16ga.com ~ View topic - MEC Jr., 16 gauge, and Remington hulls....

It's been a while since I've reloaded shotgun shells (12 ga). Anywho, just put the 16 gauge dies on my Mec Jr..

Working on the sizing station, below is what occured. Now, that's a .004 ledge on the brass. NEW UNFIRED Remmys are a nominal .0.735-0.737 and the sizing ring is .735...Are Remington hulls problematic or what...

Somebody give me a quick lesson Rolling Eyes

Am I going to need the collet sizer from MEC?

Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 107

I don't load the REM. hulls, but with the CHEDDITE hull I had to get a SUPER SIZER, and all is well.

sounds like you already have something to measure with.

I really like my super sizer....at the time of purchase I didn't likek the idea of spending that much on something to resize, when I felt what I had should be doing the job. But after using it I wouldn't be without it now

JACK

You need a Super-Sizer with a Jr. and Remington blacks.

Or as I did, get a 16 SizeMaster.

I still use the Super-Sizer on the Remington's.

It would appear to me that you need to lower your sizing ring.

Newly O'Brian

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2350 Location: West MI

I'd go with a collet resizer in whatever form; less wear and tear on the press and hulls. When I was fold crimping and resizing during the depriming station (now all in on roll crimping) I found that alot of brass was getting displaced exposing the steel and the heads rusted/corroded that much more quickly. I didn't like the idea of having to apply some sort of lubricant/sealer to the hulls. The collet style resizer is much easier on the metal heads and my arm.

Another gain I found is that when resizing on the press with the inconsistant deprime/resize step; sometimes smooth sometimes not so smooth. The powder drops were erratic from the press getting bounced around. Taking the resize step "off site" made the cycle of the 600 jr and subsiquently the powder and shot drops a little more smooth and consistant.

Good luck, hope this info helps, Mike

Joined: 28 Jan 2007 Posts: 129 Location: hong kong

I use the Mec jr with RBL's. It does work, and I tollerate the shells getting stuck a bit in the sizing ring. I had to ajust the height of the resize ring "as suggested by Newly O'Brian", and then it worked pretty good.

I had a lot of trouble using my 40 year old Mec jr (dragged out of storage and dusted off) on those Remington Black hulls. I bent two 1/4 inch bolts that runs down through the resizer on the press. It turns out the newer Mec Presses use a cam device to increase the pressure gradually on the resizer.

So, back to storage and I dragged out my Mec Case Conditioner - the predecessor to the Super Sizer. It uses a resizing ring, just like the the jr press. I had to use a piece of 3/4 inch ID pipe as a cheater bar extension to resize those Remmies the first time. The ring resizer peels the brass wash from the steel case head, leaving shiny steel.

After the first time, the cases resize easier. I am shooting a fairly low-pressure load so I think the case head does not expand as much. Fiocchi 616 primer, 16 gr IMR PB, DR 16 wad and 3/4 oz shot.

I expect the RBLs are only good for about 3 or 4 reloads before the case mouths go all to hell. I don't think I can wear enough steel off the base to present a danger of failure in that short number of reloads.

You might be able to find a used Case Conditioner someplace. I don't think Mec even carries parts for it on their obsolete press parts list.

Good luck

Tom

*Last edited by 16gaugeguy on Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:24 am; edited 1 time in total*

All Remington RGL and (newest type) green Express hullls have steel rims. The brass color is just a very thin wash plating to prevent corrosion. Having a small magnet on hand will help detect the steel under the wash plating.

In fact, all recently manufactured 16 ga hulls have steel rims now. Brass rims on hunting and promo hulls is now a thing of the past whether we like it or not. There are no 16 ga brass rimmed premium target hulls being made either, so us 16 ga fans are out of luck there too.

Forget the original 600 Jr ring sizers for steel rims. Steel rims are too tough to easily resize in a ring sizer. Often enough, the rims stick in the sizing die body and the deprime/ejection bolt bends or the case bottom gets pushed out and humped which ruins the hull. Case lube is messy but helps with the release problem. However, steel rims also spring back much more than brass, so the original 600 JR ring sizers are too big to do the job right anyway. The inadequately sized steel rims don't feed and eject all that well. A smaller sizing ring would work to squeeze the rims down enough, but would also make resizing the hulls even harder. The press would probably start to spring too much and something else will end up breaking. In short, the MEC Jr was never designed to handle sizing steel rims. Its sizing station is now as passe as brass rims.

An adjustable collet type resizing station is the only satisfactory solution now. My best advice is to simply accept the reality and go buy a press that has one or get a Super Sizer for the JR. The adjustable collet sizer will save you no end of aggrevation.

Perhaps Doug could make this post a sticky so the info does not have to get posted repeatedly.

thanks for the sage advice....

Tom aka Kivaari

Member Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 328

Maybe I'm missing something here. But, if the hulls load in your gun after firing, why resize. Unless of course you are loading for more than one gun.

They run fine in my M12 but dropped extraction sometimes in the Sweet.

Joined: 19 Apr 2008 Posts: 477

You do need to drop the resizer ring until the ring stops just above the rim. That will resize the entire head. I've used the 600JR resizer ring for years and it works fine. I have a problem with hulls fired in a 16 ga Rem 11-48 not chambering in a Sweet 16. The resizer handled it fine. Lower the resizer ring and see how it works. Don't worry about the little brass flakes. They make no difference and tell you the resizer is doing its job. If it is good, no need to buy anything else.

No sneem; that won't work.... Rolling Eyes