Lee Precision Hand Priming Tool Shell Holders

S

shootist1873

Member
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Location
Alberta
Recently, I bought a .357 revolver and I'm picking up supplies for it. Got dies, a bullet mold, some small pistol primers, already have lots of powder. The shell holder for the press came with the Lee dies. So, I went looking for a priming tool shell holder at Cabela's. They don't stock it. None stocked at Wholesale Sports either (though it was listed on-line).
It seems that that they sell mostly rifle reloading stuff now. Couldn't find brass either, though lots of .38 Special brass.
I'll be in Red Deer for the Gun Show and I will check there, and at the local shops. It's a small and cheap item, so it hardly seems worth ordering by mail.

Oddly Cabela's had a bunch of .30 carbine brass though. (?)

Any thoughts?
 
Higginson Powders in Hawkesbury, ON are a Lee Distributor, they have almost everything that Lee currently makes (excepting back-orders, of course) and their shipping rates are very reasonable.
They list:
Shell Holders (Hand priming) $4.00
AP Shell Holder Set (11) $26.00

Google them, I'm sure they'll be able to help...
 
shootist1873 said:
Recently, I bought a .357 revolver and I'm picking up supplies for it. Got dies, a bullet mold, some small pistol primers, already have lots of powder. The shell holder for the press came with the Lee dies. So, I went looking for a priming tool shell holder at Cabela's. They don't stock it. None stocked at Wholesale Sports either (though it was listed on-line).
It seems that that they sell mostly rifle reloading stuff now. Couldn't find brass either, though lots of .38 Special brass.
I'll be in Red Deer for the Gun Show and I will check there, and at the local shops. It's a small and cheap item, so it hardly seems worth ordering by mail.

Oddly Cabela's had a bunch of .30 carbine brass though. (?)

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

My thought on shell holders has always been "Why did Lee make their priming tools take a special set of shell holders?" I guess it's to save you from having to remove the holder from your press, but having to keep track of extra small parts seems to me to be a pain. I know I would lose the damn things in my shop :)

For your 357 Mag shell holder, I think I would order what you need from Higginson Powders. Add some brass or bullets or something else to make the order worthwhile. I recommend Higginson for Lee stuff as they always seem to have everything from Lee in stock.

Another alternative might be to consider priming on the press with something like the Lee Ram Prime. The Ram Prime uses the shell holders from the die set.

I use an RCBS hand priming tool most of the time as I find I can make the Lee press shell holders fit in the RCBS tool. There are a few that won't fit, though -- for those I use the Ram Prime. I also have a CH4D shell holder for 32 WSL that won't fit in the RCBS tool -- I use that with the Ram Prime as well.

I sort of like the Ram Prime, even though it means you have to handle the primers more. The seating feel through the press is pretty good.
 
K-C said:
Higginson Powders in Hawkesbury, ON are a Lee Distributor, they have almost everything that Lee currently makes (excepting back-orders, of course) and their shipping rates are very reasonable.
They list:
Shell Holders (Hand priming) $4.00
AP Shell Holder Set (11) $26.00

Google them, I'm sure they'll be able to help...
Click to expand...

For 357/38spl, you need a #1 shell holder, and it comes in the 11 pack.
 
Thanks for the replies. I only need the #1 shell holder, because I have all of the others that I will probably ever need. So, the 11 pack is out.
Other priming methods are not for me. The hand tool or Lee bench tool works best for me.
Rusty wood may be the best answer if I need to mail order brass as well, because he is the new Lee Western Distributor. Canada Post shipping seems to begin at $15.00 and rise only a little as you add more items. We will see how it goes in Red Deer. I also need some of that Lee Liquid Alox for tumble lubing bullets from my new mold. Brass, Alox, and the shell holder. Enough to make the shipping worthwhile, I think.
 
I bought both set's of LEE shellholder's when I was 18. Just in case I ever needed an oddball.32 year's later those set's have helped out both myself and shooter's I know
 
If you can find another press shell holder , they can be easily cut to fit if you know anyone with a lathe . The bottom of the shell holder needs to be cut off and sometimes the center hole opened up a few thou. to clear the primer ram . Had to do it a couple times when I couldn't find what I needed . Probaly not a hand tool job since the holders I've done were pretty hard steel .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom