MEC 600jr charge bars

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Peace Country Alberta
I have 3 MEC 600 jr loaders, 2 with regular bars and one with the adjustable universal charge bar. I have read others saying that they hate the adjustable charge bars. So far I find the adjustable bar to be rather handy but have not a lot of experience with it yet. What thoughts do people have regarding the adjustable charge bars, good, bad, ugly? And why? Just want to not overlook something or find out a shortcoming to avoid.
 
They are nice because you can dial in your powder and shot drops perfectly without having to buy and mess with a bunch of bushings
They are more finicky to get set properly but that is a minor inconvenience
As an example if your loading 410 and if your using h 110 powder and clay buster wads the factory bar drops between 210 and 215 gr of shot while a half oz is 218 gr
Even at 218 gr the stack height is too low for a good crimp
I set my bar to drop 16 gr of h-110 and about 223/224 gr of #8 shot and get good crimps and not much shot rattle
Can do similar when loading 20 and 12 gauge
The MEC bars are famous for dropping light shot charges
 
If you only ever have one load you reload for they are not much use. My guess is that is where the negative comments come from. I have the universal and have absolutely no use for regular charge bars and bushings. Waaayyyy faster making adjustments and fine tuning loads. I use it with 3 different mec loaders 12 and 20 gauge.
 
i thru my bushing and charge bars in the dumpster 40 years ago only use the adjustable
as for the people that say they don't like the adjustable
they must be challenged on some level
 
Ricko said:
If you only ever have one load you reload for they are not much use. My guess is that is where the negative comments come from. I have the universal and have absolutely no use for regular charge bars and bushings. Waaayyyy faster making adjustments and fine tuning loads. I use it with 3 different mec loaders 12 and 20 gauge.
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I have 3 MEC jar’s, one with the adjustable bar. I prefer the bushing bars better only because the distance between the powder and shot bushings is better than on the adjustable bar. The adjustsble bar I have pull the bar back a smidge after dropping the shot because it overshoots the “drop zone” so some #### hang up on the resulting “shelf” so I just pull it back a smudge to clear that shelf. If I adjust the stop, then the powder charge hangs slightly. Not a big deal just a nuisance. The ability to fine adjust on the fly is nice. I make my own bushing SI can fine tune those’d as well but it takes time snd fiddling.
 
I own 8 different Mec loaders, and have two heads with adjustable charge bars. I simply change the heads on them depending on the model .
Saves me a bunch of time when loading three or four different types of shell or lengths in the same guage.

Cat
 
Not much experience with reloading shotgun, but I had an MEC Jr for 28 gauge that I used the adjustable charge bar - some fussing, as I recall, to set the powder and shot weight against my reloading scale - but once set, it seemed to work fine - I never did use the fixed collars, although I see that the 20 gauge Lee Loadall has multiple fixed plastic things - I have never used it yet.
 
The lee loadalls are ok. They will do in a pinch but they lack adjustability. If your stack height is perfect they work. I used a 12 and 20 for 5 years until I got my first mec. Don't leave the newer powders in the Lee reservoir. It will destroy them.
 
I use the adjustable charge bars and love them. I can fine tune the amount of powered and shot. I had one set for over 15 years and never went out of adjustment.
Another option for those thinking of making bushings is to use brass. I’ve seen a few made from brass. It’s nice to have a lathe to made things you want.
 
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