Question from a noob about shellholders

A question popped into my head today when I was thinking through the different "stuff" I still need to get together as I start my reloading gear collection... I know I'll need dies for each caliber I want to reload, and I was thinking about the fact that I'll need shellholders as well. Looking at MidwayUSA, the RCBS shellholders are over $7 each, while the Lee shellholders are $3 or so.

My question is this - Is there ANYTHING about the RCBS shellholders that make them worth more than twice as much as a Lee shellholder? I will be using a RCBS Rockchucker, and I have one set of RCBS dies (once Christmas arrives), so I'm generally trending toward RCBS based on the good reputation I've heard they have earned. But as for shellholders, we're just talking about a little piece of metal that holds the case on the ram, right? How hard can that be? Somebody give me a good reason to pay twice as much for an RCBS one as for a Lee one. What does it do better? Shouldn't a Lee shellholder work fine in an RCBS press?

I think they are press specific, but someone on here with way more experience will probably know for sure and answer shortly. I know the dies are not press specific and I've been told the Lee crimp dies are great. I use a Dillon for my pistol stuff these days so I use their dies too.

The RCBS and Lee shellholders are not press specific. I do thing RCBS shellholders fit the cartridge rims better on some caliber ammo.

Doug

I use the lee shell holders on everything, except my progressive. They will
fit rcbs, Lyman lee and others.

Ive had RCBS and Lee shell holders not hold the case as i thought they should. Called and explained to them what i was seeing. Both companies sent me an extra shell holder that fit much better.
That being said, it can happen.
But now i usually just buy Lee dies since they come with a shell holder and are pretty cheap but work just fine.

My Lee 9x19 shellholder will not always pull the case out of the TC sizing die. It strips off the rim of the case. Replacing it with an RCBS solved the problem.

Doug

All my die sets came with the shell holder so check that before you buy any of them.

PhillipM wrote:If I were starting from nothing I'd buy a Forster Co-Ax press. It is light years ahead of RCBS, Hornandy, Lee, et al. and uses NO shellholder.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/265719/forster-co-ax-single-stage-press?cm_mmc=Froogle-_-Reloading+-+Metallic+Reloading+Presses-_-PriceCompListing-_-265719

Interesting, I will have to look at that in the future. But the Rockchucker is already sitting under my tree, just waiting to be unwrapped. It is the RCBS Rockchucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit. Cabelas had them on sale for $250, plus a $50 mail-in rebate if you got $300 worth of RCBS equipment, so I went ahead and bought my 38/357 dies and a shellholder for that caliber. So after it's all said and done, I'll have gotten the kit, one set of dies, and one shellholder for $250, oh and the shipping was FREE too!

wesm wrote:

PhillipM wrote:If I were starting from nothing I'd buy a Forster Co-Ax press. It is light years ahead of RCBS, Hornandy, Lee, et al. and uses NO shellholder.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/265719/forster-co-ax-single-stage-press?cm_mmc=Froogle-_-Reloading+-+Metallic+Reloading+Presses-_-PriceCompListing-_-265719

Interesting, I will have to look at that in the future. But the Rockchucker is already sitting under my tree, just waiting to be unwrapped. It is the RCBS Rockchucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit. Cabelas had them on sale for $250, plus a $50 mail-in rebate if you got $300 worth of RCBS equipment, so I went ahead and bought my 38/357 dies and a shellholder for that caliber. So after it's all said and done, I'll have gotten the kit, one set of dies, and one shellholder for $250, oh and the shipping was FREE too!

Forsters are indeed good presses, but I do like my Rockchucker. Wesm- You got a good deal! That setup will do just fine. Have fun!

I´m using the RCBS shellholders without any troubles.

I have had the lee shellholder also strip out the case. Only happened on 243. I threw that one away, only use RCBS now.
scott

mascott wrote:I have had the lee shellholder also strip out the case. Only happened on 243. I threw that one away, only use RCBS now.
scott

I am trying to understand this. Does that mean the case got jammed in the die, and the head stripped as you were extracting it? Isn't that a lube issue or something more than a shellholder issue? Maybe I'm not understanding what you mean.

May have been some lube problem, but mostly the shell fit loosely into the holder. Never,ever had a problem with the RCBS. One other thing, the RCBS shell holders are 22 years old, the Lee is/was 2 years old. I have other Lee products and am happy with them.
scott

Stick with RCBS Shell holders, you cant go wrong with them.

wesm wrote:

mascott wrote:I have had the lee shellholder also strip out the case. Only happened on 243. I threw that one away, only use RCBS now.
scott

I am trying to understand this. Does that mean the case got jammed in the die, and the head stripped as you were extracting it? Isn't that a lube issue or something more than a shellholder issue? Maybe I'm not understanding what you mean.

My Lee 9mm shellholder was being used with TC dies. No lube problem.

Doug

Lee Sheelholders are Good to go. I have used them for 20 years with not a single problem. As long as you lube the cases on rifle shells you will be good.

I have a set of the lee universal shellholders. I have never had a problem with any calibers except my 257 weatherby Remington sps. The lee shell holders are too thick and won't allow the case to go far enough into the press. Gave me fits trying to figure out what the problem was, I almost sold the gun.

If you buy LEE dies, they are normally cheaper, have worked well for me over the years in several calibers and they come with the proper shell holder for that caliber