I am using a MEC 600 Jr loading Cheddite hulls in 16 ga. My six point crimps are completely closed, but have no depth. What adjustment can I make to get about a dimes width of depth in my crimp? I have not figured out how to load images.

The load is 1 ounce using a ballistic products commander sporting wad.
Thanks!
Randy

Been a while since I adjusted mine, but I think you just tighten the set screw on the crimp finishing die. Go slow and check it each time till you get what you want then lock it in with the lock washer.

Right. Fairly simple. Loosen the nut under the plate on the final crimp station. Then tighten the screw a turn or two. Shouldn't need a lot. Retighten the nut and check. You may need to play with it a bit to get the crimp depth you want.

You can find the manual on google, full text and pictures.

I have the manual. My issue is not addressed. Adjusting the final crimped did not do it, it pushed the crimp in and left a large hole. I adjusted the 6 point crimp starter to have the flaps long enough- they touch in the middle and shot cannot escape. I am not sure if adjusting the cam will accomplish the objective. I think these new primed hulls may be longer than previous lots, maybe a card spacer?

I have had this issue as well. I found that using an overshot card added enough height to get a proper crimp. If adjusting the final crimp down a bit causes the crimp to, basically, go down into the shell the load is allowing to much space above the it to get a proper crimp. I have also switched to a heavier load (shot wise) and wads that a a bit taller.

Just my experience....

WBLDon

If you need the thickness of an overshot wad to get the crimp right wouldn't it be better, pattern-wise, to put it under the shot charge and not over?

If the crimp is completely closed (no hole in center), why do you want any depth?

You want the depth in the crimp to keep the crimp from opening. You want the spacer at bottom of the wad if you do not want to open the pattern, or at the top as a spreader

There is another possibility
You may be on the right track. You do sometimes need to tinker with the cam to deal with a hole in the center of the crimp. Straight from Mec: "Opening in center of shell. Correct by loosening the cam adjustment screw and moving cam down about 1/32 of an inch and try again."

Also compare the hulls you're using now to those you used previously. Hull length may be a contributing issue.

I'm surprised Skeetx has mentioned his "Cheerio" cereal cure used as an on top of shot spacer. I believe it was Mike who mentioned his use of it. I use resin micro beads as a top-off filler. Compressible styrofoam bits can be used as well. In some loads I use a combination of felt and cork wads to raise the shot column from the bottom up. In a 20 ga. wad, 28 ga. cork and felt wads are used as the bottom of the wad tapers and is thicker than the top. In 16 and 12 ga., I'd probably try 20 ga. felt and cork wads if plastic wads with shot cups were used. In 1 oz.TSS 20 ga. loads in 2.75" I use a petaled plastic 28 ga. wad inside of a 20 ga. BP wad as a sabot to contain the shot and raise it level with the mouth of the larger wad. Gil

There is a 7/8 oz.16 gauge wad by Claybuster. I use it with my 1oz. loads and it does the trick.
The wad has a little bump in the inside bottom that decreases the capacity.
https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Claybuster-CB0078-16-16ga-7_8oz-500_bag/productinfo/030CB7816/
I use the load data for the winchester wads.

Pete

I was hoping to join the MEC 600JR users club this weekend when in Southams sale they had one in .410, apparently complete offered with 14 kg lead 7 shot and 1000 plus 209 primers.

As the estimate was £50 to £100, current retail NIB £365 and the primers and shot would retail at about £100 it was clearly a no-brainer to bid well over the upper estimate.

It was on a timed online sale, and on the morning took off like an Atlas rocket closing at a hammer price of £340 plus 24% so £421 to the buyer.

They did a good job for their vendor, and I hope the successful bidder is happy with his purchase, but I wonder at the wisdom of paying almost 90% of retail for a used second hand machine when a new one seems to be readily available.

The 600 Jr. is a solid unit. I'm in the process of converting my 20 ga. Jr. to handle two inch 12's. I've swapped out dies and the only thing left to do is figure out spacers for wad seating, pre-crimping and final crimping as the throw is limited in movement. De-priming, priming, powder and shot drops will be done by other means than with the MEC. My use of the 2" 12 is not high volume shooting so speed of reloading is not a problem. Cut down plastic hulls are difficult to roll crimp with vintage RTO compared with smaller gauges, at least for me. Paper hulls are easier to roll crimp. For 28 ga. and 16 2.5", I use a Ponsness Warren 375C which is single stage, but easy to use with built in full length resizing. Gil

Sorry I missed your mention of reloading 16's. When I first started reloading Cheddite hulls, I also tried using the Claybuster 7/8 oz wad. I gave up because, like you, I found that it left too much space in the hull. Could not get them to crimp properly. I'm currently using the Claybuster wad in black Remington hulls. Works very well. I think quite a few of us solved the Cheddite hull problem without using filler, spacer, or anything like that by switching to the Downrange DR16 wad. Unfortunately, good luck getting your hands on any DR16's now. You'll likely have to resort to some sort of filler, as suggested above, if you want to use the Claybuster wad in Cheddite hulls.

Both Gulandi 16 wads will work in the 16 2 & 1/2” Cheddite, not as nice as the DR-16, but they are a suitable alternative. BP sells them as does or did Grafs and Precision reloading. Nick Sisley published some time ago in Skeet Shooting magazine loads so for RST/Cheddite, now in Hogdons Reloading, using then PB and 7625 along with International and Universal, using the DR and Gulandi wads. Some of us use 20/28 as well as Green Dot. Good luck.

I've seen a few explanations regarding the non-availability of the DR-16 and all state problems in obtaining the necessary resin to make the wad. Gil

When I started using the DR16's in the 2 3/4" Herters hulls, I worked up a load and had it tested by ballistician Tom Armbrust using 20/28:

16ga Herters hull
Cheddite 209 primer
17.3 grains 20/28
7/8 oz shot

Avg velocity 1182 fps
Ave pressure 7420 psi

20/28 can be difficult to find these days, but the real problem is the DR16 wads. Something similar might work with some of the wads BP sells.