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Joined: 09 Mar 2016 Posts: 756 Location: Mn.

8mmFan whew! Glad you figured out half of what I said was tongue in cheek, other half serious. Thought you would figure that out Laughing

Calling MEC is always a good idea and they have been great in my experience. I will usually order parts online (cheaper) than direct from them. But have called them before and had the guy say well as long as you are replacing this then you should get that, and adjust something else. They are REALLY good even on the phone troubleshooting.

Besides stamped metal they do have plastic as well I buy 3-4 crimp starters in both 6 and 8 point at a time. I use a lot of new unfired hulls and they are stiff enough that they will eventually pull off the center post after enough rounds.

It is always best to do sessions with all the same exact hulls. And even the same hulls can vary in overall length if they are from different time frames. Different length hulls throw a monkey wrench into the reduction gears. Which is never good. Sort all your hulls first. I standardize on hulls in all gauges and keep different hulls in seperate storage bins. And load a bin at a time because different length hulls require slightly different adjustments.

You will get there with experience just like anything else, at this point it is not a race. Actually it never is and is about paying attention to detail. Before long you will be doing more than a flat an hour taking your time and that counts stopping for refills. With the automate I can do 2 flats an hour easy but have the Jim Scheel 25 pound shot bottle on that press so I don't have to fill so often. And of course the tall bottles on all the presses, both sides. With 200 primer trays. Have to stop once in awhile to get up to stretch and scratch the butt anyways.

Joined: 17 Mar 2007 Posts: 209

Cold Iron, knew exactly where you were coming from--absolutely no worries. At 56, my skin has gotten pretty thick; with the friends and family I have, it had to become that way just to survive, LOL.

I am still stuck at the words: "25 pound shot bottle." Hearing that is kind of like seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time.

Our reloading room is kind of like about a third of the farmers in America (I come from a farming family). My dad and uncles were pretty parsimonious, and always used to say that about 1-in-3 of farmers have bought about double the power level and amount of equipment they could ever use. Have too much money tied up in stuff they can't use. I don't know if that's true or not, but it is definitely true of our reloading room. Me and my kids simply don't shoot more than what we could ever make on our 600 Jr.s. So I am way OVER equipped with the 9000GN and the Grabbers.

That said, I do like to have neat stuff, so in addition to the 9000GN we also have a Grabber in .410 and, I think, 20 gauge. Actually bought the Grabber here long ago, from an unscrupulous seller that was not really a member here. The thing was missing half the parts. Fortunately I live within a reasonable driving distance of Mec, and I took the machines to them, and they did a bang-up job of going through them, replacing all the missing parts, and timing them to the hulls we generally use.

Sad truth is, they're still sitting there. My 7-year old daughter is now stepping into the spot of shooting the little .410 Mossberg pumps her brothers started on at skeet. The rule here is, if you want to burn powder, YOU have to put it in the hull and make the shell!

The Grabber is way beyond what young kids can handle--the Juniors are not. Hence, the Grabbers sit.

You are right. I am already getting the hang of the thing, just by walking through it one or two shells at a time, and manually helping the crimper off the hull with my fingers on the upstroke. Other than the broken crimper (MSM I did actually adjust that up before I called Mec. It still kept catching, and they said it clearly needs replacing--they're also sending a new drop tube for our 20 ga Junior because 9-shot actually "clogs" in it about every 10 or 15 shells).

I can see the potential for the 9000. Thanks again, Cold Iron, for the good advice.

8mmFan

Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 450 Location: WI

I have a 9000GN that I use with 12 ga, the 600Jr was just too slow for me given the volume I was reloading at. Time is the one commodity I do not have in abundance, so a progressive machine became somewhat of a necessity when factory loads got hard to find a few years ago.

It does take a bit of a learning curve to get up to speed on and operate, I spilled a lot of stuff when I first got started, but once you get the hang of it it runs smooth and fast.

Joined: 21 Jan 2019 Posts: 49 Location: Indiana

Barnyard, I have been using a 20g. case box and I cut one of the long sides down about an inch to go under the chute in the 9000. Thanks for the suggestion.

I just did a couple of hundred without a hitch. I love Chedite 209's now. They just about never fail to drop like Winchesters and Remingtons used to do.

Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 450 Location: WI

I use one of those stackable plastic storage bins, it fits right under the chute and it will hold more than 25, so when the first one backs up the slide, I put them in the MEC stacking rack and then fill the shell boxes, I use the MTM 25 round plastic ones, they really work great.

Joined: 17 Mar 2007 Posts: 209

You guys were right.

I got the hang of the 9000G, and she is a Goin' Jessie. Absolutely pumps 'em out.

I have gone through almost two bags of wads since about Thursday, and that on an Orthodox Easter weekend that we hosted, no less. One oz. of 9 shot and Clays. I'll have to check the bushing before I add more powder. Going through my tub of AA's and starting to make a dent. Although it does reload the green Remington Gun Club hulls just fine with the same load of powder, wad, and shot.

I can do a box of shells in about 3 minutes, more or less, if I don't have a stoppage.

Absolutely beautiful shells.

Thanks for all the help. I might have to order two more in 16 and 20 gauge.

8mmFan