Reloading Shell Holders

glynnm45

Are all shell holders created equal??? By that I mean to ask - will Lee,RCBS,Lyman shell holders interchange; and are the numbers the same ie. is a RCBS #6 the same as a Lyman #6??

B17-P51

Most will go into a single stage press, regardless of mfgr. No the numbers aren't the same. In most cases, not even close. Most reloading manuals have a chart in them listing most of the major mfgrs. and their numbers.

ChetStafford

glynnm45,

I am not sure about the Lyman but the RCBS and Lee numbers are not the same at all. But the shell holders will work in all of the presses that I have used.

glockman40sw

Here is a website that has a shellholder reference chart on it.http://www.reloadbench.com/gloss/rshellx.html
Hope you find this useful.

jonk

Yes they interchange but not with numbers; and different manufacturers have different tolerances; for instance (albeit a bit on the oddball side) Lee figures that the same shellholder for a 30-06 is also fine for a 6.5X52 Carcano. You'll rip a lot of case heads off that way. It's just a tad too big...... while I've found CH shellholders are a bit tight and with some brands of brass won't always let the brass slide in.

glynnm45

Thanks for the info, especially the website, super useful.

k_townman

I have bought or inherited several different makes of shellholders. All have fit into my RCBS Jr presses.

glynnm45

What I really need is a RCBS #43 for a 7mm WSM. Lyman doesn't list a shell holder that will work for that round, actually they don't even list the round. I'm sure Lyman shell holder #(?) will work but no conversion table lists the number.

B17-P51

7mm WSM=Lyman #34 Rcbs#43 Hornady#35 from the midway website.
http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/BrowseProducts.aspx?pageNum=1&tabId=1&categoryId=16292&categoryString=9315***731***19786***16205***

glynnm45

Thanks again B17.