Armory Sponsor
Posted: 7/31/2010 12:58:32 PM EDT
| I have an RCBS rock chucker press and hand loading primer tool and my question is do I have to buy RCBS shell holders or can you buy any brand for any press? |
| All modern shell holders try to hold the same dimensions as one another. "Usually" (big word) they are within .001" different from one to the other. This doesn't always come true, but they are very very close to one another. Your press will most certainly accept them, just double check to make sure your die does't need to be adjusted slightly afterwards. |
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Don't know about Hornady holders working on either RCBS unit, never used one, but I will suggest one thing:
If you set your dies and lock them using an RCBS shell holder, using another shellholder in another session might cause you shoulder setback variance, and bullets may seat slightly different. Use what you set your dies with as you are not guaranteed shellholder height on anything else. Another example: If you buy Lee dies (that come with a Lee shellholder) and you use the Lee shellholder in the Rock Chucker to set your die, then don't use an RCBS shellholder....at least until you measure them and verify that 2 measurements are identical: top of ram to top of shellholder, and the base (that the shell rests on) to the top of shellholder. Clear as mud, right? 
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All of the shell holders pretty well work on all the presses, but they are not the same.
I have a few that won't work in my RCBS hand priming tool, but they all work in my Rockchucker and LEE hand press. The shell holders that won't fit the priming tool have a gap too small to fit over the plastic guide. The top flange is not the same thickness from shell holder to shell holder, and not just between brands but amongst the same brand. I've measured way more than the 0.001 dimension mentioned above. |
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