Favorite Shotshell Reloading Press

[comershooter]

What is your favorite brand shotshell reloading press

[Toobroke]

The Pacific 266; I have one each set up for 12 ga 2 3/4 and 3 inch, 16 ga, 20 ga 2 3/4 and 3 inch--yep, 5 of'em. The best single stage press made (well, in my opinion of course)

[Ozark Howler]

The Deitemeyer 300, no doubt about it, a piece of machinery, no stampings or plastics used (except shot/powder tubes)

[Roundnoser]

Wow! That is a beautiful machine. I don't know If I want to reload on it, or just stare at it!!!

BTW...is that a Dunbar (or similar) H-press I see in the background? It too looks like a museum piece. I'm diggin yer set up, my friend!

[Daddyfixit]

I wouldn't say favorite, more like only. I had a MEC 600jr for about 30 years ( got to where I could crank out ammo dang fast!) never gave me a lick of trouble untill I loaned it out and it never came back! I now have an older MEC Grabber he replaced it with ( old dogs, new tricks) I think I liked the MEC 600jr better!
So....I have nothing else to compare it with, so MEC it is!

Ozark Howler, That's one nice piece of machinery!

[Triggerhappy]

Ozark, How fast can you reload shells on that monster? Any idea on the rounds per hour, or minute?

[cajun shooter]

MEC Sizemaster will load faster than most shooters can use them. It also sizes each hull which is a big plus if you buy or pick up other shooters hulls.

[timkelley]

MEC 650, but to be honest, I was given two of them. Now if I can just learn to hit the d***d clay birds.:-?

[Ozark Howler]

A little more on the Deitmeyer...I rebuilt this press some time ago, the charge bar was also modified to use MEC powder bushings.

It basically is the forunner of the Pacific/Hornady 366 Series, this one is a manual advance and can honestly crank out about 250+ rounds (with no screwups). This is one of two that I have rebuilt. The loading operation is comparable to the MEC 650, but without the cash register "feel and sounds", a very quiet and smooth operating tool. They occasionally show up on Ebay as Deitmeyers or Pacifics ($85.00 - $100.00), well worth the price !

The "H" press in the background is a Lieb (very similar to a Dunbar)

[Doc_Stihl]

The dillon SL 900 is a thing of beauty.
You better have some room to store some shells if you sit down to it for an afternoon.

I had one years ago and it wasn't difficult to fill a 5 gallon bucket in an evening. Dream to operate, rarely had slowdowns. Well engineered.

[skeettx]

Texan M loader and the Hollywood , not listed in the poll???

[Moonie]

I had a MEC 650 and loved it, this was years ago. Currently I make due with the Lee Load All II.

Gotta talk the wife into another MEC, maybe when I get her out shooting skeet more...

[376Steyr]

The Hornaday 366 works slick in 12 gauge, real good in 20, and starts getting finicky in 28 gauage. I use mine for cranking out hundreds of a single load at a time for trap or skeet. I cut a hole in my bench and let the loaded shells drop into a 5 gallon bucket.

[R.C. Hatter]

:coffee:I started out with a new MEC 250 in 1959, eventually graduating to a VersaMEC
700. I'm on my second one of those and find it ideal for my use. I don't load a lot of
clay pigeon loads but load special use loads like black powder, or short shot shells using a roll crimp.

[Freischütz]

I still like my MEC 400.

[Kevin Rohrer]

I know someone who has a Hollywood setup for 12 gauge. It is HUGE. Here is a picture:

http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv29/KevinRohrer/Reloading/HollywoodShotgunReloader.jpg

[prs]

My Sizesmaster is close to 33 years of faithful service now, mostly 16ga; but have dies for all but 28ga

prs

[Firebricker]

I voted Mec because that's what I use (9000) and am very happy with it. I had a Lee load all in high school and it did a good job loaded box after box on that thing. Now if money was no factor I would love to try out a Dillion. A friend of mine has a brand new RCBS progressive he hasn't set up yet but it look's like it's going to be a good machine. FB

[AZ-Stew]

I have a Lee Load-All for 20ga, and a Lee Load-Fast for 12 ga. For the price, the Load-Fast was a good machine. It's biggest drawback is that you can't back it up or remove a mistake from the processing line. You just have to deal with shot and powder running everywhere if you don't pay attention. I bought some repair parts for it a couple of years ago, so I'm probably good to go for a LONG time for as little shotgunning as I do.

Man, that Deitemeyer is surely a fine looking piece of machinery!

Here's the Load-Fast. Spent primers drop through into the bin on the right, loaded shells into the bin on the left.

http://www.inficad.com/~gstewart/misc_photos/lee_load_fast.jpg

Regards,

Stew

[NoZombies]

Those Deitmeyer 300's are nice presses. manual indexing progressive, and smooth as silk!

[GLShooter]

I've got a 900 G and two 650's that meet my shot shell needs. The 9000G is so fast that it would take a weeks wages just to run it for eight hours of reloading to pay for the component's.

Greg

[southpaw]

I went with MEC. I have a couple of the 600jr's, a stealmaster and a 9000g. GLShooter is right about the speed of the 9000. Gotta keep an eye on the primers and powder. I have had absolutely no problems with any of them (well.... other than running out of primers and/or powder and not realizing it).

But then again I haven't used any shotgun presses other than Mec.

Jerry Jr.

[Three44s]

Pacific (Hornady) 366 is my top press ....... I have several Mec's and they are good for the bucks ......

....... but for overall smoothness and production ...... the 366 Hornady!


Three 44s

[Down South]

700 Versamec "Pre 82" I haven't used it in several years now but it's a good machine.

[tonyjones]

I have used many shotshell loading machines over the past 40 years and now use the Ponsness Warren 375C. I have 4 of them, one each in 12, 20, 28 and .410. These machines are not fast but they are very versatile, especially if you are loading stacked or multiple component wad columns. The radius on the crimps work perfectly in autoloaders. Also, these machines work better when loading new/unfired hulls than anything else I've tried by far.
Regards,
Tony

[quasi]

I use a P+W 375 to load slugs, buckshot and round ball loads, and a Pacific 366 for mass production. The 366 is a great progressive, but the P+W 800 is even better if you can find one.

[Kevin Rohrer]

Does anyone know someone who uses a Spolar? I watched their video on You Tube and it looks interesting--and colorful. :holysheep

[tonyjones]

The Spolar is an excellent machine for someone that loads one piece wads and shoots one load. I have three target shooting friends that use them. Spolar factory adjusts the machines for your load and then loads 100 of your load before packing it up and shipping it to you. Their quality is excellent, production is good and the shells will feed in auto loaders. I sometimes shoot 4 different loads on a sporting clays course. That is one of the reasons I use PW 375C machines. If you're going to settle on one load, changing only shot size, the Spolar is a great choice. The PW progressive machines are also excellent. IMO all progressive shotshell loaders are a pain to change loads, gauge, etc.
Regards,
Tony

[runfiverun]

i have some [ 2-3/4/3" 3-1/2" ana a 20 ga] mec's and a pacific 366 which i use to size the brass and final crimp the rounds from the mec's.
however my favorite presses are my two ponsess warrens the 950 for 20 ga and 12 ga federal hulls.
and ls-1000 which i can convert for 2-3/4 up through 3-1/2 12 ga shells and for lead/bismuth or steel. but is usually just set up for rem or win hulls, as i can knock out 400 or so an hour loafing along and keeping the hoppers and primer tray full.
plus they just need some oiling once in a while.

[Cowboy T]

Lee Load-All, because I can afford it. However, I wish they would make a .410" adaptor kit for it.

[Recluse]

MEC 650, but I do so little shotgunning at this time. . .

:coffee:

[Triggerhappy]

Ok, I've wanted a Dillon SL900 for years, always had Mec 600's, still have a couple. Well, we got the 900 today, without the casefeeder, so far. The wife and I set it up tonight after work, didn't take much to have it spitting out shells. Wife had never loaded her own but has been around reloading quite a bit. She loaded the first couple of boxes while I kept the pipe filled with hulls.

This thing without the casefeeder will do a box of shells a minute without even trying. Does a nice job crimping, seems to do a better job metering powder than my other Dillon products for some reason, may be the powder I was using, Clays. I can't imagine a press going any faster than this one so I can't wait to see what it can do with a feeder attached. I can see I'll have to stock up on some shot, wads etc. I have a couple thousand once fired hulls I can load, won't take long.

At a stroke every 2 - 2 1/2 seconds the primer feeder did a great job. Only drawback is that if you run it out of hulls it will end up with a primer floating around. A feeder will solve that problem I think. I've never had a shotshell primer feeder work so well. Was truly a pleasure to run.

Cheers, TH

[johnlaw484]

The Deitemeyer 300, no doubt about it, a piece of machinery, no stampings or plastics used (except shot/powder tubes)

I have an older version (blue) of this wonderful machine. The beautiful thing about it was it was a freebie!

[jbelder]

Mec Steel Master 12ga!!!

[Iowa Fox]

I like the Mecs because they are so simple and just plain work well. My first was a 700 versamec to which I added an auto primer to in the early 70s. Since then I have picked up a couple 600 jrs. One of the jrs is in 410 and does a very good job after I got it running good. Parts availabilty is good from mec. Around here you can find little used older mecs for 35.00 or less if you look around. I always add a pro check to the older ones so you can't get the shot and powder stroke mixed up when sliding the bar.