about to throw my press...

D

digitalblue

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I recently acquired all the necessities to get my Mec 600 Jr 28ga loader running and the stupid thing is really pissing me off...

I loaded up ~100 shells yesterday and I noticed that the spindex(more like s**tdex) crimp starter doesn't always index properly. Every 3-4 shells, it'll mangle the crimp and pretty much renders my hulls useless for future reloading.

To top it off, the stupid thing loves to spill shot everywhere. The shot keeps getting stuck in the drop tube and will go spilling everywhere the second the handle is raised. I'm using #8 shot so it really shouldn't be sticking in the drop tube. I've also used a ton of graphite to lube the drop tube and it doesn't make a difference.

Today, I attempted to load some more and 7 shells in, the stupid thing eats the first 5 hulls and spills shot 4 times. Needless to say, I'm beyond pissed right now.

Anyone have any suggestions before I grab a sledgehammer?
I've never had a press piss me off quite as bad as this one...
 
with smaller gauges, even small shot size will bridge and block the tube. What I used to do was once I moved the bar to drop the shot, I would raise the tube a bit and tap it with somethig ie a screwdriver etc. this would shake the shot a bit and let it flow. Remember when the tam is completely down, to seat the wad, it is stopped from letting the shot flow, because it is bottomed out on the wad. A slight tap helps break the bridge and let the shot flow. As for the crimp issue I have no idea as I have never loaded 28 ga, but never had an issue with 12, 20, or 410.by the way when I loaded 410 I spilled shot often, a real pain.
 
if using remington hulls, crimps are bad . lift arm up a little before dropping the shot . AAs are the best for great crimps .good luck . i moved onto a hornady press . it works great .
 
Pull the shot tube out, put some steel wool on a piece of dowel, chuck it in your drill and polish the heck out of the inside of the tube. Won't be a cure all, but it will help, did with my .410 anyway.
 
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give that a try tonight.

I'm using once fired Winchester AA-HS hulls if it matters.
I ended up removing the crimp die and indexing them manually before applying the starter crimp. Unfortunately, due to the design, there's no easy way to disable the "spindex" system...
 
One trick I've read is to use white out to mark the spindex so you can see where the folds on the hull should go. You have to manually line everything up, but it saves a lot on the mangled hulls.

How free does the spindex turn? is it possible it needs replacing?

From what I've read over on shotgun world on the reloading forum, polishing the inside of the shot tube with steel wool is one of the best things you can do to minimize shot bridging.
 
I give my handle a little tap with my free hand after I slide the shot bar over to drop it. It doesn't take much just a bump on the end of the handle to shake the machine and you can hear the shot drop. I use a little moly grease on the ball that is on the top of the crimper. Just a dab to help it from sticking. With a little practice you can knock out 400 to 500 rounds an hour with it. Pretty decent really for the $100 I payed for mine about 15 years ago.
 
The spindex turns very freely, it doesn't seem to be indexing with the folds in the original crimp... For the time being, I've removed the actual crimp die and I'm manually indexing each pre crimp. Time consuming but I haven't mangled a crimp so far.
 
I got a good one for you with 28g, i had the same problem with shot sometimes getting stuck in the shot drop tube, my issue was the claybuster wad would pop back up to the top of the hull because there would be air pressure between the powder cup and the hull base, not on all but enough to notice, this is with a mec 9000 progressive so guess what, shot all over the place because its indexing to the next station. I haven't figured out a fix other than disabling the self indexing feature so i can notice it and fix it before it moves to the next station. So it never really go stuck it just wouldn't drop because the wad was never pressed into the hull.
 
Don't hold the handle all the way down into the case when you drop the shot.

I push it down just far enough for the tip of the drop tube to sit inside the wad and then drop the shot. Works everytime. If I push the drop tube all the way down I get shot bridging like you describe.
 
Mount your reloader inside a 8"x 8" x 1.5" deep cake pan .when you have a shot or powder spill the greater majority of it will be contained by the cake pan.as you start to lift the handle after seating the wad give the handle a shake it will help the dislodge bridged shot in the drop tube.
 
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