Shell Holders

levitm · September 26, 2012, 08:50 AM

I know each company has their own brand of shell holders. My question is, will an RCBS work on a Hornady, Lee, Pacific and vice versa?

jcwit · September 26, 2012, 10:23 AM

Normally there is no problem, once in a while, and thats very seldom there is.

rajbcpa · September 26, 2012, 10:29 AM

Yeh - ordinarily the shell holders are interchangeable.

However, I bought a Lee factory crimp (push-through) die that is used to take the bulge out of cases that have been used in an unsupported chamber.

The push-through piece of the Lee die is supposed to fit where the shellholder goes in a SS press. I was using an RCBS rockcrusher and this did not fit the RCBS press. I had to grind the Lee pusher down a tad to get it to work in the RCBS press.

PA-Joe · September 26, 2012, 11:07 AM

They are also not interchaneable in the hand primers. The internal hole sizes are different. They also have diffent bench heights that may affect shoulder setbacks with certain dies combinations.

jcwit · September 26, 2012, 02:27 PM

Quote:

They are also not interchaneable in the hand primers. The internal hole sizes are different. They also have diffent bench heights that may affect shoulder setbacks with certain dies combinations.

Never had that problem, and I use Lee hand primers, K & M hand primers, Hornady Hand primers, and a RCBS hand primer. Mostly use Lee shell holders.

William T. Watts · September 26, 2012, 03:36 PM

For a variety of reasons all shell holders will not always interchange, Midsouth sent me a Hornady #17 to substitute for a RCBS #14 (45/70), the Hornady would not slide in my RCBS 90200 hand priming tool, O.K for my RCBS press. William

F. Guffey · September 27, 2012, 10:04 AM

Shell holders? Different? Forget brands, I have 4 different RCBS shell holders.

The next to the oldest has no chamfer on the bottom center of the shell holder, the next one has a slight chamfer, the newest one has a big chamfer, the chamfer is necessary for the Automatic Hand Primer system. Then there are chamfers on the top outside edge.

Then there are the 9mm dents, a friend was not having trouble with dented 9mm primers going off as they should, the dents bothered him, I explained to him if he did not show the dents to anyone, no one would know, anyhow, he contacted RCBS, they made him tools, they sent him parts etc.. Then I called RCBS, they offered me the same deals and another shell holder, I never got around to telling them why the dents were in the primers of the 9mm. I loaned him my Automatic Hand primer, same thing, dents in the primers.

F. Guffey

FrankenMauser · September 27, 2012, 04:40 PM

Shell holders are generally "universal" as far as fitting reloading presses is concerned.

Beyond presses, it's a crap shoot. No two accessories are alike, just like no two brands of shell holders are alike (no matter what the manufacturers claim).

Some case trimmers won't work with other brands of shell holders.
Some priming tools won't work with other brands of shell holders.
Even some press-mounted tools may encounter compatibility problems with other brands of shell holders.

I own Lyman, Redding, RCBS, Lee, and Hornady shell holders. They all have different amounts of cross-compatibility with other brands of equipment. In some instances, I had to buy a particular brand of shell holder, just to be able to use a particular tool for a certain cartridge.

F. Guffey · September 27, 2012, 11:24 PM

“Beyond presses, it's a crap shoot. No two accessories are alike, just like no two brands of shell holders are alike (no matter what the manufacturers claim)”

No ideal what manufacturers claim, before a reloader becomes a reloader they must understand ‘deck height’ a reloader that understands deck height can distinguish fact from fiction, truth from nonsense, the deck height of a shell holder is .125”. There was a time when reloaders? lowered the deck height by mindlessly grinding the top of the shell holder, or they ground the bottom of the die to increase the presses ability to size a case, again, that was and is never necessary.

Me? I tweak my shell holders to get the results I want, I can form cases that are shorter from the head of the case to its shoulder by .017” for short chambers, and someone ask, “How is he so lucky to find all those short chambers?”. I cut short chambers.

F. Guffey

FrankenMauser · September 28, 2012, 01:01 AM

Speaking to the choir, Guffey.

One of my posts in a previous thread on shell holders.

panamint · September 30, 2012, 11:22 AM

Here is a chart that has the cross reference for the different manufacture's shell holders.
Scott

September 26, 2012, 10:23 AM	#2
jcwit Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2007 Location: Upper Indiana Posts: 609	Normally there is no problem, once in a while, and thats very seldom there is. __________________ U.S. Army Veteran NRA Certified Range Officer

September 26, 2012, 03:36 PM	#6
William T. Watts Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2010 Location: Central Arkansas Posts: 1,074	tain't so For a variety of reasons all shell holders will not always interchange, Midsouth sent me a Hornady #17 to substitute for a RCBS #14 (45/70), the Hornady would not slide in my RCBS 90200 hand priming tool, O.K for my RCBS press. William Last edited by William T. Watts; September 27, 2012 at 10:59 AM.

September 27, 2012, 04:40 PM	#8
FrankenMauser Senior Member Join Date: August 25, 2008 Location: In the valley above the plain Posts: 13,424	Shell holders are generally "universal" as far as fitting reloading presses is concerned. Beyond presses, it's a crap shoot. No two accessories are alike, just like no two brands of shell holders are alike (no matter what the manufacturers claim). Some case trimmers won't work with other brands of shell holders. Some priming tools won't work with other brands of shell holders. Even some press-mounted tools may encounter compatibility problems with other brands of shell holders. I own Lyman, Redding, RCBS, Lee, and Hornady shell holders. They all have different amounts of cross-compatibility with other brands of equipment. In some instances, I had to buy a particular brand of shell holder, just to be able to use a particular tool for a certain cartridge. __________________ Don't even try it. It's even worse than the internet would lead you to believe.

September 28, 2012, 01:01 AM	#10
FrankenMauser Senior Member Join Date: August 25, 2008 Location: In the valley above the plain Posts: 13,424	Speaking to the choir, Guffey. One of my posts in a previous thread on shell holders. __________________ Don't even try it. It's even worse than the internet would lead you to believe.

September 26, 2012, 08:50 AM	#1
levitm Junior Member Join Date: September 26, 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 1	Shell Holders I know each company has their own brand of shell holders. My question is, will an RCBS work on a Hornady, Lee, Pacific and vice versa?

September 26, 2012, 10:29 AM	#3
rajbcpa Senior Member Join Date: August 27, 2012 Posts: 321	Yeh - ordinarily the shell holders are interchangeable. However, I bought a Lee factory crimp (push-through) die that is used to take the bulge out of cases that have been used in an unsupported chamber. The push-through piece of the Lee die is supposed to fit where the shellholder goes in a SS press. I was using an RCBS rockcrusher and this did not fit the RCBS press. I had to grind the Lee pusher down a tad to get it to work in the RCBS press.

September 26, 2012, 11:07 AM	#4
PA-Joe Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2010 Location: NEPA Posts: 909	They are also not interchaneable in the hand primers. The internal hole sizes are different. They also have diffent bench heights that may affect shoulder setbacks with certain dies combinations.

September 27, 2012, 10:04 AM	#7
F. Guffey Senior Member Join Date: July 18, 2008 Posts: 7,249	Shell holders? Different? Forget brands, I have 4 different RCBS shell holders. The next to the oldest has no chamfer on the bottom center of the shell holder, the next one has a slight chamfer, the newest one has a big chamfer, the chamfer is necessary for the Automatic Hand Primer system. Then there are chamfers on the top outside edge. Then there are the 9mm dents, a friend was not having trouble with dented 9mm primers going off as they should, the dents bothered him, I explained to him if he did not show the dents to anyone, no one would know, anyhow, he contacted RCBS, they made him tools, they sent him parts etc.. Then I called RCBS, they offered me the same deals and another shell holder, I never got around to telling them why the dents were in the primers of the 9mm. I loaned him my Automatic Hand primer, same thing, dents in the primers. F. Guffey

September 27, 2012, 11:24 PM	#9
F. Guffey Senior Member Join Date: July 18, 2008 Posts: 7,249	“Beyond presses, it's a crap shoot. No two accessories are alike, just like no two brands of shell holders are alike (no matter what the manufacturers claim)” No ideal what manufacturers claim, before a reloader becomes a reloader they must understand ‘deck height’ a reloader that understands deck height can distinguish fact from fiction, truth from nonsense, the deck height of a shell holder is .125”. There was a time when reloaders? lowered the deck height by mindlessly grinding the top of the shell holder, or they ground the bottom of the die to increase the presses ability to size a case, again, that was and is never necessary. Me? I tweak my shell holders to get the results I want, I can form cases that are shorter from the head of the case to its shoulder by .017” for short chambers, and someone ask, “How is he so lucky to find all those short chambers?”. I cut short chambers. F. Guffey