Jerry, those spacers will not work on the progressive presses. The turret revolves with each pull of the handle to advance the hulls. Those spacers work on the 600 Jr because you are manually moving a single hull from station to station.

Probably the easiest but a bit more costly is to order a new PW 800 Plus and when ordering tell them you want it set for 2 !/2" shells which they'll be happy to do for you for an additional $35-50 dollars on top of the cost of the press .

Mike,

Yes, I have four 9000 so this is why I am sure it works. What I wrote is when the shell gets to the first crimping station, pull it out and put the spacer under it. It will follow the shell until the end when it is ejected. Thus one would need to rotate three of them in the three final stages as the machine progresses and ejects the shell. Pull the spacer and put it on the next shell at the crimp station. The shells are easily pulled there at the first crimp station, the spacers fit the shell and the MEC firmly, and should work if the 28 gauge spacer can be made.

I got ya. I thought you were trying to have the spacer follow the hull around the entire turret. If you have to move them like you are saying, I'd just get a 600 Jr and load with it. If you're not looking to do Spolar production numbers, then the Jr would suffice.

Craig, The press was a birthday gift, so, easy or not, MEC threw down the gauntlet when they told me the press will not load 2 1/2".
Jerry is correct, and I follow his train of thought completely, except The spacer is needed under the wad guide/shot drop tube also, because the hull needs to be Inside the fingers of the was guide, at least on a reload, in order for the wad to slide smoothly into the hull. This thought came to me in the middle of thee night, so I went down to the basement to confirm it.

This whole idea is rather silly for the number I need to reload on a weekly basis, which is 200 on average, 300 if I get more time to shoot. I've been feeding my habit on a row of 600Jr presses just fine, but when a 9000 press falls in you lap, you do stuff that only makes sense to yourself.

I've had "ideas" sent to me by a couple people, and apart from Jerry's spacer, none of the others will work, BUT, since I'm going full steam ahead, I plan on making my 'modified part' and proceeding.

The parts that I ordered from MEC came today and I plan on spending some time at the Bridgeport next week. My wife leaves for the month of November next Tuesday, and Apart from the myriad of daily chores, I'll have a clear head with no distractions. When I'm done, I plan on discussing it with MEC. What I don't have a handle on is whether there are others who would like to load 2 1/2" shells on their 9000. MEC could implement the change for only the cost of modifying the tooling used (by an outside vendor) to make the part I'm making. I think it will take about 10 minutes to change the part and go from 2.75" to 2.5"

I'd be interested in that modification Dad. I can shoot 2 3/4" in all my 28's except for a beautiful little Pieper 28 hammer which absolutely will not digest a 2 3/4'' round. I'd shoot it more if I could reload for it on my 9000.

I’d like a 9000 or Grabber that would load 10 gauge 2 7/8” . I talked to them about just such a thing about ten years ago , and atleast they were honest in saying yes they could do it but doubted if they’d sell twenty machines a year for a short 10 so from a buisness standpoint a no winner .

Edgar,
When I load short shells in 12, 16 and 20 gauge I start with once fired 2-3/4" shells that I cut down on my band saw using a jig to 2-1/2". I then load the shell as I normally would as a 2-3/4" shell. However after the shot is dropped, I place an over shot card on top of the pellets. then finish the shell as normal. I don't have to change anything on my press. I do not load 28 gauge but can't see why it wouldn't work.

Jack, I’m not sure I’m following you. I previously loaded all my 2.5” shells (12,16,20 and 28) on one of my 600Jr presses, each with a “short kit”.
I also cut down 2.75” hulls, both ‘once fired’ or, on NPEs, when 2.5” new wasn’t available. I made a ‘guillotine’’jig which gives an edge as good as new. I’ve shown the jig here before, but it simply puts the shell on an adjustable dowel, close the handle with a razor blade enclosed and twist the hull around. Takes about 5 seconds each.
When you say you then reload just as you would a 2.75, you must be using a different wad, because the load would otherwise be about even with the top of the now shortened hull. Impossible to ‘crimp, otherwise.
What press are you using? The crimp die on a 9000 won’t even touch the mouth of a 2.5’’ hull, unmodified. Not following the use of an overshot card either.

My whole point in this exercise is to make my 9000, a gift, do both.
My 2.5” loads are the same shot and powder charges as my 2.75” loads, Except, I use a specific wad for each, not the same for both.

Edgar,
I've rechecked some of my shells, my jig cuts them 2-9/16 not 2-1/2, my mistake. The idea was to load the shells just like a 2-3/4" shell and just before crimping drop an overshot card on the shot charge so the shot would not fall out when the finished crimp was done with the hole that was there from the shortened shell length. With 12 and 16 gauge, it works just fine. I had forgotten that with 20 gauge, it ended up almost like a roll crimp.
I found a pair of factory 28 gauge loaded shells on my loading bench from somewhere and measured the loaded shell length and you are right, there is no room at all for any kind of crimp. Sorry for the confusion.