Reloading 12 guage

[Blackface Charlie 39]

1----is it cost effective to reload 12 gauge?  

2---if I go this route---where can I find reclaimed cleaned shot in Nor Cal?

3---I see a lot of used MEC's out there---all their lower end models.   Is it worth jumping right into the 9000GN.   I mean---buy it once buy it for life.

 

Thoughts??

Anyone have a 9000GN for sale?? 

[Hillbilly Drifter 738]

I use the MEC 600 JR, surely a lower end model. I load thousands of rounds on it. Not sure if it is economical or not, don't really care, I just like doing it. I pay 43.00 for 25# of lead shot I shoot sporting clays as well as cowboy. I usually load 2 times per year and the single stage does just fine. 2 or three settings and I have a 1000 loaded.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy it!

[Chief Rick 318]

1 - If you can buy a box of low noise/low recoil shells that will reliably shoot & shuck from your shotgun for $5, I believe you'd be hard pressed to rationalize any savings if you factor in your time.

 

2 - Can't help.  I no longer buy reclaimed shot as the last few that I bought had a lot of trash and steel shot mixed in.

 

3 - I reloaded on a MEC Sizemaster for a lot of years.  How many rounds per month do you shoot/load?  I could reload a box of shells in about 10 minutes taking my time.

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L 1,343]

I figure my reloads run about $5-6 a box depending on new/recycled shot

 

I got a 650N to replace my single stage 600.  This one does require another way to size the hulls.  Other MECs have the resizer built into the progressive press.

 

Went with the aftermarket adjustable powder bar--I like fine tuning my loads

 

just loaded a box today 25 shells in 25 mintues from going to the garage to coming back in.  Wasn't in a hurry and returned powder and shot to bottles

 

I like that I can load lower power loads due to 2 surgeries on my shoulder

 

  

[Blackface Charlie 39]

5 minutes ago, Hillbilly Drifter said:

I use the MEC 600 JR, surely a lower end model. I load thousands of rounds on it. Not sure if it is economical or not, don't really care, I just like doing it. I pay 43.00 for 25# of lead shot I shoot sporting clays as well as cowboy. I usually load 2 times per year and the single stage does just fine. 2 or three settings and I have a 1000 loaded.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy it!

 

By the way---love the riffle!!!    My best purchase so far!!

[Blackface Charlie 39]

2 minutes ago, Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L said:

I figure my reloads run about $5-6 a box depending on new/recycled shot

 

I got a 650N to replace my single stage 600.  This one does require another way to size the hulls.  Other MECs have the resizer built into the progressive press.

 

Went with the aftermarket adjustable powder bar--I like fine tuning my loads

 

just loaded a box today 25 shells in 25 mintues from going to the garage to coming back in.  Wasn't in a hurry and returned powder and shot to bottles

 

I like that I can load lower power loads due to 2 surgeries on my shoulder

 

  

 

Have a screw in my shoulder as well so good tip on the adjustable powder bar---thanks!!

[Lone Rider, SASS# 73063 122]

Sometimes one loads shotshells that you cannot buy as in starting to shoot Black Powder.

[Rattlesnake Slim 137]

Best luck in finding reasonably priced reclaimed shot is at the local clays range if they mine there. Buying it at retail, I find it only about $5 less than new. If you're shooting at Diamond Dick's, check the clays range just as you come in the entrance, they might have it.

[Marshal Chance Morgun 421]

How many rounds a year do you think you shoot? I load on a MEC Sizemaster. Pretty easy to load a lot in a short time. I load rounds that I feel are lighter than AA LNLR for the wife.

[DDD, SASS 28309 12]

I have a 9000 if you seriously want to buy one PM me.

[Cowboy Small 82]

1. I enjoy  it so I would  reload either  way.

 

2. I   got  to buy  several  bags   of shot for $20 per bag  from a couple  of  locals that  inherited  them, so I do save  some  but  not enough  to  cover  wages, if I  figured  that . 

 

3. We have  always  figured   (even  when  I  was  a  kid  using  the  same  mec jr.)  That  we don't  really  save  any  money  really ,  but we can  make a better  shell  at about the  cost of the cheaper  shells.

 

CS  

[Blackface Charlie 39]

25 minutes ago, Rattlesnake Slim said:

Best luck in finding reasonably priced reclaimed shot is at the local clays range if they mine there. Buying it at retail, I find it only about $5 less than new. If you're shooting at Diamond Dick's, check the clays range just as you come in the entrance, they might have it.

 

Well Marshall----I'm new and have only shot one match.   Second one will be this Saturday.   Wild Bunch and traditional.   I have absolutely no idea how many rounds I will shoot this year.   I do know that match days in all calibers will be about a 1/4 of what I normally shoot on any given weekend day at the range.  But Shotgun, I have no idea.   I tend to be an overachiever in the reloading arena and the komunist republik of kalifornia is making ammo purchases hard so it could be a few thousand a year.

[Blackface Charlie 39]

1 minute ago, Cowboy Small said:

1. I enjoy  it so I would  reload either  way.

 

2. I   got  to buy  several  bags   of shot for $20 per bag  from a couple  of  locals that  inherited  them, so I do save  some  but  not enough  to  cover  wages, if I  figured  that . 

 

3. We have  always  figured   (even  when  I  was  a  kid  using  the  same  mec jr.)  That  we don't  really  save  any  money  really ,  but we can  make a better  shell  at about the  cost of the cheaper  shells.

 

CS  

 

same thoughts cowboy small!   thanks

[Blackface Charlie 39]

6 minutes ago, DDD, SASS 28309 said:

I have a 9000 if you seriously want to buy one PM me.

 

 

OK---what's the dif between the 9000 and the 9000GN?   Am I gonna be butt hurt in 3 months because I didn't 't go with the GN??    This is like day two in researching 12 gauge presses.

[DDD, SASS 28309 12]

The difference between the 9000G and the GN is a different primer feed. I don't remember which one I have. I can dig it out and let you know.

[Blackface Charlie 39]

5 minutes ago, DDD, SASS 28309 said:

The difference between the 9000G and the GN is a different primer feed. I don't remember which one I have. I can dig it out and let you know.

 

I'd be interested if you have the GN.   Let me know.   Might take me 20 years  to break even but thinking I'm heading in this direction

[Captain Clark 519]

If your going to jump in all the way, then you want this 

a spolar

 

[Captain Clark 519]

Back to the real world...... MEC 600 Jr are good machines that will last you a lifetime. One of my several is going strong at 37 years since I bought it used in 1982. 

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 859]

2 hours ago, Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L said:

I figure my reloads run about $5-6 a box depending on new/recycled shot

 

Howdy

 

That is what I pay for shells when I get them on sale at Dicks. If I wait long enough, I can buy them for $50/case. That works out to $5/box.

 

I shoot Trap all year long. average 100 rounds a week, maybe 125.

 

That adds up to about 6500 rounds a year.

 

I gave up loading for Trap a long time ago. There just is not the savings in loading shotshells that there is in loading metallic cartridges.

 

I used to have a MEC Grabber. Hated that thing, I finally gave it away. Had a MEC 900G too. Didn't like that either.

 

I still have an RCBS Grand that I keep thinking of getting rid of because I don't load smokeless shells anymore.

 

These days the only shotshells I load are my Black Powder CAS loads.

 

I load them on my trusty old MEC Jr.

 

[Church Key, SASS # 33713 139]

If you get the shells  for nothing (aka trash barrel diving on the trap range) it costs me about $5.00 a box to reload with new shot. I now load only STS's and once fired cost 5 to 10 cents each. I've used MEC Jr's, Grabbers and 9000 hydraulics. The Jr's are foolproof and what I recommend for most folks. That said, I currently use a Grabber (2nd one as 1st was a POS). It's usually cheaper in the long run just to buy shells in bulk when they are on sale. That said, I load and shoot 3/4 oz. for CAS/WB, and 7/8 oz. for trap, so I reload. It takes me a day or so to load a 6 month supply of shells with the Grabber, plus lots of foul words. A cookie sheet under the press is your friend.

 

The MEC 9000 GN is the handle-pull model; the 9000 E is designed to use their Automate system which is electronicly-driven. I've never had one, but if I was just starting out and was really serious, its what I'd get, or if I hit the jackpot then a Spolar which is the Ferrari of presses. Had the 9000 hydraulic model, worked great, but took up too much space to use just several times a year. It loaded 4-5 boxes an hour and required extreme concentration. Got real boring after several hours.

 

Church Key 

[Three Foot Johnson 1,427]

If Estates or some other low-cost shells function for ya, it's hardly worth it to reload. Black powder shells, or 2 1/2"ers are a different story.

 

The only shotgunning I do is Cowboy Action, so I've never progressed beyond a Lee Load All, one of which I've modified to make 2 1/2" star crimped shells. Four boxes per hour is easy enough, and six is doable after a can of Red Bull.  A typical match usually only calls for 24 shells. Add a miss or two, and a stage or two that might call for six rounds, and 30 usually handles it fine.

[Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646 1,280]

I load SG on a Dillon that I inhereted from my pa. Even with two of us shooting CAS the cost saving is negligible. I dont enjoy SG loading like I do metallic cartridges . Forty years ago I loaded some on a MEC I dont remember the model but it would have been adequate for CAS.  Spolar is tiptop, Dillon right behind it, others cost a lot less but work ok, given some limitations.

 

Imis

[Snake-eye, SASS#45097 42]

I started with a Lee Loadall which worked well as a starter press. I found a used Hornady progressive shotgun that I've been using for years and I am very pleased with it. Not including the price of the hull, it costs me less than $.20 per round to make a low noise low recoil equivalent shell. That's using 7/8 oz new shot at $35 for 25#, Win 209 primer at $33 per 1000, Claybuster wads at $10 per 500, 14.5 grs of Clays. It may not be A lot cheaper than buying game loads on sale but it's certainly cheaper than buying low noise low recoil Win or STS. I've payed for that press in a couple of years of loading my own. Besides, I like reloading.

[Blast Masterson 130]

Been reloading on a MEC 650 for 43 years. Used to shoot a case / weekend. CAS only 1 box per match. Not worth the effort for the money savings.

Do you enjoy reloading as much as shooting? It is part of the game.

I shoot reclaimed shot because CAS does not require a performance load. So reloading facilitates shooting a load appropriate for the game. We all shoot light rifle and pistol and SG is no different. Light SxS guns we shoot do not absorb recoil well. They also do not use ejectors. Reloading lets you pick the hull that works best in your gun and get the performance you want out of it. It's all about control for me, and it's all part of the game. How well can i load and shoot what I load on a competitive stage? It's all about shooting ability, loading ability and gun performance (I also do all my own gun work). I do not expect any return on investment because there really isn't any in the long run. 

 

[Rye Miles #13621 3,323]

12 hours ago, Marshal Chance Morgun said:

How many rounds a year do you think you shoot? I load on a MEC Sizemaster. Pretty easy to load a lot in a short time. I load rounds that I feel are lighter than AA LNLR for the wife.

+10000 .  I can't find factory shotgun loads that are lighter than mine! The AA Low Recoil is close but I can't find 'em hardly ever!

[Blackface Charlie 39]

Lots of good info!!!  Here’s what I have heard both hear and at the range.  Not especially cost effective however Ammo is expensive in California so probably lean towards cost effectiveness—maybe.  Yes—I like to reload, actually an over achiever in that area so adding to my OCD is not a problem.  Given I am only going to shoot 1-2 matches a month I won’t be using much so maybe a used 650 would be more than I need.   I like the thought of being in control and making my own and how I want them.    No sense in wasting lead and powder and trashing the shoulder!!  So—-guess I’m in the market for a 650.  Could get by with less but I don’t care for single stages.   Use one when I have to but don’t like handling one round that many times.    Might be different if I were retired.  Thanks everyone for the info.  Much appreciated

[The Rainmaker, SASS #11631 572]

20 minutes ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

 The AA Low Recoil is close but I can't find 'em hardly ever!

Daughter uses LNLR but I can't find em. Bought a Lee Load All... do em myself now.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz 5,147]

I load on a 42+ year old MEC 600jr.

Load 17.5 gn of Unique, with 3/4-1oz reclaimed shot. Very low recoil--

Call trap ranges in your area for shot info.

OLG

 

[Rye Miles #13621 3,323]

1 hour ago, The Rainmaker, SASS #11631 said:

Daughter uses LNLR but I can't find em. Bought a Lee Load All... do em myself now.

Funny though, I can find 'em in 20 guage but not 12........weird!

[The Rainmaker, SASS #11631 572]

Wally world is the only one I know around here that has em. $7.97 a box, but always out.

I use Win AA hulls, 1 1/8 oz of #7.5 shot and 13 gr of Cleanshot. I think they're lighter than LNLR.

[Ramblin Rob 27]

Is 3/4 oz of reclaimed shot lighter than 3/4 oz of new shot?

[Don Coyote, SASS #63736 45]

RR,

Think about what you're asking here.

DC

[The Original Lumpy Gritz 5,147]

40 minutes ago, Ramblin Rob said:

Is 3/4 oz of reclaimed shot lighter than 3/4 oz of new shot?

Only in the 'off-world'. 

OLG

[J.D. Daily 159]

The only reason I reload shot shells is I acquired a MEC 600JR Mark V from Cabelas in 2009 when they closed my Club Card account.  The Club Points I had accrued paid for it including shipping & CA sales tax.  I did purchase a micro-adjusting charge bar from Midway when it was on sale.  The  cost savings is miniscule; however, you don't have to buy a year's supply of LNLR shells when you find them on sale.  Where you'd save a lot is for 3 1/2" loads with non steel non-toxic shot.

[J.D. Daily 159]

3 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Only in the 'off-world'. 

OLG

I think what the question means is the density the same for reclaimed & new shot?  Since, reclaimed shot are mixes of shot sizes & are deformed the densities will be different than new #7.5 or #8 shot.