Need help with a MEC Jr Reloader

[biker_bill]

This shot shell reloading seems to be tougher that pistol and rifle reloading.
Before I give up I figure I'll ask for help.

The member that had this machine was making hunting loads. He told me so and gave me a bunch of Cheddite 3" hulls, I believe he was also making 3 1/2" shells. I found the instructions for the machine online and finally figured out how to shorten it to make 2 3/4" shells.

I think the machine is still out of adjustment, because when I went to put together the 1st shell the shot appeared to be too high to crimp the top correctly, so I didn't even try to crimp it. I rechecked the recipe, components and weighed both powder and shot. The machine is throwing the correct amounts of each. So I figured the wad wasn't seated fully, but after taking apart that 1st shell I believe it was seated all the way down.

So I'm stumped, I'm not sure what I'm missing. I know for sure the last crimp station has 2 adjustments per the instructions, though they don't specify where they are. Even when I played with an unprimed shell without powder and just filled the hull with shot the crimp was too deep.

Anyways, does anyone use one of these machines and can you talk with to me about it?
I'd visit or have you here if you wish.
I could also take pictures of the hull, wad and whatever you'de like so you could see if I'm missing/misunderstanding something.

I found a load to make with components I have from the Hodgdons website.
From what I'm reading this is more of a field load than a trap load, but I had the components....

It's a Winchester AA HS hull
Win 209a primer
AA wad
32 grains of Long Shot
1 1/8 ounce of shot (#8)


Thanks,
Bill

 

[biker_bill]

Bump for early morning helpers.

 

[PA4476]

I have a lot of experience with the MEC 9000G progressive loaders, but the basics are the same, so I will see if I can help.

Since you are using the AA HS hull, you must use the HS wad. The inside of the HS hull is made different than the old style AA's and the older style wads won't work very well in an HS hull.

Are you using a #30 powder bushing ?

 

[Old_School]

I've got a meeting this morning or I'd offer to help. Maybe later? In the meantime, head over to the Shotgunworld.com forums. Curly Nohair is one of the MEC gurus and has several stickies on MEC adjustments and tweaking, complete with pictures!

 

[biker_bill]

I have a lot of experience with the MEC 9000G progressive loaders, but the basics are the same, so I will see if I can help.

Since you are using the AA HS hull, you must use the HS wad. The inside of the HS hull is made different than the old style AA's and the older style wads won't work very well in an HS hull.

Are you using a #30 powder bushing ?

I think I'm ok now, thanks so much for replying!

I have the adjustable bar, so there are no powder or shot bushings required.
(It took awhile to figure out how to set it properly, but I like it now since you can make very small adjustments to nail the powder and shot weights perfectly.)

I seem to have figured out the problem I was having. I was using the wrong wad.
The recipe called for a WAA12, which is what I thought I had. While rereading the infomation on the bag of wads I discovered they were WAA12SL. They're colored pink, not the proper color for a WAA12 wad. (I wish they would have put the whole designation on the bag. Instead they just put AA, then further down they put Super Light. After looking online I realized it wasn't the correct component for the load.)

I found a light target load using 17gr of Red Dot, the AA HS hulls, Win primers, 1oz shot and the WAA12SL wad. I made some up and will try them at the range tomorrow.

Thanks again for offering to help.
Bill

 

[jpdriver]

Glad you figured out the issue. If you find yourself needing help I'll help out. You're welcome to stop by.

 

[biker_bill]

Thank you Gents, you've all been very helpful and I'm on track now.

 

[rtross]

As you get more experience, you'll become more confident in changing the wads while adjusting the last crimping stage.