10 Gauge Reloader

[Dennis V. Nix]

Years ago I reloaded 12 gauge shot shells with a Lee hand loader. Everything came in a neat little box and while slow it produced useable shot shells. I would like to buy the same little kit but in a 10 gauge for the 2 7/8 inch shell for my Parker hammer gun but it seems they aren't made now. Does anybody have an extra one for sale.

Also, after I buy a number of 3 1/2 inch shells I will need to trim them to the proper length. Long ago I saw a tool which cuts the shells to the correct length. Can anyone please explain the tool and where to find one. Thanks.

Dennis

[Rick Losey]

I would bet 10 ga Lee sets are going to be a very rare item. Antique reloading tools show up now and then.

the MEC jr comes in 10 ga and has a short kit available

a case trimmer can be made with a dowel a bit of wood and a utility blade or
http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Trim-Doctor-Shotshell-Case-Tool/productinfo/TRIM/

[Frank Cronin]

Use a wood dowel and a razor. Works great!

Here is Mr. Lester's online video. Good stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owXs4Eg__BE

[Pete Lester]

The Lee Loader in 2 7/8" 10ga can be found from time to time on Ebay. The always seem to sell and they sell for $60 and up plus shipping. They will do the job but they are SLOW. One thing to remember with a Lee Loader, when you crimp the shell the shell is essentially chambered in the loader and one's hand is over the mouth of the shell pushing down on the tool the closes the crimp.

Used MEC single stage presses in 10ga show up and they can be bought in the $100 - $150 range. You'll need a short kit which is about $30. Once set up you can easily turn out 100 shells an hour. Once you find out how much fun a short 10 is to shoot you'll appreciate the speed advantage of the MEC over a Lee Loader.

At the moment I know where a used 10ga MEC 600JR (missing it's primer catching tray) is for sale for $95.

[Mark Ouellette]

Dennis,

Take Pete's advice and look for a MEC. I have many loading presses but for the Short Ten I use a PW 375 for resizing then move to a MEC for everything else. The MEC allows me resonable speed with the flexibility of removing the shell to add filler wads, spreader inserts and so on. I like the swaging capability of the PW 375 because I shoot many different Short Tens with just about as many different chamber sizes!

Mark

[charlie cleveland]

them boys are telling you straight... charlie

[Dennis V. Nix]

I appreciate all of the great information and will start looking for a MEC with the short kit. Thanks to all.

Dennis

[wayne goerres]

Precision reloading has the tool for trimming the cases and you can order a roll crimper tool also. Nice people to deal with.

[Dennis V. Nix]

Thank you, Wayne. I appreciate it. It may be a couple of months before I get everything ordered but I now know what and where to get it.

Dennis

[Paul Harm]

As most have said a Mec is the way to go. A 600jr is nice, or a Sizemaster, which is also a single stage press, but a bit more expensive. It's a newer model that resizes differently. The 600 has a ring, the Sizemaster uses fingers and a collet. Either one will get the job done, some just like one over the other. Be careful on the auction web sites, sometimes a item gets bid up to almost retail prices. A 600 goes for $190, Sizemaster for $280 on Mecs web site. I have the old Lee in 10ga, but the tube that holds the shell is made for a 3 1/2' shell and would have to be cut down for the 2 7/8" shell [which I did]. As for the short kit, all you need is something, wood or metal, that will take up space under the crimp stations. You may have trouble finding the 10ga reloaders as they're not very common. Good luck - Paul

[Dennis V. Nix]

Thanks, Paul, for the information.

Dennis

[wayne goerres]

I just bought a 600 jr from precision. They had the best price. The press was out of stock so they had it dropped shiped from Mec for the same price. I thought that was pretty nice. I also got the short kit but was not very pleased with it. took a lot of fiddleing with it to make it work.

[Rick Losey]

I just bought a 600 jr from precision. They had the best price. The press was out of stock so they had it dropped shiped from Mec for the same price. I thought that was pretty nice. I also got the short kit but was not very pleased with it. took a lot of fiddleing with it to make it work.

Wayne

I am about to order the short kit for my 600jr ---define "a lot of fiddleing" :)

do things not line up?

PM me if you like, looks like a simple concept - a riser of the correct height that you move the shell holder parts to.

[Rick Losey]

. As for the short kit, all you need is something, wood or metal, that will take up space under the crimp stations. Good luck - Paul


That makes sense, so if you roll crimp - the standard press is fine?

[wayne goerres]

You are correct. It is a very simple consept. Its just a spacer. If I remeber correctly the clips ( for lack of a better term ) dont allow the spacer to line up properly. Several other people had the same problem. Someone came up with a good idea an then sent it to China (I think).

[CraigThompson]

I got a new 600JR a couple years ago along with the MEC short kit and have been using it happily ever since !

I however wish I had gone on and gotten PW to make a 375 set up for the 10 gauge 2 7/8" shells . I've always been an advocate of PW products and now ain't no different !

As to cutting the hulls and made myself a thing to hold the shells with the amount you wanna cut off sticking out the front , then I set the rail on my bandsaw and trim them that way . A hundred new hulls take me maybe 15 minutes .

I made more of the same thing for 2 1/2" shells for the 12 , 16 and 20 I might add !

[wayne goerres]

When you trim on the bandsaw dose it leave a rough case mouth.

[Paul Harm]

No. I just clamped a piece of steel the correct distance away so the rim on the shell would hang over it. Push em through. At our club the Mec is the most used press. The Mec short kit is pretty simple and straight forward - don't know what isn't lining up. I've also after cutting a spacer the correct size out of wood or steel just picked up the metal clip and slid my spacer under it. All you're doing is putting the shortened shell up higher so the start crimp and final crimp will work. It's kind of a rip off to charge that much money for something so simple.

[Paul Harm]

Ah yes, those clips. As I remember I just ground them off - no more problem. Anyways, Precision Reloading has the short kit if you're going to buy one. They also make round brass spacers for the 12 and 20. If one had a metal lathe they would be simple to make for any gauge. If you go here you can view them www.precisionreloading.com - go to shotgun reloading, then mec presses, then mec accessories, then on the second page you'll see the brass spacers.

[charlie cleveland]

i too use a spacer i found that was just rite for the short ten... charlie

[wayne goerres]

Poor quality control is what is wrong with mine. The clip piece was stamped in multipal opperations. The blank was misalined during stamping. You have to move the case back and forth to get it alined with the crimp dies.

[CraigThompson]

When you trim on the bandsaw dose it leave a rough case mouth.

Not overly rough I would say !

If I have some time to spare I sometimes run them across a brass brush on the end of an electric motor .

And if I don't I load them after a loading or two anything frayed or whatever is gone plain and simple .

[CraigThompson]

Ah yes, those clips. As I remember I just ground them off - no more problem. Anyways, Precision Reloading has the short kit if you're going to buy one. They also make round brass spacers for the 12 and 20. If one had a metal lathe they would be simple to make for any gauge. If you go here you can view them www.precisionreloading.com - go to shotgun reloading, then mec presses, then mec accessories, then on the second page you'll see the brass spacers.

I got the PRI brass spacers for the 12 and 20 gauge and had a friend make me the sme thing for the 16 gauge .

[Paul Harm]

Craig, I don't know about you, but $44/100 for empty 10ga shells is a lot of money to me to be throwing them away after a couple of reloads. My Remington 10 was 2 3/4" and the Parker 10 was 2 5/8" - had both taken out to 2 7/8" chambers. Now I can load just one size shell, and when they get too shabby they go in a bag to be made into 2 5/8. But that's only after candle wax won't hold the end together anymore. I make em last till the shot starts rolling out the barrels.

[Jim Partlow]

Dennis... Have you thought about loading brass shotshells?
I have a L.C. Smith that I load for. Ballistic Products has some
Very nice repo Parker brass 10 gauge shells, they also have
Over powder cards, wads and overshot cards. I do have a 10
Gauge Lee reloading kit that I use to load them.

[Dennis V. Nix]

Jim,
Thanks for asking about the brass shells. As a kid I loaded some brass 12 gauge Alcan shells with an old Lee hand loader but I haven't thought of it for this gun. I have a small supply of 10 gauge RST shells and some 3 1/2 inch Federal shells I get from my brother. I will look into the brass shells though when I get around to doing this. Thanks for the information. The brass shells would certainly fit in with my 1884 gun.

Dennis

[CraigThompson]

Craig, I don't know about you, but $44/100 for empty 10ga shells is a lot of money to me to be throwing them away after a couple of reloads. My Remington 10 was 2 3/4" and the Parker 10 was 2 5/8" - had both taken out to 2 7/8" chambers. Now I can load just one size shell, and when they get too shabby they go in a bag to be made into 2 5/8. But that's only after candle wax won't hold the end together anymore. I make em last till the shot starts rolling out the barrels.

At the moment I only have the old W&C Scott and an Ithaca NID in short 10 gauge !

Of the hulls I have a friend that owns a JW Tolley hammergun gave me about 75 Remington hulls that he said were to far gone for him and I've used them for several loadings of birdshot and buckshot . Only bought 200 new Remington hulls and a bag full of Federal once fired . So you might say I don't throw them away until they come apart LOL's !

I have twentyfive of the old Winchester brass 10 gauge shells . But I've yet to give them a try . Also have 4 or 5 boxes of old factory 2 7/8" shells that have been reloaded by someone else . I might try these in the Ithaca first since it's fluid steel :whistle:

It is my intention to get a Parker 10 at some point . Preferably a hammerless N grade or above .

[wayne goerres]

Jin I looked on balistic products for the brass 10ga hulls to no avail. Did you have to call them or did I just miss something. I would like to buy about a box or two.

[Rick Losey]

has anyone tried these?

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/1210/1/SHOT-SHELL-10-2-58

[Paul Harm]

I believe "track of the wolf" shells cost around $7.75 per shell. If so, these are made by Rocky Mountain and are turned from solid brass. The Mag Techs are stamped out so they're quite a bit cheaper. But as I've said in the past, I've never found a load for the MT's when using nitro. Maybe someone has and will chime in.

[Jack Kuzepski]

To my knowlege, Magtech doesn't make hulls for 10 gauge, been hoping they did for the past few years. Unless you can find some old stock of Alcans or antique 10's, Track of the Wolf or Rocky Mountain is the place to get new brass.

Jack Kuzepski

[Jim Partlow]

I stand corrected on brass 10 gauge shells. They are available
At Track of the Wolf. I believe they make them in house. Very
Nice cases with Parker markings on base. They are not cheap,
But much better quality than tho old Alcans.