[gregcm]

I've about had it with cleaning up powder and shot spills, fixing primer drop screw-ups every 10th shell or so, etc.

I've had my 12 gauge MEC 9000G for a year now, and it's about worn me out on patience. WHEN IT WORKS PROPERLY, it's a wonderful tool. But last night, it took me nearly 50 minutes to load THREE boxes of shells, due to machine screw-ups. The biggest mess came when somehow, I assume, the powder "bridged" in the drop tube (something I've read about but have never had happen before) and dropped about 3 or 4 shells worth of powder all over the machine and bench. Of course, this leaves about 3 or 4 shells with no powder, but with wads and shot, primer, etc. I guess I'll have to shoot the box to find out and to recover the hulls.

After 15 or 20 minutes cleaning that one up, I was rolling along, watching the wad pressure guide carefully to make sure the wad was seating on top of powder and not air, and . . . you can guess what I WASN'T watching . . . the primer drop. ANOTHER primer jam, another powder mess to clean up. ARRRGH.

Seriously, I'm thinking of switching to a Ponsness-Warren. I'm tired of the extreme vigilance that the 9000G requires, and the messes it makes due to it NOT having a device that prevents powder and shot drops when no hull is present.

Thoughts/suggestions/pros/cons of going to P-W?

Thanks a lot.

 

[John H]

Well, if you think you can coast on a PW you're sadly mistaken. They, and every other loader, are subject to aw-damns just like your mec. Once in a while a primer will get stuck in the primer feed - you can load all the shells you want to load with or without primers. Once in a while the shot bridges in the shot tube - oops. I had the detent ball on the powder gear set a little light once upon a time, the powder shut itself off and I didn't notice it untill about 50 shells later.

If you get a PW, I believe you'll like it a lot more than your 9000 - just be forewarned - you can't let your gaurd down.

The PW does not have any kind of powder/shot/hull detection system - if you have theshot and powder turned on, they are going to drop as long as you care to pull the handle.

John

 

[Calisto]

/

How much would we pay for a better quality machine?

Who could build it?

 

[John H]

http://www.spolargold.com/spolar.htm

I know three people who load on hydraulic spolars. They are truly a thing of beauty to load on.

John

 

[TERRYB]

Spolars' are nice machines, however, they are not fool-proof.....if you get an awww shhhit on a hydro-unit you really have fun........
Bottom line, you can and will have issues with ANY machine...some days are just better than others.....Terry

 

[hubmonkey]

http://www.spolargold.com/spolar.htm

I know three people who load on hydraulic spolars. They are truly a thing of beauty to load on.

John

Yes they are a thing of beauty but like every other machine they can screw up as well... Primers can get stuck causing the machine not to place a primer and wha-la.. powder dropping out of the hull onto the table.. been there done that.

Hub

 

[fclef]

Yeah, I have a 9000G too.
I gave up on the idea of trying to go fast,so I can watch the primer drop more closely.
The primer drop accounts for most of the problems I have.
Regards, Pete

 

[Steve Y]

Any machine can have hicups and any machine can be set-up to run 99%
of the time perfectly.I have 3 9000's and a Grabber that do.BUT I set-up
and maintain high speed production machinery,these MECS are a piece of
cake.Set them up 1 station at a time until it is perfect.It can be done.

Steve

 

[Eriehunter]

After 15 or 20 minutes cleaning that one up, I was rolling along, watching the wad pressure guide carefully to make sure the wad was seating on top of powder and not air, and . . . you can guess what I WASN'T watching . . . the primer drop. ANOTHER primer jam, another powder mess to clean up. ARRRGH

It appears as though you are still runing wiht the old style chain drive primer feed. If you are the besst thing you can do is tear that off and replace it with the new style primer feed. It is $50 well spent. You will have to invest some time into setting it up to drop properly but it will make reloading much less of a chore.

I up graded mine a few years ago and it made a huge difference. You still have to be aware of primers droping but you won't need to watch it like a hawk. I never have to watch my wad pressure closely if you are trapping air under the wad you may be using some wrong componentry.

Do as the other poster said and adjust one station at a time until it is perfect. I alos adjusted my crimp depth to .055" and that made a huge difference too.

Mecs are good machines and affordably priced, don't give up yet.

 

[berettaclayshooter]

I too have a Mec 9000GN, it at times can be a real headache. The thing about reloading on a progressive press is that it requires you be be fully alert. It sounds like you have some issues with your press which are very easy to cure and will result in speed. Check out Curly-nohairs post on the mec 9000 presses, He's a mad genius with those machines. One thing with the Mecs is to ALWAYS watch that the primers drop and that your charge bar works right. If you notice that after you drop the shot and it's way below the start of the crimp you'r not dropping powder. Also buy a PC powder baffle which will help a great deal.

-Ryan

 

[Clayshutr]

Gregcm,

Interestingly, I'm from Columbia also and I feel your MEC pain.

I've had two MEC progressives and got tired of fighting them too, especially the primer feed plague. About 4 years ago I got rid of my last one and went to a PW 800 Plus. It's a great machine and puts the MECs in the shade, especially feeding primers. However, as others have said it is NOT foolproof, bulletproof, idiotproof or any other kind of proof.

As was pointed out, they have no hull detection system, the Hornady Apex was the only loader I knew of that did and you don't want to go there. The PWs do have powder and shot shut off controls though, which are a huge plus.

I've loaded thousands of rounds with my PW and it's worked exceptionally well until the last month or two when it decided to begin eating actuator arms. With the advice of several of the very knowledgeable folks here I think I have that figured out. However, I won't know for sure until I can test it with the replacement part if PW ever decides to ship it to my correct address, which they haven't managed to do yet. I was told this evening that it was re-shipped yesterday so I should have it next week. I shouldn't be so hard on them, this is their first screw up on parts delivery but I'm getting a bit frustrated that it's taken three weeks to get what I paid for.

If you're serious about a PW send me a PM and I'll be happy to give you a demo if you want to come out. Just give me a week or so to get it up and running again.

KK

 

[oneounceload]

Used to have a 9000 that behaved like the OP's.....VERY frustrating. Personally, I have found I can reload almost as fast, including boxing the shells, on my MEC Jr.

Doesn't PW or Spolar have a feature that prevents dropping shot or powder unless there is a hull present? Or am I thinking of someone else?

 

[UltraMag]

i have an old style primer feed 9000,
and it works great.
If your not real mechanically inclined,
and need a plug and play system,
get an RCBS grand.

 

[Ulysses]

Buy a Hornady 366 progressive reloader. They are not the fastest reloader on the market, but they very well may be the most dependable.

Set up and operation is pretty simple and straightforward. It is not at all finicky or tempermental. Once properly adjusted (a fairly easy task for most people) it will spit out reloads with boring regularity.

I can switch between Win AA, Rem STS, Rem Sport Loads, and Rem Game Load shells with no adjustments at all. Changing powder or shot bushings takes about 1 minute or less. They are built like a tank, so you can hand it down to your grandchildren.

 

[Steve Y]

Set up and operation is pretty simple and straightforward. Once properly adjusted (a fairly easy task for most people) it will spit out reloads with boring regularity.

Truer words where never spoken about any machine.

Steve

 

[reluctant]

I agree entirely. Ditch that 9000G.

er, would you be willing to sell me that awful 9000G? I mean, since you're getting rid of it, and all.... :wink:

 

[Curly N]

Ship it to me and I will cover shipping.

 

[Kraiza]

I too have a Mec 9000GN, it at times can be a real headache. The thing about reloading on a progressive press is that it requires you be be fully alert. It sounds like you have some issues with your press which are very easy to cure and will result in speed. Check out Curly-nohairs post on the mec 9000 presses, He's a mad genius with those machines. One thing with the Mecs is to ALWAYS watch that the primers drop and that your charge bar works right. If you notice that after you drop the shot and it's way below the start of the crimp you'r not dropping powder. Also buy a PC powder baffle which will help a great deal.

-Ryan

I agree with Ryan. You have to watch the primer. Just hold the handle down for a slit second and the primer will stay. I had a powder problem. A PC baffle and a dehumidifiers fit it.

 

[JeffColorado]

Ship it to me and I will cover shipping.

Send it to me and I'll throw in $20 to cover your time getting it shipped on top of the shipping cost!

 

[Shoot2reload]

Ask one of the MEC jocks at your shooting club to come help you fine tune everything. They're fairly hassle free once they're set up properly.