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Gauging Interest - MEC Shotgun Powder Bushings

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Gauging interest, over the long weekend, being bored, I built out 3D designs for all the MEC powder bushings, size 10 through size 46 including all the "A" variants. I also designed a wall rack to hold them all. Anyone here interested in seeing that project? It's printing out now, about half of the bushings have printed and the rack goes on the printer next. It'll take probably until Thursday to print everything and get it assembled for pictures but the first couple batches of bushings and sample wall frame prints came out great. Here is a 12A.
 

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Happy to see new technology being used to make our reloading life easier.
I am however, leery of being an early adopter.
I can think of 4 concerns: Consistency, powder migration, labeling and cost.

Curious about the consistency of powder drops with the plastic vs metal.
Many folks use a dryer sheet in the plastic bottle to prevent static build up which affects powder drops. Is static an issue inside the plastic bushings?

Any issue with the bar or loader wearing down the top of the plastic bushings allowing powder to build up between the two surfaces and spilling out each time the bar is moved? Powder migration is an issue with fine grain powders like H110 or W296. Will this issue be worse with plastic bushings?

Not aware of any MEC bushing chart with CC capacity listed, but I guess the bushing number could be written on the black plastic with a silver sharpie. The rack is a good idea, but relying on it for bushing numbers is optimistic for the "average" person who reloads :) Could you edit the STL file to print the bushing numbers?

Given the pricing on sites like Etcy, is it worth the $2 savings for an individual bushing vs the aluminum bushings?
Would imagine the average reloader purchases 2 or 3 additional bushings per gauge so a full set of 45 would be excessive. A size run of say 5 or even 10 bushings would probably be easier to market. A size run of "in between" sizes would likely be of great interest to many who reload.

Best of luck in your new venture and I am willing to be a "beta tester" for a few bushings if you need someone to evaluate.

87KJH
 
Just wondering, will that plastic cause any static charge issues? Will some powders stick to it instead of falling through freely especially in low humidity?

I can see it being useful if the available bushings don't drop the weight you want with a given powder also. You can adjust the size yourself.

Great idea!

Rosewood
 
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