Reworked Lee hand prime tool & altered a shell holder for 50-70 Gov.

Magnum Wheel Man · March 14, 2016, 09:15 AM

I keep forgetting this new smart phone takes good pictures... so sorry, no pics yet...

several years ago, I bought my Martini in 50-70 Gov... I got the "package" the dies, a couple 100 loaded cartridges, 50 or so new Dixie cases, the bullet mold, & several 100 cast bullets...

... over the years, I've shot up most of the loaded rounds I got with the rifle, & I'm thinking seriously about a Contender barrel in 50-70 this spring... so I started looking at putting my reloading stuff together & prepping cases, only to find out, that I didn't have a shell holder in the box of dies that came with the rifle ( I like to buy a shell holder for each caliber, & keep it in the die box, & also a shell holder for my Lee hand prime tool )... The box was void of any shell holders, & my "set" of extras shell holders didn't have one big enough for the big rimmed cartridge...

... so off to the internet I go... yep... RCBS shell holders in stock... hmmm... no Lee shell holder for the Hand Prime Tool... so I bought a 2nd RCBS holder with intention to modify it... even thopugh it's hardened, it's not that difficult to cut off the lug, & open up the center hole to fit the plastic surround for the primer... I got that done, using a thin "slicer" wheel in my 4.5" angle grinder & my bench vice, then the Dremel & a long tapered cone shaped stone, to open the center hole... hmm... everything went well, piece of cake... until I find out why Lee probably never made a shell holder for the 50-70...

the 50-70 case doesn't fit through the top of the slot in the hand prime tool... ( now, I'm not the guy that whips out the dremel... or a bigger hammer, everytime something doesn't fit )... but since I still had the Dremel plugged in, with the stone still in the chuck, I went to work on the hand prime tool body, carefully making sure I wasn't screwing up the fit of the shell holder or removing too much metal to where it wasn't properly supported... I thought the tool body was going to be just cheap cast, but it turned out to be harder than the shell holder...

but, about 45 minutes to an hour later, & I was running my 50-70 shells through the Lee Hand Prime tool

chiefr · March 14, 2016, 10:04 AM

You are not alone.
I use my RCBS autoprime and Lyman 22 shell holder (SH) for 50-70.
The RCBS SH are too thin and IMHO are garbage. When you pull down after sizing these big cases the thin lip of the SH breaks off and you have a stuck case.

I use to shoot a considerable number of 50-70 and have destroyed at least 3 RCBS SHs. Sure RCBS will send me another, but I have to deal with a stuck case. The Lyman is far superior in strength and problem gone.

I do prefer the OLD STYLE Lee Autoprime over the new ones. I managed to buy a number of the old style. Several of my Autoprime SH are "improved with a Dremel. Notably 8mm Lebel, 43 Mauser, 11mm Werndl to name a few. The only way they will accept Kangaroo brass.

I have Dremelled out a .223 SH to accept rims with minor imperfections that will not fit in a new SH, but function fine in any rifle.

March 14, 2016, 09:15 AM	#1
Magnum Wheel Man Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern Minnesota Posts: 9,333	Reworked Lee hand prime tool & altered a shell holder for 50-70 Gov. I keep forgetting this new smart phone takes good pictures... so sorry, no pics yet... several years ago, I bought my Martini in 50-70 Gov... I got the "package" the dies, a couple 100 loaded cartridges, 50 or so new Dixie cases, the bullet mold, & several 100 cast bullets... ... over the years, I've shot up most of the loaded rounds I got with the rifle, & I'm thinking seriously about a Contender barrel in 50-70 this spring... so I started looking at putting my reloading stuff together & prepping cases, only to find out, that I didn't have a shell holder in the box of dies that came with the rifle ( I like to buy a shell holder for each caliber, & keep it in the die box, & also a shell holder for my Lee hand prime tool )... The box was void of any shell holders, & my "set" of extras shell holders didn't have one big enough for the big rimmed cartridge... ... so off to the internet I go... yep... RCBS shell holders in stock... hmmm... no Lee shell holder for the Hand Prime Tool... so I bought a 2nd RCBS holder with intention to modify it... even thopugh it's hardened, it's not that difficult to cut off the lug, & open up the center hole to fit the plastic surround for the primer... I got that done, using a thin "slicer" wheel in my 4.5" angle grinder & my bench vice, then the Dremel & a long tapered cone shaped stone, to open the center hole... hmm... everything went well, piece of cake... until I find out why Lee probably never made a shell holder for the 50-70... the 50-70 case doesn't fit through the top of the slot in the hand prime tool... ( now, I'm not the guy that whips out the dremel... or a bigger hammer, everytime something doesn't fit )... but since I still had the Dremel plugged in, with the stone still in the chuck, I went to work on the hand prime tool body, carefully making sure I wasn't screwing up the fit of the shell holder or removing too much metal to where it wasn't properly supported... I thought the tool body was going to be just cheap cast, but it turned out to be harder than the shell holder... but, about 45 minutes to an hour later, & I was running my 50-70 shells through the Lee Hand Prime tool __________________ In life you either make dust or eat dust...

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March 14, 2016, 10:04 AM	#2
chiefr Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2010 Location: AR Posts: 1,401	You are not alone. I use my RCBS autoprime and Lyman 22 shell holder (SH) for 50-70. The RCBS SH are too thin and IMHO are garbage. When you pull down after sizing these big cases the thin lip of the SH breaks off and you have a stuck case. I use to shoot a considerable number of 50-70 and have destroyed at least 3 RCBS SHs. Sure RCBS will send me another, but I have to deal with a stuck case. The Lyman is far superior in strength and problem gone. I do prefer the OLD STYLE Lee Autoprime over the new ones. I managed to buy a number of the old style. Several of my Autoprime SH are "improved with a Dremel. Notably 8mm Lebel, 43 Mauser, 11mm Werndl to name a few. The only way they will accept Kangaroo brass. I have Dremelled out a .223 SH to accept rims with minor imperfections that will not fit in a new SH, but function fine in any rifle.