Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Lee Load All

I noticed a sidebar in Mule Deer's "Wingshots" in the latest Successful Hunter. I handload for everything but shotguns, and have been thinking of getting a loader for that as well. I know just the very basics on loading shotgun shells. I am not a high volume shooter, and am most interested in loading up a few steel and bismuth shells for waterfowl, and fine tuning a turkey load for my 12 gauge. I'd like the ability to load both 2 3/4" and 3" shells. Is the Lee Load All worth the little money, or will I just be buying frustration?
Also, any suggestions for a loading manual for shotguns?

Thanks

If I were to give you a Lee loader, you'd know for sure that I had some kind of a grudge against you.

I would say get a MEC manual reloader - my father has 2 in 12 ga. He also has 1 12ga progressive, 1 20 ga, 1 28 and 1 410 all progressives from MEC - needless to say he loads a TON of sells (buys 700x 36lbs at a time) All of his MEC loaders have been excellent - no problems other than a spring or 2 and when you load as much as he does a spring or 2 is gonna wear out - that was on a progressive.

A good MEC manual staged (model 600 IIRC) is a great investment - once you have a load all figured out and get comfortable oyu can load a box of 25 in about 15 mins. Thats placing the hull, placing the wad, swapping the charge bar and moving the hull from position to position for every round. Not too bad.

I guess I'll be the thorn and say, I like the Lee Load All. It is a very useful and acceptable loader for shotshells. I have one in 20, 16 and two in 12 gauge. I got started when I was loading light loads for my old double barrel shotguns. Then I was shooting sporting clays every other weekend and it was easy to turn out 25 rds in 1/2 hour or so. More if you sat down and just pounded them out. The only complaint is that unlike the MECs you cant adjust the crimp die so your load has to be just right to get a good crimp but once you have it, its great. They are well worth the cost. Ryan

Now you got two thorns. I have a MEC and a Lee Load All. The MEC is covered up and stuck under the bench. The Load All is the one that gets used. As Bushwhacker says, get all your components to the right place in the hull and it works like a charm.

BCR

I use a lyman, and we also used Mecs in the past, but I prefer the lyman. I have found that i can't handload for as cheap as I can buy factory target ammo, so don't handload shotshells much anymore.

I buy my shotshells 10 flats at a time(250per flat), and that last for a while.

Catnthehat

My MEC is gathering dust too. It does not add up to me that I can buy AA's for $40.00 a case and a bag of shot or pound of powder goes for more than $20.00 Something's screwed-up with that. Is it shipping costs that's driven up prices of components or just not enough dealers willing to stock them?

Never used a Lee Load-All (which is different from a Lee Loader, Ken) but I'm sure you don't want a progressive press. With a progressive, you'll spend more time setting up than loading ammo, for the small amount of ammo you're talking about. A single-stage press is better for working up loads, and it's better for loading up a box or two.

Now, if you ever get into target shooting and want 10K+ identical cartridges per year, you will want a progressive. But you'll still keep your single stage.

A MEC Grabber resizes the cases, which the entry MEC 650 and the Lee Loadall don't, but hunting loads should be loaded into new or once-fired cases anyway, so you won't need to resize.

Why new or once-fired cases? Think about popping a squib load at a 20+ lb gobbler because your crimp didn't hold.

Oh, a manual. The Lyman shotshell manual has everything you'll want, as well as an illustrated how-to "book" in the first few chapters.

Good hunting.

I have no experience with Lee's loading equipment, so I won't comment on that. I use a single-stage MEC loader, and it works great. As someone else said, once set up, you can crank a box of 25 in about 15 minutes. I probably load 250-300 shells a year, so that is plenty fast.



As to cost, the cheapest of the cheap factory shells seem to cost $.25-$.50 more per box than my handloads--but handloads have better wads and better shot. That seems to be the market around here anyway. I've never tried to reload steel or any of the other non-toxics and would be interested to know if you save any money. I load for a 20 ga., 12 ga typically cost the same at the store, but take more components to reload so the economics are definitely different.



Ditto also what someone said about loading hunting shells into new or once-fired hulls. I shoot a semi-auto and feeding reliability with reloads is much better with new or once-fired hulls. For clay or doves I'll load them until they develop holes on the crimp creases.

Looks like I am thorn number three. I started reloading using a Lee Loader and still have a number of them on my bench. I also use a Lee Load-All that converts from 12 to 20 ga. easily. Works great every time. Lawdog
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I bought Lee Load-Alls for 12 and 20 gauge over 15 years ago - they have gathered dust for most of the time since then. They do work okay when using lighter, faster practice type loads but I wanted them for saving coins on waterfowl loads. They never worked well for me on those heavy loads which use the slower powders and higher volume charges requiring tight, consistent crimps. Since your requirements appear to be similar I would not recommend them. I did start out reloading metallic with the little Lee Loaders and they work fine. I would never go back to them, however, for anything but a most minimalist type of backup.

I'm thinking just about everyone is right here, if that makes any sense. I've used a LLA in 16 ga. for quite some time, and with tapered hulls (Active, AA, etc) it makes some great loads. I do find I have to adjust with card wads on certain loads.

For duck and goose loads, I think you'll have trouble. The bigger capacity shells you'll likely need for that are the same ones that give me fits in the LLA. I believe they are generically refered to as Reifh-omething. These'd be Fiochi, Cheddite, etc. brands.

The beauty of the LLA is that it won't cost much to try it. As a matter of fact I have a 12 ga version I bought used gathering dust. I've never used this ine, though I recall it is missing one bit (less than a $5 part-I do remember that). If you want it, PM me and its yours for the price of shipping. Hate having a dust gatherer. . .

Can't go wrong with a Lyman manual for starters.

Joe

PM sent.

This is about what I expected, some pro and some con. I've found that all of Lee's products work, but not all work well or smoothly. I was just wondering which end of the spectrum the shotshell reloaders fell on.
Thanks for all the replies and PM's.
Crowkiller

Crowkiller--

For the loads you mention, I'd probably get a MEC as well. The Lee Load-All works fine for general upland shells, and I have even used it quite a bit with Bismuth loads, but for steel and heavy turkey loads a MEC would be better.

Two good manuals are the Lyman and anything from Ballistic Products.

MD