doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Things the MEC Sizemaster book doesn't tell you

I bought one for 16 ga. and had a rough time. I couldn't get the crimp to close, and did all the adjustments reccomended in the manual didn't help.

As it turns out, a side comment on some website: "If you're using Fiochi hulls, it might help to set the pre-crimper down an eighth or sixteenth of an inch."

Which I did, and immediately started turning out excellent reloads. It was amazing and should have been covered in the manual, but if it was, I didn't see it.

Anyway, I salvaged the powder and shot, so not all was lost.

Ah, good ole American ingenuity. That little crimp starter is far more important than most realize. For a long time I fiddled with other crimp adjustments trying to get the "perfect" closure. Nothing worked and I felt like an idiot. Finally, a feller on Shotgun World, called Curley, mentioned the crimp starter should be set low enough to leave an opening in the hull no larger than a wooden pencil. I tried it and presto! Perfect crimps. I've since tweaked it a little and the openings are even smaller than his recommendation. Of such small things are great improvements made.

I have found it invaluable to occasionaly visit the Reloading forum over on Shotgunworld.com. You'll quickly learn more there than any MEC manual could ever tell you. Also, the MEC folks are wonderfully helpful when visiting on the phone.

They are also helpful by e-mail. I received these tips years ago, from customer support, and saved them. Maybe they will help someone else.

Use furniture polish on the inside bottom of the primer tray to ensure smooth primer feeding.

Make sure the black arm inside the auto-prime tray is adjusted so that it does not come upwards on the down stroke. It should stay on the bottom of the tray at all times.

If you have primers jumping out of the primer pocket when the handle reaches the top of the upstroke it is probably because the sizing collet is not cleaned and lubricated properly. If it still does it, it is because the fingers are contacting the primer and you should adjust the collet ring down 1/2 turn.

Little things like this can make life a lot more pleasant, eh?

SRH

Another "MEC Oddity" is that the bushing recommendations in most relosding manuals is "usually conservative." Perhaps it is to allow for variations in manufacturing tolerances.

Very often, the book will call for powder bushing #30 for a given load of "X powder." When you actually weigh that charge, it will often be lighter weight than the manual specified. I often have to use a powder busing one or even two sizes larger to get to the specified weight (i.e bushing #31 or #32).

It is important to check the powder bushings with an accurate scale.

JERRY

It is called liability.
If you think the powder charge is light, weigh your shot charge, it will be also light. One ounce of shot is closer to 15/16 oz. and that is for all charge bars for shot.