Can this be done?

[Mike Franzen]

Can a 10 ga 3.5" vintage lee loader be used to load the short 10? Could it work for plastic , paper or brass hulls?

[wayne goerres]

Mike I am not real familiar with lee loaders but I don't see why you couldn't use it as long as you use an over shot card and roll crimp your shells.

[Paul Harm]

You can roll crimp with the Lee Handloader. The problem I see is how deep the die is for crimping. There's a tapper in the end, and being made for 3.5" shells it probably won't do the crimp part for shorter shells. You could use it for everything except crimping - do a roll crimp with the part that goes in a drill. Just JMHO - Paul

[Paul Harm]

Your post got me thinking. Went down to my reloading room and found a Lee for 3.5 shells. No you can't start a crimp for 2 7/8 shells; but some time back someone had given me some reloading equipment he [or I] didn't know what it was for. Someone had tried to make a Lee 10ga loader work on a press. It was for 3.5" shells, so I ground off some of the end so a 2 7/8" shell would work. You'll notice the 3.5 shell holder is 3 3/4" long - I ground mine to 3" and now a 2 5/8 or 2 7/8" shell will work in it. I suppose a brass shell could have a tapper put in it but I don't know anyone who tappers brass shells. You'll just weaken the end and have to cut it off after a couple of times. Everyone I know just glues in a overshot card - .028 thick. If you grind the end off leave it a 1/4" longer than the shell. Good luck - Paul

[Pete Lester]

About three years ago I sold a 10ga 3.5" Lee Loader (small black and red box version) on Ebay. It sold for what I thought was stupid money, $146 plus shipping. I was happy.

They made a 2 7/8" 10ga Lee Loader and they show up on Ebay from time to time. Why not sell your 3.5" and use the proceeds to buy a 2 7/8" version?

One thing to keep in mind with Lee Loaders, when you are crimping a shell you are holding a primed and chambered round in one hand and probably looking over the top of it. Get a single stage MEC 10ga loader and a short kit, you'll be happy you did.

[Kevin McCormack]

Paul and Wayne -

Yes, the Lee Loader for the standard (3.5") ten will work but it can be a tinkerer's dream or nightmare, depending on how much you alter the mechanics. A friend of mine used Paul's shortening method on a Mec 650 press to set it up for reloading 2 1/2" 12-gauge shells. He simply ground the die down like Paul did, made sure it was plumb, and it works like a charm. It should work for the ten as well. Also remember if you are using a drill press for the final spin crimp, go lower speed to start until you get the desired crimp finish and roll. BTW - the "Left and Right" double on Canada geese shown on last month's BBS front page was made with the 10 ga. 1884 Grade 2 hammer gun using 2 7/8" shells loaded with ITX non-toxic shot using a Lee Loader.

[Rick Losey]

but with the MEC - all you need to do is raise the base on the last few stations- no cutting/grinding involved

that is all the short kit does. I put a short kit on a mec for 2 7/8 and made an add on of 1/4 plywood to put under it to accommodate the 2 5/8 British gun

[Paul Harm]

I pushed pretty hard on the Lee and couldn't get the shell to go far enough in to get a start crimp. Years back with a lot of fooling around [ made the center punch on the final stage a 1/2" longer ] I loaded 2" shells on my Mec single stage. Maybe the inside of a Mec is different than a Lee.