Need help in choosing a 12g reloading press

freshman

freshman

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Hi Guys,

I do reload but pistol ammo so far on my Dillon 550. Now I'm looking into reloading 12g shotgun slugs, O buck, OO buck and so forth. I need help in choosing the right press for the job. I'm on a budget so I'm looking for a bang for buck reliable press. Which press do you guys suggest? Which shot shells, slugs, wads, primers and powder should I use? Normally, I go to Higginson for my stuff. Is there anywhere else? Any help would be must appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Look around for a used MEC 600 Mark 5 JR press. Any standard
209 primer will work fine. Go with the highest quality hulls you can pick up. Trying to reload the cheapy, bulk hulls (Wal-Mart Federal or Winchester 100 rnd 'valu' packs) is a waste of time. It can be done, but there are far better options out there. Check with some Trap guys from your local club, they should be able to put you onto someone who has a good price on once fired hulls...maybe even free. Internal components for loading slugs will depend on the style of slugs you are reloading, i.e., sabot, cast lead LEE keyhole, etc... I'd pick up a copy of the Lyman Shotshell Reloading manual. Hit the gun shows, you can usually find a good, used copy. Before deciding on what powders, check the manual and figure out what you want to load and why. That will tell you what powders will best suit your current need. Good luck.
 
any shot larger than # 4 or #2 will have to be added by hand
when i was loading # 4 shot-- tube would have to be tapped to get all the shot to drop (if you get a up graded machine- (steel shot) less problems ) buck shot will still have to be hand counted and added

using a single stage Mec 600 when doing buck shot you would have to
deprime/ resize
prime
add powder
seat wad
pull hull from press and add your buck shot (or slug) per load data
reinsert hull in next stage and crimp
one round done

a progressive machine is great for loading trap/skeet loads
 
freshman said:
I was actually looking at the Lee Load-All II. What about RCBS? Dillon is way pricey. My main reload will be 75% slugs and 25% of O buck/OO buck.
Click to expand...

For your purposes all you need is the LoadAllII because you need only to size/deprime, prime, drop powder, insert wad, count and place buckshot/slug, start/finish crimp.

LoadAllII will do all that nicely, for cheap.
 
Do what I did and don't buy new. Take your time and pick yourself up a used MEC 600 Jr. I've even seen them on my local Kijiji. You can usually get one plus assorted goodies for $100. There aren't many buyers fo 12 ga. reloaders anymore.
 
buy a Lee load all for $50. If you're only loading slugs and buckshot ( as I do) you have to do it all by hand anyway. The Lee press does it for me and its cheap as dirt.
1 1/4 wads, AA hulls.
 
Another vote for the Lee LoadAll II. I have loaded a fair few with mine. They seem to work the best with Winchester AA's, but I have loaded everything from soup to nuts. One thing I did find, I think it came from a tip in a magazine article or from a reloading manual, was to warm the open end of the hull under a light bulb or some such gentle heat source. The oddball hulls especially crimped much better.
 
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