Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mix n' matching dies and shell holders

I will be reloading for an AR15 in 6.5Grendel. Got two 100ct bags of Alexander Arms/Lapua brass. I have Hornady dies already and a RCBS shell holder for the 6.5 grendel.

Do I need the Hornady shell holder? It's only $5. Is the tolerance off when using one brand of dies with another brand of shell holders? I have mix n' match dies/shell holders in the past when reloading cheap commercial WW, RP brass, but now I'll be using high $$$ Lapua brass...

In over 60 years of reloading it has never once entered my mind that the shell holder and die should be by the same manufacturer. Never once. As a result I have shellholders from companies no longer in business that I use with current dies. Have never had a problem that I KNOW of.

Not adverse to mixing parts either, you would be surprised at what mix's and matches.

...and a lathe helps.

I'm with zim, it's never crossed my mind to try and keep shellholder and die the same brand. If you set up your dies correctly the shellholder should never touch the die anyway with most dies.

Agree with Crow hunter and Zim

Never even thought about using the same brand of shell holder.

Just adjust your dies to the shell holder.

Been doing it this way for over 40 years.

Virgil B.

The shellholder you have will work fine.


Travis

I use shell holders from RCBS,Hornaday,LEE and Redding and never noticed a difference.

I would say you are good to go.

I've been thinking about going with the competition shell holders from Redding in the sizes I load most... .223, .308, belted mag, and WSM... like everyone else, I never gave any thought to them not working with my Forster, RCBS, or Hornady dies.

Same here, never gave it a thought. Lee, RCBS, Lyman, Redding, Herters etc never have had any issues.

As has been said, you'll be fine with any brand or make of shellholder that is cartridge appropriate.

However, if you happen to have several different brand shellholders for say, an '06, I would always choose to use that same brand shellholder that you worked your 'final' load up with for that particular load/rifle/cartridge. Whether or not there are any real notable differences at all between brand tolerances, always try to remain as consistent as possible 'cuz accuracy is derived from such practices.

Good luck......

Regardless of what dies or combinations you use, you need to know how to set them up properly.

The various manufacturers of guns, ammo, and loading equipment do a darned good job of managing tolerances so that things work OK together - usually. However, even if all the loading gear is from the same manufacturer, sometimes the tolerances are such that things just don't work quite right.

Sometimes you can make it work out yourself, or with the help of somebody who has the equipment and know-how to machine metal, or the manufacturer.

Paul

There's where you really wasted your money.

Most of my shell holders are RCBS or Lee. A while back I printed out a seven-page chart that lists the shell holder number for just about every cartridge that you can imagine. It cross references Lee, RCBS, Lyman and Hornady numbers. Here it is:

www.handloads.com/misc/shellholders.asp

I keep a full set of LEE handy just in case, but generally use RCBS or Redding, but don't hold to that. The lee are in case I buy something I cant' find the right holder for. Even then things like 50 beowulf or such can bite ya.

I even mix one type of size die with another seater due to each having something I wanted but not both....

Thank you all for your inputs. I bought the Hornady shell holder just to have it in case I misplaced the other brands. You can never have too many!