Bazoo
Member
Lee lists a #19 for 9mm Luger, and for 40 S&W. I seem to recall way back that once they offered a better fitting 9mm shell holder, but I cannot find it now. Does anyone else remember this or know?
Lee 9mm Shellholder
- Thread starter Bazoo
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FROGO207
Member
I ended up ripping the side flange out of my 30 carbine "universal" Lee shell holder. Also I ripped several rims off 9 MM brass with their shellholder. I happened to be at a LGS and they had RCBS shellholders in stock and I purchased one for each of these two calibers. Have not had any more problems and suggest you buy a RCBS 16 to get best fit.
CoalCrackerAl
Member
I have been upgrading some of my Lee shell holders too.
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Bazoo
Member
No argument from me, I've mostly moved away from Lee shell holders. I say mostly because I will use one if it's what I happen to have for a cartridge, but I always find a replacement.
CoalCrackerAl
Member
My buddie was over the other day. He asked where my primer catch tube is. For my Lee classic cast. I told him it didn't come with one. I contacted Lee about it. They want me to order one at my expense. I'll continue to use my brass bucket to catch them.
adcoch1
Member
A few of the Lee shell holders aren't a good fit, so I replaced them with rcbs, and in one situation, a Hornaday.
Lee Q. Loader
Member
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2018
- Messages
- 444
Agreed, replace the Lee #19 for 9mm with ANYTHING else. Signed, a Lee Fanboy. 
CoalCrackerAl
Member
A lot of my Lee shell holders the numbers are wearing away. Who would have thought sliding brass in and out would wear down the steel.
twarr1
Member
I replaced a few of my Lee shell holders with Redding and they’ve worked great
nettlle
Contributing Member
When I bought shell holders I had no loyalties until I bought my first Redding. These are the best fitting.
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Bazoo
Member
Hmm, I'll have to give Redding a try. I've used Lee and RCBS, but I don't recall others, maybe Hornady.
SteadyGSP
Member
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2018
- Messages
- 6
When I began hand loading 11 yrs ago, I ran into a pesky issue with the Lee #19 when trying to interchange with 9x19mm and .40 S&W.
The fitment of the shell holder (#19) included in the 40 S&W die set ran just fine for all operations, including priming on the LCT.
But, when loading 9x19mm with the shell holder included in the set (prescribed as interchangeable with 9x19mm and .40 S&W) there was just too much slop to support a smooth operation flow, especially for on-press primer seating.
About every 4 or 5 seat attempts I the primer would partly crushed against the pocket's edge...and when it did seat, the misaligned friction feel didn't exactly instill confidence. It slowed things down because I had to hand center each case in the shell holder to ensure co-witnessing the primer pocket to the shell holder aperture. The sizing and seating operations were less problematic since they somewhat self aligned upon contact with the die--if I was going at a gingerly pace. When cranking away at a faster pace, the case mouth would smash against the sizer die occasionally.
I tried the both #19 shell holders I had from each of the two die sets. The same issue occurred when loading 9x19mm. In other words, it suggested that it wasn't just a single, off-spec shell holder.
I remember calling Lee with (ample humility as a new hand loader). The tech was courteous and sent a new #19 shell holder. Unsurprisingly, the same issue occurred.
So, I ended up buying an RCBS #16. And each stage, and most notably priming on the LCT, was smooth sailing.
FWIW, the shell holders referenced for 9x19mm that RCBS, Redding, Hornady, and Lyman offer are different than the shell holders each company specifies for .40 S&W. Lee stands alone in stating interchangeability for both 9x19mm and .40 S&W.
Sure, many cartridges cross-reference, but there is more than a just a tiny gap difference in case rim diameter between 9x19mm and .40 S&W which is 0.032" larger.
I'm not picking on Lee here. I'm a fan of Lee, as a tinkerer with aligned expectations in exchange for the value quotient. And Lee still makes up a fair portion of my equipment--and most of my shell holders are still Lee.
But, I felt this particular issue wasn't isolated and an idiosyncrasy that they should address.
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Bazoo
Member
Thank you for sharing, very well said.
