Lee Loader

Looking around the cave I have about three shades of red, 2 of green, 1 orange and one blue as far as sources and I pretty much have shell holders from all of the represented companies. I noticed the other day that t can make a difference depending on which shell holder gets used. The particular example was with the 380 ACP cases I was working on. I have somehow managed over time to acquire 2 RCBS, 1 Lee and 1 Hornady shell holder for this case head family and changing shell holders forces a change in die set up for every thing except the resizing die. I decided to pick one and keep it in the box with the dies

Never ceases to surprise me that in an industry full of standards how non-standard some things are. I envision shell holders being made by the thousands on automatic screw machines with built in tool wear compensation. Tolerances to allow for case head tolerances but it would seem that the relationship between the ram and the "floor" of the cartridge "slot" should be fixed. I can get close to .02 difference in OAL by simply switching shell holders. Any body else seen this?

Make smoke,

Sure enough. I must use the RCBS shell holders for both the 25 & 32 Auto as the Lee shellholders have a bit too much play in them. As the cases sit on the shellholder, once the bullet is set on them they lean and don't enter the die square.

Fighting this with the 32 Auto on the Load-Master but more on this later.

All mine are Lee plus an extra variety set just in case. I don't have a .25, .32 or .380.

I too have found 2 of the 32 Auto/M1 Carbine shellholders I have, Lee and Lyman aren't tight enough. The RCBS is the one that keeps the cases centered into the sizing die.

daboone wrote:I too have found 2 of the 32 Auto/M1 Carbine shellholders I have, Lee and Lyman aren't tight enough. The RCBS is the one that keeps the cases centered into the sizing die.

I can second that, RCBS #17. Noticed that MidwayUSA has it for a buck twenty off. Year's ago I brought the fit up to a fellow at Lee, who is no longer there, and told me my press was not level. I assured him that it was as I had already checked it, and he said "oh well."

I too have some of everybody's shell holders , Lee,Lyman and RCBS . Of course I have dies sets from all of the above plus Herters,CB and Sinclair . In some cases I have been an opportunity buyer in 1 of those cases the RCBS replacement that came with a proper dies set vs the modified for wildcat die was day and night . The "save a buck" choice for the Colts was also a substandard choice as well . It should be noted however that these were purchased during the "darkest hours of supply and demand" recently . While work load is no excuse for QC to slip I get it .

I've been more plagued by the slot width/dia and rim purchase than by depth variation .
Having as many cartridges as I do that share holders unless I bought multiple holders per set it would be difficult to keep them 1 on 1 . I have found that some of my 308 for example has a true 308 rim while others are closer to 7*57 thickness and getting a correct 45 ACP holder threw me off when the 308 didn't fit but LC 06' would but not commercial ...... Meanwhile a Lyman X fits all of them from securely to slip fit except the prewar dab of Spanish and German GI brass which has the correct thin rim vs the heavier 8*57 ,308 ,06, ACP rims .

While on the subject I thought I'd throw in a question. I've seen a universal shell holder on ebay and advertised. Apparently they work something like a 3 jaw chuck. Has anyone used one? As much as I like the Lee 3 Jaw Chuck I'd think this universal shellholder would be more of a PIA to use but I've never used one.

I have an A Max A4 with a universal holder .
I haven't used it a lot so bear with that . It isn't perfect . It is nice for standard belted mags and the 308/"57/06' clan it isn't happy with 45 Colts but is OK with Schofield ,Auto rim is a nope . It also drops the 30 Rem clan but works well with 30-30 .
With the A Max being an orphan press now neither the new universal holder nor the universal shell holder head are available except by aftermarket . A parabolic curve iris type would be better than the 3 finger grasp I think maybe they should come small medium and large for 223,308/mag and large for 45-70 etc . Speaking of which , the A4 holder isn't big enough for 45-70 .