Shell Holders for priming; school me.

[DeadEye9]

Ive never used a hand priming tool before, always primed on my presses. Lately though I've been wanting to maybe sit and prime a bunch of cases while watching tv or something so I've been considering breaking out one of the two RCBS hand priming tools I have, but low and behold my Lee shell holders don't seem to fit it. Do I have to buy a whole set of RCBS shell holders to use their priming tool, or at least one for each caliber I load? I know their not expensive but they can be a hassle to find local to me sometimes. Any help/advice is appreciated.

 

[bcurry]

Ive never used a hand priming tool before, always primed on my presses. Lately though I've been wanting to maybe sit and prime a bunch of cases while watching tv or something so I've been considering breaking out one of the two RCBS hand priming tools I have, but low and behold my Lee shell holders don't seem to fit it. Do I have to buy a whole set of RCBS shell holders to use their priming tool, or at least one for each caliber I load? I know their not expensive but they can be a hassle to find local to me sometimes. Any help/advice is appreciated.

DeadEye9,
I can only speak for the Lee Hand Prime (1st generation). Its shellholders are different from the shellholders used on the press. I enjoy using it on occasion but my hands don't tolerate it so well, so still use my AutoPrime on the press.

 

[morcey2]

I've heard that the Lee shell holders are shaped just differently enough from the RCBS holders to not work in their hand primer. You'll need one shell holder for each cartridge-base-size that you're going to load for. For example, RCBS shell holder #3 will fit anything derived from 8x57 Mauser, 30-06, 308 Win, and 284 Winchester, along with a few oddballs like 45 ACP. If that's one that you need (#3), I'll gladly send you one. I've got several of the RCBS ones.

Matt

 

[Reloadron]

They should fit. I use both Lee and RCBS shell holders in my RCBS hand priming tool, matter of fact both RCBS hand priming tools that I have. The early Lee hand priming tool used a different design shell holder. I also have one of them. They have a "flat" bottom. However, there is no problem for me to standard shell holders, be they Lee or RCBS in my RCBS hand priming tools.

Ron

 

[firewrench044]

A word of warning --
I decided to watch a TV show with the wife in the living room while priming cases
Spilled some, found most, and at her insistence I got the vacum cleaner out after the rest
The Kirby found them and one got caught just right and it went off
Now the Kirby has a hole in it
Now I get to buy a new vacum cleaner
And of course she wants the high dollar one
Learn from my mistake !!!

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

I have had to put a bevel on the underside of the Lee shellholders to get them to slide far enough down the on the plastic insert that goes in the RCBS hand priming tool. I used a countersink bit.

if you google "bevel on lee shellholder for rcbs priming tool" you will find posts on this forum and others on the subject.

 

[LiveLife]

Now the Kirby has a hole in it

Use a shop vac next time.

 

[judgedelta]

From my experience, the Lee shellholders that come with the dies are the same as RCBS shellholders (different number, though) and will work in an RCBS hand primer. The Lee primer that I have (a benchmount) uses a different shellholder.

 

[Walkalong]

I have an RCBS hand primer and I have had to mod some non RCBS brand shell holders to work on it.

 

[Walkalong]

I have had to put a bevel on the underside of the Lee shellholders to get them to slide far enough down the on the plastic insert that goes in the RCBS hand priming tool.

Yep.

 

[DeadEye9]

Thank you for all the input guys. I think I will go look up the modification threads about the Lee shell holders. It seems the only reason they don't fit is because of the plastic piece on the priming tool, so a simple undercut or bevel may do the trick. I thought the shell holders were pretty universal, as I've used Lee ones with an RCBS press, Hornady stuff with Lee etc, so I was surprised when I couldn't get my shell holders onto the priming tool, which is why I made this thread. Thanks for the heads up about the vaccum as well. While I try to be as careful as I can, accidents do happen and it is good to know a vaccum will set off a primer haha. A little FYI on the vaccum front, we have a Shark now and it works very well for the money. Prior to this we had a "top of the line" Dyson model that was double the price and only worked well for the first year or so, then it went down hill.

 

[kingmt]

I've figured out that the $25 vacuums work as well as the $300 ones & they are easier to throw away & go get a new one instead of spending $100 to try to fix the old one.

I use a couple of RCBS shell holders because the Lee ones don't fit very well but most of my shell holders were replaced with Lee because I replaced my dies with Lee & they come with new ones.

 

[Reloadron]

<OFF TOPIC>

A little FYI on the vaccum front, we have a Shark now and it works very well for the money.

A few years ago my wife bought a Shark, would be 3 years in March. A month ago the brush quit working so she emailed Shark about the problem and how she could buy the part. Shark requested the serial number and date code information and promptly sent an entire new complete lower section absolutely free of charge. They did not even ask return of the old one. All of this within a few days. Can't say enough good about those guys. </OFF TOPIC>

Ron

 

[grandpawj]

chuckle chuckle, firewrench, it's a given if one sits in the recliner watching tv and priming cases, sooner or later when you least expect it, a flat of primers are gonna fly everywhere!

 

[DeadEye9]

chuckle chuckle, firewrench, it's a given if one sits in the recliner watching tv and priming cases, sooner or later when you least expect it, a flat of primers are gonna fly everywhere!

Haha indeed I could see this happening to myself as well so I had to chuckle myself also when I read it.
Glad to hear the good customer service about the Shark vaccum as well. I really like hearing about companies, whether they be firearm companies or vaccum companies etc standing by a product and offering a reasonable fix in the event of a defect/failure. Not all companies are this good about conducting business I've learned unfortunately. In fact when purchasing online these days I ALWAYS use my credit card, namely my Discover for the dispute protection. Even though I want to pay for the purchase immediately and don't believe in debt, I still don't use my debit card because the credit card offers so much better resolution in the event of a product defect where the manufacturer does not want to take care of you. Luckily it hasn't happened to me often, but the few times it has have been a PITA.
Anyway thank you for all the input and advice all, I will look into modifying my Lee holders if possible without damaging them and if not I will just have to procure all the new part #'s I need from RCBS. Happy Holidays all!

 

[edwardware]

. . . RCBS hand priming tools. . ., but low and behold my Lee shell holders don't seem to fit it.

You too eh? If you an RCBS shell holder, note the chamfer on the bottom, around the priming hole. You'll need to recreate it on the Lee holders. I use a carbide countersink burr, because the steel is quite hard. You can't really overdo it.

 

[WestKentucky]

<OFF TOPIC>

A few years ago my wife bought a Shark, would be 3 years in March. A month ago the brush quit working so she emailed Shark about the problem and how she could buy the part. Shark requested the serial number and date code information and promptly sent an entire new complete lower section absolutely free of charge. They did not even ask return of the old one. All of this within a few days. Can't say enough good about those guys. </OFF TOPIC>

Ron

RCBS customer service running Shark Vacuums these days?

 

[DeadEye9]

You too eh? If you an RCBS shell holder, note the chamfer on the bottom, around the priming hole. You'll need to recreate it on the Lee holders. I use a carbide countersink burr, because the steel is quite hard. You can't really overdo it.

The only carbide countersink set I have at home is like pictured above.
The starter drill bits are removable but still not sure if I'll be able to get the job done with one of those bits. Probably going to have to order a new bit set if I can't find the new shell holders I need. Problem is I've found in descriptions online "will not work with RCBS hand priming tool" but haven't seen any that specifically say the opposite so I don't want to order the exact same stuff I have that needs to be modified to work lol.

 

[Walkalong]

Cheap Aluminum Oxide Dremel attachments will cut/grind through hardened steel easily. Once past the hard layer it's even easier.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dremel-3...-General-Purpose-Grinding-Stone-952/100531940

 

[DeadEye9]

Cheap Aluminum Oxide Dremel attachments will cut/grind through hardened steel easily. Once past the hard layer it's even easier.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dremel-3...-General-Purpose-Grinding-Stone-952/100531940

Didn't think of that, I have a ton of those bits for my Dremel, I've used them on compressor housings a ton. Thanks for the idea. I think what I'm going to do is just get the one RCBS holder and mimic whatever that has that my Lees don't to make it work. The RCBS universal hand priming tool is tempting to just order that and not have to use holders at all, but I have two brand new standard hand primers here already so I'd hate to have to go that route just to experiment. Not even sure if I will end up sticking with hand priming or not once I try it.

 

[Walkalong]

If you can spin the shell holder while grinding it is easier and faster.

 

[kingmt]

Just don't get it got & lose the hardness.

 

[fguffey]

I have three different sets of RCBS shell holders, the old set does not have a bevel on the bottom of the hole, the next set has a slight bevel and the third set has the largest bevel. The third set fits my Auto Hand primer from RCBS. I called RCBS, they offered to trade shell holders one for one, I thought that was nice but it would take me less time to modify the split holder and or bevel the bottom of the shell holder I have.

F. Guffey

 

[jmorris]

I can only speak for the Lee Hand Prime (1st generation). Its shellholders are different from the shellholders used on the press.

He isn't talking about the difference between the special Lee shell holders (R) and regular ones (L).

Rather his shell holders are like the one on the top left in this photo and they won't slide down over the post for his hand primer. So he needs to bevel the bottom so they will slide all the way down like the one in the center.