Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Shell-holder interchangeability?

For years I had assumed that shell-holders for bench-mounted, 7/8x14 reloading presses were industry-standard interchangeable(and I'm not talking about the old style kind which required changing the entire ram).

I recently acquired a Lee Hand Press and discovered that the Lyman shell-holders I've had since the 70s would not fit. Is this just an oddity of the Lee hand press, or of 70s era Lyman shell-holders? Or both? Or are shell-holders for loading presses not as standardized as I had thought?

Lee has always been 'different'. Lyman and most of the others are interchangeable.

I used a Lee Hand Press excusively through the late eighties, early ninetys. It used the same shell holders as my RCBS and Lee bench press.

The Lee Auto-prime uses a unique shell holder.

My Lee presses accept my Lyman shellholder(s) without issue.

I do wonder about other dimensions of shellholders from brand to brand, though.

Another difference is an RCBS hand primer won't accept Lee shell holders. The taper underneath is slightly different.

That RCBS hand primer won't take Lyman shell holders either, they don't have a flare at all like the RCBS ones do. That flare is built into the plastic part that you switch for large/small primers.

But either one works just fine in my Lyman Crusher press.

Dale

Update: I purchased a new RCBS shell-holder. It fits into my Lee Hand press, but very tightly, requiring a certain amount of force to get it in. I resisted the urge to buy a new Lyman shell-holder to see if current production specimens have different dimensions than '70s production.