I have a friend that is getting rid of all of his reloading equipment. No time to do it. He has 12 gauge thru 410 minus a 16 gauge unit. If he had a 16 I'd be all over it. If you are interested I will see what type of 12 he has and how much for it. He only quoted me a price of $700 for all. I think he has all Mec 9000s as I just finished setting up a 28 gauge 9000 for him. It was used but in very good shape.
12 gauge shot shell reloading
- Thread starter bowhunter1287
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Brian Ranson
Member
just learning, thank you for all of your input
Orange Dust
Well-Known Member
Until covid I shot about 40k shotshells a year shooting competitively. Shotshells are just like metallic. There are handloads and reloads. I have handloaded tungsten Goose loads that would pattern 60% in a 30" circle at 100yds. You can improve on factory just like you can with metallic. You won't save a dime doing it though and not worth the bother unless your skill level can justify it. Reloading is different. Not really worth the time on 12ga but you can save money loading sub gages at high volume.
wilehunting
Well-Known Member
I use a Mec 600jr. I started with the Mec and then I tried an Apex but I like the fact you can set your wad pressure and know what it is on the Mec. Plus the Apex is a progressive and it's a lot to watch and keep track of (I.e. spills). The older AA cases are better than the newer ones. STS are good. My preferred load was 1 ounce #8, w209 primer, waa12sl wad, clays or super lite for 16yd trap targets. I think you save a little money(maybe) and trade it for time.
bowhunter1287
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Yes if you could pm the info on all of it if what it is and price I might just be interested thanks
Grey Goast
Well-Known Member
If he has a mec jr. in 410 and 20 ga. pm me also. Thank You.
I will get you that info. He is willing to split it up. I think he has
9000s in 12, 20, 28, 410. Plus he's selling whatever components he has. I know the 28 is a 9000 because I set it up for him. I haven't seen the others. He basically bought all of this stuff from a friend and wanted to start loading but doesn't have the time. He's also new to loading and doesn't know exactly what he has. He says he thinks they are all just like the 28.
It's going to take me a bit to get all that info to you. We have Hurricane Debbie coming and both of us live on a river and are in danger of flooding. So we are in prep mode right now. The next 5 days will be quite busy. I will keep in touch. I'm going to try to get him to take pictures but with him right on the coast it may be a week before he can get to it.
bowhunter1287
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Mike Matteson
Well-Known Member
Learn to use it correctly. I have a 800B from the middle 70's. Clean the case holders. You have to use the correct wad or power piston, in the cases you are reloading. Proper star for starting crimp, Different cases by different manufacture generally require different powder pistons. There is several reloading manual out the to acheive the correct powder bushing. That's a must! Study the reloading info out there and download them too.
I load for 28, 20 and 12 gauge 2 3/4" cases. I now have 3-800B presses presently. Looking to set up and reload 3" 410's, and 10 gauge case too.
Pet load was for my 12gauge is 1-3/8oz shot load and about 35grs of blue dot 1300fps. I would only vary the shot size from 7.5 to 5's. Depending on what I was hunting. Most of the shots were from a 24" improved barrel. or as needed a 34" Trap barrel for my 870. Steel shot came into requirement in duck hunting. I stop hunting Duck and geese after that. Didn't like the steel shot, and still don't.
Love dove hunting with my 12ga. The shooter would use 7/8 to 1 oz loads and go to sky busting. My 24 IPC would reach 50yds with 1-3/8oz load. As the sky buster would try out farther and reach what I was shooting. I would put on my 34" barrel and extend my range. It was fun to watch the low base shooter try and reach out farther.
Been loading shotshells for over 30 years. Used to shoot about 50,000 per year. Have many tried and true loads in every gauge. I have a friend that sold me a Mec to buy a PW. He never was happy with the PW and sold it. I've been through mine completely, rebuilt it. Many new parts, Adjusted etc. got professionals to look at it and work on it. it is junk. I can run it about as well as one can be run. It ain't that hard. Though I do not care for the amount of physical effort required to run it it's a simple sequence. I can make it load with one particular hull. The new AA Winchester .and it does semi half ok with them. I even started resizing and depriming hulls separatelly. Still wouldn't run satisfactory. I'll never put another minute or dollar into it. Except to load it up and get it away from here. I don't even know if I would sell it because I won't dump my trash on someone else.
I've run different loading setups including Spolar without any issue. I really wanted to make the PW work. I gave that machine 6 solid months and way to many $.
I have a Mec 9000 12 gauge I use for game loads. I run the Automate for target. I also have a 1 3/8 oz blue dot load I've used for years and it works.
My other 9000s are for smaller gauge stuff. My shells come out looking like factory and stack height on loads I use is perfect. I'm not a person that sets up a loader to run one particular load and then never touch it. I change loads all the time and can do it in about 5 minutes. I won't stray from Mec again. The only reason I did stray was I figured the grass had to be greener. It wasn't!
Hardshot
Well-Known Member
If you end up with a Mec grabber or equivalent do yourself a favour and get the adjustable shot and powder micro adjustable bar . Best thing I ever added, you need a power scale either way
