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Thread: Mec 600 jr. problems

  1. #81
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by higgins View Post
    We often say "fit is king" when talking about cast bullet diameters, but with shotshells "load height is king" for a good crimp.
    You could add uniform hull length and type to "load height".
    I did a good bit of testing when setting up a new MEC with anything that changed the hull, powder charge volume, shot volume or wad.

    It never occurred to me that someone would want to use a mixed bag of different hulls. Everytime you change hulls you might need to tinker with the crimp.
    Back then I was focused on shooting as cheap as possible so I used lighter than normal skeet loads.
    My employer back then bought a new set of Thomas Register every year. Those large format books had .100 thick cardboard covers.
    I cut all the covers off and took them into the factory during lunch break. There I used a Strippet Super 30 -30 punch press to punch paper discs out of the book covers. After several days of lunch breaks i would have a gallon or so of the paper plugs in a plastic bag.
    All I had to do was toss one of the paper plugs into the shot cup of each shell to drop the load by 1/8oz of shot. The plugs looked like old Alcan over powder wads from the Jurassic epoch. They permitted me to make slight adjustments to the load without making adjustments to my preferred crimp settings.
    I only used 4 different hulls in 12ga and 3 in 20 gauge over about 20 years. I used WW AA hulls in both guns a lot. My skeet range burned many of the lesser hulls. I got the RP compression formed DOVE & QUAIL hulls for nearly nothing. I got the Reifenhauser type Federal hulls for carrying them off. I was able to load the same load in multiple hulls in each gauge even though the internal capacity and case lengths were different.
    Last edited by EDG; 02-20-2018 at 02:58 PM.
    EDG

  2. #82
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    bdicki's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by megasupermagnum View Post
    You posted on a thread about MEC crimping problems with hunting loads. Nobody, myself included, has every said a MEC wont make good target ammo.
    I never read any post about hunting loads. All I read was how crappy the MEC is. And hunting loads are no different than target loads pick a hulls use the proper components set the press properly and load away.
    http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/view...?f=13&t=199941

  3. #83
    Boolit Grand Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by bdicki View Post
    I never read any post about hunting loads. All I read was how crappy the MEC is. And hunting loads are no different than target loads pick a hulls use the proper components set the press properly and load away.
    http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/view...?f=13&t=199941
    Sheesh, don't take it so personal. I never once said MEC is crappy, I never would. I'm convinced my own personal MEC is junk. There is a huge difference between loading a wimpy 1 oz load and a full blast 1 1/4 oz steel shot, or 1 1/2 oz lead load. Maybe I have the wrong turret head on mine, maybe I still don't have the alignment perfect, maybe I haven't even thought of the real problem yet. Since I first got mine, I've had to fiddle around with the thing for 45 minutes or better just to make a usable shell. This is no joke. When I'm done setting mine up there is a whole box of smashed or useless shells I need to disassemble. It's not a thing of making small adjustments, mine is so weird, I can turn the crimp punch down and get a shallower crimp. Then the bizarre thing is that the next one comes out barely crimped, and the next one comes out smashed. Never touched a setting, never changed a component, weighted shot and powder. This is not a rip on MEC, my press clearly has a problem. I hope someone who is also having problems can see what I did to get the alignment better. For me, I'm just limping mine along until I can buy a Ponsness Warren. I'd have nothing against a MEC sizemaster, but the 600 jr isn't good for my purposes.

  4. #84
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    Hogtamer's Avatar
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    Last edited by Hogtamer; 02-20-2018 at 10:24 PM.
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    Leonard Ravenhill

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check