.45 LC shell holder ?

[Streetstar]

Alright ---- been a while since i posted, i have been busy messing around with a new reloading setup. (RCBS rockchucker kit, Hornady brass tumbler and a few other trinkets)

I have reloaded some .223 before for prairie dog shoots, and som WBY Mag for my elk rifle, but always using a friend's equipment with his supervision (well, if you call drinking beer and sitting on an ice chest next to the loading bench supervisiong)

Anyway -- now i have my own setup and die sets for .223 and .45 LC.

After tumbling all the brass i had (not much) i started in on re-sizing and de-capping the .223's --- well little did i know that some Berdan primed junk had been thrown in with what i thought was 100% once fired Remington brass. These jewels had brass cases too, so they werent obvious --- bingo, 2 decapper pins broken before i caught on and shined a flshlight down the case. 5 cases out of 200 were like this, so it was likely just some junk i accidentally picked up.

I got through that ordeal and thought to myself, ---- ahhhh-- on to .45 LC, no way there is gonna be any weird primers in those ! I slide in the #20 shell holder specified on the front of the RCBS dieset box, and bingo ------ Case wont fit -- not even close. .45 rim is too thick. I am loading a combination of Winchester and CBC brass, so i mic'd the rim thickness for both and they are identical, so it is likely not the brass. .44 Made rim, which is slightly thinner, fits, but the holder i have acts as if it wasnt finished, as i cannot push a .44 Mag case onto the holder either. .357 fits loose and sloppy, so it seems like it might be a .41 mag shell holder

Any way --------- what the heck shell holder do some of the rest of you who load .45 use? If you all use the #20, i guess i'll go get another one and try it. If thats not the right one, please share your superior knowledge ? Currently, all equipment i have been using is RCBS but am not married to big Green if something is better


This has been quite a fun first reloading day -- i went to Sportsman's warehouse twice due to the de-capping ordeal, and i wont mention the miles i drove ---- What a Homer Simpson moment when i looked inside the case to see those 2 little holes. ------- and now this with my favorite cartridge to boot

whew

[abcollector]

Doug, #20 shell holder is correct. So you either have one that was mis-marked (a #2?) or it wasn't completely milled out. Just call up RCBS and they will replace it guaranteed.

[Chuck 100 yd]

IIRC I am using a Lee #11 shell holder. It is ment for the .44 Mag..44 Special and .444 but that one fits all of my .45 Colt brass.Though that is no help I am sure.

[JustaJeepGuy]

A Lee #11 can be had separately, and will cost less than an RCBS anything, and will fit the press, too. That's if RCBS won't replace the one you have.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Streetstar , I just double checked and the Lee #11 shell holder is a proper fit for my .45 Colt brass in Win. Rem. and Starline brands.

[J Miller]

45 Colt: Lee11, RCBS20, Lyman11, Hornady32

If your RCBS shell holder does not accept the name brand cartridge cases it's not properly made. A call to RCBS will get this resolved.

Joe

[Streetstar]

thanks everyone. These things are 4 and 5 dollar items, but so is everything else (primer pocket brushes, decapping pins, and on and on and on) - you kinda get hit for a 5 here, a 10 there, a 20 somewhere else, until your wallet is empty -- so if RCBS will replace this one, i will have a spare.

I swear, my first round of loaded ammunition will cost $1200 bucks (calculating my $600 equipment investment plus all the hours in the truck chasing different stuff, new stuff or replacing broken stuff) ---
oh, but the next 3 or 4 hundred will be cheap ---------

Its a fun hobby so far, when everything is going smooth. Loaded .300 Wby ammo is $60 a box for Wby branded stuff now though at SW and Bass Pro, so i hope my financial payback is just around the corner, as i have 200 rounds of once fired 300 brass to load up too . If it shoots a little tighter than the 2 MOA that i am used to, i will consider it icing on the cake

My wife hollers down at me sometimes wondering how much i have spent so far trying to "save money" on ammunition some people just never learn

[hartman]

Try a #4 RCBS shellholder. The #20 is correct, but sometimes the groove ahead of the rim is set back over many reloadings. I have this problem with WW brass. Fed. brass is never a problem.

Hartman

[Griff]

And then there's casting... another fun hobby, that requires a financial investment to "save money"!

[slabsides]

Adding to the info: I have a #8 RCBS shell holder that works with .45 LC very well.

[colo native]

unless you are trying to reload old bloonhead cases, they are some what different, no undercut............

[J Miller]

Right off the top of my head I cannot tell you how many .45 Colt shell holders I have.
I do know I have duplicates and maybe triplicates of the RCBS and Lymans, and maybe the Lees as well.

What I can tell you is this. Industry tolerances figure into the shell holders just as it does everything else. I have one Lyman shell holder that is tight. Certain brands of cases just will not fit. I have others that are loose on all cases. Then I have some that are a nice fit.

colo native mentioned balloon head cases. This I do know something of. "IF" the cases are not overly expanded they will usually fit in a normal shell holder. "IF" they have been fired with heavier loads they might not. So I get to pick and choose which of my collection of shell holders fits what.

That is why I mentioned in my previous post to call RCBS and let them take care of the problem. They will, they have an excellent service dept.

Joe