The only disadvantage that I see is that with two bushings bar loses the beneficial attributes of the rubber mushroom that reduces the attempted shot chopping.

 

I've been using one on my 410 Grabber for a while now and haven't missed having the rubber insert.

I've loaded over 4000 hulls and only had to remove the bar twice for a wedged piece of shot.

I did send an email to the manufacturer and he said he would consider it, so we might have a bar with that feature in the future.

 

I have not used one, but I am sure it adjusts your shot weight just fine. That being said MEC put that rubber insert into their charge bars to solve a known issue, are you willing to tolerate that to have adjustable shot weight? Which there are other ways to do without giving up the insert.
Steve

 

I can’t address a 502 bar on a progressive press, but I have a such a bar 302 that I use on my MEC 600. I never have an issue with shot shearing and it works great. I believe that since the bushings have a slight radius on the top lip it somewhat mitigates the shearing.

 

I can’t address a 502 bar on a progressive press, but I have a such a bar 302 that I use on my MEC 600.

I also use a bar that has been drilled/milled out to accept a bushing on the shot side. I use it mainly to load TSS 8.5, 9, 9.5 or 10 and can meter shot to +/- 2 pellets. The bar does get hung up quite often forcing me to do the back and forth dance and most often slam it hard to transfer. The aluminum bushing is getting scratched from tss shot getting trapped between. This does not appear to be a long term sustainable process so I have ordered the BPI adjustadrop and hope that the mushroom prevents lockups and/or shearing on the shot side.

 

MEC made bars without the rubber insert for a great many years and they work just fine.

 

I have a double bushing bar in my MEC loader for the .410 bore. I've found it's a great way to make minor adjustments in shot Volume to optimize crimps with different brand hulls. Changing the shot bushing would also allow loading the correct Volume when moving to different shot sizes. -Ed

 

Have a 302 bar. Actually two. One with and one without the "rubber" insert. They work ok. nothing special . No issues using them.

 

I’ve been using their adjustable bar since they first came out . Couldn’t begin to tell you what the number was of the bar. I loaded hundreds of hunting loads for the 12 and 20 and can tell you that I never had any reloading issues once I had the bar adjusted for the proper shot and powder drop for a specific load with a specific hull and a specific wad, mostly AA and STS. Most of the time your final crimp will tell you if your doing everything right. When waterfowl season comes along it’s a completely different story...the powder will meter fine but I loaded only Hevishot and no way will it meter in those bars. Hevishot used to look more like welding slag than something you shot in a shell. Bismuth and steel, can’t say how they would do. Used to order all my shot from Gene Sears and I read where he passed away. A great loss to the shotgunning community for sure. Fine fine gentleman!

 

BPI sells 2lb bags of hevi-shot. It's available in many sizes from B thru #9. At $38.50 per pound, I'm glad we don't have to use this for clay target shooting!

 

Years ago, when Texan was around, some folks bored out the Mec bars to Texan powder bushings. This was before Mec went to powder bushings. But the shot bushings were too large of diameter. Bushings on a Mec for shot may work for smaller payloads, but I'm thinking the dimensions of the bar are too small to accommodate larger payloads.

 

Bushings on a Mec for shot may work for smaller payloads, but I'm thinking the dimensions of the bar are too small to accommodate larger payloads.

I can load 1 oz. with a #44 MEC bushing.
Steve

 

That just reminds me Jager.... I still have an old Texan from back in the late 60’s in storage. Forgot all about it. Don’t know whether to thank you or curse you for reminding me how many moons ago that was. LOL

 

The original texan bushing bar for mecs was stamped "T" on the end taking the + or - size .805 texan powder bushing and .875 (7/8") shot bushing. You can sleeve a 2 1/4 ounce mec bar for the texan shot bushing. Like shotgun shell box thickness or smaller cigarette box size for sleeve. Double bushing mec bars are available on ebay, under 30 bucks, or use a mec 1 3/4 ounce bar and sleeve with a 12 gauge hull, the bushings close to a .797 flange diameter. Cut hull plus the cig pack'll do. Suggest small hobby saw fine tooth, cut long to begin with using bar hole to keep square, trim with appropriate SHARP knife, razor-box cutter-a REAL pocket knife...but watch your fingers...and a drop or 2 of crazy glue on the sleeve at the bottom, dont go wild, and it's an improvised 2 bushing bar. Mec bushings can vary by shot size used, about 1 1/16+- is about max. Google bushing internal diameters, there are a few sites, maybe here too, that list bushing ID, but remember the hole can vary by shot size and density, ie chilled or magnum if you want to weigh to the last pellet. Move the shot side drop slowly on a single stage. Smallest progressive I have is a 16 gauge so I have no idea if this would work smoothly on a 20-28-.410 progressive multi function goin' on press. Off topic, Texan, Herters and lyman easy loader SHOT bushings are all the same 7/8 outside diameter size as are Pacific, hornady, rcbs p/w POWDER bushing size. Texan and lyman powder bushings are a bit over .805, herters are .75 or 3/4 outside diameter. For those texan m4 or RT progressive users the 7/8" shot bushings and sleeved mec .797 bushings are useable. Mec SINGLE stage bar cut in half will work for th RT too with mods. Herters bushing bars can be modded to accept the mec bushing flange, just dont drill too deep. Window double side sticky tape can be your friend. Keep an eye out in those gun show junk boxes.

 

and sleeve with a 12 * hull,

You have to love the administrators here, if you misspell "gauge" as "g u a g e " it comes up as a banned word.
Steve

 

Stole these.

 

Has anyone used the 502 chargebar that will take a bushing in each side?

That is powder and shot holes will take any of the powder bushings.

You use the bushings to adjust the shot charge.

If you have, how well does it work?

There is a fellow who makes a true clone of a MEC charge bar that is MADE to accept a MEC bushing on BOTH ends. You can get up to according to his chart 1 1/16oz shot charge and he provides the chart that will give you from 1/2 to 1 1/16oz using bushing numbers. I own two of these and they work GREAT.

MEC 502 ADJUSTABLE CHARGE BAR FOR PROGRESSIVE RELOADERS | eBay

Hard anodized for non stick operation. Will drop from 1/2 oz to 1 1/8 oz. Bushing chart included.

www.ebay.com

I think they are about the price of a MEC charge bar so its not expensive at all.
My experience has been with 8.5shot for 2 yrs. The bushing dont show any real wear on the shot side, I have not used it on larger shot.
I do have an original adjustable charge bar but I really prefer the "two bushing special".
EDIT ....I'm pretty sure this model is made for progressive MEC's only. But you could contact the seller with questions as I know he also makes them.
I do not personally know him or have any connection but found the product while surfing ebay.

 

There is a fellow who makes a true clone of a MEC charge bar that is MADE to accept a MEC bushing on BOTH ends. You can get up to according to his chart 1 1/16oz shot charge and he provides the chart that will give you from 1/2 to 1 1/16oz using bushing numbers. I own two of these and they work GREAT.

MEC 502 ADJUSTABLE CHARGE BAR FOR PROGRESSIVE RELOADERS | eBay

Hard anodized for non stick operation. Will drop from 1/2 oz to 1 1/8 oz. Bushing chart included.

www.ebay.com

I think they are about the price of a MEC charge bar so its not expensive at all.
My experience has been with 8.5shot for 2 yrs. The bushing dont show any real wear on the shot side, I have not used it on larger shot.
I do have an original adjustable charge bar but I really prefer the "two bushing special".
EDIT ....I'm pretty sure this model is made for progressive MEC's only. But you could contact the seller with questions as I know he also makes them.
I do not personally know him or have any connection but found the product while surfing ebay.

Thank you for posting that.

After about 28 years of pistol and rifle reloading, I am finally getting into shotgun reloading.

My Mec 9000 came to me used, with just one bar….an ounce and an eighth.

 

The 502 bar came in and is installed in my 650.
So far I've just loaded a few shells and the charge bar seems to work OK.
I'm using Clay Dot with 3/4 ounce of 7 1/2 shot. I wanted to try light loadings at
the trap range. My "normal" loading is 7/8 ounce and I can break clay
with ease.

 

I think I saw single stage bars from him on ebay too.

 

With this bar, what is the difference other than the threaded hole drilled in the end?

 

Mec bushing flange is roughly .795 on what I have. 51/64 drill is .796 on brand I have. 1 3/8 bar is lowest I can get to fit a mec bushing body. You could try a 1 1/4 bar but mine are too small. Drill 51/64ths bit SLOWLY on 1 3/8 single stage bar for flange depth and you hopefully end up with a 2 bushing single stage bar. Old reamed out fixed hole bar...I think Mec bushing body is .685" or around 11/16. Maybe you can get an old reamed out bar from a gunshow junkbox cheap and drill it out. Note...Mec single stage 302 bars with the hole drilled in the end were for the 310 loader, an "it sorta worked" single stage automatic shuttle powder and shot gizmo like a 650 on a single stage loader. See mec 310 downloadable instruction manuals. 302 bars with the threaded holes drilled into the powder and maybe the shot cavities were older attempt at variable bar.

 

Mec bushing flange is roughly .795 on what I have. 51/64 drill is .796 on brand I have. 1 3/8 bar is lowest I can get to fit a mec bushing body. You could try a 1 1/4 bar but mine are too small. Drill 51/64ths bit SLOWLY on 1 3/8 single stage bar for flange depth and you hopefully end up with a 2 bushing single stage bar. Old reamed out fixed hole bar...I think Mec bushing body is .685"

 

I purchased one of these "double bored" bars from the folks on EBay as I wanted to load 13/16oz 28ga loads on my MEC 8567 (Grabber). It is relatively inexpensive - just looked: $27.81 shipped. It is anodized and looks as good or better than MEC's bars. I had a number of 12ga powder bushings from the days when I thought I needed to shoot a cannon, so I was good to go. It doesn't have the rubber "dog bone" on the shot side, but I have never had a shot shearing problem with it loading #7.5 through #9 shot. I'm old enough to remember when MEC bars didn't have the dog bone either, and if memory serves, didn't until they started making steel shot conversion kits. The steel shot would not only lock the bar up, but would damage it as well. Anyway, this "double bored bar" works fine. The only issue I had was that the anodizing was a bit thick and the bushings were a bit tight. A couple of inserts/removals and that issue went away. Pretty versatile and a lot less fiddling than "adjustable charge bars", which I also have tried. Also, the manufacturer says it will load up to 1 1/8 oz of shot. For odd size shot recipes (like 13/16 oz) or if you want to get closer to a drop weight than MEC's bars, it is a good buy if you have the larger bushings, particularly.