12 ga reloading Mec 650
 

I finally found a 650 of similar vintage(pre85) to my fathers at a favorable price.

It has been 20 years or so since I reloaded and the press I have found needs a new primer assembly.

Charge bar is labeled 12 ga 5 300.

I have a slew of 2.5 rst 12s both cheddite and paper as well as modern shells. Will have to play eith it on the length, have also been advised to try 2 inch shells in a parker.

Anyway any advise and or suggestions appreciated. I loaded a ton of 12 ga shells for my 1100 bavk when I shot skeet in 4-H so I am not a complete novice.

Best standardize gauge shell length. Components very likely different one length to another. You can convert Mec presses with a “short kit” , converted to 2 1/2 they won’t load 2 3/4 inch. 2 inch another set of issues best left to English gun that need 2 inch.

I have 600 Jr Mec presses with short kits for 16 & 10 were I prefer (16) or need (10) short shells. 12 & 20 plenty of good hulls available, Parker’s handle 2 3/4 inch well no need for me to go short and I load for a O/U those gauges too. You can load very light shot weight 2 3/4 shells by changing wads.

That’s my routine somebody else may see it different, some good reasons to load 2 1/2 inch 12 G.

William

Bill, assuming that the 650 uses the old style primer feed, I have one that you can have for free. Your charge bar numbers are something I'm not familiar with. New progressive bars should have a "502", followed by the weight the bar is for. Maybe your bar was made before they used the 502 code. Here is the link to MEC bars. https://www.mecshootingsports.com/co...shingChart.pdf

I love my older all metal 650, a gift from a good friend. Smoothest press I have by a good margin and absolutely consistent.

The 12 GA 5 is the old numbering system MEC used to use. If you can find the old chart it will tell you what a 5 drops. Going after doves now but when I get back I will go to the garage and look up a 5 to see what it is supposed to drop.

But best bet is to put your powder and shot in it and see what it actually drops and go from there because they are always low on what they drop compared to the chart.

Probably a good idea to settle on a load you plan to use before buying parts and components. Good post would be "what is your preferred load for xyz" get opinions from the guys on this forum, pick one then set up your Mac to load.

William

I like shooting rst spreaders but not sure how easy that eill be to duplicate.

Slam simple. My normal 12 G recipe is 16.5 Red Dot AA Hull Clay Buster 7/8 oz wad. For spreader shells same powder and shot charge, go to Claybusters 1 oz wad which leaves room for a polywad spreader disk on top of the 7/8 oz load. In practice it’s one more stroke on the press. If You want a 1 oz spreader, use a 1 1/8 oz wad.

I substitute a green Gun Club hull for the AA, makes the spreaders easy to identify in a shell bag.

William

Found several old MEC charts.

5 in 12 gauge shows 3 drams equivalent, 1 1/8 ounce of shot, 23 grains of unique, wad pressure 75, 2 3/4" shell, it then says shell with HI BASE WAD 9/16" wad column, shell with LOW BASE WAD 15/16" wad column.

Now that is going back a ways when there were no plastic wads!

Substitute plastic wads? As the preacher in Blazing Saddles said after the Bible was shot through: "Son, you're on your own."

The MEC 650 is a progressive reloader and as far as I know all MEC short kits are for their single stage reloaders only.

Any part you need for a 650 is available directly from MEC.

Those old MEC bars are essentially scrap metal, the OP would be better off buying a couple of bars that accept MEC powder bushings.

IMO a progressive reloader is a poor choice for a beginning reloader, you have to be very careful to prevent double powder charges and spilling shot when you run into any problem that disrupts the cycle, and you will run into problems from time to time. A used 12ga single stage MEC loader is inexpensive, it can be fitted with a short kit as well, and the chance of over charging a shell or spilling powder and shot greatly reduced.