New MEC 9000GN loader questions

[woodlecj]

Just set up my new MEC 9000 and am wondering how to get it started in progressive mode without making a mess. I’m a long time metallic progressive loader, so I understand the process. I’m struggling getting it started and stopped without making a mess of powder and shot. With my Hornady LnL AP, it will not drop powder if there is no case in the drop station, not so with the MEC.
My work around is to put an empty dummy case in station 2 & 3 to catch powder and shot until the real case comes around from station 1. Now the process flows nicely until I’m at the last shell I want to load is in station 3, then I have to put the dummy case in station 2 and then station 3 repeatedly until the last round clears stations 4, 5 & 6.

I hope this makes senses. Is this the way it’s done or am I missing something? I’ve read the entire User guide as well as Lyman#5.

Thanks,
Craig

 

[rfwobbly]

What I did was insert 2 hulls (one for powder; one for shot) with the top 1/2" removed which had a radically different color so as not to confuse them. When the op handle is pulled and the ingredients drop, it's a simple matter to remove them and pour their contents back into the top. Keep them right in front of the press because they are needed at the beginning and the end of a "run".

 

[woodlecj]

Thanks RF, that's pretty much what I'm doing. I just can't believe that's how it's done. You go through the MEC manual and they make no mention of using dummy hulls or saying you're going to make a mess. They even have a video that shows a guy running it without pre-staging dummy hulls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tepLTC-gXSU

 

[rfwobbly]

In my first 5 minutes with a MEC 9000 I lost more powder than in the previous 6 years in metallic reloading. I guess shotgun shooters just put up with more mess. I was told to go to a hamburger joint and get one of the small plastic trays to bolt between the press and the bench to catch all the stuff that dropping all over the place.

 

[ReloaderFred]

There is a catch on the right side of the powder/shot slide that you can move up to stop the slide from operating.

What I do is just leave cases in all the stations, all the time. When I'm ready to load again, all I have to do is make sure the powder, shot and primer containers are all full and then start feeding cases and wads and pulling the handle. It takes away a lot of the frustration of having powder and shot spill all over the place.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[gab909]

I load on the grabber and it is the same principle as the 9000. If you like to tinker and have an engineering degree and the patience of a saint, then it is understandable and simple to do. I use the empty hulls, but have only been using it for about ten years in 3 different gauges. 12,20, and 28. I have about a million shells reloaded and never figured it out. Something about the primer pressure blah blah blah. My buddy showed me once, who is a mechanical genius, but I forgot by the time I got home. Thought I had it figured out once and ended up blowing powder and pushing shot off the turnstyle. Life is simpler to use the hulls for me.

 

[oneounceload]

Get yourself one of the plastic trays from a BK or McD's or similar and put it under your press - if you use an aluminum baking sheet, ground it. That will catch your spills. (One reason I like the RCBS Grand was that it doesn't drop powder or shot without a hull in place)

What I do is just leave cases in all the stations, all the time. When I'm ready to load again, all I have to do is make sure the powder, shot and primer containers are all full and then start feeding cases and wads and pulling the handle. It takes away a lot of the frustration of having powder and shot spill all over the place.

What I was also doing when I had my 9000

 

[woodlecj]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I had read some tips earlier before I got the press and actually the first thing I did was put the tray under it. But I certainly wasn't ready for all of the bouncing BBs! I guess I'll stick with the dummy hull method.

 

[Waldog]

When you make a complete cycle the press is reset until you start again. What I mean is, like RFWOBBLY stated, put a empty shell under the powder and one under the shot stage as a sefety catch. Now, start a fresh hull at stage one, like you were going to start to load. Cycle THAT case all the way through, with out adding any further hulls until it drops out the back. After THAT shell is complete, STOP!! DO NOT CYCLE THE PRESS AGAIN. Your press SHOULD be reset. It shouldn't drop powder or shot, as long as, you don't cycle the press. When you start at stage one again, the press will cycle without dropping powder or shot. When the last shell is dropped out the back, STOP! And, do nothing until you start to reload again.

Now, when you encounter a jam, or a crushed case, you will have to clear the entire press and start over again.

This guy has a couple of really good booklet/manuals on MEC shotshell press problems. it's full of hints, specifically the problems with spilling powder and shot: http://www.expertreloader.com/

 

[rfwobbly]

I have the book MEC Shotshell Reloading Secrets if you think that would help.

 

[Waldog]

RF,

I have the book as well. Haven't looked at it about 10 years. But, I'm 99% sure that book talks about spills. However, I certainly could be wrong. I haven't loaded shot shells for a few years. But, I do own a MEC9000. If memory serves me, what I described solved most of my powder spills.

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

I have one in 12ga and one in 28ga. After about 1000 rounds you'll get all the bugs worked out. In the mean time mount the press in a cookie tray to catch all the shot. The best advice I can give you is to cycle smoothly and on the slow speed side of things. The 28ga tends to have the shot hang up so I start to raise the handle and pause for just a second to verify the shot drops.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Waldog,

Unless you engage the slide catch, each time you pull the handle the slide moves all the way to the right, dropping both shot and powder. Without a shell in each station, the shot and powder will spill.

Your method will only work if you engage the slide catch, and you didn't mention that.

Hope this helps.

Fred

PS: I just finished loading 3,000 rounds on my 9000GN, and I'm resting my arm..........

 

[Waldog]

ReloaderFred,
You're RIGHT!! I told you it had been a while. Memory is the second thing to go!! (Smile)

 

[Julian537]

It has to do with the powder drop tube on station 2. It should only cycle the powder/shot bar if a shell is under it. If you adjust this according to the directions, it pushes down on the primer set at station 2 and does not release the latch on the side of the powder/shot bar. It also re-latches the latch at the end of cycling the shells through it. Us an allen wrench to loosen the collar at station 2, then shorten the distance on the tube. If you shorten it to much, it will not release the latch and drop powder on station 2.

 

[gab909]

After filling your last shell with wad/shot, and catching the powder with the empty hull, you can merely tip back the bottles (but hold on to them, re: oh hell I have 10 pounds of #8's rolling around on the floor) so the cam does not catch the bar and cycle that last completed shell through without having to catch all that shot and powder.

P.S. If you are not spilling shot and powder while loading shotgun shells, you are not reloading. Everyone has uh oh's while loading shotgun, after awhile they get pretty humrous. I think Jesus was the one that came up with the catch pan, but I might be mistaken.

 

[woodlecj]

Gentlemen,

All good tips; I think I got the hang of it. Yes, it's beginners syndrome. When I first got my Hornady LnL AP, the case feeder was sort of a pain to get right, but once you get used to it and have it adjusted just right, you can really fly. Only difference was no bouncing BBs!