is there a best brand of Shell holders ?
- Thread starter misser
- Start date
hoz53
Gold $$ Contributor
i like the slot in rcbs shell holders. if you get a primer a little proud of case you can usually slide case out anyway and i liked the way rcbs used to mark the number in the slot.
otherwise a shell holder is a shell holder to me. i usually try to match them same brand as die but i dont really think it matters much.
dgeesaman
Gold $$ Contributor
I agree
I use RCBS for no other reason than I started with them and they seem to be very high quality.
I suspect most any brand works equally well but I would not mix brands within a shell holder size. In other words I have two .308 base holders and I would make sure those are the same brand so that my die settings will not change with the shell holder.
I like Redding for their close tolerance to the case head plus to also use with their Competition shell holder sets.
hoz53
Gold $$ Contributor
yeah i figure a certain company designs their dies to work with their shell holders so i try to keep them matched. i understand if a person wants to keep a die set up then keeping a certain die with a certain shell holder makes sense.
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hoz53
Gold $$ Contributor
i like redding and have a bunch of them to. i wish they put the slot in them— they do put the number on the top which i like but its lightly stamped which i dont like. hard to see sometimes. i dont want my shell holders to fit to the case to tightly because i want the case to be able to move and line up with the die.
another thing i wished is that all companies used the same numbers. ya gotta have the conversion chart. the common ones i remember- others i dont. one time i was gonna go to all one brand shell holders and get rid of the rest. i couldnt find one brand i liked well enough to do that.
Sandstorm
Gold $$ Contributor
How funny and I totally agree....
I keep the ones i use with the die so all my numbers will match and most of my dies never get moved from the press once installed..and No sizing issues that way and great repeatability in my reloading.
60723
Gold $$ Contributor
Been using the same RCBS holder for 30 years. Couple of years ago bought a 2nd to use in my bullet puller. For some reason, I pulled my old one and put the new one in my press. All fine until my next match. None of my bullets would chamber. Took a while to figure it out!
I have mainly RCBS and Lee shell holders. Started out with RCBS close to 50 yards ago.
Any more with the dies that I use with any regularity I have a shell holder with the die set in the box.
I agree with the poster above. I wish they all used the same Numbers. It would make life easier.
Bob R
Any more with the dies that I use with any regularity I have a shell holder with the die set in the box.
I agree with the poster above. I wish they all used the same Numbers. It would make life easier.
Bob R
jds holler
Gold $$ Contributor
Heck, I think I've got a few of Guffy's old modified shell holders in my stuff. I learned the hard way that I need to always measure the shell holders for correct value before ASSuming that they are correct for the cartridge I'm loading. I've got waaayyy to much stuff that I've drug home from the gun-show and rotated into service.
jdhoz53
Gold $$ Contributor
funny jd i was reading an old Guffy post on another forum last nite- mite have inspired me
Heck, I think I've got a few of Guffy's old modified shell holders in my stuff. I learned the hard way that I need to always measure the shell holders for correct value before ASSuming that they are correct for the cartridge I'm loading. I've got waaayyy to much stuff that I've drug home from the gun-show and rotated into service.
Ive got several shell holders i have no idea what brand they are. came in junk boxes i bought to. if im setting up a die i do the normal checks so i know it works with that holder- usually use coax these days so no shell holder. Ive got 20 or 30 at least if i do need one
hoz53
Gold $$ Contributor
why did they start putting numbers on the side?
hoz53
Gold $$ Contributor
that sounds good Doc- one gun- one die set- one shell holder- 1# powder- one box bullets
ect-ect- that would simplify my life and save me lotta money
drop_point
Silver $$ Contributor
I REALLY like my Area 419 shell holders for my zero. For a single stage, I like the Redding Competition sets.
NZ_Fclass
Silver $$ Contributor
Which shell holder do you mean? The plastic box of parts that came with dies 25 years ago? ( I like the patina) Especially the 2 or 3 that I can't figure out what calibre they are, 'cos they don't seem to fit anything - or the one's next to the AMP, including the one that drops 7.62x39 cases inside 3 times out of 5 or the fancy Hornady ones that I had to buy for the neck turner, that I had to drive 20 miles to get the next day, as the bloody retailer didn't tell me that only Hornady ones fit?
I dont know. Might pay to ask them that question
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