16ga shotgun reloading

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brodymcg

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Hi everyone,

Rookie to reloading shotgun shells.
I have all of ballistic products reloading manuals.
If anyone has any other recommended literature please PM me.

I just do not know what press to purchase. I'm not looking for the cheapest I can buy. Was looking at a mec 600jr or 8567n .
Any other recommendations would be appreciated?

Will be doing alot of target load but will also want the ability to adjust for game loads.

No I will not buy a 12ga. Never going back.

Thanks for your input
BRODY
 
brodymcg said:
Hi everyone,

Rookie to reloading shotgun shells.
I have all of ballistic products reloading manuals.
If anyone has any other recommended literature please PM me.

I just do not know what press to purchase. I'm not looking for the cheapest I can buy. Was looking at a mec 600jr or 8567n .
Any other recommendations would be appreciated?

Will be doing alot of target load but will also want the ability to adjust for game loads.

No I will not buy a 12ga. Never going back.

Thanks for your input
BRODY
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can't go wrong with a 600JR! I have bought a couple over the years that were NIB, and they come pretty much set right out of the box!
Sometimes a bit of adjustment but my 28 and 20 loaders were perfect with Winchester hulls.
The 600 is very easy to adjust as well.
Cat
 
I shoot several 16 ga. guns and like them a lot. I use a MEC loader, mine is a size master. Perfectly satisfied with it. The only one better in my experience is a PW 375. I especially like that the MEC is easily converted to load 2-1/2" shells since once you're hooked on the gauge you will discover that some very nice vintage doubles have short chambers. A good source of data is the 16 ga. reloading group, now hosted on 24 hour campfire.
 
I would go size master or a jr with the optional auto primer tray
The collet resizer on the size master works way better on the crap hulls we have to use today
Cheers
 
Yes, the adjustable bar is the only way I have found to get the proper weight of shot when loading bismuth. Could use it for steel too, but haven't tried that. If you're only interested in 1 oz lead loads, the simple fixed charge bar is OK.
 
brodymcg said:
Are any of you using the adjustable charge bar on your mecs as well?
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Nope. Sold them. Some love them and that is cool
For what I have found they are not accurate enough especially for steel reloading ( but no bars/ bushings are ) but that is just me but mine for lead target are one machine set for one load and never changed one bar one bushing for years and years
Only my loaders for hunting loads do I change bars and bushings on. Yes I have a lot of mecs at least a dozen and a 1/2 in every gauge which sounds crazy but many were given to me as old friends gave up or passed or as I progressed starting with jr, then progressed to sizemaster and finally a full set of 9000G and never sold any
LOL I am a MEC junkie :)
Cheers
 
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brodymcg said:
Hi everyone,

Rookie to reloading shotgun shells.
I have all of ballistic products reloading manuals.
If anyone has any other recommended literature please PM me.

I just do not know what press to purchase. I'm not looking for the cheapest I can buy. Was looking at a mec 600jr or 8567n .
Any other recommendations would be appreciated?

Will be doing alot of target load but will also want the ability to adjust for game loads.

No I will not buy a 12ga. Never going back.

Thanks for your input
BRODY
Click to expand...

Just wondering what you are using for components. Hulls, wads , powder etc
Take care
 
The wad I use are Remington which I had to order from Brian Densmore. Most common hulls are the federal plastic. Unique works. I couldn’t find a Mec when I started reloading 16ga so I bought a Lee. Works decent but not as well as my other Mec’s. Mine are all the 600 mec. The primer feeds are a big plus. My 16 double gets the most use out all my shot guns. I even went as far as getting a 16 ga muzzle loader. When you buy wads get extra as they are not regularly stocked. Most of my hunting I don’t need the heavier shot charges of the twelve ga. My Belgium 16 is also a lot lighter than my 12’s.
 
Snider shooter said:
The wad I use are Remington which I had to order from Brian Densmore. Most common hulls are the federal plastic. Unique works. I couldn’t find a Mec when I started reloading 16ga so I bought a Lee. Works decent but not as well as my other Mec’s. Mine are all the 600 mec. The primer feeds are a big plus. My 16 double gets the most use out all my shot guns. I even went as far as getting a 16 ga muzzle loader. When you buy wads get extra as they are not regularly stocked. Most of my hunting I don’t need the heavier shot charges of the twelve ga. My Belgium 16 is also a lot lighter than my 12’s.
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Hummasons has the claybuster AA clone in 16ga also in stock if you need those. Like 30 bucks 1000 plus tax & shipping
I also ordered my 16ga mecs from them special order years ago
I have been reloading and shooting the 16ga since the mid 60's so have a real good stash of components still
Some of the blue remingtons go back 40 plus years a few may remember them here. I have the light blue 1oz which are sought after now and the heavy dark blue 1 1/8
Also stashed 5000 original winchester AA when they said production was being stopped might be 3000 or so left

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Take care
 
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I've put thousands of rounds of 12 and 20 together on a MEC 600 MK V I believe. Somewhere I have a bag (250) Rem wads. Used to buy stuff at shows that I thought I might have a use for.in the future. Sometimes that happened sometimes it didn't. Grew up on the farm with my dad's Cooey 16 gauge. My brother still has it. My dad was never a hunter and it was just a farmer's tool. One of my good memories of growing up was my brothers and I watching dad kill a weasel that was hiding in a woodpile about 25 yards away. We couldn't even see it but Dad did it in with the old Cooey. Only time I ever saw my dad shoot a gun. We were all younger than 10 and I've never forgotten the event. To us young kids it was absolutely amazing. I like telling this story!!
 
I have some of the Winchester 16 wads, they are listed in much of the data but don't work real well in any hull but the old Winchester compression formed hulls with the inside tapered towards the base. I wondered why Claybuster reproduced a new 16 ga. wad for an obsolete case. Almost all the cases available for loading 16 ga. are straight walled, and European wads work best with them. An exception and the the one I like the best that is currently available is the Remington. It is a one piece case and is slightly tapered inside. It can be used with the Remington or the Winchester wads, the Winchester ( claybuster) wads do leave some room for powder to migrate and cause bloopers. You need to use large flake powder with that one, not fine grained ball powder.
 
Longwalker said:
I have some of the Winchester 16 wads, they are listed in much of the data but don't work real well in any hull but the old Winchester compression formed hulls with the inside tapered towards the base. I wondered why Claybuster reproduced a new 16 ga. wad for an obsolete case. Almost all the cases available for loading 16 ga. are straight walled, and European wads work best with them. An exception and the the one I like the best that is currently available is the Remington. It is a one piece case and is slightly tapered inside. It can be used with the Remington or the Winchester wads, the Winchester ( claybuster) wads do leave some room for powder to migrate and cause bloopers. You need to use large flake powder with that one, not fine grained ball powder.
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Something wrong here. What powder are you using??, what hulls. I still have a stash of compression formed, plus green and black remington and activ and vintage federal hulls and have no issues with the winchester aa wad in them as you describe but mine are older and on new ones I can see it happening
In fact claybuster also now makes a winchester pink AA in 7/8 oz for 16ga target shooters
I remember they are not to be used in today's hulls at all with IMR PB, SR7625 and SR4756, the Winchester Ball powders and Hodgdon HS-6 another ball powder and slowing down your wad seating stroke will help since that is when a lot of powder is moved around the seal.
These things are better than gold IMO and I only use them in my hunting loads that I will find the spend hull
I sold some a few years ago for $1.00 a hull which I thought at the time was crazy and now kick my ass
Cheers

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Longwalker said:
I have some of the Winchester 16 wads, they are listed in much of the data but don't work real well in any hull but the old Winchester compression formed hulls with the inside tapered towards the base. I wondered why Claybuster reproduced a new 16 ga. wad for an obsolete case. Almost all the cases available for loading 16 ga. are straight walled, and European wads work best with them. An exception and the the one I like the best that is currently available is the Remington. It is a one piece case and is slightly tapered inside. It can be used with the Remington or the Winchester wads, the Winchester ( claybuster) wads do leave some room for powder to migrate and cause bloopers. You need to use large flake powder with that one, not fine grained ball powder.
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I have the bulged barrel to prove it, yes, that claybuster was is made for the CF tapered case, and not for any straight walled hull. Powder will leak past the gas check and you will have bloopers. I was loading Universal, it leaks past.

I have a LEE Load All II in 16 and I wouldn't recommend buying it. I also would not get the 600 Jr. IMHO the Sizemaster is the way to go. I have one in 20 and another in 410. I have a set of dies for 12 as well. I still load my 12 on a 600 Jr, but am seriously thinking about an upgrade.

Also, IMHO, the adjustable bar is only OK in some scenarios, I've sold off all but one of mine. It works OK for 410. 410 is a fiddly shell to load, I just bought ammo after a while. I don't own a 410 now, and I own 2 410 reloaders. One is a vintage Redding that is almost LN, I should sell it, and was going to put it on the table at the next gunshow, that is now cancelled.

I loaded with the BP wad, the SG16S, and used either Universal or Unique. My game was yard vermin and the load did it's part.

I have a Winchester 1897 in 16 ga and it has a 2 9/16 chamber. I'm still looking for a hull that will roll crimp properly. Shortening the hulls is easy, getting a good roll crimp has not been as easy.

My next hull to try is a Fiocchi, Cheddites were a bust, of all things the brass turns on the hull, so the Russian roll crimper I bought does not work.

I have a LEE Loader in 16, I prefer it to my Load All.

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I'm half tempted to go old school, and just use card and fiber wads.

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nitro-express said:
I have the bulged barrel to prove it, yes, that claybuster was is made for the CF tapered case, and not for any straight walled hull. Powder will leak past the gas check and you will have bloopers. I was loading Universal, it leaks past.





That may be true for what you buy in hulls today I should have been clearer in my earlier post sorry. I don't reload any but have some to compare and know it sure is not true for vintage straight wall hulls so saying all is not accurate
For many years it was known AA wads or any American made wads were never designed to fit Cheddite or Fiocchi hulls since they have always been a larger internal diameter
In fact today from what I have seen in hulls you can also add Federal and the newer winchester to that list
Federal, the newer Winchester, and Fioochi hulls all have similar ( larger ) internal diameters regardless if straight walled . The wall is not the issue the internal diameter is

Reminton hulls. The only hull (currently available) that has an internal diameter from the old days in which the WAA16 will not cause powder migration 100% IMO. Unless Winchester is about to start making AA hulls in the 16 again and some say they are
I sure hope so
Cheers
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3macs is correct. I have a small hoard of Winchester CF hulls and they are wonderful, but also obsolete. I will use them up with my winchester wads, and they will work as advertised. Federal, Fiocci, and Cheddite ( who make hulls for most of the European brands and also for Winchester and Kent, and Gamebore ) are all voluminous straight walled hulls.
 
Longwalker said:
3macs is correct. I have a small hoard of Winchester CF hulls and they are wonderful, but also obsolete. I will use them up with my winchester wads, and they will work as advertised. Federal, Fiocci, and Cheddite ( who make hulls for most of the European brands and also for Winchester and Kent, and Gamebore ) are all voluminous straight walled hulls.
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If I had no compression formed I would try to buy remington only since they are not bad either for the AA
take care
 
You can successfully load AA16 clone wads in Federal straight walled hulls, but they would not be my first choice for hunting loads - I use them for target loads, where they don't get bounced around in my pocket for days.
Remington game load hulls are more suitable for these wads, and Remington wads are also also good, of course. Unfortunately, I only have 1 1/8 ounce Rem wads. Remington game load hulls are crispy critters pretty quickly - 3 or 4 loadings at most.
For good sealing wads in straight walled 16 gauge hulls you can use Guilandi or B&P wads wads which are retailed by Ballistic Products or Precision Reloading in the US. I really like the Z16-Field Commander wad from BPI.
I have loaded many Fiocchi and Cheddite hulls with satisfactory loads, but it takes a bit of trial and error to find loads that give correct stack height. Some loads require an over shot wad to support the crimp.
Sporteque and Will Bilozir stock Ballistic Products supplies in Canada.
 
saskbooknut said:
You can successfully load AA16 clone wads in Federal straight walled hulls, but they would not be my first choice for hunting loads - I use them for target loads, where they don't get bounced around in my pocket for days.
Remington game load hulls are more suitable for these wads, and Remington wads are also also good, of course. Unfortunately, I only have 1 1/8 ounce Rem wads. Remington game load hulls are crispy critters pretty quickly - 3 or 4 loadings at most.
For good sealing wads in straight walled 16 gauge hulls you can use Guilandi or B&P wads wads which are retailed by Ballistic Products or Precision Reloading in the US. I really like the Z16-Field Commander wad from BPI.
I have loaded many Fiocchi and Cheddite hulls with satisfactory loads, but it takes a bit of trial and error to find loads that give correct stack height. Some loads require an over shot wad to support the crimp.
Sporteque and Will Bilozir stock Ballistic Products supplies in Canada.
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Have you tried those new pink claybuster 16ga AA 7/8 wads they came out with for target loads yet
Cheers
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