Universal shell holders?

[Idempotent]

I just bought a used Lyman All-American Turret Press. My question is, are the shell holders universal, or do I specifically have to look for Lyman shell holders? I know that it uses universal dies at least.

 

[Walkalong]

The shell holders are universal as well, except for the ones that work in the Lee hand primer.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

X2 on walkalong's advice. I will add that the Lyman shell holder set looks good but that other holders are built closer to tolerance and fit better. RCBS is one brand that I used.

 

[Jim Watson]

I believe the All American takes its own shellholders, which Lyman calls J type.
They make an adapter for current t-slot shellholders which Lyman calls X type.
If you want to prime on the press, you will also need a new priming punch.
Not expensive, see at the bottom of:
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/presses-and-kits/LyC_RPK_Accessories.php

 

[Idempotent]

Thanks Jim, that's the kind of info I was looking for. I think I'm going to be doing hand priming (at least for my precision rifle cartridges), so I thankfully won't need to worry about the priming punch for now.

Luckily I got the All American at a steal, so even adding in the cost of this adapter, it's a great deal.

 

[ranger335v]

"other holders are built closer to tolerance and fit better. RCBS is one brand that I used."

Shell holders (and dies) are all held to the same SAAMI tolerances. And that's a dimensional range, not a specific point that the maker's try to target. Anything within the tolerance range is fully in tolerance so thoughts of who makes "tighter" tolerance shell holders (or dies) means nothing. I have used all brands of shell holders and dies for a very long time and find no predictable tolerance differences at all.

Most of the problems people have with interchanging shell holders is the way an occasional ram is cut, not the shell holders, per se.

 

[Idempotent]

Now I'm waffling on the priming tool. I know I don't want the kind that only takes the primers loaded into strips (not flexible enough / inflated price of consumables). So what are the pros and cons of, say, the hand-held universal RCBS, the normal hand-held RCBS, and the bench-mount RCBS?

From a purely theoretical standpoint it seems like the bench-mount would be the easiest to use; just slap a shell and primer in there and press down. If this is not the case (like say if the primer feed on the hand-held units makes them faster), do let me know, and that's what I'll end up getting.

 

[Walkalong]

I've used a RCBS hand primer that uses standard shell holders for years and really like it.

I did not know about the J & X deal with Lyman

 

[rcmodel]

+1 for the RCBS standard priming tool. (Not the APS strip one.)
I keep a Lee shell holder assortment in the box with the priming tool and always have what I need.

I also believe the RCBS Universal would be most excellent but I haven't tried it.

I can't find a good excuse to replace my 35 year old standard RCBS one.

rc

 

[loadedround]

Jim watson is 100% correct. The All American press uses a "J" type shell holder, the same as the Tru-Line Jr press, and the standard RCBS shell holders will not work in either press. However the good news is that Lyman sells an adapter to convert the press to the RCBS shell holders. I have owned and operated both presses and speak from experience.