Getting back to reloading
 

I am getting back to reloading and am in the process of setting things back up for my MEC grabber 12ga reloaded but am also looking to get and set up for 28ga for my Parker repro. I see that MEC offers a grabber for 2 3/4” 28ga shells. Is that what most of you would load for or would you set up for 2 1/2”?

Second, I want to shift to a 7/8oz load for the 12ga while keeping the pressure around 7000 and the velocity between 1150-1200fps. Does anyone have a good recipe for that?

Thanks for the advice in advance.

All my Parkers are 12ga. I have been using this recipe for about 7 years. Depending on how your press drops powder, mine drops 17.5 to 18 grains of Clay Dot, Claybuster CB4100 wad which is a 1oz. or 7/8 oz. I only have Remington Nitro hulls and use usually Winchester 209 or Cheddite 209 primers. According to Alliant's web site the pressure is between 7,000 & 8,000 lbs. and right around 1150 to 1200 FPS.

The card on top will get you where you want to be. The other two are over the FPS that you are seeking. I do not alter published recipes, having said that I don't see a problem with cutting back on powder to reduce the velocity. I can't see how cutting back on powder would increase pressure or create concerns. You can also visit the Hodgdon and Alliant websites where you can probably find a plethora of recipes that will fit your needs. Good luck!

I can load both 2 3/4" and 2 1/2" 28g hulls on my MEC JR. All I need to do is use the "short kit" to load 2 1/2" shells. As for 12g, I have plenty of recipes for those. Right now on the Spolar I load 2 3/4" hulls, 7/8oz with 16g Clays at 1160 FPS. Very mild shells and will break what your pointing at.

I personally would not go through the trouble of loading 2 1/2" shells for a Repro which has 2 3/4" chambers. The 650 does not have a resizer, the Grabber does resize.

Never had an issue where I needed to resize my hulls whether they were in .410 or 10g.

I’ve had 10 gauge done on a 600JR that were kinda tight . After I loaded them on my Sizemaster that issue was eliminated .

Don, I load the following and just throw them in a Lowes 5 gallon bucket by the bench and scoop handfuls when needed. Very soft shooting.

Remington Gun Club, STS, Nitro..etc
American Select 18gr
WAA12L (grey) wad or Claybuster equivalent
Winchester OR Cheddite 209 primer
7/8oz shot
FPS is 1200 and PSI is 5800.

This is from the Alliant website. I use both the MEC single stage or Grabber for this depending on what I have set up.

But Andy's shells have holes in the patterns!! :rotf:

My problems go beyond holes in a pattern Mike

Now that’s just funny!!

I am very funny in case you didn’t know

I use the American Select load Andy referenced except use 18.5 grains. Very good in the 2.5 length hull. All my vintage guns handle it quite well. A friend who is a bit recoil shy drops to 17.5 and it works equally well on clays. Cheditte hulls and a Z 21 Trap Commander wad in the straight walled hulls.

I presume Andy's shells go off all the time whereas a couple of witnesses can testify to 5 of about 36 shells loaded on a Spolar with no powder. Might want to turn off Pandora and quit jiving while loading. Just sayin :rotf:

I thought the Spolar came complete with an attendant to insure everything goes right.

Mine do go off all the time Frank!!! They just go off in the wrong direction somehow : )

Always works better when you don’t bump the powder hopper off the charge bar!! :shock:

Do you mean funny “Ha-Ha” or funny “peculiar”?

You've met me Mike, you know the answer :cool:

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Well after a decade in a box got the loader set up on a new bench. Whole lot of rearranging to get the bench built. After looking at the Allianz and Hodgon sites I am going to try Andy’s and Randy’s suggested loads. I have some Remington shells, wads and a 7/8 ounce bar on the way. I am getting some win 209 primers from Dad. I would like to get a lb of American select powder and a pound of clays powder as well some rem 209p primers. I have scoured the online shops to no avail. Anyone have any idea where else to look? Hoping that the wait for powder and primers isn’t measured in months.

I’ve had the best luck finding powder where it is, kind of like woodcock. I just stop by local gun shops here and there. Had no luck on line. Seems powder is harder to find now than a a few month ago.

Nice clean setup. I'll make my prior suggestion again, Get a cookie sheet with a lip around the edge, and put it under the loader. Prevents spilled shot and powder from going all over.

Since I started shotshell reloading just this year, this is a nice tip. In order of suckage, least to worst, and I've done ALL of them:

1. Dropping an ounce of shot in my Grabber with no shell present
2. Missing the funnel when pouring shot in only to have about a cup full roll all over the basement floor
3. Tipping the shot/powder bar backwards without the red cap in place. LOTS of #9 all over the basement floor

Bin there done that with #3. What a ^$#*&#@^ Mess.