I'm planning to reload steel for next seasons waterfowl . MEC makes the steelmaster for this operation ,am I missing something ? The way I see it if I but a universal steel charge bar ,could I use any MEC machine ???? Or is there another brand better for this ??
Loading steel which reloader ?
- Thread starter traprooky
- Start date
While we have never used charge bars for steel shot, I have found that for larger shot (BB and bigger), charge bars are not as consistent as I would like them to be. I have had bridging problems in the drop tube as well.
For large shot, we weigh the desired load of shot and then fill an empty primer tray with them. This will give us a pellet count and then we tape over the rest of the holes in the primer tray.
We then dip the tray into the shot to get the desired load, and funnel it into the wad at the correct stage of the process. It is slower but we do not reload big volumes of steel shot, so it works for us.
For large shot, we weigh the desired load of shot and then fill an empty primer tray with them. This will give us a pellet count and then we tape over the rest of the holes in the primer tray.
We then dip the tray into the shot to get the desired load, and funnel it into the wad at the correct stage of the process. It is slower but we do not reload big volumes of steel shot, so it works for us.
Like your primer tray idea that is smart I have to try that. Thanks for sharing. Could never get away with that years ago since the shot was terrible and not uniform but today I would say it would be no problem
To the OP I use the MEC steel master but forget about the universal bar they are not accurate enough IMO for steel and I do them one at a time by hand and scale
The reloader must have the collet resizer if you want to resize the hull correctly and the steel drop tube and bottle which has a larger hole/ inside diameter or it will be plugging all the time
I only use MEC machines no other and do 12ga 3" & 3 1/2" and 10ga in steel
Cheers
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I reload 12g 2 3/4 and 3"
I dip my shot with used primer trays
I size my shells on my mec single stage. Then weigh powder on the scale and drop in by hand. Insert wad then use press to apply the pressure. Drop the shot in by hand then crimp on the press. Takes longer then lead but I enjoy it and u get faster with practice
I dip my shot with used primer trays
I size my shells on my mec single stage. Then weigh powder on the scale and drop in by hand. Insert wad then use press to apply the pressure. Drop the shot in by hand then crimp on the press. Takes longer then lead but I enjoy it and u get faster with practice
Great tip with the primer trays . It seems steel reloading is a bit more time consuming then lead . That being said , its the hobby side of hunting . Opinions on the best source for steel reload supplies ? . So far ballistic supplies in the US seems to have every thing .
If you attend the 2 day HACS gun show in Chilliwack in March, Wil Bilozir will probably be there, and he carries most of what you will need.
There is really not too much in canada IMO
TNT gun works which seems to keep a stock most times for sam1 wads and steel shot & Wsports sometimes for steel shot and sam1 wads
Powder ,primers where you can find them and hulls usually keep from your own factory purchases or try to get a guide to save them for you if that is an option pending where you live or the canadian rep for ballastic products in canada will B with tons of lead time and expensive now with the US dollar the way it is
The days of buying state side are over even for wads I bought from precision reloading for years and now they will not even ship wads up here
Cheers
