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The other day I was given a MEC 600 JR Mark 5. I have no clue how to use it. I would like to get into loading my own duck shells (3" 3 shot most likely). Just wondering what kind of parts I'll need and what's the best type of materials to use. I'll post pics of what I have later.
This is all I have at the moment. More pics to come.

Thought there was going to be a pic of a penis

Get boot and everyone to shoot kents or federals and use their empties. If you can locate powder and primers locally you will save a good bit of money unless you order in bulk. Lbc 43 and multi metals make great 3" loads. Start by reading through some manuals. Status of steel is a good one as well as a couple others. Ballistic products and precision reloading sell most everything you need at good prices.

What kind of shotty you shoot juice?

Flightstopper wrote:Get boot and everyone to shoot kents or federals and use their empties. If you can locate powder and primers locally you will save a good bit of money unless you order in bulk. Lbc 43 and multi metals make great 3" loads. Start by reading through some manuals. Status of steel is a good one as well as a couple others. Ballistic products and precision reloading sell most everything you need at good prices.

Thanks for the help!

jehler wrote:What kind of shotty you shoot juice?

Browning Maxis and an 870

He can have my spent Kent's for a box or two of reloads.

Bootlipkiller wrote:He can have my spent Kent's for a box or two of reloads.

I'll give you the first box of reloads I make :p shoot at your own risk!

Juice Box wrote:

jehler wrote:What kind of shotty you shoot juice?

Browning Maxis and an 870

Be careful loading unverified loads. Only load wildcats from people you trust.

If your just planning on loading steel, you a need a steel shot bar (black color) from MEC. Next thing you should consider is picking on hull and sticking with it. My choice is a Remington hull though I only load for my trap shooting endeavor. If I were you I would also just stick with one powder but that's your choice as that's my preference. I only use two powders. Accurate Solo 1000 for trap shooting and Alliant Herco for Upland/Screwing around club porch loads. For shooting steel duck loads, my guess is you want some speed and wallop. Try using a medium/slow burning pistol/shotgun powder with a CCI 209 Magnum primer. I would stick with a powder/primer combo then mess around with wads finding which one throws the pattern you desire. That's my thought. BTW, the 600 jr. will outlast your grandsons life, that's a good press that will last forever.

Sorry Chapman but I disagree with most of that. Your better off weighing each powder and shot charge by hand. Steel shot and powder are both said to not meter well in a press. Alliant Steel powder will do just about all your loads and just about the only powder people use in steel loads. Stick to published load data for all loads.

Waterfowl loads are usually very high pressure, like 10000+ psi. So you can't really mess around with different wads like you can with light trap loads. Especially if you don't know what your doing.
The first place you should start is order Status of Steel from BPI. Read through it and decide what kind of loads you like...light and fast...heavy and slow...somewhere in the middle. Then look through the hundreds of recipes in the back of the book. Find a few that look good to you an order the stuff that you need to make those loads. Test them out in the pattern board together a start on what is working for you. Then load up a few of your favorite and field test them. If they seem to work, then you found a keeper. If not then repeat with different loads.
I started reloading this summer and this is how I started out.

I also recommend getting a digital scale and hand weigh your powder at minimum. I hand weigh my powder and shot because I could never get consistent drops from my cheapo press.

Flightstopper wrote:Sorry Chapman but I disagree with most of that. Your better off weighing each powder and shot charge by hand. Steel shot and powder are both said to not meter well in a press. Alliant Steel powder will do just about all your loads and just about the only powder people use in steel loads. Stick to published load data for all loads.

Believe me, I don't trust the powder bushings from charge bar, just the shot charge. I throw all my powder from my RCBS Competition Powder Measure with the pistol drum. I try to go for more uniformity that actual weight like you would in a rifle shooting stick powder. Another advice I would offer is when choosing a powder and you have found the one you want, shoot the powder company an email about data. The generally give you a good list. All I ever load are target loads. Thanks for disagreeing and educating me a little bit more on steel shot reloading as I don't do it enough.

My main competition load is
19.5 grs. Accurate Solo 1000
Remington Hull
DR Fig. 8 Wad (Gold Color)
Fiocchi 616 Primer
West Coast Magnum 7.5

This load through my Perazzi TMS produces an average of 1205 FPS; that barrel has been back-bored, forcing cone is completely gone, and has angle port portiong. It's a very light kicking load that grinds targets hard back to the 27. Please use published loading data before even considering this load for shooting.

NuffDaddy wrote:I also recommend getting a digital scale and hand weigh your powder at minimum. I hand weigh my powder and shot because I could never get consistent drops from my cheapo press.

I was about to disagree with you because for a second I thought you were talking about rifle reloading. If thats your thing to weigh them on a digital, do you weigh on a beam as well to confirm?

R. Chapman wrote:

NuffDaddy wrote:I also recommend getting a digital scale and hand weigh your powder at minimum. I hand weigh my powder and shot because I could never get consistent drops from my cheapo press.

I was about to disagree with you because for a second I thought you were talking about rifle reloading. If thats your thing to weigh them on a digital, do you weigh on a beam as well to confirm?

I just do shotshell reloading and only use the digital scale for my hunting loads.

R. Chapman wrote:If your just planning on loading steel, you a need a steel shot bar (black color) from MEC. Next thing you should consider is picking on hull and sticking with it. My choice is a Remington hull though I only load for my trap shooting endeavor. If I were you I would also just stick with one powder but that's your choice as that's my preference. I only use two powders. Accurate Solo 1000 for trap shooting and Alliant Herco for Upland/Screwing around club porch loads. For shooting steel duck loads, my guess is you want some speed and wallop. Try using a medium/slow burning pistol/shotgun powder with a CCI 209 Magnum primer. I would stick with a powder/primer combo then mess around with wads finding which one throws the pattern you desire. That's my thought. BTW, the 600 jr. will outlast your grandsons life, that's a good press that will last forever.

negative on the shot bar, tons of recipes for all hulls except winchesters but Remington's vary the greatest in hull capacity from one lot to the next, I would avoid them till you proficient

R. Chapman wrote:

NuffDaddy wrote:I also recommend getting a digital scale and hand weigh your powder at minimum. I hand weigh my powder and shot because I could never get consistent drops from my cheapo press.

I was about to disagree with you because for a second I thought you were talking about rifle reloading. If thats your thing to weigh them on a digital, do you weigh on a beam as well to confirm?

a good digital is plenty accurate for anything short of making nuclear weapons

I have loaded thousands and thousands of shot shells prior to the steel shot requirements. Chapmans trap load sounds about like what I used only with Winchester AA hulls. When the hulls were too burnt or started to split, I would load 1 3/8 oz of #5 chilled shot that had a mv of 1,330 and was killer for ducks and geese. The hulls were then thrown away. As for measuring every powder charge, Bull Shit! measure a few and then you have to trust your bushing or bar. Make sure that there is enough motion/shock so that the powder falls from the hopper pretty much the same with every movement of the bar. Never heard of steel shot not falling from the shot hopper in a reliable manner. RP Blue Magic hulls are pretty close to AA hulls and in most cases can be used interchangeably. Never had a MEC machine, started with a Texan shot shell loader and moved up to a Ponsness-Warren progressive. Could load a case (500) an hour with the help of another guy and a beer or two.

A persons time must be worth something and if you aren't shooting over 500 rounds a season, it probably isn't worth reloading, if you shoot quite a few more then you probably need a progressive reloader.

I can buy 500 shotgun shells (1 1/4 oz at 1400 fps) for less than $240 and get free shipping and no tax. Shells are easier to store from year to year than powder, shot, wads, primers and a bunch of reloading equipment.

I think with this reloader I'll be shooting my shotgun a lot more.

RonE wrote:I have loaded thousands and thousands of shot shells prior to the steel shot requirements. Chapmans trap load sounds about like what I used only with Winchester AA hulls. When the hulls were too burnt or started to split, I would load 1 3/8 oz of #5 chilled shot that had a mv of 1,330 and was killer for ducks and geese. The hulls were then thrown away. As for measuring every powder charge, Bull Shit! measure a few and then you have to trust your bushing or bar. Make sure that there is enough motion/shock so that the powder falls from the hopper pretty much the same with every movement of the bar. Never heard of steel shot not falling from the shot hopper in a reliable manner. RP Blue Magic hulls are pretty close to AA hulls and in most cases can be used interchangeably. Never had a MEC machine, started with a Texan shot shell loader and moved up to a Ponsness-Warren progressive. Could load a case (500) an hour with the help of another guy and a beer or two.

A persons time must be worth something and if you aren't shooting over 500 rounds a season, it probably isn't worth reloading, if you shoot quite a few more then you probably need a progressive reloader.

I can buy 500 shotgun shells (1 1/4 oz at 1400 fps) for less than $240 and get free shipping and no tax. Shells are easier to store from year to year than powder, shot, wads, primers and a bunch of reloading equipment.

alliant STEEL powder, which is by far the best for loading steel loads ie way to bulky to use a bushing, your drops will be all over the place

jehler wrote:

RonE wrote:I have loaded thousands and thousands of shot shells prior to the steel shot requirements. Chapmans trap load sounds about like what I used only with Winchester AA hulls. When the hulls were too burnt or started to split, I would load 1 3/8 oz of #5 chilled shot that had a mv of 1,330 and was killer for ducks and geese. The hulls were then thrown away. As for measuring every powder charge, Bull Shit! measure a few and then you have to trust your bushing or bar. Make sure that there is enough motion/shock so that the powder falls from the hopper pretty much the same with every movement of the bar. Never heard of steel shot not falling from the shot hopper in a reliable manner. RP Blue Magic hulls are pretty close to AA hulls and in most cases can be used interchangeably. Never had a MEC machine, started with a Texan shot shell loader and moved up to a Ponsness-Warren progressive. Could load a case (500) an hour with the help of another guy and a beer or two.

A persons time must be worth something and if you aren't shooting over 500 rounds a season, it probably isn't worth reloading, if you shoot quite a few more then you probably need a progressive reloader.

I can buy 500 shotgun shells (1 1/4 oz at 1400 fps) for less than $240 and get free shipping and no tax. Shells are easier to store from year to year than powder, shot, wads, primers and a bunch of reloading equipment.

alliant STEEL powder, which is by far the best for loading steel loads ie way to bulky to use a bushing, your drops will be all over the place

I certainly do not have the experience with steel shot to be able to argue with you. I will bow to your superior knowledge. I no longer run "roll you owns", I buy and run "ready made's".

Lug a forged cannon into the swamp and no shell will give you fear... Drink your coffee in a Christmas sweater and laugh at the ducks.

RonE wrote:

jehler wrote:

RonE wrote:I have loaded thousands and thousands of shot shells prior to the steel shot requirements. Chapmans trap load sounds about like what I used only with Winchester AA hulls. When the hulls were too burnt or started to split, I would load 1 3/8 oz of #5 chilled shot that had a mv of 1,330 and was killer for ducks and geese. The hulls were then thrown away. As for measuring every powder charge, Bull Shit! measure a few and then you have to trust your bushing or bar. Make sure that there is enough motion/shock so that the powder falls from the hopper pretty much the same with every movement of the bar. Never heard of steel shot not falling from the shot hopper in a reliable manner. RP Blue Magic hulls are pretty close to AA hulls and in most cases can be used interchangeably. Never had a MEC machine, started with a Texan shot shell loader and moved up to a Ponsness-Warren progressive. Could load a case (500) an hour with the help of another guy and a beer or two.

A persons time must be worth something and if you aren't shooting over 500 rounds a season, it probably isn't worth reloading, if you shoot quite a few more then you probably need a progressive reloader.

I can buy 500 shotgun shells (1 1/4 oz at 1400 fps) for less than $240 and get free shipping and no tax. Shells are easier to store from year to year than powder, shot, wads, primers and a bunch of reloading equipment.

alliant STEEL powder, which is by far the best for loading steel loads ie way to bulky to use a bushing, your drops will be all over the place

I certainly do not have the experience with steel shot to be able to argue with you. I will bow to your superior knowledge. I no longer run "roll you owns", I buy and run "ready made's".

there are a few decent powders you can throw drops with, but honestly it's hardly worth it, I have managed to get my pw to drop steel 2's and under with not factory brass bushings but for the most part dropping shot is as Erratic as steel powder. With a chargmaster automatic scale you can load pretty fast, brew and my son kicked out almost 600 rounds in an afternoon before the superior hunt

jehler wrote:

R. Chapman wrote:

NuffDaddy wrote:I also recommend getting a digital scale and hand weigh your powder at minimum. I hand weigh my powder and shot because I could never get consistent drops from my cheapo press.

I was about to disagree with you because for a second I thought you were talking about rifle reloading. If thats your thing to weigh them on a digital, do you weigh on a beam as well to confirm?

a good digital is plenty accurate for anything short of making nuclear weapons

Boy it sure is nice though to have beam scale in case something were to happen to that digital. Don't get me wrong, digitals are great, especially for weighing bullets (That's what my RangeMaster750s primary use is). A lot faster and easier to use, but like I stated before, I believe in uniformity of weight with shotgun powders, that's why I drop mine out of a powder measure instead of the bushing. Just more consistent no doubt about it. I never did have a faith in a progressive after dealing with my MEC Grabber for 6 months, and then trying a friends spolar, I liked using the Sizemaster the most and is what I load anywhere from 5,000-7,500 shells on in a trap shooting season.

jehler wrote:

R. Chapman wrote:If your just planning on loading steel, you a need a steel shot bar (black color) from MEC. Next thing you should consider is picking on hull and sticking with it. My choice is a Remington hull though I only load for my trap shooting endeavor. If I were you I would also just stick with one powder but that's your choice as that's my preference. I only use two powders. Accurate Solo 1000 for trap shooting and Alliant Herco for Upland/Screwing around club porch loads. For shooting steel duck loads, my guess is you want some speed and wallop. Try using a medium/slow burning pistol/shotgun powder with a CCI 209 Magnum primer. I would stick with a powder/primer combo then mess around with wads finding which one throws the pattern you desire. That's my thought. BTW, the 600 jr. will outlast your grandsons life, that's a good press that will last forever.

negative on the shot bar, tons of recipes for all hulls except winchesters but Remington's vary the greatest in hull capacity from one lot to the next, I would avoid them till you proficient

What Remingtons are you using? Gun Club and STS hulls have the same capacity/volume. From what I can tell, the Nitro Steel hulls and Sportsman's Hulls have the same volume as well. Not 100% sure on the HyperSonics.

R. Chapman wrote:

jehler wrote:

R. Chapman wrote:If your just planning on loading steel, you a need a steel shot bar (black color) from MEC. Next thing you should consider is picking on hull and sticking with it. My choice is a Remington hull though I only load for my trap shooting endeavor. If I were you I would also just stick with one powder but that's your choice as that's my preference. I only use two powders. Accurate Solo 1000 for trap shooting and Alliant Herco for Upland/Screwing around club porch loads. For shooting steel duck loads, my guess is you want some speed and wallop. Try using a medium/slow burning pistol/shotgun powder with a CCI 209 Magnum primer. I would stick with a powder/primer combo then mess around with wads finding which one throws the pattern you desire. That's my thought. BTW, the 600 jr. will outlast your grandsons life, that's a good press that will last forever.

negative on the shot bar, tons of recipes for all hulls except winchesters but Remington's vary the greatest in hull capacity from one lot to the next, I would avoid them till you proficient

What Remingtons are you using? Gun Club and STS hulls have the same capacity/volume. From what I can tell, the Nitro Steel hulls and Sportsman's Hulls have the same volume as well. Not 100% sure on the HyperSonics.

i don't use Remington's at all, I know cannon does, think he may even have some photographic proof of what I'm talking about, maybe he'll chime in, I mainly load cheddite and fiochi, and I but all new hulls, I don't reload anything unless I run out of new

Do you mean once-fired? And those two hulls are some of the best out of all the Euro-Trash hulls out there.

R. Chapman wrote:Do you mean once-fired? And those two hulls are some of the best out of all the Euro-Trash hulls out there.

No. He buys fresh unfired hulls. I do too. It's the best way to get consistent loads and crimps from one to the next.

Where the hell are you getting those? I've never heard of brand new hulls the factory sells, only once fired.