Modifying the MEC....

[oldfart1956]

Fellers some time back I broached the subject of using a MEC 600 as a powder measure for pistol catridges and some seemed to cotton to the idea. Went up to big brothers this past weekend and he had a coupl'a MEC's sitting around rusting up so we snatched one up and popped in a #10 bushing (I think) and started weighing charges. He's been using one this way for 10+ years but I hadda be convinced. We started out with Bullseye and switched to Trailboss eventually and compared on a digital and a balance beam scale. I'm impressed. The charges with both powders dropped exactlly the same each time. Not just close...exactlly. Soooo...I dragged one of the MEC's home and stripped off everything I didn't need. I'm not loadin' shotshells...ever. So off came all the un-needed "stuff" including the loading lever. Yeah...I know...some of you guys are already ahead of me. What I ended up with was a powder measure...on a 15lb. cast iron base...about 18in. high. I pulled out the drop-tube and found a piece of 1/2in. hard copper pipe in the garage...flared the end and dropped it in place. It can be cut to any length that clears the catridge you're gonna put under it. I don't think anyone really needs pictures as it's so simple. It just so happens 1/2in. hard copper fits perfectly thru the frame and stays in place without any help...and it's what I had on hand. Now, by some quirk of fate a .45 colt shell fits rather nicely inside the 1/2in. copper drop-tube once it's been flared to accept a .452 cast boolit. Go figger. A bit of judicious swaging down would make it an even better fit. (of the pipe..not the catridge case) Rather than make this a boringly long one I'll begin anew with...Part 2. Audie...the Oldfart

[oldfart1956]

Okey dokey..if any are following along so far I've stripped down a MEC 600 to use as a powder measure. Some may ask....why? Well, several reasons: I like to tinker, I got it free, it's amazingly accurate, (puts the Lee to shame) I hate constantly having to weigh out loads, every powder I've tried so far works flawlessly, (Bullseye/Trailboss/Universal/Goex Black) no bridging or static-sticking, it works as fast as I can slide the charge-bar...not that speed is a real issue when reloading...I'm just saying. So I took another step. I also snagged a Universal Charge Bar (the adjustable kind) while at big brothers. It was in one of his other MEC's and he didn't seem to be using it....so I snagged it. I put the U.B. in and found that the powders all went thru perfectly....albiet the smallest charge I can drop (using Universal) is 6.1gr. due to the design of the bar. I may reverse the bar and see if the shot side might adjust lower...haven't got that far yet. And yes, the bar can be reversed. Just drill&tap the hole all the way thru the bar where the screw goes and flip it over. Now, since I reload for the .38 as well as the .45 colt I got to noticing.....hmmmm? If I take a copper 1/2in. to 3/8ths. reducer fitting...and slip it on the end of the drop-tube.....shazzzzam! A .38 special case flared to fit a cast boolit fits neatly inside! If it's too tight just flare the tube a smidgon...like on a powder funnel. How cool is that? Now...a sidenote...big brother gave me this little brass washer that fits between the stock rubber washer (the one where the bottles screw on) and the charge-bar. I don't know exactly what the washer is called but it's purpose is to prevent the opening in the charge-bar from shearing/cutting the granules of powder as the bar slides back&forth. It makes things mo' betta'. The downside of all this is I've got a dandy powder measure..that is too high and weighs a ton....and it's top heavy and when it falls it's gonna break off the bottle. Ahhhh....another epihany! Part...3. Audie...

[oldfart1956]

Yes...Part 3. O.k.....now any of ya'll that try this keep in mind you don't have to strip down your MEC. I did it because I don't/won't load shotshells. The stock set-up works fine. One of my gripes is that I still can either pick up primed brass one-by-one and hold/fill under the drop-tube or fill one row of cases while keeping them in a loading block. There's not enough room to fill more than one row of cases...same issue I have with the Lee powder measure. Why Lee didn't design the measure to clear at least 5 rows I'll never know. And then...the epihany. All I really need is the chrome thingy that holds the bottles and the charge bar. I don't actually need ANY of the other parts of the MEC. Sooo...I took out the little screw that holds the chrome thingy and lifted it off the 15lb. base...took it down to the garage and snatched up a 2X4...about a foot long...stood it on end and ran it thru the table saw and downsized it to 5/8ths. of an inch thick. (That's how wide the space is where the screw goes thru the chrome thingy. ) So now I've got a 2X4 a foot long that's 5/8ths. of an inch thick......not wide (still 3 1/2in. wide) I took the wood up to the loading bench...stood it up on its EDGE and set the chrome thingy in place and drilled a hole for the little screw that goes thru the chrome thingy. Then ran the screw thru.....chrome thingy now attached to the wood. Next...found an eye-screw and screwed it into the wood directly under the chrome thingy to support the drop-tube. (The flared end of the drop-tube catches in the eye-screw.) So now I've got a dandy powder measure that weighs about 2lbs. that I can clamp anywhere...it's at a good working height instead of a foot and a half high! To make it easier to clamp I ripped the wood down behind the powder measure...makes it less tippy also. Tommorrows project is trying to put all the stuff back together on the MEC before I forget where/how it all goes and hauling it down to the garage for storage. (minus the chrome thingy) Done.....Audie....the Oldfart...

[oldfart1956]

Ohh yes...forgot to mention. Since the Universal Bar might not adjust low enough for .38spec. loads I have a bushing-bar and once I settle on a load for it I'll modify a bushing to drop the proper load.

[fecmech]

Nothing wrong with bushing bars for powder measures. I have 2 CH Auto Champs that use that system and they are very accurate and consistent. I made a bunch of bushings for mine and can load anything from 2.0 of Bullseye to 15 grs of 2400 and anything in between.

[handyman25]

You just earned one ata-boy for a job well done.