New To Me Old MEC 650 Progressive 12GA. First Foray, Help!!!!!

Ok. Not sure if this was a good deal or not but I couldn't pass up the chance for the low low price of FREE! Anyone have any experience with these at all and could help me understand what the hell I'm looking at or SHOULD BE looking at? Always wanted to reload 12ga, maybe this is my chance. Other than making wax slugs I have basically no idea what I'm getting in to yet.

Now, for the pictures....
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I reloaded tons of shot shells on mec reloaders. When I was a young lad most kids were riding bikes and playing ball.
I was shackled to a reloading bench by my father to produce hundreds of shot shells for trap shooting. Talk aboutchild labor.

Reloading trap and skeet shells hasn't been Bert cost effective for awhile. Think reloading for 9 mm. It is fun and cool. Good luck

https://www.mecoutdoors.com/Content/documents/650.pdf

So after messing with it a bit it appears to be missing the crimp starter on station #4 and the priming tool on station #2. May be missing some powder bushings for the charge bars too? Haven't looked into that yet.

Everything else seems to function as it should as far as I can tell. The charge bar moves like it should after attaching the connecting rod on the right side and everything goes up and down and round and round haha.

You may or may not prefer a MultiScale Universal Charge bar over individual powder bushings.

I've got a MEC SizeMaster. At least for 12ga, reloading doesn't seem to be economical for high volume stuff like clay busting. However, having a press is nice for the loadings you won't commonly find (like bismuth), or for uncommon gauges (like 10ga).

Lyman's manual is pretty thorough.

I was thinking being able to load slightly hotter target loads would be nice more than anything for running in my semi autos. I saw those universal charge bars, I'll look into that for sure. At least I dont have to buy hulls or shot cups so there's that at least as far as cost.

So I'm looking at this charge bar...
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...0-grabber-9000

This crimp starting tool...
https://www.ebay.com/p/MEC-Spindex-C...d=261922997642

And this primer seating assembly...
https://www.ebay.com/p/MEC-650-Prime...a12/1900580385

Any objections?

Looks good to me, but I haven't used my Mec in about 5 years. I didn't see any hull sin the pictures you posted. Make sure you get compatible hulls to go with the shot cups you have.

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Originally Posted by OldSchoolRanger

Looks good to me, but I haven't used my Mec in about 5 years. I didn't see any hull sin the pictures you posted. Make sure you get compatible hulls to go with the shot cups you have.

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I've got about 1,500 hulls of all kinds saved up over the years in anticipation of getting a reloader set up. I'm sure I'll have to sort through them all and see what I actually have that's usable. Can't wait to get production underway but I think it's going to wait until after the Central PA group shoot. Just have too many things going on this month and I want to read through that Lyman book too.

All load data is specific as to powder shell wad and shot. It’s not a mix and match deal. I only reloaded AA for trap. Hunting loads I bought. I did buy the slug mold and roll crimp and made up some slugs. I knew a trap shooter who had a shot casting setup. It had a very little hole that lead would drip out and roll down a plate and then drop into a bucket of tide laundry soap.

I have a MEC 650 in 20 gauge, that came to me in a similar condition. The main issue with this model is that you can't resize to brass portion of the hull. If you are using one gun it probably wont be an issue. But, it's something to consider. The 600 has a resizing adapter that can be installed. But, I haven't seen one for the 650. You have had some good advice about reloading, in the past threads. One gave you MEC's website. That is the best place to start. If you haven't, clean it up as best you can. I wouldn't try to take it completely apart.(i.e. the main spring column). Get the 650 manual from there. Read it. Write down the parts, with the part numbers that you are missing. Order the missing parts from MEC, via online, or call them. MEC's customer service is as good or better than Dillon's. Your charge bars at the older models. They will work, but can be a pain. Newer versions, that take powder bushings, and have a set amount of shot would be better. Bushing charts are easy to find. Although, they usually don't drop the amount listed. It takes a little fiddling with. Here is the sad part. You can buy 12 gauge and 20 gauge cheap from Walmart(for now), or other places. If you are buying shot, it can be expensive. Most shotgun powder can be used in pistol loading, and that helps. Primers are easy. But if you use RIO primers or other imports, they can run a little large. Meaning, once you use them, you have to continue to use them. If you replace them with say Winchester, they may not seat firmly and fall out.. I have seen this. This is a heated topic, with some people. Like one of the posters said. Follow the reloading manual for the proper hull and wad column fit. Wads are cheap. That said, I love reloading. I still load for my 12 and 20. I shoot sporting clays almost every Sunday. Occasionally, I run short in my loading. I go buy some factory loads. It comes down to time. But, I will always reload for them. When you find a load that works best in your gun, you stick with it. Its why we reload.
Good luck. Read the manual. Call MEC. Be careful. Have fun.
Ed

Man I'm loving all the well written responses here. You guys are awesome! Sadly the reloader has been just sitting on my work bench for a few months not getting any love. Just been too busy to mess with it too much right now. I'm also working my way through the reloading book I got with it, figured it's probably better to have read that from cover to cover before I continue on. Once I finally pull the handle on some new reloads I'll post up the results. Might be something I tackle this winter as a side hobby more than anything.