Shotshell Reloading Newbie Question

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Redeye

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Halifax, Nova Scotia
Okay, so I recently got a MEC 600Jr reloading pressing an all the kit with a shotgun I bought - and tried rolling my own for the first time last night. The press is easy enough to use, but some of the crimps appear to "swirl" a bit - rather than just forming an even star. Are they usable or should I get rid of them?
 
Not a problem. Your shells are fine. Your might try backing off the final crimp die a turn or two to get a more typical crimp.
 
Great. I thought they would be, but I'd hate to find out the hard way and damage my shotgun before I really get to get any use out of it! With the crimp dies, should they be lined up with the hulls in any specific way?

And since I have the attention of someone who probably knows, one other question if you don't mind. I was loading 1 oz. of #9 which is what the previous owner had the press set up for. The thing is that a couple of times the charge bar on the press would bind because the shot was caught between where the bottle screws in and the charge bar itself. Is there any way to prevent this from happening?
 
Redeye said:
Great. I thought they would be, but I'd hate to find out the hard way and damage my shotgun before I really get to get any use out of it! With the crimp dies, should they be lined up with the hulls in any specific way?

And since I have the attention of someone who probably knows, one other question if you don't mind. I was loading 1 oz. of #9 which is what the previous owner had the press set up for. The thing is that a couple of times the charge bar on the press would bind because the shot was caught between where the bottle screws in and the charge bar itself. Is there any way to prevent this from happening?
Click to expand...

There is a small brass washer available that fits between the rubber in the shot bar and the bottle. It helps reduce the binding and is available from MEC. They will ship to Canada and the service is excellent. Before ordering however I'd back off the shot bottle a half turn. It doesn't need to be tightly screwed down on the loader.
 
A little trick that works for me, is to use a 2 litre plastic pop bottle with the bottom cut off as a funnel , to refill your powder or shot bottles. Just remove the little red plug , screw the funnel into the hole, pour in the shot , remove, replace little red plug.
 
I got a couple of marked funnels with the press which help - it's actually where the bottle joins the bar - I'm going to find that part from MEC - that was the only thing slowing me down once I got going with the press last night.

Thanks to both of you for the help!
 
Claybuster said:
There is a small brass washer available that fits between the rubber in the shot bar and the bottle. It helps reduce the binding and is available from MEC. They will ship to Canada and the service is excellent. Before ordering however I'd back off the shot bottle a half turn. It doesn't need to be tightly screwed down on the loader.
Click to expand...

Any idea what the part number is?
 
I'm on the site now (was all over it yesterday because that's where I downloaded the manual for the press from), and in the parts list I can't find a brass washer - just the neoprene grommets. I'll keep looking though. I can probably find something at Home Depot or the like that would serve the purpose too.
 
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