during its 
manufacture and the shell holder can be integrally embedded in the molded 
body thereby eliminating the need for machined threads to permit joinder 
of the shell holder and the body and the assembly operation to accomplish 
such joinder. 
Before explaining the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the 
invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction 
defined in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The 
invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and 
carried out in various ways.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The priming tool of the invention is comprised of an injection molded 
elongated plastic body 12 having a size such that it is conveniently held 
in the hand of the user. The body 12 includes a central tapered cavity 
formed in one side of the molded body 12 and the tapered cavity being 
generally U-shaped when viewed in a plane transverse to the longitudinal 
axis of the body. The upper end of the body 12 supports a shell holder 16 
embedded therein so as to be immovably restrained. The shell holder 16 may 
be constructed of metal and includes a lower end having a peripheral 
flange 18 embedded in the plastic of the upper end of the body 12 to 
prevent removal of the shell holder 16. 
The shell holder 16 includes an upper end having a slot or chamber 20 
machined therein and functional to receive the lower end of a shell case 
shown in phantom in FIG. 6. The shell is restrained therein by an inwardly 
extending flange 19 surrounding the chamber 20 and functional to engage 
the circumferential flange of the shell base if the shell is subjected to 
a force in the direction of its longitudinal axis. The shell holder 16 
also includes a central axial bore 24 extending from the chamber 20 into 
the cavity 14. The bore 24 is axially aligned with the primer bore of the 
shell case, and the bore 24 is intended to house the new primer before it 
is forced into the primer bore in a manner to be described hereinafter. 
A shiftable pin 26 includes an end slideably supported in the central bore 
24 of the shell holder 16 and the upper end 26A of the pin 26 is movable 
into the chamber 24 of the shell holder 16 to force a primer into the 
primer bore of the shell chamber (FIG. 5). 
The lower end of the slideable pin 26 is supported by a ball bearing 28 in 
turn supported by a cam lug 30 projecting inwardly into the cavity 14 of 
body 12, the cam lug 30 integrally extending from the upper end 32a of a 
pivotable lever 32. The upper end 32a of a lever 32 is pivotably joined to 
the body 12, adjacent to the upper end of body 12 and the shell holder 16, 
by a pivot pin 34. The pivot pin 34 extends transversely to the parallel 
planes of the opposed side walls 36 and 38 of the cavity 14 and is 
supported in aligned apertures 40 and 42 in integral projecting spaced 
apart lugs 44 and 46, respectively, of the body 12. The lever 32 is 
pivotable in a plane parallel and between the side walls 36 and 38 of the 
cavity 14 and consequently the projecting cam lug 30 projecting into the 
cavity 14 moves in an arcuate path parallel to the side walls 36 and 38 
and generally in a vertical direction either toward or away from the shell 
holder 16. More particularly, when the lower end 32b of the lever 32 moves 
away from the lower end of the body 12, the cam lug 30 moves downwardly 
away from shell holder 16 and as a correlary, when the lower end 32b of 
the lever is forced toward the tool body 12, the cam lug 30 moves upwardly 
causing the ball 28 to apply an upward axial force on the shiftable pin 26 
for forcing a primer into the priming chamber of the shell casing. 
The opposed side walls 36 and 38 of the tool body 12 each include a ledge 
50 which restricts the extent of motion of the pivotable lever 32. When 
the lower end of pivotable lever 32 is moved away from body 12, the lower 
edge 52 of the cam lug 30 is received against ledges 50 thereby limiting 
the movement of lever 32. 
The ball bearing 28 is held between a concave seat 54 in the lower end of 
the shiftable pin 26 and a complementary concave seat 58 in the upper 
portion of the cam lug 30. The shiftable pin 26 is biased downwardly 
toward the ball bearing 28 by a coil spring 60, the spring 60 being 
disposed between a peripheral flange 62 surrounding the lower end of the 
shiftable pin 26 and the lower end of the shell holder 16. It will be 
noted that the ball bearing 28 functions to impart an axial upward force 
on the shiftable pin 26 as the cam lug 30 moves through a generally 
arcuate path. 
In operation of the priming tool, the lower end of the lever 32 is first 
pivoted away from the tool body 12 to the position shown in FIG. 3 
whereupon the shiftable pin 26 is caused to retract downwardly by the coil 
spring 60 from the position shown in FIG. 5 to the position shown in FIG. 
3. A primer can then be positioned in the upper end of the bore 24 to be 
supported by the upper end 26a of shiftable pin 26. The lower end of the 
shell casing is then slideably inserted into chamber 20 and the pivotable 
lever 32 is forced toward the tool body 12 thereby causing the cam lug 30 
to move upwardly and the shiftable pin 26 to force the primer into the 
shell casing. 
It will be noted that one of the advantages of the invention over the prior 
art is that its construction facilitates a very short moment arm between 
the axis of rotation of the pivotable lever 32 and the ball 28 and a much 
longer lever which is grasped by the operator. Thus the operator can 
generate a substantial upward force on the ball 28 with a relatively small 
force applied to lever 32. The lever and ball construction of the 
invention also facilitates more economical manufacture then prior art 
priming tools since a linkage between the lever 32 and the shiftable pin 
is avoided.