Reloading Shot shells for 3gun

[KevinAirAssault]

I would like to get a cheap (single stage?) press to reload buckshot and slug rounds for 3gun matches. I am leaning towards some kind of single stage due to the low volume amount i will be loading. What are your guys thoughts?

Who reloads on a single stage and what is a good cheap press to load buck and slugs?

[goat68]

If you're not reloading shotgun now, then the investment to start reloading for slugs and buck is not worth it. Or make sure you're reloading for the right reason. If you are trying to make a specialty slug load like a shorty, imrove accuracy for hunting or something weird, then dive right in. If you think it will save you money, then forget about it.

I have a MEC 650 which is a multi station manual advanced shot shell reloader. The stations are somthing like: deprime, set primer and drop powder, insert wad and drop shot, fold crimp start, fold crimp close, fold crimp seal, taper crimp.

For buck, you would run it till you had powder in, then take the shells out then hand place your wads and shot before putting the shells back to be crimped.

For slugs you would need to start with brand new hulls through the powder drop then set them aside so you could do the rolled crimp on the drill press with the roll crimp bits. If you don't go with new hulls, you will need to get a resizer as most rolled crimp hulls are high brass which will not chamber if you don't resize. Low brass normally be chambered without resizing.

Another thing is powder charge is volumetric and you have little cups called bushings that measure out the powder or you can buy an after market dial measure.

You will end up experimenting with different powders, primers, hulls, wads, and slugs. Better get a good manual too.

I tried loading buck and I should have saved the time and money by just buying a case of flight control.

[Guest]

I have a MEC Sizemaster which is one of the cheaper shotshell presses, and it makes some good shotshells. I've used it for specialty rounds but never slugs or buck...did go through a spell of making 2 1/2" shells just so I could get an extra 1 or 2 rounds in the gun. It was a hassle as it required trimming wads, trimming the cases, and roll crimping with an overshot card, but the press had plenty of adjustment and worked fine for it's part of the process.

Not sure I'd recommend getting into it from scratch unless you are sitting on a pallet of lead, or can get the equipment free, or just want to do it for the enjoyment of rolling-your-own shotshells. Hardly worth it these days from a cost stand point.

[pjb45]

So there is a guy who posts here who started loading shotgun shells with a MEC. He picked up a Dillon, sold his MEC.

Just saying, most shotgun reloaders love MEC, etc. That is all they know. My dad was one, every had a MEC.

It seems to me, those who have experience with the Dillon 650 adapt very easily to the 900.

[Jaxshooter]

I have loaded on the Dillon , MEC and Poness-Warren shotshell presses. If you are looking for a press comparable to the Dillon metallic cartridge presses get a MEC Grabber. If you want something comparable to the 1050 get a Poness-Warren.

[warpspeed]

MEC makes some very nice stuff. I have loaded on them as well as the Ponsness Warren line of presses. Properly adjusted, they all make nice reloads.

Currently I have a Dillon SL900 as my high volume press but it is a PITA for loading buck and slugs on. It can be done but uhhhggggg. I have a Hollywood that I can use too but just haven't.

Anyway, the MEC Sizemaster is the one you want. You definitely want to resize the base. You can also go with a MEC 600 jr but find a MEC Supersizer to resize the base.

[Tom Freeman]

Loading slug and buck is a huge pain. For me time is money.

The Dillon SL900 is a great machine if you are *only* doing 12 gauge.

[DyNo!]

We don't shoot enough slugs in 3-gun to justify reloading them (unless you already do like other posters said).

[oak hill]

Just buy factory ammo for your shotgun, its simply not worth the effort for the little cost savings

[Steve RA]

I'd vote for that approach.

[KevinAirAssault]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I understand that if i buy one of the presses like the MEC or dillon that it wont be cost effective. I was hoping someone could point me in the direction of a single stage press (like the RCBS or lee ones but for shotguns rather then rifle/pistol). I figure if i have a very simple single stage then i might be able to make it worthwhile. Any chance of that? Do they even make a cheap single stage shotgun press?

The cheapest press i could find was the lee load it all. Anyone have any experience with it?

[Chills1994]

What you'll find is that the "brass" at the bottom of shotgun shells will sometimes swell upon firing. So you will need, probably, either a press with a built in collet sizer or a I think they make a separate collet sizer.

Over/unders you csn get away without resizing the brass.

But for semi-auto's that could make them hiccup.

Keep looking on Craig's List in your area. I scored a used MEC9000G in 12 gauge a couple weeks ago. Came with 4 to 6 bags of wads, all for $260. Retail now I think they are around $500.

Another press worth searching for is a Hornady 366. They were originally built by Pacific. Also, try Texan reloaders.

[goat68]

RCBS Mini Grand reloader $128

5 lbs of buck (makes maybe 60 rounds)$23 or mold and handles for casting about 90

1 lb powder (about 200 rounds) $20

Primers $3 per 100

Wads maybe $40 for gas seal, cork, and felt

25-1 oz slugs $16 or mold and handle for casting about $90

Lead pot $60

lead pour ladel $5

Loading Book $25

Loading bench block $10 to $20

Resizer $90 or buy new hulls $14 per 100

Hull Vise $50

Roll crimp dies $20

Drill press to make roll crimp

Load some, try some, load more, try more.

If you're gonna load for other shotgun sports then get a better relaoader like a MEC, Hornady, Dillion, or a Posness Warren.

Federal Flight Control is $6 a box of 5 and a lot of matches don't allow buck so you'll be stuck with your releoads. You could sell any flight control surplus to someone easlily. Not too many matches allow buck because they tear up steel.

Remington reduced recoil is $5 a box of 5 at Able's. You have to make a lot of slugs to recoup the cost over store bought.

If you still don't want to buy them, then have fun reloading. Just make sure you use only the components that a good manual tells you too or you may end up with a blown up shotgun.

[Alaskapopo]

RCBS Mini Grand reloader $128

5 lbs of buck (makes maybe 60 rounds)$23 or mold and handles for casting about 90

1 lb powder (about 200 rounds) $20

Primers $3 per 100

Wads maybe $40 for gas seal, cork, and felt

25-1 oz slugs $16 or mold and handle for casting about $90

Lead pot $60

lead pour ladel $5

Loading Book $25

Loading bench block $10 to $20

Resizer $90 or buy new hulls $14 per 100

Hull Vise $50

Roll crimp dies $20

Drill press to make roll crimp

Load some, try some, load more, try more.

If you're gonna load for other shotgun sports then get a better relaoader like a MEC, Hornady, Dillion, or a Posness Warren.

Federal Flight Control is $6 a box of 5 and a lot of matches don't allow buck so you'll be stuck with your releoads. You could sell any flight control surplus to someone easlily. Not too many matches allow buck because they tear up steel.

Remington reduced recoil is $5 a box of 5 at Able's. You have to make a lot of slugs to recoup the cost over store bought.

If you still don't want to buy them, then have fun reloading. Just make sure you use only the components that a good manual tells you too or you may end up with a blown up shotgun.

Buck does not tear up steel any more than pistol bullets would. There is no good reason not to allow buck at matches that I am aware of.

Pat

[Trevor Mitchell]

Value for money, i dont think you can go past the Mec 600. It is a great , no nonsense press that is very easy to set up and use. I have loaded 10s of 1000s of cartridges with mine, working flawlessly thru my 1187 Rem(before they were banned). The only drawback with the press, and this is a problem with other presses to a certain extent, is any shot over BB, will hang up sometimes in the drop tube. I keep a screwdriver handy. When i see a case not full, a light tap on drop tube releases them. The last crimping station has very good adjustment, to slightly taper the top of cartridge, for reliable semi-auto feeding .

[Alaskapopo]

Value for money, i dont think you can go past the Mec 600. It is a great , no nonsense press that is very easy to set up and use. I have loaded 10s of 1000s of cartridges with mine, working flawlessly thru my 1187 Rem(before they were banned). The only drawback with the press, and this is a problem with other presses to a certain extent, is any shot over BB, will hang up sometimes in the drop tube. I keep a screwdriver handy. When i see a case not full, a light tap on drop tube releases them. The last crimping station has very good adjustment, to slightly taper the top of cartridge, for reliable semi-auto feeding .

Where was the 1187 banned?

Pat

[Steve RA]

Maybe he meant before hand loads were banned, either way, I'd like to know also.

[gunther]

If you just want to save $$$$ you can make wax slugs out of bird shot, or dump out the bird shot and replace it with buckshot or lead slugs. There is a ton of vids on YouTube even how to reload shotgun shells with out a press.

[Mike Morcillo]

Been reloading 12ga 7-1/2 shells for 15 years. My favorite load is 1oz of 71/2 shot, 17.6 grains of Clays in a AA hull. Been using once fired hull during big matches, and multi-fired at practice events. Lowered the cost by using either reclaimed or non-commercial shot. You can tailor your shot size in different color/maker of hull. All loaded on a used MEC jr. Haven't figured the cost, though.

[frankge]

MEC 9000 is the Dillion 1050 of Shotgun Presses. I loaded my butt off when I shot trap league. Reloading shotshell saves you almost nothing if you only need Wally World federals. If you want to make 1oz ot 7/8's for trap it makes a lot more sense. I load reclaimed shot so that saves a lot - cost of shot is ridiculous. One advantage is I can choose my powder which is Alliant e3, no other keeps the gun as clean and functioning during a long match. I do save a ton casting and loading my own slugs though.

[jmorris]

While I have at least one of all the Dillon metallic presses I have two Hornady (pacific) 366 presses, a Mec jr and an old RCBS for shotgun. The 366's are what I use most.

[perrysho]

For What It's Worth !

Unless you have nothing but time and a fat WALLET, Trying to load for 3-gun is looking up a dead horse.

I have a Hornady 366 and 2 single stage presses and a resizer.

Em folks that sell supplies have really got greedy, shot-$49 a bag primers $40 per K wads $18 per 500 = HasMet.

Here, don't know about other areas, we are getting close to $100 to shot a 3-gun. Now thats gasoline, food, drinks, entry fees, shot shells, slugs, OO, Rifle ammo .223, and .40 S&W.

Not much use pissing and moaning about a few dollars for shot shell.

A local shop here buys shot shells by the skid, I have been stocking up on shells and supplies.

Hard to predict what's going to happen now.

With the best goverment that MONEY will BUY.

Perry

[Boxer1]

Sounds like a mec Sizemaster is your best bet. Affordable and well built.

[Reinz]

FWIW - you do NOT have to roll crimp and buy new hulls to load slugs. A flold crimp works just fine. You just have to learn how to trim you wads. Don't make it any harder than you have to..

[anachronism]

LEEs Loadall does work, but I wasn't happy with it's crimping, or it's priming set up. You could also get an el Cheapo LEE slug mould and cast your own slugs from scrap lead simply enough. You'd have under $100.00 in the two, but should remember that this is the cheapest stuff you'll find, and that the press itself isn't that great. I had one and it got loose very quickly. A good used 155 Hornady would be a better bet in my book, along with practically any good used MEC.