Hello All,

Does anyone have an effective method of cleaning Mec Shot & Powder bottles?

Mine are in great working shape, but have become dirty inside from powder & shot.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I don't know if it is "effective", because dirty bottles have never bothered me enough to clean them but try dish soap and water. DO NOT use any harsh chemicals as it will ruin the plastic.

Steve

As Steve said, graphite from the lead shot and powder can be removed with soapy water. However some smokeless powders work on the plastic and discolor it permanently.

IMHO, soap & water have no place around reloading machines. I would leave well enough alone.

YMMV

I agree with this 100%, just never thought necessary to tell anyone to do this over a sink, rinse well and let dry FULLY before using.

Steve

I have used dishwashing detergent, rinsed well and dried thoroughly.............made not one bit of difference. They were just as discolored as when I started. It isn't worth the effort.

The graphite coating inside the bottles helps keep static cling at a minimum.

If your concern is being able to tell the volume/amount in a bottle, just use one of the small LED type flashlights shown against the off-side of the bottle and you can see instantly where the level is.

Personally, I'd not bother trying to clean their insides. Over time those bottles can and usually do get brittle and particularly after they begin to go 'yellow' from reaction to some powders. At that point I usually just replace them w/new ones. You don't want one breaking while mounted on the machine, or otherwise.

Hello Friends,

The reason I asked is that I've upgraded to a set of Mec Hydraulics in 12, 20, 28, & 410. Because of that, I'm be selling my Mec 28 Ga Grabber that's in great condition, and the 12 & 20 ga 9000's. I want them to look their best when I list them.

Thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated!

Same results here

If I were REALLY desperate to revive the bottles, I might try setting up my rolling-drum brass cleaner, but not use the drum. Fill a powder or shot bottle half-full of UNUSED lizard litter (ground walnut hulls) and cap it firmly and set that on the rollers for 8 hours. The powder discoloration in the plastic goes a few thousandths of an inch into the surface, so you will have to lightly abrade the surface to get it out. This may leave you with a hazy non-transparent surface, however. This may not be much of an improvement. Depends on the hardness of the bottle plastic compared to the hardness of the media.

I would just buy some new bottles myself.

good luck, garrisonjoe

Loaded a lot of rounds on my mecs, never once have I cleaned a shot or powder bottle outside of just making sure the contents were empty when I switched.

My advice is DO NOT!!!!!


Clean the shot bottle all you want, I don't care.

Cleaning the POWDER bottle REMOVES all the graphite (carbon) coating that eliminates any "static" (because it shunts any electrical charges on the plastic away to the rest of the press, equalizing it, thus eliminating "static cling" of powder flakes.)

Thus, you invite static issues until the graphite builds up again, the issue goes away, until you wash the bottle again.
Do not lather, or rinse, let alone repeat.

Dawn and warm water. Air dry.

I never bothered to clean any of mine. I have one that is so dark it is almost opaque and I'll replace it soon because I'm worried about it failing more than I'm worried about being able to see through it.

I would also not ever clean a shot bottle in my kitchen sink or dishwasher. I'm paranoid about lead. I can't spare to loose the tiniest bit more of my already-limited mental capacity!