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<  16ga. Ammunition & Reloading  ~  A simple solution to improve wad feeding into hulls
WyoChukar
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 1:55 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

Chances are that I am not the only one here who has had a wad hang up in the mouth of a hull when the wad guide fingers failed to sufficiently guide the wad in. As hulls age and the crimp region becomes ratty the problem gets worse. Damaged wads and hulls are frustrating.
Pulling down on the wad guide as the press handle come down fairly well takes care of it on MEC progressive presses but eventually becomes tiresome. I have found that adding a short coil spring to pull the guide down into the case mouth automatically can nearly alleviate the situation. It is placed between the underside of the shell platform and the clip on the wad guide rod. The only trick is to find a spring with the right I.D. and trim it to proper length. It does need to be stiff enough, but nothing overkill. Not exactly a precise science, but effective.
Hopefully this is of help to others who do not always have the luxury of loading new or once fired hulls. Very Happy

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Dogchaser37
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 2:08 pm  Reply with quote
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Pictures?

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skeettx
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 3:42 pm  Reply with quote
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A question, what reloader?
If the old MEC pre-black plastice wad guide try this

Hornady Wad guide in the MEC Silver metal wad guide holder.
Maybe tough to find, but can be done Smile

Mike

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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 7:14 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
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Location: Hudson,Wy

I have the newer style (black clamp on) wad fingers. The problem still crops up with brand new wad fingers as well as worn ones.
Not sure when I will get around to pix. I work long hours the next two days. I don't work many days, but the ones I do work are long. Then I am off to the land of scaled quail very early the following morning so no promises.

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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 8:31 pm  Reply with quote



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Hopefully the pic link works so here goes:[imghttps://www.dropbox.com/s/f81r0do19cgaib5/DSCF1329.JPG?dl=0&preview=DSCF1329.JPG[/img]

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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 8:39 pm  Reply with quote



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Obviously didn't. Heck with it. I can deal with this when I don't have something better to do. Quail are waiting for me a long way south of here.

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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 1:39 pm  Reply with quote
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I must almost always recondition the folds of all of my once reloaded RGL hulls to avoid hung up wads and the inevitable torn and/or crushed crimps. I press the hull mouths onto a tapered wooden dowel just before I feed them into my MEC Grabber. Works quite well. If not (and being half Irish/ half foolish), I employ some traditional Irish engineering. I get a bigger hammer and flatten that SOB, so it will never screw w/ me again. Laughing
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Dogchaser37
PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 1:57 pm  Reply with quote
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I have been reloading since 1974 using MEC machines and I have never had a wad hang up on the hull mouth, as long as the hull was in good condition( no splits at the crimp end) and the machine was adjusted correctly.

The wad fingers are supposed to slide completely into the hull mouth. I don't even have that problem with 2 and 3 times fired RGL's.......and I will not and do not recondition any hull......they get reloaded the way they come out of the shotgun.

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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 2:12 pm  Reply with quote
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Dogchaser37 wrote:
I have been reloading since 1974 using MEC machines and I have never had a wad hang up on the hull mouth, as long as the hull was in good condition( no splits at the crimp end) and the machine was adjusted correctly.

The wad fingers are supposed to slide completely into the hull mouth. I don't even have that problem with 2 and 3 times fired RGL's.......and I will not and do not recondition any hull......they get reloaded the way they come out of the shotgun.


...or else you flatten them w/ a bigger hammer like I do??? Laughing
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pudelpointer
PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 2:54 pm  Reply with quote
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Mark next time you are in PA stop by I need and adjustment I hang up 5 wads per hundred. I lowered the wad guide as low as my 9000 would allow there is a c clip. I can't get a DR16 into a fired RGL without opening the hull mouth with a drill. My biggest angst with reloading is the wad and the occasional primer that rotates past the primer station. I will admit I am not a shade tree mechanic and don't enjoy fooling with the 900G I just want to crank out ammo to shoot targets and birds.
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Dogchaser37
PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 3:12 pm  Reply with quote
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I have had the RGL crimps get pretty crusty, but they are always open enough at the crimp, that the wad guide goes in. I have never had to open up any hull, because the crimp end was that closed up.

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16gaDavis
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 7:35 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 24 Jun 2013
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Location: canandaigua - western n.y. (formerly deerhunter)

DC - my 600 jrs (as far as I can tell ) are set at the wad feed for 23/4 shells . Anything shorter (IE; RGLs) don't butt up to the fingers . That little gap is a game stopper . I always put mine in by hand and no worries .

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DanLee
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 8:04 am  Reply with quote
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pudelpointer wrote:
I lowered the wad guide as low as my 9000 would allow there is a c clip.


Take off the C clip and move your wad guide down enough so that the guide finders are inside the hull mouth before the wad is pushed through. Don't overdo it because going too far will cause other problems. Best to do it in small increments. The C clip really isn't needed as long as the wad guide holder is clamped firmly to the rod.
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Dogchaser37
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 9:23 am  Reply with quote
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16gaDavis,

For 2 1\2" hulls I use the MEC short kit on my Sizemaster. It gets rid of the gap.

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pudelpointer
PostPosted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 12:15 pm  Reply with quote
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removed the clip and lowered the wad guide ran 200 Herters through only 1 wad hang up. I did not try the Rem hull yet with the DR wads but big improvement on the Herters and DR wad. Thanks for the tip.
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