[Dieselhorses]

I know you more experienced reloaders get tired of seeing posts like this but...

I have the following bars:
3, 6 and 8W and 1 1/8 oz shot loads for 12 ga
The 10 is 1 1/4 oz shot loads for 12 ga

I recently acquired an SM82 from a coworker. I overhauled the entire press. It's a 12-gauge loader and I had to order some missing parts (starter crimp, primer cup, pro-tech etc.). I am an avid reloader for rifle/pistol and the $100 he wanted for this press which included AA wads, 25 lb. 7.5 chilled shot, 200 Winchester skeet/target hulls, 200 209 primers and a few lbs. of Red Dot lured me into this venture. Smaller holes in bars differ as opposed to larger holes. Can someone help out an "illiterate" here LOL. The charge bars I have are not set up to receive bushings. My goal is to just load some target rounds to get the feel of machine. TIA

 

[Bill Hodges]

Those bars are about 50 years old, I have a chart somewhere I will look for. The bushing bars came out 1972. You might wanna get a Adjustadrop charge bar from BPI, they dont have them on the web site but call them

 

[Dieselhorses]

Those bars are about 50 years old, I have a chart somewhere I will look for. The bushing bars came out 1972. You might wanna get a Adjustadrop charge bar from BPI, they dont have them on the web site but call them

Will do
Thank you. I just let a Canadian one slip through my fingers on eBay. Was 100.00

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[Curly N]

I know you more experienced reloaders get tired of seeing posts like this but...

I have the following bars:
3, 6 and 8W and 1 1/8 oz shot loads for 12 ga
The 10 is 1 1/4 oz shot loads for 12 ga

I recently acquired an SM82 from a coworker. I overhauled the entire press. It's a 12-gauge loader and I had to order some missing parts (starter crimp, primer cup, pro-tech etc.). I am an avid reloader for rifle/pistol and the $100 he wanted for this press which included AA wads, 25 lb. 7.5 chilled shot, 200 Winchester skeet/target hulls, 200 209 primers and a few lbs. of Red Dot lured me into this venture. Smaller holes in bars differ as opposed to larger holes. Can someone help out an "illiterate" here LOL. The charge bars I have are not set up to receive bushings. My goal is to just load some target rounds to get the feel of machine. TIA

 

[Bill Hodges]

Thanks Curly....

 

[Dieselhorses]

Thank you Curly!

So yes, I have a reloading manual on the way for SS reloading. Considering the fact that I also have some 540 powder, could I use the hulls I have in pic with the following data for the wads I have?

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[Dieselhorses]

Correction. I actually did land the model “C” Mec ACB. I forgot I had placed a bid. Still going to learn the original method.


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[Stargazerwa]

The few lbs of Red Dot is precious right now. If you have a powder scale I would make a few drops from each bar with the Red Dot and see if you can find a load that will work with your components.

 

[AHI]

does the bar in your picture have a thered hole in the end?
If it does . Powder on the right . Shot on the left. If not the bar is not for
a single stage.

 

[PennSkeet]

Thank you Curly!

So yes, I have a reloading manual on the way for SS reloading. Considering the fact that I also have some 540 powder, could I use the hulls I have in pic with the following data for the wads I have?

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Those 540 loads are real slobberknockers and will rattle your teeth and bounce your brain around if you use them for skeet or trap. Too much velocity!

 

[Curly N]

Those 540 loads are real slobberknockers and will rattle your teeth and bounce your brain around if you use them for skeet or trap. Too much velocity!

Well, 540 is a discontinued powder, it lives on as Hodgdon HS-6.
Anyway my suggestion to you is to measure the powder holes in those bars and compare those sizes to the Mec Bushing size chart shown below. Then you can see how those bars will approximately drop various powders using easily found mec bushing charts.

 

[PennSkeet]

Well, 540 is a discontinued powder, it lives on as Hodgdon HS-6.
Anyway my suggestion to you is to measure the powder holes in those bars and compare those sizes to the Mec Bushing size chart shown below. Then you can see how those bars will approximately drop various powders using easily found mec bushing charts.

View attachment 42820

Very cool data chart! This will be very helpful for using aftermarket charge bars that adjust the shot charge with MEC powder bushings. Thanks!

 

[Curly N]

Very cool data chart! This will be very helpful for using aftermarket charge bars that adjust the shot charge with MEC powder bushings. Thanks!

And here is a link to a chart that we made about other manufacturers bushings sizes.

User Generated Ponsness-Warren bushing SIZE chart

User Generated Ponsness-Warren bushing SIZE chart Sizes listed below are expressed in inches These in black were measured by me and I have no question about the sizes that I got.Wobbly1 furnished these measured sizes, Measured by J Hoss The ones in this color were furnished by JM423 1A=.270...

www.shotgunworld.com

 

[Curly N]

Also If you see a topic that you want to save as a bookmark, here is the instruction on how to do that.

FAQ

www.shotgunworld.com

 

[oyeme]

Also If you see a topic that you want to save as a bookmark, here is the instruction on how to do that.

FAQ

www.shotgunworld.com

Thanks, Curly N. That is really handy to know!

 

[Dieselhorses]

Guys this is really helpful info to me and you don’t know how much I appreciate it! I was about ready to mount my RCBS Uniflow to the top of the press! Like I mentioned earlier, I forgot I had actually won the adjustable charge bar on eBay so that might simplify things. The brass washers that go under the rubber grommets protrude beyond the grommet but MEC swears this won’t inhibit charges.


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[Dieselhorses]

does the bar in your picture have a thered hole in the end?
If it does . Powder on the right . Shot on the left. If not the bar is not for
a single stage.

Yes it has a threaded hole in one end. What is this for?


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[Dieselhorses]

The few lbs of Red Dot is precious right now. If you have a powder scale I would make a few drops from each bar with the Red Dot and see if you can find a load that will work with your components.

So with respect to whatever the reloading manual will say, I was curious about the limitations of low and high brass and would the AA wads work in the hulls I have. Sorry for the questions. Seems with pistol/rifle reloading there are some set “rules of thumb” like watching out for pressure signs, obturation, leading in barrel, bullet jump, case concentricity, compressed loads and crimps. I guess over time I’ll establish some for shot-shells. It’s a shame, I finally know how to reload my own primers now but yet green at this lol.


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[shootandfish2]

Guys this is really helpful info to me and you don’t know how much I appreciate it! I was about ready to mount my RCBS Uniflow to the top of the press! Like I mentioned earlier, I forgot I had actually won the adjustable charge bar on eBay so that might simplify things. The brass washers that go under the rubber grommets protrude beyond the grommet but MEC swears this won’t inhibit charges.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So with respect to whatever the reloading manual will say, I was curious about the limitations of low and high brass and would the AA wads work in the hulls I have. Sorry for the questions. Seems with pistol/rifle reloading there are some set “rules of thumb” like watching out for pressure signs, obturation, leading in barrel, bullet jump, case concentricity, compressed loads and crimps. I guess over time I’ll establish some for shot-shells. It’s a shame, I finally know how to reload my own primers now but yet green at this lol.


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Hi Diesel,

The brass washers are only for ball powders and not needed for Red Dot. The brass washer goes in first, 'nubs' up, then the rubber.

Thoughts as I went thru the posts. First, your going to need a truck-load of PATIENCE. Getting that first loaded round may take some doing. Focus on one station at time.

Spilled shot along with the lack of or improper lube is the nemesis of the collet resizer. MEC has some Youtube videos showing adjusting and maintenance. MEC insists on using a 'anti-seize' for lube. While you are waiting, would be a good time to address the collet. Take it apart, clean, and lube. Then comes the fun part, adjusting. For 12 ga., MEC customer service told me to adjust the collect to size brass to 0.806 inches to ensure function where loads would be used in different guns. Collet get tighter as nut goes 'up'. One flat on the nut is about 0.001 in. A unexpected problem that I had was that I needed once-fired hulls larger than 0.806" in order to know what the collet was actual sizing to. Remember the part about patience when you spill shot, 'bad' words are permitted. This is one reason that I gave my brother a 20 ga Grabber, and I'm happy with my 600 Jr.'s and a stand-alone Super-sizer.

For now, set aside the hi-brass hulls (save for 'special' loads so you recognize at a glance).

Disconnect the auto-prime for now. I would make this my last adjustment (but I'm not a fan).

I would focus on using light Red Dot loads for now. It you don't have a suitable bar/bushing, there is more ways to skin a cat, bet you have a Lee Dipper set or use the RCBS powder measure.

Rules of Thumb

2 thoughts I hold equally critical, know what the pressure is of your 'recipe' and is the wad ram firmly seating the wad on the powder charge. For 12 ga., 2 3/4 inch hulls max pressure is 11,500 psi.

For any given recipe, reduce powder-velocity and pressure both go down. Reduce shot weight - velocity goes up, but pressure goes down.

A primer swap can increase pressure as much as 2500 psi.

A nice, deep crimp is what compresses the wad and holds everything together. Looking for a crimp depth of 0.055 inches.

I like to cut out 'windows' on a load shell and see exactly what's going on. I'm looking for some compression of the wads crush section when compared to an unused wad.


Good Luck,

Fred

 

[Dieselhorses]

Hi Diesel,

The brass washers are only for ball powders and not needed for Red Dot. The brass washer goes in first, 'nubs' up, then the rubber.

Thoughts as I went thru the posts. First, your going to need a truck-load of PATIENCE. Getting that first loaded round may take some doing. Focus on one station at time.

Spilled shot along with the lack of or improper lube is the nemesis of the collet resizer. MEC has some Youtube videos showing adjusting and maintenance. MEC insists on using a 'anti-seize' for lube. While you are waiting, would be a good time to address the collet. Take it apart, clean, and lube. Then comes the fun part, adjusting. For 12 ga., MEC customer service told me to adjust the collect to size brass to 0.806 inches to ensure function where loads would be used in different guns. Collet get tighter as nut goes 'up'. One flat on the nut is about 0.001 in. A unexpected problem that I had was that I needed once-fired hulls larger than 0.806" in order to know what the collet was actual sizing to. Remember the part about patience when you spill shot, 'bad' words are permitted. This is one reason that I gave my brother a 20 ga Grabber, and I'm happy with my 600 Jr.'s and a stand-alone Super-sizer.

For now, set aside the hi-brass hulls (save for 'special' loads so you recognize at a glance).

Disconnect the auto-prime for now. I would make this my last adjustment (but I'm not a fan).

I would focus on using light Red Dot loads for now. It you don't have a suitable bar/bushing, there is more ways to skin a cat, bet you have a Lee Dipper set or use the RCBS powder measure.

Rules of Thumb

2 thoughts I hold equally critical, know what the pressure is of your 'recipe' and is the wad ram firmly seating the wad on the powder charge. For 12 ga., 2 3/4 inch hulls max pressure is 11,500 psi.

For any given recipe, reduce powder-velocity and pressure both go down. Reduce shot weight - velocity goes up, but pressure goes down.

A primer swap can increase pressure as much as 2500 psi.

A nice, deep crimp is what compresses the wad and holds everything together. Looking for a crimp depth of 0.055 inches.

I like to cut out 'windows' on a load shell and see exactly what's going on. I'm looking for some compression of the wads crush section when compared to an unused wad.


Good Luck,

Fred

Got to hand it to you Fred, that’s some definite good “rules of thumb”! I’m on my phone now but when I get to computer I’ll respond more elaborately. I will say that I had this press tore down to individual parts. Most parts, specifically collet, wad guide bracket and other select parts were blued from MEC, the rest painted. Anyway, after hours of 00 steel wool and upon reassembling the collet sizer, I just leveled/adjusted to being even with base (after, of course applying anti-seize). I will check for the .806”.

Again, I appreciate the expert opinions from all of you.



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