HELP IM NEW AT RELOADING

CORREN

I just ordered my first reloader its a mec jr. My question is that i have noticed different brands of shells are different lenghts and have different types of crimps (they are 2 /34 )will this make a difference should i stay with only one brand casing or can i use them all? i have not recieved my reloder yet so i have yet to try any of them.

allechalley

Welcome to the board and to shotgun reloading. The Mec 600jr will likely outlast your shooting career or very nearly so. You can use many different hulls but you do need to use different components according to the reloading guides. While many will work with different components, one must be careful as you can end up with "dud" loads or the other extreme of high pressure. Generally, stick with a couple different hull designs at least to start until you get the hang of things. The best hulls are generally the old reliable Winchester AA and now the Remington STS. The high brass may or may not have a high base wad. Similiarly, the low brass don't always have a low base wad. You can usually get free reloading guides where you get powder, and most companies have powder and component listings online now. There are also many published reloading books also available. I'm assuming you are refering to 2 3/4 inch shells. Follow the guides carefully for components and you shouldn't have much trouble turning out some nice reloads.

Your mec can also be adapted to 3" with some resetting. There are also differences in crimps, 6 or 8 folds. The 8 fold generally work longer, better but I have had good success with some 6 crimp.

If you ask around at the gun shop or a range, generally you can find someone to help you get set up or ask questions of what he uses. We all started at the same point at one time.

CORREN

Can i change a six crimp to an eight crimp or does each gotta be recrimped the way it was origanlly?

steve4102

It should stay as it was. The crimp starter will not reform the old crimp, just get it started back its original shape. As for hulls, the old style WinAA are a great place to start. They are easy to use, lotsa load data and last a long time.

Tailgunner1954

Stick with the Win AA and/or Rem STS compression formed hulls (as I recall, it's been a few years, there data is almost identical and they can be loaded with the same press setup). The others arn't worth the trouble (ones with a seperate base wad esp).
Shotgun is pure cookbook reloading, DON'T experament.
Both of the ones being recogmended are of the 8point style, and will take a dozen or more reloadings. The cheap "promo" hulls don't normaly take more than 1 reloading (yeah, I fooled around with them).
Your loader will come with several books of shotgun data, both from the wad and powder makers, 80% of the data will be for those 2 hulls, with another 15% for the Federal "gold medal" hull. These 3 comprise the majority (98+%) of the hulls used in the clay bird games, and they are the best ones to reload (live the longest, have the best choice of data, components, etc.).
All that said, you can load everything from 1oz low recoil loads up to 1 1/2oz baby mags into a Win AA hull by changing the powder and wad used, and the data is included with your loader.

---

Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.

temblor

Buy a copy of the Lyman Shotshell Reloading Manual and read it from front to back and it will really help you out............good luck...........[8D]