Thanks Paul. Money saving tips are always appreciated

For the 10 you may also want the metal rod used to prime - it's bigger in diamiter and will open up the old crimp on the fired shell.

Couple of other thoughts - if your reloader comes with a red plastic/rubber handle get the wooden one. It's longer will be much easier to pull. Just cut the old one off and throw it away. Mec charge bars come in two different styles - the 300 or 500 series. The 300 is for single stage presses and what you want. If it were me I'd spend the extra money and buy the adjustable bar - it'll save you money in the long run and JMHO, much easier to use if changing from 10 to 12 on the same press. Plus, if you have a ditigal scale [ and you really should have some sort of means to measure powder weights to be safe ] you can make sure you're throwing exactly what you want, be it shot or powder. Sometimes just a little less or more shot will give you a nice crimp. Can't do that with the bar and bushing set-up. If you do get one make sure it's for the single stage press [ 600jr]. www.precisionreloading.com has everything you need at what I believe the best prices. One time I ordered through them something that wasn't in their catalog [ a Mec part ] that was shipped from Mec but billed to them and it was cheaper than what Mec wanted for it.

Thanks Paul. That is very helpful.

Here is what I bought. Hope the link works.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...EOIBSA:US:1120

Mills have you decided upon the recipes you want to try?

http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/default.aspx

http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

Once you do you may want to get the primers, powder, wad and size shot you want to load so you are ready to go when it arrives. You will also need a bar for 1 and or 7/8 ounce as it comes with a 1 1/8 ounce bar. Be aware bars for single stage loaders, type 302, are different than the bars for MEC progressive reloaders, type 502. You'll also want a range of powder bushings, 27 through 38 will load just about anything in a 12ga.

Looking at the description you also need to be aware that the VersaMec and 600Jr are two separate models. One of the major differences is the type of wad guide they use, eventually you will have to replace a wad guide because the plastic fingers eventually break from fatigue. Good to have a spare hanging around. However in my opinion the older VersaMec is superior. It uses metal in places where the 600Jr uses plastic. If you need any parts from MEC you will need to be sure of the model you have.

http://www.mecreloaders.com/

This is not as daunting as it may seem. You are going to enjoy this when you get the hang of it.

If you decide to upgrade for a bit more volume, my smoothest and very best MEC press is an older ALL-METAL 650. It is much smoother and more reliable than the newer ones. It never malfunctions. I love it and got it from a friend as a gift. It really is the best of my 5 MEC presses. You can get them off ebay and whatever parts you might need are still available. I use the adjustable charge bars on all my presses.

Mills,
I'm not sure if it's been mentioned yet but I recently began reloading and it wasn't long before I realized I needed to resize the shells for guns with tight chambers. I purchased a MEC Super Sizer from Cabelas for around $100.00. Good luck, I think you are really going to enjoy reloading.

Thanks Richard and Double Play

Mills, looks like you got one of the newer ones which is good. If you go to 10ga you'll need a star crimp, shell holder, resize ring, wad guide, reprime punch, and a cam crimp assy. All that should be under $50 where as if you ordered the complete die set it would be over a $100. The only thing to look out for is that Mec changed things from around 82 ta 85, and then after 85. What to watch for when ordering parts is the wad guide and star crimp. I like the old star crimp made from metal, but it's harder to adjust. It's probably better when ordering to get the new plastic one WITH the metal screw and lock nut. For wad guides - if you have two metal rings that screw togeather with a plastic insert [ the old style ] it will cost another $20 to change to 10ga. Mec sells a converision kit so you can go to the newer plastic wad guide. If I remember correctly Mec wanted $22 for the old style 10ga wad guide but only $12 for the kit. Precision Reloading wanted $8 for the kit. Sometimes I go to Mecs web site, get the part numbers I want, then call Precision and order the parts. And you won't need a Mec super sizer with a 600jr - they resize the shells. A Mec 650 doesn't resize, and then you may want one.