Mec

[Tom W.]

Does anyone have the MEC loader? Any opinions from this that do?

[tazman]

Sorry to be a little dense tonight. Which specific MEC loader are you referring to?

[fecmech]

I have a Mec Grabber in 12 ga and a Mec 650 in 20 ga. Both are progressive presses that enable you to load one box of 25 shells about every 5-7 minutes. The Grabber sizes shells the 650 does not. The Grabber has loaded well north of 70K rounds with no problems and the 650 at least 50K. They are good quality presses reasonably priced.

[MT Chambers]

All Mecs are good serviceable shotshell loaders and turn out ammo as good as factory or better because you can select the components.

[toallmy]

The Mec 600 Jr loads one at a time and you move it from station to station by hand , and like fecmech posted about the grabber and the 650 , but there is two different grabbers , as well as the 9000s it has a final crimp station that sets a crimp a little tighter , they also have one for steel shot . They will all last you a lifetime and parts are available to repair them . They may not be the indestructible Hornady or Pacific 366 but they are fine loaders .

[Tom W.]

Sorry......... I was thinking about the MEC single stage press for rifle and pistol.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Sorry......... I was thinking about the MEC single stage press for rifle and pistol.


I was wondering about that press also, it looks like a grey beast in the pictures.Robert

[Lagamor]

Was excited to see a shotshell post...
No experience, but with the floating shell holder and ease of access(due to being a dual pillar C frame) I will look it over hard for my next press. Competition for forester presses.

[mdatlanta]

I just got the MEC Marksman single stage press a couple of weeks ago (Brownells had a sale) and so far I like it a lot. The press is robust, yet quite compact with easy access to the shell holder and has very smooth operation.

I have not checked concentricity yet, but a couple of YouTube reviews suggest good things.

Note that there is no provision to seat primers on this press unless you use one of the various ram prime set ups or the old Lee AutoPrime 2 (sure wish LEE hadn't discontinued it!). Also, some folks have mentioned the long handle stroke, but it didn't bother me at all.

So, from my limited use (~100 .308 WCF) I can find no real faults and a lot to like about the "Marksman". I've just ordered a ROCKDock base plate from PatMarlin's and once it arrives I'll be using the press more often.

[Tom W.]

What I'd really like is the C press Sinclair's has but that's way out of my price range. I know MEC usually makes very high quality products. I reprime with an RCBS hand primer. I need to find where there is one to get my little grubby hands on it to see if it is comfortable.

[Smoke4320]

Mec makes great equipment and has excellent customer service ..
I have one of each of the nfollowing MEC shotgun presses 600 jr, 650, Grabber and 2 9000's Hydraulic and a Manual
all were bought used and most had been screwed up by previous owners .. I watched their videos and was able to set each press back to great working order except 1 9000 hydraulic .. It was massively mucked up .. I called MEC they put me on to a tech who walked me thru each and every step to get it working correctly again .. probably spent 2 hours on calls till completed
would I buy a MEC again ... Absolutely
Will I look at the MEC rifle/pistol loader you bet

[Greg S]

I like the mec loaders, used a friends 650s in 12 and 20 which promted a purchase of 4 9000s for skeet. Liked all but the 410. Finally upgraded to a Spolar hydrolic in all gauges. For 410 2.5" shells, hands down quality reloads depend on component selection to get the colum to the right height for a quality crimp and either a Possness Warren or Spolar press. A MEC will get you by but the quatity I was reloading, it was worth it in the long run to upgrade.

NOTE: I was reloading for two to three shooters, two of which were shooting 10k registered targets plus another 5-10k per shooter for pactice per year.

[Smoke4320]

I will agree on the 410. For whatever reason the MEC has issues with shot drop in the 410 .
Tried all the tips ...polishing the drip tube, waxing the drop tube , adding extra graphite to the shot ect ect
its just not consistent .. All other calibers work great

[Jack Stanley]

That's good to hear about the marksman press , strong , smooth and well built is a good thing . How does it handle de-capped primers ? Spit them out on the press like most others or does it keep the grit off the ram ?

Thanks , Jack