Thread: tight closing the bolt

Originally Posted by zimmer

Ah, the mystic of shell holders.
It's not difficult to measure shell holders to determine variation from the industry standard of 0.125.
One example I have is 2 RCBS #3 shell holders. One very old, one newish. They both measure different so would give different results. The old #3 has been stored away.
I used to use the Redding Comp set for a while but as they only covered the 308 family, and I didn't wish to buy several sets I instead went to Skip Shims. They come in a set of about 8 IIRC so you can build combinations. They go on your die up against the die locking nut. Adjustments can be made in 1 thou steps.
I didn't like the Redding Comp in the end as I think their design should have the middle shell holder at 0.125 and the the others either side getting smaller and bigger.
I measured the Redding Comp ones at 3 points. They are also not true 2 thou steps, close though.
Mine are quite old so more recent ones may be better.
Attachment 231697

Greetings @zimmer,
That got my attention so out to the shed. I measure in mm but with a little conversion back and forth two of my shell holders measure 0.125" and the other three measure 0.124". Interestingly only one of my rifles requires the standard shell holder, a Remington VSSF in .223 using a RCBS shell holder (0.124") and CH dies. All of the others that get full length sized need the plus shell holders. The plus 0.010" shell holder is is just enough in my T3 6.5x55.
Regards Grandpamac.