Home Forums Reloading Shotshells Loading Steel Shot

Tangokilo,

RSI does not sell to the general public. They are a manufacturing wholesaler that only sells to distributors. I buy my RSI wads and steel shot from www.bucksrunsports.com. Their website has not been updated for a while so just call for current pricing. They have always been very helpfull!

I currently am using a MEC 600jr. for loading my 3" steel shot loads. I size my hulls seperately on a MEC supersizer. I hand weigh each powder charge as Alliant STEEL powder is very bulky and won't flow through a charge bar. I dump the shot into a plastic container and use a large pistol primer tray with 18 of the holes taped off for my 82 pellet 520gr. BB goose load. I use a small electronic scale for the 1oz. loads with the smaller shot sizes. All other operations are done on the 600jr.

Hope this helps! If not just ask. I am not an expert, I just have alot of experience and am willing to share what has worked and not worked for me.

Elk Country

Elk,

Will that MEC 600Jr. handle 3 1/2" shells?

My 600 only go's to 3". I load 3 1/2 10ga on a mec steel master. I think Mec makes 2 presses that will do 12ga 3 1/2" the sizemaster and steel master. You need the 3 1/2" versions.

Baltz526 is correct on the 3 1/2" loaders by MEC. MEC loaders are the best when it comes to loading steel shot (and anything else).

I don't load anything bigger than 3" as I have a Beretta 391 with a 3" chamber. In my opinion The 3 1/2" 12 ga. is not neccessary (buy a 10ga.) but that's a different topic. Although, my next door neighbor, just got a Benelli SBE2 for Christmas and is trying like crazy to get me to change my mind and load him some 3 1/2" BB's! That would require a new loader (not that there is anything wrong with that) and I would have to order some 3 1/2" SAM1 wads. Then I'd have to round up some hulls and...He can shoot my 3" BB's and like it. He get's them for FREE because he has the goose lease!

Shoot straight,

Elk Country

Thanks for all the info.

Basically I am looking for a loader that will be used for loading steel in 3" and 3 1/2" shells.

from reading on another source the MEC may not be the best out there... I'm going to research some more...

There is good info about other loaders being able to put a bevel on the loaded rounds so that they chamber easier..... after cussing my 10 ga Browning the other weekend, that might be nice....

Check out refuge forums in reloading.... a half bunch of friggin idiots raggin on each other like their hormones are out of wack... but what the heck.... there is info in there at times... they have stickies on loading steel..

The mec bullnoses the shell. If your shooting a browning gold, some hulls need to be trimmed. It will have ejection issues with hulls over 3.45". If your having issues with feeding, the final crimp needs adjusting. Or your shot/wad needs fitting. It is not the mec

Is bullnosing that final bevel? I personally haven't loaded steel since the 80s, but have been reading on a duck hunting forum that Mec isn't the best.... I cannot comment, other than when I get around to digging out the loaders I already have a 10 ga mec, and simply need a 3-3.5 inch 12 to get set up for steel next.... so I can leave my 2.75 one for dove loads....

Now that I think of it a 410 one wouldn't be bad either....

Anyway if the Mec works then thats fine.

ITs a 10 BPS btw, very old, IE one of the first they came out with and I'm trying to talk myself into a Rem 10 semi at some point, wished now I'd have bought when they were 800...

The RCBS Grand is the best loader IMO (I also own 3 MECs) but nowhere as flexible when loading small lots. (I load 1000s for Clays). Get the ballistic products book on loading steel BUT ignore their crap about over shot wads in star crimped shells. It messes up patterns big time.

I use MECs for everything. Own 5 of them, 600's for small lots of specialties, 650's for bulk loading. The old Ponsness-Warren just gathers more dust with each passing year. Tried Hornady progressives twice, got rid of them both after much cussing. Best friend uses a Spolar and swears by it.

My $.02- get the MEC single stage that is appropriate for the shell you wish to load, and be prepared to do some "off-site" operations that the press won't handle as mentioned by elkhunter above. My thought is I don't load very many waterfowl loads compared to target loads and a few extra steps is not a biggie.

As an aside, if you don't fire very many shots at geese, why not just load a good non-tox non-steel shot in 2 3/4" hulls? Admittedly more expensive, but when considered against the number of shots actually fired when hunting it's not bad. Plus they kill better than steel. Nice Shot comes to mind- it's what I use. Lead shot data with standard wads. If I fired more than the approx. 100 shots/season I do, I would reconsider steel. But then I would have to use one of my modern guns rather than the old doubles I prefer.

Thanks for all of the good information guys.
I am on the same page as ElkCountry and gnoahhh. I think that a single stage mec would be perfect. For the number of goose shells that I plan on shooting, I have no problem measuring shot and powder in seperate steps.

Having said that, I probably shoot 3-500 goose shells per year. I'm quite happy with the results from Kent Faststeel factory shells, so i'm thinking that handloaded steel will perform at least as well, hopefully better. The other non toxic choices are too expensive for me.

Cabella has fast steel down to about 12 bucks a box (by the case).
Almost makes reloading not worth the effort. #3 are great for ducks & #1 for Geese (3" 12 bore) over decoys (not sky shooting)

Tangokilo,

WOW! 300-500 steel shells a year is waaaayyyy more than I load. I load 4-6 boxes of steel for my neighbor and me a year. You must be killin' alot of snows to shoot that much...I'm jealous! If you really shoot that many, get the MEC Steelmaster, you won't be sorry. I bought a 4 pound jug of Alliant STEEL powder a few years ago and will need another next year. You will use up 4 pounders pretty quick at the volumes you plan to load. I also order steel shot in 50lb. lots from Bucksrunsports.com and enough 3" SAM1 wads to match the shot. I hate having a bunch of left over stuff hanging around.

Good luck and you will have a ball loading all those steel loads,

Shoot straight,
Elk Country

I load 12-15 CASES of steel shotshells every year. I sell a few to my buddies, but I usually shoot about 8 cases per season for ducks and geese combined. That being said, MEC's work fine for steel shotshell loading. My slowest loads are 1 3/8 oz loads of BB's @ 1300, and my fastest are 1 oz loads that are just over 1800 fps. For geese, I prefer BB's. For early season ducks, I carry 2's & 3's. For decoying mallards, I sometimes use fast 4's. For weary birds, I have a strong preference for 1's at 1500. The cheapest loads cost just under $7/box to load. The most expensive are just under $9/box to load. When you figure an average of 8 cases of shells/season and an average savings of $7/box on shells that are superior to factory loads, the $600/year I save by loading my own is well worth the effort. Add to that the fact that I sell 'em to my buddies @ $12/box, and the net result is that I shoot for almost nothing. Besides, it an addictive hobby. I'd recommend it to anybody whose serious about hunting with a scattergun.

Hmm.. seems that it's been a while since I checked back in here.. since I dropped off the forum what seems like a long time ago.. I've actually upgraded to a 10 gauge Gold and found the BPI wads somewhat lacking compared to the brown 10 ga Precision wads.

For the 2011-2012 season, it was actually not that great for ducks and if it weren't for the abundant Geese, I'd have had a mediocre season like most of the rest of the state. I picked up a 10 gauge Sizemaster and started loading for the 10 with Fed and Rem 3.5" hulls. I'd use either 41 gr of Steel in the Fed or 44 gr of Steel in the Rem Hull.

1 3/8 oz of 2's proved very effective for large ducks, and 1 3/8 oz of BBB's did a number on the geese. I used Improved till about Dec 1st, then switched to a Modified for the balance of the season. I loaded about 600 rounds for the 10 this season.

The Remington All plastic hull is better than the Fed Paper based hull in that I could get higher velocity and didn't have to worry about the base wad soaking up water like the Federal does.

It's interesting to see where I've been and which direction I'm going in. I hope to check in a bit more often..