I've had a MEC 600 jr for almost 10 years. Loaded skeet rds when I first got it and then it sat until last year, when my (then) 8 year old boy was turned on to Aguilla 1-7/8" minis.
I started back into reloading shot shells to give him a 12ga buckshot load he can shoot out of a 590A1 without buying half a shot shell for double the price. I started with just reducing the number of #1B pellets to just under 3/4oz and using Red Dot data for a 3/4oz skeet load. Pressure is so low, so its not a concern in replacing pellet size in a published skeet load. I haven't chrono'd it yet, but I'm guessing 1100fps and recoil is super light. Both he and my wife shoulder it with ease. Kicks like a .30 Carbine and I consider it perfect for HD in suburbia.
Those 1-7/8" minis still haunted me though and I had to give them a try. I used the same load as above, but with a modified wad. I removed the legs from between the gas check portion of the 1-piece wad and the cup portion so the cup sits directly on the gas check. My first attempts at the minis were using folded crimps and had some hiccups when made with the MEC, so I moved on to roll crimping for those. I prefer the look and pressure of fold crimping, but unless I modify the cam crimp assembly (i.e. cut the lower half off) on my press, fold crimping is problematic (at best). The roll crimp is much easier, but the pressure is much lower, so a different powder and load data has to be used and I can't reuse the hulls.
Still working on it.
Last edited by RayF; 03/24/19.
