Reloading Shotgun Shells

[Jaxshooter]

I have owned and used them all over the last 20 years. Mec 9000 hydraulic, Dillon, 336, PW and SSpolar.

If money is no object get the Spolar. If you are on a budget get a PW with a shell feeder.

[Tom Freeman]

I just got my Spolar (with Hydraulic) a couple weeks ago. Man that thing is nice. And I thought my Dillon was nice...

Kinda like going from a Rockchucker to a 1050.

With shot prices going crazy, I am considering getting a shot maker. I have access to all the lead I want for .10 a pound or less. For practice, who cares if the shot is kinda soft or out of round. I just want the steel to fall.

[sargenv]

I'd not run into the cold weather problem with the claybuster wads, but then I don't usually shoot clays in cold weather. I'm usually shooting live game, sometimes with handloads and other times lately with factory steel since it's gotten so much better in recent years. I had been loading steel utilizing Ballistic Products specialty wads, but lately the Kent shells are a bit faster than what I can load and very effective and competitively priced.

I do my steel loading on a MEC Sizemaster, competition shells for 3 gunning and skeet are done on a Mec Grabber progressive.

Vince

[straightshooter1]

Glad someone reactivated this thread. Still trying to decide on the loader for me. In 28 gauge, cheap shells don't exist.

I dislike my MEC 3000 in 12 gauge because if anything goes amiss, it will drop powder and/or shot. What a mess. Yeah, I know, tip the bar back, but....

I am still considering the SL900, but also a P-W. Does the P-W have the feature that it will not drop powder or shot if no case is present? If so, which model(s) have that?

Thanks,

Bob

[Irishlad]

All progressives, to my knowledge, must have that feature.

It's only needed when you start and finish, unless your loading one shell at a time.

Edited December 18, 2006 by Irishlad

[straightshooter1]

I would have thought that also, but, sadly, my MEC, which is a fast progressive does not and I drop powder and shot frequently (a common complaint about MECs).

[EricW]

What are the complaints with the SL-900? I've heard rumblings about it before....

[straightshooter1]

EricW-there are, I think, 3 threads on this forum about the SL900. I just did a search with SL900 and found them that way. This thread did not show up in that search, though.

There seems to be only two real opinions-either it's the greatest reloader for shotshells ever invented by man or it is the worst piece of trash ever foisted on the public by that infamous Dillon guy.

Okay, I'm exagerating a bit-all right, a lot!

BE, who I would think has a lot of insight into it, said, in one thread, that it works best in 12 gauge, worst in 28 and that they (Dillon) couldn't get it to work at all in 410 so there isn't one in that bore.

Another poster talked about a failure of 1 in 15 or 1 in 20 b/c of the crimp. I don't recall if he was talking about the 12 gauge or not, but that seems pretty high to me.

My interest is in the 28 gauge, so I am a bit concerned. Also, IIRC, BE said the loader was not for the mechanically challenged (paraphrasing here) which, I admit, I am. I can do almost anything with the 550, having had one for so long, but otherwise....

Uhhhh, let's see now, it's righty tighty and lefty loosey isn't it?

Bob

Edited December 18, 2006 by straightshooter1

[Irishlad]

28 takes a little more "care/time" in reloading than a 12. Probably true for any loading machine since everything is "smaller", i.e. shot bridging, wad entry, etc. Crimps "vary" more than 12 gauge.

The MEC has two "quirks", one of which you are experiencing. There is an adjustment to "prevent" the inadvertent shot/powder drop. It's in the manual or you can call MEC, but you basically bend down the tab where the control arm runs through to activate the "catch" lever. But, it's not precise and can wear in time, a lot of shells. The "surefire" way is to adjust so it works, or not, and hold the lever up with your right hand while cycling the machine with your left hand. If you load 100 shells, you have to do this 4 times, I believe.

Sounds "rinky dink", but it's "small potato stuff".

Regardless of what machine you buy, I'd recommend the AA hull, adjust the machine for it and your "load", then never touch it after that.

Good luck.

[straightshooter1]

Irishlad, thanks for the tips. I do use AAs and never have one that the crimp is bad or any other problem. Where I get into trouble is when the primer fails to drop, I don't notice it, the powder runs through the big hole, I have to use the shop vac, then there's no shell under the shot, 8s allllllll over the place, you know the drill, right?

Grrrrrrr!

Bob

[LPatterson]

After being in the military for 20+ years money is more important than time. I use a MEC sizemaster for 12 Ga, a MEC 600Jr for 20-28 & a separate MEC 600Jr for 410. The only problems I have had is when I have had to change wads because the ones I was using were no longer available. I use Remington Gun Club hulls in the 12 & 20 and Remington STS in the 28 & 410. At the present time I have over 1000 hulls loaded in each gauge for next years practice. For tournaments I use new Reminton shells since I had some whizzers in 410.

Edited December 18, 2006 by LPatterson

[Irishlad]

straightshooter1,

Been there and done that! HA! Shouldn't happen much though. I have both the old style primer feed, very reliable for me with Winchester primers anyway, and the new style one...pretty slick. Eliminates the chain if you haven't seen one and holds 200 primers.

Looks like a better design to me...time will tell.

LPatterson,

410's are a tough gauge to load...no question.

I have a tough time getting "good looking" crimps with the 28 STS, not so with AA. Now, they work fine, just a lot of them are "crunched up". Matter of "pride", not function.

Hard to kill the STS 12 gauge. Tough shell.

In my younger years, I'd "pump" out 200-250 12 gauge shells an hour on a 600 JR. Of course, as I get older, the "shell count" per hour gets higher.

[Tom Freeman]

What are the complaints with the SL-900? I've heard rumblings about it before....

I had a Dillon for about three years before getting my Spolar. I loaded 12, 20 and 28 on it.

Things I dont like.

The casefeeder does not quite hold 100 rounds of 12. I just have to remember to add a handfull hulls after 50 or so. Not a huge deal. Holds plenty of 20 and 28. I always add hulls, powder and primers at the 100 mark.

The casefeeder wont feed squished hulls. Not a huge deal if you just take a little time and go through your hulls or shoot an O/U.

The hull is not supported during the loading process. Too much crimp and you will get buckled hulls. I killed a lot of 28s learning that. I also cried.

Loading the 20 and 28 you have to go slower to make sure the wad guide fingers get in the case. Not a huge deal. More operator error than machine error.

Not avail in 410, yet.

What I like.

If no wad is inserted, no shot is thrown. Huge plus.

If no hull is there, no shot is thrown. Huge plus.

If no hull is there, no powder is thrown. Huge plus.

No powder or shot bushings. Huge plus. Bigger than huge.

Changing gauges takes maybe 10 minutes.

25 pounds of shot in the hopper. And its about the size of a coffee can. No struggling to get the shot in a hole the size of a quarter. Huge plus.

Primer tray holds 200 primers and primer feed works almost 100%. Just keep an eye on it.

The powder measure and shot measure are part of the toolhead. All your settings stay with the toolhead. Just recheck them and off to the races.

I drop off my machines at the factory once a year for a checkup. They clean and adjust them, fix worn or broken stuff and ship them back to me on their dime. Two 1050s and two 550s.

Whats the funniest to me is when people say they are too expensive. The same people that don’t blink at $100 hockey or football tickets, buying rounds for the whole bar, think Glenfiddich is on the cheap side of single malt, ect.

My Spolar turns out ammo a little faster but they look better and seem to feed better. Cant say the ammo is 2 times ($$$ Spolar vs Dillon) better, but the hydraulic option is just too nice. Now to mount it on my 1050s...

[Hank Ellis]

Where I get into trouble is when the primer fails to drop, I don't notice it, the powder runs through the big hole, I have to use the shop vac, then there's no shell under the shot, 8s allllllll over the place, you know the drill, right?

Grab a half dozen hulls. Don't matter what kind. Carefully cut the hulls to just over half it's fired length. These stubby hulls are now your dummy hulls. Place them in the powder and shot drops any time you operate the handle without a live hull in the station.

In your example, remove the unprimed but powder dropped hull. Clean up the mess. Place a dummy hull in station 2, fresh hull in station 1, and continue loading.

Pick up a copy of "MEC Reloading Secrets" from ExpertReloader.com. You can fumble your way through and get the press set up and running but the tips in the book will shorten the time frame considerably and also lessen the frustration factor.

[straightshooter1]

Hank-thanks for those tips, too. Actually, I just bought that from him on Ebay. Haven't had time to get through it. I will keep the MEC for 12s, but I just gotta get something less maddening for the 28s.

Bob