is there a best brand of Shell holders ?

[hoz53]

I dont know. Might pay to ask them that question

ill ask if i get a chance/- i did a shellholder roundup- there are a few good ones in there

 

[Dgd6mm]

RCBS, Lee, Lyman. They all stay with their perspective die set.

 

[misser]

I was checking what I do have for the 223 .found I have 3 different brands .LEE. RCBS, and clueless to what the third one is, it has a ring all the way around it . the LEE does seam to be abit sloppy

oops I was wong about how many different holders for 223 ,I have 4 different brand holders the 4th is Hornady it has the larger hole to work with the neck turner device

 

[SeabeeKen]

Wow, got me beat. Got rcbs, and a lee set for priming tool

 

[ebb]

Do the new expensive presses come with super-duper shell holders or do you buy a Lee shell holder to use in a $2000 press?

 

[misser]

using a caliper I found numbers all over the place . LEE is ez to get. the big sporting goods warehouse store does tend to keep LEE on the shelf . ya might find Hornady .may as well just order from a online store to get anything other brand .

 

[misser]

Do the new expensive presses come with super-duper shell holders or do you buy a Lee shell holder to use in a $2000 press?

ya might get a holder with dies .

 

[ebb]

What brand of dies includes a shell holder? Some of the Lee dies used to come with holders but I've bought RCBS ,Lee, Redding in the last 5 years and nothing had a shell holder with it. I have never used a custom die set so I don't know about them. I guess what I am asking, Is a very good press compromised buy a poor shell holder? How do I know which shell holders are good and which are not? Why has this never come up before?

 

[M-61]

i wished is that all companies used the same numbers. ya gotta have the conversion chart.

YES!

 

[Steve Donlon]

The shell holders for a RCBS have a different thickness to them. With me it seems with the chambers I get I always have to take a little off the top of the shell holder to bump the shoulder back enough. What I have learned so far is that the The Hornady shell holder are the thickest and the RCBS ones are the thinnest at .255"-.247". I have a lot of RCBS #3 shell holders going back over 50 years. I think the .247" ones are the oldest. The .2447" I only needed to take it down to .2445" to get the bump I need. I don't know how thick the Redding or Lee ones are so if anyone knows could you please tell me. these are all #3 shell holders for 30-06 .308 and 6.5 Creedmoor and 45 acp. I'd like to find a shell holder that was thinner than .247" then I would not have to take them down anymore. Shimming them up is better.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

The shell holders for a RCBS have a different thickness to them. With me it seems with the chambers I get I always have to take a little off the top of the shell holder to bump the shoulder back enough. What I have learned so far is that the The Hornady shell holder are the thickest and the RCBS ones are the thinnest at .255"-.247". The .2447" I only needed to take it down to .2445" to get the bump I need. I don't know how thick the Redding or Lee ones are so if anyone knows could you please tell me. these are all #3 shell holders for 30-06 .308 and 6.5 Creedmoor and 45 acp. I'd like to find a shell holder that was thinner than .247" then I would not have to take them down anymore. Shimming them up is better.

My Redding’s are in the .2515 area.

 

[K22]

There are issues to be vigilant about in reloading for sure, but shell holders wouldn't make my top 100 list.

PS: My list doesn't go that high - just quoted 100 for shock effect.

 

[jobhopper66]

I think the important thing that has been mentioned a few times in this thread is to keep a dedicated shellholder with a particular die. I started doing this a number of years ago and it has worked out quite well. I also have multiple presses so I also have to keep a note in the die box saying which press was used. I have not settled on any brand in regards to quality but I do actually like the shell holder to have a loose fit so there is more play to avoid side thrust on the case as it enters the die.

 

[Steve Donlon]

My Redding’s are in the .2515 area.

Thank you sir. It looks like around .250" is normal.

 

[misser]

i was wondering how to measure the difference and decided to use the redding instant indicater but using 708 brass #2 holder . the difference I found was .001 out of 8 different holders

 

[misser]

My Redding’s are in the .2515 area.

is that thickness or depth?

 

[jackieschmidt]

I like the RCBS because they have smoother corners, allowing the case to go in and out with no hang up.

I like the Redding because you can get them in varying depths to alter the shoulder bump without moving the die.

both are top notch in quality.

 

[Steve Donlon]

I measured those and they only go up from .250" which I think is the norm. I am measuring the actual thickness of the shell holder, not from the datum line where the base of the brass rests on the shell holder to the top of the shell holder. It's much easier for me to just measure the actual thickness of the shell holder. I don't think there is any other option to move the shell holder down from the norm by finding a different shell holder.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

is that thickness or depth?

Thickness like Steve has done in his post.

 

[misser]

Thickness like Steve has done in his post

using a digital caliper measure the depth of one surface to the other surface