MEC 20ga Press

[Sprue]

Did some searching abt Mec Press. I haven't done any reloading in a long time. I have a Mec for 12ga but I'm wanting to reload for 20ga. Question is, in order to load 20ga. Does Mec presses have inter- changeable dies or are the Mec presses dedicated to the different gages. I'm thinking that they are dedicated. tia

[Greg S]

I think the 600s are interchangeable. Check out MECs website.

[Sprue]

Haa.. As of right now I'm not sure sure of the model I have. I know it's the base model

[DDriller]

You can order a set of dies for the 20 gauge. It is probably a basic 600 model.

[RogerDat]

Might almost be worth the cost of a used MEC set up with 20 gauge dies to not have to swap out dies on same press

May depend on how you reload, really large batches of same load, where once you complete the batch you are set for that gauge for a long time, or smaller batches of different loads on more of a few boxes of a load on an as needed basis.

I have found that used shot shell presses can be a good deal used. Old Pacific presses can be especially value priced. Competitive with a new Lee shot shell press with more quality. Will say that MEC parts/support is great no matter what age the press is. If they can help they will.

[15meter]

The 600 series can have die sets changed. If it's charge bar has a 302 stamped in it, it can be changed. If the charge bar has 502 stamped in it, it's a "progressive" press. Probably not worth the effort.

Progressives are the 650 and 9000 series. Also I believe the "Grabber" or "Hustler". MEC doesn't recommend doing a gauge conversion on these.

I have, it's a lot of work and it doesn't work perfectly. But it does work. I did a 12 gauge 650 to a 16 gauge 650. If I didn't have the 12 gauge 650 as a spare and had a part set from a 16 gauge 600 press to start with, plus 40+ years of MEC experience and having owned 3 dozen plus MEC's over that time, I never would have tried it.

I would never try a 12 to 410 the difference in the track the hulls slide in is too great.

12 to 16 was close enough to work OK.

If you have an active trap/skeet club with the emphasis on SKEET, post a "want to buy" for a 20 gauge press. You'll probably get a couple of offers.

Before you step too far into shotshell reloading, you may want to check on component availability. I just bought 2 cases of 209 primers last week. They have been unavailable for going on 3 years. Ended up buying an import brand because that was what was available.

I suspect that they are going to turn back into unobtainium shortly.