Reloading Shot Shells

[midnight]

I load 12 & 16 on PW 375s & 20 on an old Pacific DL-155. I'm 80 yrs old now & only load for duck & grouse hunting. I found this thread while looking for info on loading short 12 ga shells. I have a large bunch of AAs reloaded many times. I sorted out the ones with cracked or otherwise unuseable case mouths & trimmed them back to 2 3/8 in to get one more loading out of them. I can't help it, it's the Scotsman in me. I already loaded some with PB or green dot, 1 oz #8, & SSW wad from Ballistic Products. They shot great on clay pigeons & functioned the Montefeltro. It would be nice if any here with short shell experience could share it.
I think the PW 375s are the finest slngle stage loaders out there. The Pacific DL-155 is solid as a rock & serves my 20ga grouse needs. It even has the primer feed which I don' t use. Traded off my PW 800B after I stopped shooting in a trap league. Just loaded up 150 7/8 oz 20 s in paper cases. Should be enough for 2 or 3 grouse.

Bob

[atr]

I am still using my old Herters 12 ga reloading press, not to mention paper hulls which I have saved through the years. I don't do a lot of shotgun shooting, mostly grouse and quail so my shotgun reloading needs are pretty simple. Since a lot of my components are old-type I use my old manuals for load data, and then I cross-check with the new lyman shotgun reload manual.
best
atr

[Minerat]

I started in @1970 with a 20 ga Honey Bair it was retired in 1987. It was getting so loose the crimps were not goid. I now have 2 MEC Sizemasters, 12 and 20 and a old MEC 600 for 410's. I only load for upland bird hunting and blasting for my grandson so a couple if hundred every so often.

[Hdskip]

I load for 12,16,20.28,and .410. Skeet mainly 16 for doves etc. All of my loading is done on a pull handle Spolar. I purchased the dies sets except for the 16ga which I made in my shop. I used MECs for many years including all the progressives. My favorites and in my opinion best progressives were the 650s. If I went back to MECs I would go with 650s. This adventure(possibly obsession ) started in 1976 and continues to now. I have run a lot of lead down shotgun barrels.
I never tried PWs or Dillons but I know the Spolar has given me less fits about adjusting and change over guage to guage is 5 minutes or less. With the exception of the 16 ga I load all Remington cases. The 16 ga. I use the old Winchester AAs. I think my Spolar has serial #00078 so it is an early one.

[jimb16]

I load 12, 16, 20 and .410. I load some for hunting, but mainly for skeet. Probably load around 5K every year so I'm not a high volume shooter, but I'm not a low volume shooter either. I mainly shoot 12s so I use a PW progressive for those, but load specialty 12s on a 600jr. I use 600 jrs. for all the other gauges since I don't shoot large numbers of those. I'm a fair shot with a scatter gun. Don't know how many 25 straights I've shot but its a bunch. Its the 50 straight that has my number. 49/50? yeah, plenty of times, but all 50 just continues to elude me.... Well, I'm only 73. I might get there yet. Last 49/50 was just a week ago.

[Shanghai Jack]

Well - starting with a Pacific 366 in 12 gauge before Hornady ever thought of buying the rights. Sent it back to Hornady about two months back when I couldn't have an workable conversation with the tech department. Turns out it was apparently one of the first runs by Pacific with a lot of unique parts. Hornady cleaned it up, adjusted what needed to be adjusted, replaced parts and now its back on the bench with two others that I scored over the years. Going to get rid of the various MECS and Texans except for the 410. Cant bring myself to spend 1600 US dollars on a Hornady 366 in 410. I guess I'll just continue to play Whack a Mole for that gauge. And yes, they do require your undivided attention - but that's not a bad thing when it comes to working with explosives.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Yes if a 366 fails to drop a primer the next pull of the handle results in a mess. It is a good idea to have an air hose handy for blowing the spilled powder and or shot.

I have a DL266 for my .410's but would like a progressive. I'll hunt until I find a used DL366 that doesn't cost a fortune. Until then it is single stage for the .410's I shot 50 rounds today and it will take me about 40 minutes to reload them. Not the end of the world.

Randy

[midnight]

I almost forgot. I started reloading shotgun shells back in 1970 when I shot in a trap league. I used a Herters Model 72. Remember the shot & powder measure where you added or subtracted washers to adjust powder & shot charges? The only scale I had was an old medical balance calibrated in grams. Had to use my slide rule to convert to grains. It was slow but served my trap & duck hunting needs. Any one else here use the Herters 72?

Bob

[dverna]

I hate MEC's. I could never get any of them to run trouble free or make a factory quality crimp. Had the same issue with the Dillon 900SL...sold it after 6 months.

For single stage presses I ended up with two PW375's. Slow but make a good shell. Just use them for hunting shells. Looking at making buckshot and slug loads some day.

I had a hydraulic Spolar with 12, 20 and 28 ga heads and it was a great machine but it could not match the PW 800+ for crimp quality. I still have the 800+ with AutoDrive, and it is the best shotshell reloader I have ever used. But, at a total of $2000, it is more than most people need. It has paid for itself as I used to shoot a lot of trap.

IMO for low volume reloaders, the MEC's are a great value even though I was not happy with the ones I tried. I blame me for the issues I had. One great thing about MEC's is parts are easily available and affordable.

The great thing about the PW's is you don't need parts often. The only parts I keep on hand are a couple of die access plates ($7.50 ea.) and wad guides. I have loaded about 150k rounds on the 800+.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have loaded about 150k rounds on the 800+.

Now that is Dedication!

Randy

[HWooldridge]

I found that my MEC loaders work best if I start very light on final crimp and stop when it looks right. Any more pressure and I start having all sorts of problems.

[dverna]

I have loaded about 150k rounds on the 800+.

Now that is Dedication!

Randy

Randy...I am a cheap SOB who likes to shoot a lot.

[atr]

Midnight....Bob
I am still using my Herter's model 72 !!!...just wish I could find an 8-point crimp started for it. I am also using an old style balance beam, in grams, to check the measured the shot charge. The washers in the model 72 do give a pretty accurate shot and powder charge.

atr

[Streetwalker]

I bought a Mec 600 Jr. in 1977 to reload for my serious duck and goose hunting habit and to feed my needs for the various shotgun target shooting games I participated in during the off-season for hunting. Never had a problem with the old Mec which I still have today. I bought a progressive Pacific 366 in 12 gauge with a 20 ga. conversion set-up and a P/W 375. The Pacific 366 was a great tool but there was hell to pay should things get out of sync or I had a brain fart and caused a mishap. Cleaning lead shot and spilled powder out of the innards of that machine was a ordeal so it went bye-bye for a lot more money than I paid for it used. The P/W is a great tool and built like a tank..never have a problem of any kind with it, even after many, many thousands of rounds "remanufactured"by it. The single stage tools are not for the high volume shooters unless you love to reload like I do. Also, keep in mind that if you are an experimenter who likes to try different loads, it's a lot easier to do on a single stage loader than on a progressive.

[Squid Boy]

I started in 1962 with a Lee hand loader in 12 gauge. Probably loaded several thousand with it over the years. Now I load 8, 10, 12, 24, 28 & 410 all on MEC 600 Jr's. I buy the 16's and 20's because I don't shoot but maybe a box or two a year and don't need anything special. I also have an old Texan that I bring out sometimes. It's built like a tank and still makes good ammo. I don't find the MEC's to be any problem at all but I only load a hundred or so at a time. Squid Boy

[JCM45]

Have loaded tens of thousands of 12 gauge on the same MEC Sizemaster during the past 40 years. Recently rebuilt and re-greased it and expect many more years of continued use.

[jim 44-40]

What am I getting myself into, going to look at a Bair Polar 600-12g this weekend.Also the gentleman has a bunch of Herter wads, Inter-national,which I don't plan on using

[doghunter]

I mostly load low volume buckshot and do it with a roll crimper. I have a couple sizemasters and I do use them to resize and prime hulls when I'm using used hulls. I like that with a roll crimper you can Taylor the hull length to the load rather than having to adjust the load to make sure it fills the hull to just the right height. Also, I can probably still but loaded field loads cheaper than I can load them.

[Deadcenter]

I load 10,12,20,28 and 410. All mec machines, the last one I got was a 9000G in 410. Great reloader but you really need to pay attention before pulling that handle. When things go south you can wind up with a real mess. I have a sizemaster for the 10ga that basically gets used for steel and coyote loads. The 12,20 and 28 are all grabbers with a LOT of hours on them. I've been an avid crow hunter since the mid 70's along with skeet and sporting clays so I get to burn a number of shells each year.

[autogun]

I use to compete in sporting clays. I found the best value for the money was a mec 9000 hydraulic. Yes, the primer feed is a pain in the butt but if you pause at the end of the stroke you will have far fewer issues. I loaded about 70,000 before I needed a new collet. YMMV.