Finally started 12 ga reloading

[RockIsland]

My buddy and our dads joined a trap league in 1985. He got a Lee load all and We got a Mec 600. Dad is still loading shells with the Mec.

If trap shooting is something you enjoy doing and you stay into it, I would recommend the Mec progressive loaders. Ours doesn’t have all the bells and whistles but it does do all the steps well.

I couldn’t tell you how many hundreds of thousands of shells it has loaded over the years, and it still works fine. I can load a box of 25 in about five minutes.

While the Lee Load All works too, it’s not very smooth or fast. Its also a lot cheaper made so longevity is not it’s strong suit. If it meets your needs then that’s great. If you find yourself shooting a lot and reloading regularly, then I would consider upgrading to a stronger and more efficient press.

We do AAs exclusively because they seem to hold up the best. Four or five reloads is about the average hull life.

I haven’t shot a round in some time. I’ve been meaning to get out and do it for a while now. Just need to get off my ass and do it.

Welcome to the wonderful world of trap shooting. It can get ridiculously expensive if you want it to be, but you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a lot of fun.

[dannyb]

https://leeprecision.com/shot-shell-...loading-press/

This is the shotshell loader that I'm using, but I'm not doing buckshot or slugs. Ballistic Products has an article on roll crimping:
https://www.ballisticproducts.com/bp.../RollCrimp.htm

amazon does have some roll crimping tools (seems to be for hand drills).

There seem to be a number of roll crimpers for sale on eBay, a bunch from Russia and a few from Portugal. All of these are separate crimping tools and not part of a reloader system.

[Pete D.]

1977037D-C0B2-4ADD-8F22-3A7BF9FF5D29.jpgThat video was nicely done. Thanks.


D90579FF-F1B1-47E3-A416-220272AA862A.jpg

It is easy enough to load slugs without a press and with very limited tools. You need hulls, primers, powder, a scale (very important), slugs, a roll crimper of some sort, a short stiff plastic tube (or copper or aluminum) for seating primers
Hulls can be deprimed with a long nail and a small board with a hole drilled into it. I use RMC brass hulls. The picture, though, is a standard 2 3/4* plastic hull.
The hull can be reprimed with a piece of tubing, a primer and a hard surface. I use Win 209 primers.
Powder (from a loading manual) can be weighed for each shell. I use 40 grains of Steel.
Measured out onto a scale and then dropped into the primed hull.
Slugs.....I use *Thug slugs* from Ballistic Products. One ounce slugs. These are seated by hand. No crimp needed.

[fistv]

Never shot my shotguns enough to justify the reloading though I did try it with a Lee, I did buy a bunch of bags of shot when I and my son started..... He must have picked it up at some point, just noticed it's not on that end of the workbench anymore.

[Hanzy4200]

If you're just doing slugs and buckshot, I don't know if I'd even get a press, since presses tend to be designed around loading small size shot.

That is completely untrue. You can very easily load all sorts of buckshot and slugs on a standard press. If you really want the traditional look of a roll crimped slug, all you need additionally is a roll crimp bit for a drill ($30), and it's best to have a hull vise, ($45). Nearly all premium 00 buck loads from Federal, Winchester, Hornady, use a standard fold crimp.

[Hanzy4200]

I fell into shot shell loading partially by accident. A random older guy set a old Mec Jr press, probably 500 assorted wads, half a bag of #4 shot, plus a big pile of center fire brass, sitting on a bench at my club with a free sign. It sat in my garage for about 6 months until I got ambitious. I've been focused on buckshot for now. Finding a 00 mold was a chore. I'm trying to locate a Lyman slug mold next. One tip I learned the hard way. For loading these non bird shot loads, Cheddite and Fiocci hulls are the way to go. Ballistic Products has started getting some inventory lately.

[dannyb]

I did it - kind of. After depriming, sizing, and repriming AA hulls, I did load up the hoppers with Clays and 7 1/2 shot. Trials and tribulations- the powder bushing was not throwing consistent powder charges. Went to Shotgun World online for help. I do weigh every charge for the moment, and they were coming in at around 17 gr. +- .4. Seemed heavy, but not above a 1200 fps rating. The main problem was getting the wads in; one side of each hull was folded over after adding powder, so I raised the folded part before adding wad. Started getting reasonable results. Pre-crimps looked good, but full crimps were either crushed or had center holes just wide enough for some leakage of shot. Went back to Shotgun World crowd. This is when I got the real answer about MEC vs. Lee Loadall II. The MEC stages have adjustable stops. You may have to work with it until you get the right amount of pressure to put on the handle at each station. With the Lee Loadall II, you have to guess at the pressure and then be consistent by practice. The guys who went into this detail were far more helpful than the "throw away the junk and get a MEC" crowd. They gave a reason, not just a pronouncement. So, with patience I did get the Lee to work. Managed the powder issue by discrete and consistent tapping to fully empty the bushing. Helped the fold issue by not banging down on the handle. Helped the leak issue by using over shot cards (Tyvek from Ballistic Products). Do have a MEC on order, but still getting use out of the Lee. Sunday, brought a dozen of self-rolled shotshells - AA hs hulls, Clays powder, Wolf primers, appropriate Claybuster wads to the trap range. All went bang, somewhat stout recoil (did feel like 1200 FPS vs 1145), and broke a couple of birds. Woo Hoo! I think I'm getting into this.

[fritz1919]

danny,

Sorry I missed this discussion, but sometimes too late is just in time. You get the MEC yet? Workin out ok??

Maybe you'll have time to check out a Ponsness Warren DuoMatic 375. Allow me to join the "reason why crowd." The empty case is held in a full length die for the entire process. That alone makes for a very nice round.

I bought one pushing 5 decades ago and loaded many thousands of rounds over the years. I gave up trap quite a while back - the hours conflicted with my schedule. Still have the press. A new one currently goes for $500ish but I've seen some decent used one for between $100 and $200.

Check it out on You Tube. raverzer0 did a good 8 min video. Even if the MEC is workin out great for you, check it out.

Hope you get your cap shot sooner than later.

fritz

[dannyb]

danny,

Sorry I missed this discussion, but sometimes too late is just in time. You get the MEC yet? Workin out ok??

Maybe you'll have time to check out a Ponsness Warren DuoMatic 375. Allow me to join the "reason why crowd." The empty case is held in a full length die for the entire process. That alone makes for a very nice round.

I bought one pushing 5 decades ago and loaded many thousands of rounds over the years. I gave up trap quite a while back - the hours conflicted with my schedule. Still have the press. A new one currently goes for $500ish but I've seen some decent used one for between $100 and $200.

Check it out on You Tube. raverzer0 did a good 8 min video. Even if the MEC is workin out great for you, check it out.

Hope you get your cap shot sooner than later.

fritz

MEC did come in, but have not had a chance to set it up. Likely do that next week.