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tnbillyearl
PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2019 4:55 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 May 2019
Posts: 7
Location: southeast TN

Colleagues:

First, thanks for the add. Last week I purchased the 2019 Shot Show 525 w/ 28" bbl and have a few questions. I've been trying to search and read old posts, but am hoping for something more definitive.

1. I ordered some Winchester Super X 2.75 8 shot. Will these suffice or do I want Fiocchi or Cheddite hulls? (Context - I have reloaded thousands of STS for my 12 over the years. 1oz or 1 and 1/8oz loads. I would like to find one low-brass hull and stick with it.) I'll be hunting dove and shooting skeet.

2. I have a MEC600jr set up for my 12. I'm thinking of purchasing the same. Anything else I should consider?

3. And now the question that really matters - I really, really want to put a black Pachmayr F325 on this gun with the white line. Will I need to cut the stock to be perpendicular before installation? And since I am hesitant, is there a gunsmith anyone would recommend to me to have the done and ground down?

Thank you in advance.

Bill Earl
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robp
PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2019 5:29 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 02 Feb 2007
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Location: mpls mn

1. your Winchesters are Cheddites a straight walled hull not a whole lot of difference between that and a Fiocchi

2, mec 600s are great maybe you could find a good deal on a pw375 if you are into single stage reloaders other wise a grabber or a 9000

3. It's a sad sad world anybody who calls them self a gun smith can't install a recoil pad to perfection


Last edited by robp on Mon May 13, 2019 1:34 am; edited 1 time in total
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16'er
PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2019 7:49 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 08 Oct 2006
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Location: Tappahannock, Virginia

1. The Winchester’s crimp nice, but don’t seem to hold up to many reloads. I prefer the Federal hulls, and the federal factory loads for that matter, over the winny’s. The federal is also a straight wall case. Many here really like the RGL hulls, they are thicker and hold up to more reloads. The are a taper wall case, and wad selection is important. The crimp memory on the RGL hulls bother me, so I stick mostly with federal hulls.

2. The sizemaster seems to be the preferred single stage loader around here. I have one and it works fine. PW 375 is a step up quality wise, but they are more money of course. With just one 16ga gun, you would be fine with the 600jr, but what’s the fun in just one 16ga... 🙂

3. The stock needs to be cut straight, instead of the factory curve, prior to the pad install. Even if adding length overall. For fixed pads on modern guns, I like the kick ease Rocker. If you haven’t shot a gun with one, check it out before your final decision.

On my 525, and most of my other guns, I use a Kick Killer acton leather slip on pad. No need to cut the stock, and all my guns feel the same ‘in the pocket’. After a few years of shooting, my pad has developed a little toe out, which is a nice worn in fit.

Welcome to the board and enjoy the new iron..
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Chicago
PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2019 7:53 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 12 Aug 2007
Posts: 1376
Location: Northern Illinois

Welcome to the board.

Where are you located? If you don’t want to ship the gun there may be one close to you. Someone will have a good recommendation.

You can also go to the ACGG website and look down the list of members. Any of those folks who make stocks will do a fantastic job and there may be one pretty close to where you live. The ACGG is a guild of gunmakers here in the United States and to become a member you are judged by a committee of the guilds members on a gun you build. There are also plenty of great gunsmiths that are not members of that guild and I can’t recall the names of the folks that frequent this site that are gunsmiths.

https://www.acgg.org

Good Hunting,
Mike
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df
PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2019 7:59 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 01 Oct 2007
Posts: 962
Location: Minnesota

On the recoil pad issue, I have a Citori Heritage in 16 ga. I wanted a recoil pad to replace the plastic butt plate, not for recoil relief, but to protect the wood, in case the gun got dropped or set down hard on the butt.
I had Jim Kobe (Bloomington Mn 952 884 6031) remove the plastic butt plate and install a very thin rubber recoil pad. He installed I believe a 3/8” or 1/2” thick solid black pad.
On my gun there was a bit of curve on the end of the stock. Jim was able to bend the recoil pad to fit the curve of the end of the stock, so the stock was not cut. The fit is perfect.
This resulted in my LOP to be very slightly longer, but I did not have to cut the stock and I can easily re install the plastic butt plate, if I want.

On reloaders, I use four different MEC sizemasters, and they work great.
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putz463
PostPosted: Mon May 13, 2019 3:02 am  Reply with quote
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Welcome aboard.

Sorry, but I was corrected on this same thing several years ago when I was new to this board and understood the same misinformation. Truth be told, the RGL isn't a tapered hull, what makes it unique compared to the Ched style hulls is a smaller ID so the wads are somewhat dedicated to that hull and IF you have some taped Win Compression hulls (not made for some time now) the wads that fit that hull are somewhat interchangeable with the RGL due to the similar ID at the base of their internal taper section.

1) unless its an aesthetic thing for you, IMO, technically -0- difference between low or high brass hulls anymore. The Ched style hulls all load about the same, I get least amount of mileage out of Feds. Fio's use different size primers than the other Ched styles.

2) as you know a 600 will do fine, SizeMaster is basically the same but with a collet resizer that's a little easier on the arm for that step otherwise runs out the same as a 600. I shoot 1-2k shells a year (10-28ga) and the SM presses keep up with my shooting just fine.

3) Yes, you'll need a flat surface to install a new pad. If you don't want to tackle that yourself I'm certain you'll find talent in your neck of the woods that will be able to help with that. Have you asked around your shooting facility for available talent?

Again welcome aboard, do you have capacity in your safe? This 16ga thing can get out of hand.

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Riflemeister
PostPosted: Mon May 13, 2019 6:23 am  Reply with quote
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On the recoil pad issue, there are several considerations you should make before chopping wood and grinding pads. A good gunsmith will do more than just slap a pad on there for you, although he may not be a "gunfitter", there are basic things he should take into consideration when fitting a pad.

1. Length of pull (LOP). the stock is the correct length when the mounted gun results in about 1" to 1 1/2" between the thumb knuckle and your nose.

2. Pitch. The angle of the cut on the butt should result in the pad being in good contact top to bottom with your shoulder pocket. Just following the angle of the existing butt may or may not be correct.

3. Type of pad. Are you going to shoot this gun pre-mounted at clays or shoot low gun from a field carry position? Pre-mounted, basically any pad will suffice. For low gun some sort of pad feature to prevent the gun from snagging clothing during the mount is a strong consideration. My preference for hunting guns is the Pachmayer SC-100 Decelerator pad. It has a plastic insert at the heel to prevent snagging and the Decelerator material is a great compromise between felt recoil reduction and longevity of the pad. Some of the softer, stickier pads tend to hang up on the mount and deteriorate more quickly.

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oldog
PostPosted: Mon May 13, 2019 7:25 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 22 Feb 2019
Posts: 63
Location: United States

I never needed a pad on a 16. so a 1/4" pad will protect the wood and the need to cut the stock is minimized if the 1/4" added into the LOP dosnt bother you.

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Researcher
PostPosted: Mon May 13, 2019 4:53 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 13 Jun 2009
Posts: 695
Location: WA/AK

I have used MEC Jrs or VersaMECs since 1971. Have them in .410-bore, and 28-, 20-, 16- & 12-gauges.

Far and away the best 16-gauge hull for reloading is the old compression formed Winchester/Western UPLANDER (mostly 6-point crimp) and Dove & Quail loads (8-point crimp). For a couple of decades I loaded very nearly the load that had the * in the Winchester Ball Powder Loading Guide, that said it duplicated the factory load -- Winchester 209 primer, 20-grains of WSF, Winchester WAA16 wad and 1 ounce of shot, 1165 fps at 8,400 psi. The same load but with 21 grains of WSF goes 1220 fps at 9,000 psi. My bushing actually drops 20.5 grains WSF. When WW quit offering the WAA16 wad, I bought all that Green Top Sporting Goods had. When I was just about out of my 16-gauge reloads, Clay Buster came to the rescue with the CB0100 - 16, so life continues.

When the DownRange DR16 wad came along I had a good supply of the purple Federal hulls, and got a good load from this site, for a very enjoyable 7/8 ounce, 1200 fps load.

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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2019 10:01 am  Reply with quote



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

I recently "curved" a recoil pad to fit a stock, but it's not the easiest way to do things considering the heat and quench techniques required. After all that work, I found that the previously too short stock is now about 1/4" too long with the pad and will end up trimming it and using a non curved pad. Go figure.

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Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 9:59 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
Posts: 2787
Location: Endless Mountains of Pa

WyoChukar,

Been there done that, now I have a good stock maker do all that work, I want to shoot my double guns not keep reworking the stocks. Looks like we had the exact same experience. I then turned the work over to Freddie Brunner and Rich Painter.

Just before I stated having them do all my L.C. Smith stock work, I did replace the recoil pad on my L.C. Smith/Marlin, Zabala made 28 gauge myself. I installed an original L.C. Smith synthetic butt plate, and got rid of the rubber recoil pad. I was lucky, it came out pretty darn nice, at the proper length.

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man


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bobski
PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2019 8:12 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 18 Feb 2018
Posts: 621
Location: va, ct, mo

1. yes
2. no
3. what are you going to use the gun for? that determines the fit of your pad.

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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2019 10:17 am  Reply with quote



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

The three most important questions, now that you own a 16 gauge, are: 1) Where is my dog? 2) Where are my shells? 3) Which way did the birds go?

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Only catch snowflakes on your tongue AFTER the birds fly south for the winter...
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Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2019 11:10 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
Posts: 2787
Location: Endless Mountains of Pa

WyoChukar,


I agree 100%!

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

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tnbillyearl
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 6:35 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 May 2019
Posts: 7
Location: southeast TN

Colleagues:

1. Found a couple good loads w/ Federal hulls. Thanks for the direction.
2. Thanks to Ray-Citori for selling me his MEC.
3. Found a somewhat local gunsmith to grind a pad. He fit it perfectly to my eye.

I can't type how much I am enjoying this gun. It borders on being irrational. Many thanks to all the society...

tnbillyearl




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[URL=https://www.jpgbox.com/page/61234_600x400/] [/URL]


Last edited by tnbillyearl on Mon Sep 14, 2020 10:18 am; edited 1 time in total
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