Why I regard my MEC so highly...

[Dave McCracken]

Got back an hour ago from a pleasant jaunt to PGC, where I slew many evil little clay pigeons, though I must report some did escape my wrath. Had lots of fun, the important part, and tried out some load variants.

The first is made up in STS hulls. It puts an oz of HARD 7 1/2 shot out the muzzle at about 1150 FPS with pressures in a safe 8K PSI range. Easy on the TB and me. Kick is miniscule. Effect is satisfactory, and the misses are mine, not the load's. It patterns tighter than needed, but I like keeping the density up and regard losing a little spread as non-critical. Use at present is for a Winter load for 16 yard trap, some mid range handicap if needed, a dove load if I can find a place I can afford to hunt at, and a good choice if I get invited to a preserve hunt.

The second,reported here before,uses 7/8 oz of HARD 8 1/2s at around 1175-1200 FPS in AA or STS cases.Whatever the speed,it's a nice little load for casual trap, Wobble trap, and many SC/5 stand presentations. Even less kick than the previous load, tho both are creampuffs.

A variant I worked up for the Thursday Eve skeet gang has that second load pumped up past 1300 FPS, only in AA cases. This gives better spread for skeet shots out of the TB's 38 POC choke. This works for skeet, where the longest shot may be 20 yards and the closest not 20 feet. On some Low 1 targets, I see for the briefest iota of time a near bore sized hole in the clay before the thing disintegrates. The extra speed and pressure deforms the shot more, causing them to flare out when released from the wad. This wouldn't work well past 25 or 30 yards, but that close the flyers are still in the pattern and add a little spread.

So, you may be leaning back and thinking, "All well and good but what does this blather have to do with the title?".

All are made on my MEC with these components....

Clays powder.

Winchester 209 primer.

Claybuster clone of the WAA12SL wad.

To make these loads, and many others, it takes....

Either AA or STS hulls.

Two charge bars.

Two powder bushings.

Two shot sizes.

3 mission specific loads with the same components, varying shot size and speed to achieve a particular result at a given range. BTW,reloading costs with first class components bought at retail for any of these are below $2.79 a box. Loading a box takes less time than the commercials in a half hour TV show.

The only resetting I have to do consists of putting the correct bushing in the correct bar, and adjusting wad pressure a little for the 1 oz load.

I also have 1 1/8 and 1 1/4 oz bars. With a little juggling of wads,powder and shot I can make heavier target loads or even tight patterning pheasant whackers for spooky wild birds.A two year old wild rooster can soak up hits like Marciano and keep getting up well past the horizon.

These three loads cover a lot of territory. By knowing what and where we need to place the pattern, we can get the optimum or near optimum load, instead of settling for what comes in those Mega Store Value Packs lots of us use for non- critical use.

My much used(5 digit serial number) Mec 600 Jr has churned out over 10 K rounds since I bought it March 2001. No probs besides the mount for the shot bottle breaking. $15 got me a better engineered replacement. The MEC paid for itself in weeks, and now enables me to shoot more for the same money. And without any doubt on my part, it'll last longer than I will, despite being nigh as ancient.

 

[TrapperReady]

Can I hear an "Amen!"?

My wife and I seriously depleted our stocks of 1 1/8 oz shells I had loaded eariler in the year, so I just started cranking out some new combos.

Based on some of what I've heard here, and my experience shooting a tough sporting clays course with a 20ga and 7/8 oz loads, I've worked up a number of boxes of 7/8 oz #7.5 shot moving around 1200fps.

I'm also going to make some 1 oz loads, and a handful of boxes of heavier hunting loads (1 1/4 oz of #6).

I use Remington STS hulls for all of my target reloads, and Winchester AA hulls for hunting (so I don't get them mixed up). Aside from that, I've got a few different types of wads and use either Clays or Longshot depending upon the application.

Most of the time, I can make a case worth of shells in less time than it takes me to get in the car and drive the 10-15 (each way) minutes to the store to buy them. I can also make sure that I have EXACTLY what I want when I want it.

I've got a well-worn, but perfectly functional MEC 9000G that I bought off a friend, and it had paid for itself in a little under 2 weeks after I started reloading.

When I go hunting with friends, they often comment about how much better I can shoot. It's no secret... if you shoot thousands and thousands of targets throughout the year, when bird season comes, you're going to be ready. Reloading helps make that affordable.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Thanks, TR. A progressive is planned for later on.

Right now, STS hulls are kept for Trap loads, AAs of divers colors for Skeet.

One thing about 1 1/4 oz loads. While these were my load of choice in the bad old days, advances in modern ammo means a 1 1/8 oz load has more pellets in the pattern then 1 1/4 oz did in days of yore. I'd still use them for long shots on spooky wild ringnecks, the More Is Better Principle applies on those toughies.

As for practice, I've shot off more target loads in the last 3 years than in any decade before. It shows....

 

[Red Label]

I too have a 600 JR for my 12 ga. loads. An old Versamec 700 also that I bought in high school when I shot mostly 20 ga. Same machine, different decades. Its amazing to me that equipment of this quality is still available for around $100 and is still Made in the USA. That in itself means a lot to me in this day and age of outsourcing to China. Thats a whole 'nother thread so I'll leave it be. Lets just say that on a rainy day like it was here yesterday, I was able to get my shooting fix down in the basement pounding out a few loads on my MEC!

Steve

 

[HSMITH]

AMEN!!

I run a couple MEC progressives here too. Mine work great until you hit #5 shot, it bridges a little in the drop tube and makes it a pain, so I dip #5 and larger shot and it really is not a big deal. The adjustable charge bar is a a true blessing if you like fooling around and trying new loads. Adjusting for the perfect amount of powder and shot is simply a dial-in affair. When I get a Uni bar for my last Grabber I will put the charge bars and bushings I have bought over the years up in a pay-it-forward for someone that can use them.

Try some max loads of Longshot under 1 1/4 oz of magnum or plated shot in an SP12 wad and all wrapped up in a AA hull. WOW!!!! They will surprise you for sure as they kick hard (1440 FPS or so ), pattern SUPER for the speed and generally scorch birds out of the air. This would also make an EXCEPTIONAL card/chicken/money shoot load, I am telling you it will REACH and do it with authority. Back it down to 1250-1300 and it will be even tighter at distance.

 

[TrapperReady]

HSMITH - It sounds like you and I are using pretty much the same recipe for our 1 1/4 oz loads. They do kick, but the effect on the poultry is pretty darned good. The only problem is if I don't wait a little for smaller birds (chukars or quail) to get out a bit, as I prefer stuff mostly intact while in my vest.

 

[kudu]

Mecs are what I have lined up in my loading area. Four Grabbers lined up from 12ga to .410.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Sounds like we all are sitting in the same pew. The advantages of reloading, especially with a MEC, are myriad.

I spent an hour earlier down in the family room, turning out some skeet loads for Thursday night and a couple boxes of trap stuff. I used the tail end of a bag of 8s, and will compare scores against the same load in 7 1/2. Then I'll go and load up many of the better one.

THAT'S what a reloader can do with minimum fuss and expense.

I also found most of a box of the 3/4 oz loads I worked up for Son's little NEF 12. With the addition of a Circle Fly 28 gauge fiber wad in the same wad's cup I use now, and 16 gr of Clays, it's a super creampuff and trainer for kids and recoil sensitive adults. Flexibility indeed.

Including the scale and manual,BOTH ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, I've less than $100 in the setup. Anyone want to calculate the savings on 10K of target ammo at $2.80 or less a box?

 

[45auto]

I'd say about $500 savings.

My newest MEC is 17 years old and I should have kept the one I had before it- just because!

They are tough machines to beat, overall.

 

[Dave McCracken]

$500? Not bad, I just came up with $480, figuring $4 box for factory fodder. Of course, I didn't save anything, just shot more. About 171 boxes more.

 

[Poodleshooter]

I'm toying with the idea of getting a Sizemaster. So far my Lee Loadall II has sufficed for buckshot, slugs, trap loads, turkey loads,etc.
I'm glad to see you guys are happy with your MEC's, you've sold me!

 

[Dave McCracken]

Welcome, Poodleshooter. Don't kick dirt over that Lee. If you get a MEC and are quite happy with it, keep the Lee for special loads. Once I get a progressive, it'll get set to a pet target load and used to crank them out as much as finances afford. The 600 will serve well for that stuff I may only want a box or two of at one time. For instance....

If ever again I go squirrelin', a 7/8 load of 6s through Number 6's TIGHT 40 POC choke oughta be great bushytail medicine. Same for 1 1/8 oz of 5s on tough wild ringnecks. Or 7/8 oz of 7 1/2s for their preserve raised cousins.

And the idea of getting my first Gobbler with a tweaked 1 1/4 oz handload with the same shotgun(Nigh identical to my first 870 in its original incarnation) doth tickle my fancy.

 

[TrapperReady]

Dave - I would be willing to bet that if you get a progressive, the 600 may not see much duty. I've got a small cigar box with 4 charge bars and a small handful of bushings. The screwdriver and wrench needed to change them are within an arms reach of my 9000G, and it literally takes under a minute to swap the bar.

In fact, it usually takes me more time double, then triple, then quadruple checking my setup than it actually does making the modifications in the first place.

I just found out that a trip to ND may be in the cards this year, so I need to pick up a bag of #5 tomorrow. I'll probably mix up some of the max load 1 1/4 oz shells HSMITH wrote about.

 

[HSMITH]

Dave, I am with Trapper on this one for sure. Lay in waiting for a deal on a 9000G, you won't be sorry. I use ajustable charge bars on mine so I dial in the powder and then dial in the shot weight and I am off and cranking out the ammo. I would not want to go back to the archaic freaking bushing and bar system, it just does not make sense to me when a charge bar that will do it ALL is only $25.

Trapper, those Longshot loads are heap-o-big-medicine on birds. I use #5 exclusively on pheasants as well, farm raised or wild. I shoot full chokes on everything too, so I know just what you mean when you say you need to be patient with the shots. I saw a big pretty rooster plucked, cleaned, shredded and diced in mid-air at about 25 yards last year with one of my shells, that feller got a stern talking to right quick and took what was left of that bird home as part of his daily bag......

Good luck in ND!!

 

[Dave McCracken]

I'll trust you guys on this one,you've been there done that. If that's the way it works out, someone is going to get oneheckuvadeal on a 600 Jr. In fact, a Boy Scout troop or other youth group might just get it donated. Paying it forward again...

TR, my extra bars and so on reside in a cigar box also. Great minds move in parallel paths(G)...

H, a Unibar is also on the list.

NoDak for ringnecks? Covet,covet,envy,envy.....