Using Mec Grabber 8567, have been getting perfectly acceptable loads for a couple of years with Winchester AA's both red and dark gray. Recently have been getting small opening in center of shell crimp which usually accomodates one #8 piece of shot. Sometimes, two or three will be visible, jammed nicely into the crimp. Have tried many adjustments including Mec instruction book remedy, nothing works so far. Some shells come through fine, but most have opening. Seeking suggestions. Thanks.

Winchester 209's
Clay's powder
Claybuster wads CB1100-12 for 7/8 or 1 oz

Is the shot falling out? I'm no shot shell expert but I do reload a few. A friends Dad used to put a few drops of parrafin on the center of the crimp to hold things in, but I don't know if that's the answer.

RJ

Not sure what is causing the open crimps. Been using MEC reloaders since 1960 and AA cases since they came out and have not experienced the situation you describe. I would contact MEC and get their opinion(s). They have a website at http://www.mayvl.com/. All the best...
Gil

Shot doesn't fall out and the crimp looks good except for the irritating little hole. Instruction book says to move cam down 1/32nd at a time but that method does not seem to close the hole in crimp. I have reloaded once-used shells in case shell fatigue or degradation was the issue but problem persists. I will email MEC. Thanks for responses.

Third crimp station on a Mec should close it up. If not.... compare your empties, to some older AA hulls.

Best of luck.

Third crimp station on a Mec should close it up. If not.... compare your empties, to some older AA hulls.

Best of luck.


My MEC reloaders have two crimp stations, a starter crimp and then a final crimp. All the best...
Gil

Hmm, I thought they all had 3 stations.... my mistake. Guess I'm not current on the MEC models, anymore. Anyway, I loaded many, many 12ga hulls in college, on a MEC "Grabber" (not sure of the exact model number) which had three crimp stations.

Always thought that made a much better shell than the reloaders with only two.

According to instruction book that came with the 8567:
(6 station press)

Station 4 Crimp (starter crimp)
Station 5 Crimp Close (cam and punch adjustment)
Station 6 Final Crimp ( puts lead or radius on shells)

The problem could be the new 2 piece Win AA hulls vs the old style compression formed AA hulls. Because of problems I've had with reloading the new 2 piece hulls, I no longer buy new Win AA shells, only Rem STS, when I want to save the hulls for reloading. The difference is easily seen on the inside of the empty hulls.

I had to bring the cam down quite a bit (a lot more than 1/32") on my 9000G to get the new AAs to close.

According to instruction book that came with the 8567:
(6 station press)

Station 4 Crimp (starter crimp)
Station 5 Crimp Close (cam and punch adjustment)
Station 6 Final Crimp ( puts lead or radius on shells)


Welcome to the Forum!

I have MEC250, 600Jr and SizeMaster presses and they have two crimping stations and that was the basis of my post. All the best...
Gil

I just picked up a mec 600junior (used), and have a similar problem. I'm using the old-style AA hulls. My problem may be more severe, however, as this is my first attempt at shotshell reloading. I have no idea what the former owner did to the press but the crimp is not even close to sqare with the side of the hull - it's pushing it right through and the hole is so big, all the shot can fall right out.

On a side note, can anyone tell me how to read that "wad pressure indicator", The manual for this thing is worthless (its the pre-'65 model or whatever, if that makes a difference)? How far down is that wad supposed to sit?

Hard to tell from here, but I'd say either the wad is too short for the powder and shot combination, or not enough shot, or away too much wad pressure.

Set the wad pressure so the indicator just moves at the bottom of the stoke. What wad and powder are you using? How much powder and shot?

A new manual might be better. Get it here.
http://www.mecreloaders.com/

Bye
Jack

Hard to tell from here, but I'd say either the wad is too short for the powder and shot combination, or not enough shot, or away too much wad pressure.

Set the wad pressure so the indicator just moves at the bottom of the stoke. What wad and powder are you using? How much powder and shot?

A new manual might be better. Get it here.
http://www.mecreloaders.com/

Bye
Jack

I'm using 20.0grains of Green Dot and 7/8 oz of #8.1/2 in those AA hulls. I'll have to look at the bag again to see which wads Im using. as a general rule, should the top rim of the shot cup be close to the top of the hull? cuz it's nowhere near it.

yea it was the wads....

Something I should have said in my first post is: The basic principle of shotgun reloading is that the combination of powder, wad and shot must fill the shell to the point where you can make a proper crimp. This is about 3/8" from the top of a 12 gauge shell.

Safety is the first principle. You don't have the room to play around that you do with metallic cartridges, so follow the recipes. Data for 7/8 oz 12 gauge loads is pretty thin. Alliant has a few with Green Dot.
http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/RecipeDetail.aspx?title=Shotshell&shotype=&weight=0.875&weightdis=7/8&shellid=361&gtypeid=3&gauge=12

Bye
Jack

Something I should have said in my first post is: The basic principle of shotgun reloading is that the combination of powder, wad and shot must fill the shell to the point where you can make a proper crimp. This is about 3/8" from the top of a 12 gauge shell.

Safety is the first principle. You don't have the room to play around that you do with metallic cartridges, so follow the recipes. Data for 7/8 oz 12 gauge loads is pretty thin. Alliant has a few with Green Dot.
http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/RecipeDetail.aspx?title=Shotshell&shotype=&weight=0.875&weightdis=7/8&shellid=361&gtypeid=3&gauge=12

Bye
Jack

I just shot my first 2 rounds of skeet today at the club. The shells performed famously (actually shot better than I usually do), and with the 1/8 - 1/4 oz less lead than I'm used to using, the recoil in my S686 ultra light was noticeably reduced.

I'm using green dot, and have been using the recipes from alliant, but I've noticed that the mec bushings that I'm using do not throw what they say they should -- they're up to .6 under the mark (but I've never had good luck with volume-based measurements anyway). I dont know how important that is with shotshells, but since i have almost more fun handloading than I do shooting, I've been dumping every single charge onto a scale and trickling in the last few particles in.

Quick question regarding wads and hulls. Can you tell me how on earth AA hulls and an STS hulls can produce any sort of a difference in pressure and velocity with all other factors the same? The same question for wads. Im using claybuster wads, but dont have any recipes for them so I'm just ignoring the wad section of a recipe -- that bad?