[76Highboy]

The shell holders that I have always had were pieced together from sources like garage sales and gun shows. Some had poor stampings and others were pitted and rusty. They were an assortment of RCBS, Hornady, and Lee.

I recently purchased a complete set of Lee shell holders. They are great. The reason I like them is the front of the shell holder is beveled so it makes placing the shell into the shell holder effortless. All other makes of shell holders do not have the bevel edge including my old Lee shell holders.

When I am reloading for long periods of time my hand cramps but when I began using the Lee shell holders I found that it is eassier to place the shell holder into the Lee therefore reducing the cramping. With a squared front on other shell holders you have to lift the brass perfectly to fit, but with the new Lee shell holders the brass just slips in like butter. Since then I have looked at everything the market has to offer and I see that Lee is the only company to do this, unless there is one I have missed.

The first pic shows the old style Lee shell holder, and the second picture shows the new style Lee. IMO I would recomend these shell holders over the competition.

 

[howlnmad]

Gotta agree with you Jim, the beveled edge just lets the brass slide into place. Great for doing a speed marathon of decapping brass for the tumbler.

 

[ryan42]

I set down when im reloading and it kills my back so I usually take alot of brakes so Im thinking about raising my bench so I can stand.I havent made up my mind yet but I was thinking of getting some real dense carpet padding to stand on and see which is the lesser of two evils.If it isnt better Ill just lower it.

 

[76Highboy]

Gotta agree with you Jim, the beveled edge just lets the brass slide into place. Great for doing a speed marathon of decapping brass for the tumbler.

I agree. I decap and resize then tumble so when I have 500+ rounds to get through that will help. I am going to pick up a second set of Lee shell holders.

 

[76Highboy]

I set down when im reloading and it kills my back so I usually take alot of brakes so Im thinking about raising my bench so I can stand.I havent made up my mind yet but I was thinking of getting some real dense carpet padding to stand on and see which is the lesser of two evils.If it isnt better Ill just lower it.

I always stand. The best way to reload while standing is to wear a good quality pair of boots with a good arch support. Sometimes I stand for a half a day while reloading and quality boots make a huge difference. Sitting while reloading is hard on the back in the long run.

 

[ryan42]

Yeah I figured if that didnt work ill get me some gravity boots and try hanging upside down.Ill let you know how it works.

 

[howlnmad]

I agree. I decap and resize then tumble so when I have 500+ rounds to get through that will help. I am going to pick up a second set of Lee shell holders.

I picked up a second set of the Lee shell holders for the hand priming tool. I drilled out the hole and use them in my whack-a-mole bullet puller. I drilled them out so there is no way of a possible high primer hitting on anything.

 

[soundguy]

i was going thru my shell holders the other day. I too have a collection of lee, hornady and rcbs.

I actually have a few duypes of the common ones.. like the one for 3006.. etc. I found that 2 out of my 3 for 3006 will fit my hand prime tool.. but not the 3rd

all 3 work in all 3 of my presses though..

 

[76Highboy]

i was going thru my shell holders the other day. I too have a collection of lee, hornady and rcbs.

I actually have a few duypes of the common ones.. like the one for 3006.. etc. I found that 2 out of my 3 for 3006 will fit my hand prime tool.. but not the 3rd

all 3 work in all 3 of my presses though..

I sold all of my old shell holders on fleabay. Does your Lee shell holders have the beveled edge or is this a fairly new design that they have started?

 

[soundguy]

when i get home I'll look.

my lee are a collection.. some from new die sets.. some from old die sets.. somfe from bottoms of 'grab boxes' at the local pawn shop.. et.c

i'm at work but will post once i get to my bench.

gotta clean up the man cave anyway.. I've been making soap for the past 3 weeks and I have drying racks and moulds setup everywhere..

 

[76Highboy]

when i get home I'll look.

my lee are a collection.. some from new die sets.. some from old die sets.. somfe from bottoms of 'grab boxes' at the local pawn shop.. et.c

i'm at work but will post once i get to my bench.

gotta clean up the man cave anyway.. I've been making soap for the past 3 weeks and I have drying racks and moulds setup everywhere..

Soap??? Hey quit holding back. Start a thread on that.

 

[Bindernut]

Besides a mis-matched assortment of shellholders, I've also got a set of Lees. Not bad stuff.
Most of my set is about 20yrs old and while they do have a little bevel where the head enters the shellholder it's not like the nice big radius that the new holders have. Can't say that I've ever had a problem feeding the brass into the shellholder regardless of what brand I'm using though (except 6.5x55...read below)


I've only had two problems with the Lee shellholders...
1. The center hole is a hair too small to slip the shellholder onto the mag tray insert on my RCBS priming tools.
Easy fix...I could drill em out but I haven't done that yet. I just use the other brand shellholders in the priming tools. Lee is the only one that has too small of a hole.
2. I've chipped out three Lee#3s while resizing 6.5x55 brass.
MOST of my Swede brass will fit a #2 ('06 case head) shellholder but some doesn't so I have to use the suggested #3 (30-30Win) holder. The #3 is too sloppy for Swede brass and the rim barely hangs on the edge...and it can chip out the shellholder.

 

[soundguy]

Soap??? Hey quit holding back. Start a thread on that.

really? i didn't think anybody would be interested in an 'un manly' hobby like making soap. ???

 

[76Highboy]

really? i didn't think anybody would be interested in an 'un manly' hobby like making soap. ???

Hey, you know me. Purple fingernail polish and soap go together.

 

[soundguy]

ok.. in general then. i'll go post it.

 

[soundguy]

ok.. my lee are mixed. older ones are straight.. newer ones are beveled.

 

[76Highboy]

ok.. my lee are mixed. older ones are straight.. newer ones are beveled.

Let us know which ones you like better.

 

[soundguy]

i guess i have no preference, as I have been using all of them and never noticed the difference till just now..