Lee shellholders in an RCBS press ?????

WisconsinDave · May 15, 2005, 11:19 PM

I need a question answered before I place a order for some reloading equipment that I need. Instead of buying shellholders for my RCBS press one at a time, I have been thinking about buying the 11 pc set that Lee offers. I just want to make sure that the Lee shellholders will fit in my RCBS press with no problems ? The catalogs say that they will fit in "MOST" presses. I use a Lee Auto-Prime tool and plan on ordering the 11 pc set of shell holders for it at the same time.

Thanks for the help

Dave....in Wisconsin

farmall · May 15, 2005, 11:42 PM

Dave, I dont use RCBS press myself, but guys at work do with Lee shellholders. They dont report any problems. I use them myself in Pacific, Herters, (with adapter to replace screw in shellholders) and Lyman without problems. Hope this helps. Andy

xXStarScreamXx · May 16, 2005, 12:11 AM

I use an RCBS Press and lee shellholders. Works perfectly

**Mike Irwin** · May 16, 2005, 12:19 AM

Make sure you get the press shellholders and not the ones for the Auto Prime.

I've used Lee shell holders in my RCBS and my Lyman T-Mag presses without any problems at all.

Tim R · May 16, 2005, 05:50 AM

As stated make sure the shell holders you buy are not for the Auto Prime, although that would give you a good reason to buy the Auto Prime 2.

(Only thing made by Lee I use)

I have used Lee shell holders on my RCBS press without problem. IMHO, however, the shell holders made by others seem to work better and/or held to different tolerances than the Lee's. I now use only those shell holders made by RCBS.

Leftoverdj · May 16, 2005, 08:23 PM

Given the enormous price difference, a set of the Lee shellholders is well worth having on the bench. I did run into one holder that was too large to snap into my RCBS ram. Could have sent it back to Lee had I really wanted to bother.

MADISON · May 18, 2005, 07:47 AM

YES they will work.
What irritates me is the "flat spot", on the LEE, you encounter as you slide the case into the shell holder.
You can use Lee, RCBS, Lyman and Hornady interchangablely. I do.

tcov · May 18, 2005, 09:15 AM

Lee shellholders work fine in the RCBS presses. I have had problems with them in the RCBS hand priming tool. The inside taper is different than RCBS holders causing them to fit too tight over the plastic feed tube. I don't know if they are all that way or just the ones I've tried.

caz223 · May 18, 2005, 03:00 PM

I have 2 lee shell holders.
The 10/.40 works perfectly in both RCBS presses I used it with.
The .45 colt shell holder worked poorly, and as I got a progressive shortly after, I don't know if genuine RCBS shell holders would work any better (Small rim).

Kamicosmos · May 21, 2005, 04:08 PM

Quote:

I have had problems with them in the RCBS hand priming tool. The inside taper is different than RCBS holders causing them to fit too tight over the plastic feed tube.

I notice the same thing with my Lee shellholders and my RCBS hand primer.
My Lee shellholders work just fine in my RCBS press though.

Popeye4 · May 23, 2005, 03:55 PM

Dave,

The Lee shellholders will probably fit in your RCBS press (I haven't tried Lee, but Redding works in my RCBS press). The caveat is that I believe the shellholders are matched to the dies and you should use like shellholders to dies (i.e., Redding dies and Redding shellholder) if you want to ensure that case headspace is set back per die design (if you're full length resizing).

As an example, Redding makes a competition shellholder set that changes the headspace setting by 0.002" increments by making each shellholder slightly thicker from the case bottom to the top of the shellholder (where the die abuts). I don't know if all the die makers use the same dimensions on shellholders, but if actual results aren't verified I can see the potential for a problem.

Of course, I just ran a couple of .308 Win cases into a Redding resize die with an appropriate RCBS shellholder and their headspace matched the cases run through with the Redding standard shellholder, so I can say that Redding and RCBS .308 Win shellholders appear to be interchangeable.

This may not be that big of a deal if you're neck sizing for a bolt gun, but could be more of an issue in a minimum chambered gas gun. I'd want to be sure before something made a bigger "bang" than expected......

Doug

May 15, 2005, 11:19 PM	#1
WisconsinDave Member Join Date: February 5, 2005 Location: Southern Wisconsin Posts: 32	Lee shellholders in an RCBS press ????? I need a question answered before I place a order for some reloading equipment that I need. Instead of buying shellholders for my RCBS press one at a time, I have been thinking about buying the 11 pc set that Lee offers. I just want to make sure that the Lee shellholders will fit in my RCBS press with no problems ? The catalogs say that they will fit in "MOST" presses. I use a Lee Auto-Prime tool and plan on ordering the 11 pc set of shell holders for it at the same time. Thanks for the help Dave....in Wisconsin

May 16, 2005, 12:11 AM	#3
xXStarScreamXx Senior Member Join Date: February 11, 2005 Location: Nor*Cal 707 Posts: 353	I use an RCBS Press and lee shellholders. Works perfectly __________________ I still don't see why cannibalism is a crime.

May 16, 2005, 05:50 AM	#5
Tim R Senior Member Join Date: November 30, 2004 Location: God's side of Washington State Posts: 1,601	As stated make sure the shell holders you buy are not for the Auto Prime, although that would give you a good reason to buy the Auto Prime 2. (Only thing made by Lee I use) I have used Lee shell holders on my RCBS press without problem. IMHO, however, the shell holders made by others seem to work better and/or held to different tolerances than the Lee's. I now use only those shell holders made by RCBS. __________________ God Bless our Troops especially our Snipers.

May 18, 2005, 07:47 AM	#7
MADISON Senior Member Join Date: January 1, 2000 Location: Roanoke, Virginia Posts: 2,678	Lee shellholders in an RCBS press YES they will work. What irritates me is the "flat spot", on the LEE, you encounter as you slide the case into the shell holder. You can use Lee, RCBS, Lyman and Hornady interchangablely. I do.

May 18, 2005, 03:00 PM	#9
caz223 Senior Member Join Date: May 15, 2002 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,429	I have 2 lee shell holders. The 10/.40 works perfectly in both RCBS presses I used it with. The .45 colt shell holder worked poorly, and as I got a progressive shortly after, I don't know if genuine RCBS shell holders would work any better (Small rim). __________________ I'm not just a gun. I'm YOUR gun. (Hold me.)

May 15, 2005, 11:42 PM	#2
farmall Senior Member Join Date: December 7, 2004 Location: Beatrice Nebraska Posts: 613	Dave, I dont use RCBS press myself, but guys at work do with Lee shellholders. They dont report any problems. I use them myself in Pacific, Herters, (with adapter to replace screw in shellholders) and Lyman without problems. Hope this helps. Andy

May 16, 2005, 12:19 AM	#4
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 13, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,379	Make sure you get the press shellholders and not the ones for the Auto Prime. I've used Lee shell holders in my RCBS and my Lyman T-Mag presses without any problems at all.

May 16, 2005, 08:23 PM	#6
Leftoverdj Senior Member Join Date: October 15, 2004 Posts: 934	Given the enormous price difference, a set of the Lee shellholders is well worth having on the bench. I did run into one holder that was too large to snap into my RCBS ram. Could have sent it back to Lee had I really wanted to bother.

May 18, 2005, 09:15 AM	#8
tcov Member Join Date: June 17, 2004 Location: OLYMPIC PENINSULA WA Posts: 51	Lee shellholders work fine in the RCBS presses. I have had problems with them in the RCBS hand priming tool. The inside taper is different than RCBS holders causing them to fit too tight over the plastic feed tube. I don't know if they are all that way or just the ones I've tried.

May 23, 2005, 03:55 PM	#11
Popeye4 Junior Member Join Date: May 23, 2005 Posts: 2	Dave, The Lee shellholders will probably fit in your RCBS press (I haven't tried Lee, but Redding works in my RCBS press). The caveat is that I believe the shellholders are matched to the dies and you should use like shellholders to dies (i.e., Redding dies and Redding shellholder) if you want to ensure that case headspace is set back per die design (if you're full length resizing). As an example, Redding makes a competition shellholder set that changes the headspace setting by 0.002" increments by making each shellholder slightly thicker from the case bottom to the top of the shellholder (where the die abuts). I don't know if all the die makers use the same dimensions on shellholders, but if actual results aren't verified I can see the potential for a problem. Of course, I just ran a couple of .308 Win cases into a Redding resize die with an appropriate RCBS shellholder and their headspace matched the cases run through with the Redding standard shellholder, so I can say that Redding and RCBS .308 Win shellholders appear to be interchangeable. This may not be that big of a deal if you're neck sizing for a bolt gun, but could be more of an issue in a minimum chambered gas gun. I'd want to be sure before something made a bigger "bang" than expected...... Doug

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