?

Yes and no. They are supposed to be and in general you can use say a Redding shellholder in a RCBS press and vice versa.

There are some small differences that show up in other tools like the RCBS Hand Priming tools that use regular shell holders. In these even the older RCBS Shell holders won't work!

So if you are just using them in a press they usually work just fine. Other tools that use shellholders maybe, maybe not......................DJ

Some, if not all, of the Herter's presses used proprietary shell holders. Adapters for using standard shellholders were/are available.

In some of the early models of presses, the shell holder was an integral part of the press ram. To change the shell holder in those, you had to buy, install, and use a whole new ram. Pacific is one such brand, the early models of which which come to mind.

Your best bet would be to mic the critical dimensions as Redding shell holders vary drastically from one another.

RCBS shell holders on the other hand are very consistent.

All current shell holders, including those from as far as 40-50 or more years past, have cut the critical dimenisions accepted by SAAIMI, as they must be for safety when using dies from other makers. That means the cut-out for the shell head is as nearly the same in depth and shape as possible, within mormal manufactoring tolerances.

The tolerances of manufactoring is a range, plus or minus so much off a stated measurement. I wonder, are RCBS shell holders held more closely to the small side or the large side of the ranges?

THe requirements for how a shell holder fits into the press rams is less critical, and less standardised than the cut-out so small variations in the lower portions are more likely. Some of those differences can show up with how easily they fit into some priming tools and rams, but it's no longer deliberate as it was in the distant past. The user can often grind off any hinderances as he needs.

The critical depth of a shell holder is normally one eight inch, .125". Redding makes a special set of shell holders that are shaved in one or two thousants of an inch steps around that measurement so people who can't set their sizing dies correctly can simply do it by rote. We may find a few of the shaved ones in the used tool market but not individually in a shop.

As far as being compatible with the press, yes, except for certain proprietary makes like Herter's.

However, the specs, while perhaps more standardized now, have varied considerably among manufacturers as to the thickness of the shellholder lips, and therefore the extent to which the case is limited in entering the die.

Lips that are too thick may prevent you from fully resizing a case, while lips that are too thin may result (if set to bump the die bottom) in pushing the case shoulders back too far. I have had die/shellholder combinations like the former, which forced me to grind some thickness off of the top of the shellholder in order to fully resize the case. Circumstances like the latter will result in excessive headspace and greatly overworking your brass.

All that being said, I pay no attention to the manufacturer of either the die or the shellholder -- each combination must be set appropriately for each gun's chamber, anyway, so "brand" compatibility is somewhat meaningless.

Stonecreek hit it just right. Simply setting a die to touch the shellholder will not always or even sometimes give you the corectly full length sized case for your rifle. I have seen many cases ruined by doing this.

Absolutely not. On the Hollywood senior some shell holders will allow passage of the primer cup and some will not. Some will restrict vertcal travel so the primers are not allowed to be fully seated.RCBS always work, not so some others. roger

Generally speaking, I have found if you stay with the same brand of shell holder and brand of dies you will usually be OK, especially if they are of the same vintage. Here lately, I have noticed that new RCBS dies are varying slightly compared to my older dies. I suspect the new ones are made over-seas ie. China. Who knows?

Stonecreek wrote:

quote:

As far as being compatible with the press, yes, except for certain proprietary makes like Herter's.

However, the specs, while perhaps more standardized now, have varied considerably among manufacturers as to the thickness of the shellholder lips, and therefore the extent to which the case is limited in entering the die.

Those are my experiences exactly. In fact, I dedicate a specific shellholder to a particular die set and keep things that way to aid in consistency. Even shellholders of the same brand will vary somewhat from one to another, and if you are a stickler for accuracy, things like that need to be taken into consideration.

The shellholder should be the same make as the dies you use them with, as some are "thicker" than others. They are supposed to be matched to the die sizing chamber...