I currently reload for rifle and pistol but not shotgun. Due to the difficulty in obtaining 2 1/2 shells I want to start reloading for them. I do not shoot a large quantity of shells per year, maybe 2,000 at most. I really don't know where to start so I thought the group might have some advice on presses and other minutia of the task. I know this is a very broad request. I'm just looking for any and all opinions. Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

a mec brand machine is a good place to start...

If you belong to a Trap or Skeet club post a wtb note on their bulletin board for a MEC 600JR. Chances are there are several sitting in members closets doing nothing. Most will sell them for very little money, some will just give you the thing. Then get the MEC short kit to crimp 2 1/2” shells. MEC loaders are easy to adjust, esay to repair and parts are cheap.

I’d do a bit of dumpster diving and stock up on free empties, mostly a Remington or AA but Euro type hulls in large numbers are ok. Go to Hodgdon website and figure out what components you need and start scanning the web to build up your supplies. Also get a hull trimmer to shorten all those free hulls.

Sometimes an old member will have tons of stuff they have but no longer use like wads for hunting, hulls they don’t need, size 4, 5 or6 lead shot they don’t need, or even empty boxes. Shot they paid $20.00 a bag for is a steal for you at $30.00/bag. I use 2 3/4” boxes with a price of cardboard spacer to fill in the void with the shorter loaded shells. Anything free is worth accepting because you can often find a way to use it later.

I started reloading a few months ago for same reason as yours, in my case for a 2.5-inch chambered Army Navy 20 gauge. Agree with getting a MEC 600JR in your gun's gauge. Ebay is a good source. Although I did buy a short kit to allow fold crimping 2.5-inch shells, I have not used the short kit as I am roll crimping instead. Roll crimping has several advantages: It is how shells were closed when guns were routinely chambered at 2.5 inches. You can use cut down 2.75-inch hulls more easily, as roll crimping doesn't use as much hull length as fold crimping. You don't have to worry as much about getting stack height just right for a perfect crimp.
BPI has some useful manuals. I have and find useful the following: Advantages Manual Shotshell Load Encyclopedia, Cheddite Manual, Loading Shortened Hulls, Roll Crimping Your Shells. Roll crimping requires a gauge-specific bit for a drill, a shell vise, and a shell cutter, all three of which can be had for about $100 from BPI or Precision Reloading.
Since you already reload you probably already have an appropriate scale.
Straight wall hulls such as Cheddite or Fiocchi are preferred for 2.5-inch shells, as they have a little more room than Remington or AA hulls. There are a lot of recipes for short roll crimped shells in the above-mentioned publications. If you have to substitute components due to the current problems with component availability, it isn't a bad idea to have your shells pressure tested (not necessary if you are able to go strictly by published recipes). Precision Reloading offers load testing for pressure and velocity for $40 for a 6-shell string, or $25 per string if more than one string.
As for the MEC press, to use it to load powder and shot you will need a variety of powder bushings and charge bars for different shot charges (3/4 oz, 7/8, 1, 1 1/8, etc.). HOWEVER, I suggest not using the press to drop shot and powder at first, but rather weigh the shot and powder for each shell at first, and after you have established, by patterning and/or pressure testing, what you will need, then order accordingly. Actually, if you weigh your powder and shot for each shell, and roll crimp, the press will be used only for the de-prime/re-size station and the re-prime station.
Good luck, have fun, and be safe!

I assume you considering loading for 12 ga. Bear in mind that if you plan on loading for different guns, you may need to resize the hulls. Chamber size varies from gun to gun and the head of the hull will conform to the chamber making it unlikely to fit hulls in all guns you have. While a Mec Jr. is relatively inexpensive, a better press would be the Ponsness-Warren 375. I roll crimp specialty loads for turkeys in 3 gauges and in 12 ga. for 2" hulls. I trim long hulls, paper and plastic, with a specially made jig that fits in a Harbor-Freight Mini-chop saw. I use vintage manual roll crimpers to make the above loads. If I had to reload 2000 rounds a year, I'd go with the PW. If you stick with reloading, what you start out with is not what you'll end up using eventually. Gil

Welcome to the forum, Playing Hooky.

Great first post.

I don't have to load 2 1/2" 12ga anymore, that gun is gone.
But when I occasionally did, I just cut the 2.75 cases to 2.5"
Then loaded them on the regular MEC press (9000G but a 600JR would also work just fine) with the same load as if they were still a 2 3/4" hull.

Once the shot is dropped in and before it's crimped, you place an overshot wad on top of the shot in the hull. Same as if you were going to Roll Crimp.
But now you continue to move the hull to the crimping station just as if it's a 2 3/4" hull. You pre-crimp and then final crimp.
All done.


I think the process is/was called a Hartin Crimp or something like that.

What is left of the shortened to 2 /2" hull still leaves some of the orig crimp length.
That shortened crimp length forms the perimeter of the crimp and some of the 'Star',,but then runs out of Hull as it was cut off 1/4" to start with.
The Over SHot Wad placed on the shot load before crimping fills the center gap much the same as it would in a Roll Crimp.

So you have a 2 1/2" shell, loaded on and with 2 3/4" loader (no adjustments needed for shell height).
The same overshot wad used as you would in Roll Crimping. But no extra step(s) or tools needed to do the actual crimping process.
Just load as if they were normal 2 3/4" shells.

I used to load them the same way, Kutter and, you're correct, Mr. Hartin did indeed come up with that easy way to make short shells. You, as usual, did an excellent job of describing the process.

He, another one of his friends, and I shot a round of sporting clays together down here early this past spring. He goes by the screen name "Nitrah" on this forum and is quite a pleasant man to be around. And, he shoots beautiful guns.

I'm re-loading for 16 gauge. I buy primed 2.75" Cheddite hulls and then cut them to 2.5" (it helps to watch something on TV, it makes it go quicker), powder & shot are dispensed using a Lee Load All. I put an over shot card in and then I roll crimp the hulls using a drill press although a hand drill can be used in a pinch.

Useful links:
BPI, where I get the hulls, roll crimp device, hull mouth expander, case trimmer tool and vise for the drill press: https://www.ballisticproducts.com/default.asp
Graf's is another useful site: http://www.grafs.com

So Nitrah is Mr Hartin. Thank you Nitrah for your elegantly simple solution to loading short shells. I loaded some the other night to see how it works. Now to find a 2.5” gun….

Reloading 2 1/2" is quite simple to the point I don't even bother with 2 3/4 for those so chambered. Lots of good info here. One thing about roll crimps which I use for waterfowl and predator loads is that they are pretty much a onetime deal as the mouth of the hull is damaged enough that crimping it again is difficult without spending time trying to reform them, which makes usually free (from trap range dumpster) very attractive for roll crimping. Fold crimp shells can be re-used quite often.

Roll crimped waterfowl loads in Euro hulls cut to 2 1/2"


As for brass re-sizing the Mec 600 will re-size the brass part of the hull but not the rim. Numerous reloads will increase the size of the rim especially if you set the sizing ring on the Mec too deep and pancake the rim. A Mec Super Sizer or a Mec 700 with the Super Sizer built in will solve the problem. I will say that it was 50 yrs of reloading shotshells before I invested in a Super Sizer and there were times before the Super Sizer that I bought shot by the ton. My wife and I were shooting leagues five nights a week and tournaments on the weekend.

Short shell kit on a Mec 600, If your handy they can be easily made at home but are cheap enough that I find it easier to buy them. The black plate on the base to the left of the post.

Chantry limited ( I hope) his watching TV while trimming hulls. Watching TV, chatting with a buddy, or listening to a game on the radio while reloading, especially weighing powder, is a surefire way to double load or worse and screw the pooch and pay a bad price. Gil

I too trim hulls for shot shells, even prep brass for my rifles in the living room in front of the TV, having face time with my wife or even sharing a scotch with her. Any par of reloading that I can do outside of the loading room I do. These are idiot jobs that you can hardly screw up but doing them in the presence of my wife keeps her happy as I'm not spending ALL my time in the shop.

I only watch TV when trimming the hulls and double charging on a Lee Load All is difficult to do and very obvious when done (you get powder and shot mixed together).

Hi and welcome to the wonderful world of shotshell reloading! It can be a lot of fun and a lot of trial and error. Couple of suggestions.

First, BPI has some nice products, but stay away from their manuals. The data they published can be very sketchy. Stick to Lymans 5th or the powder manufactures load data. They have been tested. BPI is done using a computer program IIRC.

Second, if you want some great info on reloading here's the place to go to:

https://www.shotgunworld.com/forums/shotshell-reloading.13/

Tons of great info and folks who will help you out.

Third, you can shoot 2 3/4" in a 2 1/2" chamber. Sherman Bell has done extensive testing in his articles, "Finding Out For Myself" published in the DG Journal. Do a search on this forum or Google it.

Good luck, have fun and take your time!

Best Wishes on your success

Greg

Thanks for all of the input gents!