Progressive loaders

[Bill Murphy]

The P-W 600 was never a popular loader, even when it was being manufactured. P-W no longer has all parts for the 800B, so I assume the same problem exists with the 600. I have used five 800Bs for more than 40 years, have no problems that I could not solve myself. I finally found I needed a part for my .410 800B that was quite expensive, so I broke out my backup .410 machine and retired the old one. Primer feed is not a problem, but some occasional tweeking needs to be done to keep them flowing. My 12 gauge 800B is on its second 100,000 on the counter. I would not recommend that anyone purchase an 800B today, because of the parts problem, even though I have never really needed any parts. On the other hand, the full length sizing dies on the 800B have always been its best feature. No other loader except the P-W 375 has this feature.

[Billy Gross]

To follow up on the Bill's comments above, I would recommend the 800+ if you want to go to PW. I load about 10,000 rounds per year on mine. The two big advantages are the removable dies (that is a big deal) and exchangeable tool heads for loading the different gauges. A used 800+ should ran between $500-$600. Bill is also correct about occasional tweaking. I think you need to be mechanically inclined to deal with any reloader. They come up on Trapshooters.com and eBay now and then. Billy

[6pt-Sika]

The first loaders I ever had were 800B's , got them used . Later on I switched to 800C's for all four gauges . While on the 800C you could change dies I opted for 4 seperate loaders as I didn't want to take the time to switch dies etc and had an old oak conference table to bolt them all down at the same time . Having dedicated loaders can be a good thing , however is a little cost and space prohibitive .

When I shot the shotgun games the PW's were worthwhile . And without a doubt PW makes the best loader on the market . I still wouldn't mind another PW 800 in 16 gauge !

FWIW , when I bought the 800C's I got the 20 and 410 from Jim Cunnigham first at a skeet shoot in Fredricksburg VA for if memory serves $500 each BRAND NEW granted this was about 1986 . The following year I upgraded the 12 and 28 from B's to C's and I got those two from Jim Tyrell that used to run the Pro Shop at Fairfax R&G for about $525 each . By my figures those four loaders paid for themselves in one year by cost savings of my reloads to the cost of factory shells .

[Bill Murphy]

Jim Cunningham and Jim Tyrell are an important part of clay target and reloader history. Cunningham is a P-W guru and Tyrell is now the manager of Dallas Gun Club, a position about equal to running Augusta National. I don't know how he does it. Both are friends of long standing.

[Mike of the Mountain]

PW makes a fine press. Can't go wrong with PW or Spolar if you want a high volume progressive.

[Paul Harm]

Man, 1000/hour is a shell every 3.6 seconds not counting refilling the primer tray or anything else. My Mec 9000H probably will cycle every 6 seconds which is plenty fast enough for me. I've used Mecs for 40 years and have no complaints. Can someone tell me why you'd want full length resizing dies - never found a use for them. I have PW 900 in 20ga sitting on a table and will sell it for $200 to anyone who likes PW.

[Dean Romig]

Paul, please send me a PM. I think I'd like that PW 900.

Dean

[William Davis]

Dean gets first crack. Give me 2nd chance on that 20 G PW at 200 bucks.

Got the PW 600 home. I don't think it has ever been used, came with primers and shot equal to half the purchase price. Am going to set it up beside my Grabber run both see which I like best. I am a fair shade tree mechanic have kept the grabber running fine with few problems, other than the chain primer feed, easy to upgrade if I wanted to. Have a length of lamp pull chain I fixed it with every time it broke.

Bill

[wayne goerres]

Can the 12ga grabber be set up to load 2 1/2" shells.

[Bill Murphy]

Paul, it would be hard to explain the advantages of the full length resizing dies without demonstrating them. All I can tell you is that I have loaded probably a quarter of a million shells on my 800B machines with virtually no problems. The wobble of shells in a small bore MEC machine is not a problem in the 800B. Enough said. No wobble, no crushing of hulls, no wad seating problems, no accidental hitting of the crimp area with the crimper as the handle is pulled, you name it. Initial price of the 800B is or was high, but few of us bought them new.