I haven't shot a shotgun in years, but recently got my MEC 600 Jr out, and want to load some up for skeet. I was using WST powder, AA hulls, and #9 chilled shot.

Are these still good to use? Any other recommendations that oyu think may be better, since I will have to but new powder anyway? Any hulls to stay away from besides nasty/dirty stuff? And are primers that have been boxed for 8 or 9 years still good to use?

And for hunting, do we have to use steel shot only now? That issue came up about the time I quit shooting a few years ago, not sure what is what in that arena.

And since I mentioned steel shot, I see there is a steel conversion kit for the 600 Jr... but is it really necessary? What are its components? All I could see was two yellow bottles.

TIA for any good advice!
F6

P.S. If this post should go in the reloading forum, feel free to move it, I just never see anything to do with shotguns over there, so decided to post here instead.

F6Hawk,

I use a MEC 600 for 12 and 20. Unless you have good supply of old Win AAs, I would recomend another hull. The new ones have a two piece hull that I've heard some horror stories about. Also it does fit with other componenets as well as the old one did, so you need to buy the winchester wads. I really like Remington Sts shells, they hold up good and are a nice color.

I don't reload steel but I've heard that you do need the adaptor kit, though I've no experience with it. Only need non-toxic for waterfowl and some public lands. Best to check out your states regs.

Hope this helps!

The biggest factor in loading steel is the 3" hulls, so you need to adjust the whole loader up. That said, if I was to reload non-toxic, I'd load bismuth or hevi-shot. You can use your 2 3/4" hulls, and they are more effective for about the same money.

Your components should be fine, unless they've been heat or moisture abused. "The hull" currently is the STS, it simply loads best and has the longest life in 12 ga.

There are some new powders you may want to take a look at. Red dot is quite a bit cleaner than it used to be, and Hodgdon introduced the Clays powders. Very clean. Tightwad is good for 1 oz loads.

There are some new wads on the market. I like the Windjammers (their 1 oz, www.windjammer2.com) and the Duster wads (www.dusterwads.com). Some of the best online vendors are www.conniescomponents.com, www.recobstargetshop.com and www.gamaliel.com.
Your biggest shock is going to be paying for lead. Prices jumped by 40% in the last couple of years. HTH, Dutch.

All of your components are young compared to some of my stock! My favorite rifle primers are date-stamped 1973, and I most frequently use them to set off charges of surplus 4831 that was manufactured during WW II.

The longevity of shotgun components is generally just as good. The only caution is that wads or hulls exposed to direct sunlight tend to deteriorate rather quickly. Powder and primers usually last until the latter ignites the former.

Ditto the STS remington hulls when you need new ones. BTW for the board, is Hevi-Shot available in bulk now?

Check out www.precisionreloading.com for stuff for your mec press.As far as I know,,you only need steel shot for water fowl.Clay

Hevi-shot kills so much better than steel (or maybe even lead)vthat I would love to get my hands on som for reduced loads. I think you could equal a good dove/quail load with less shot by weight and a lot lighter kicking load. Oui?

OMG!!!!!!The french have infiltrated texas!!!!!!! Precision gives load data for thier products,,,,,They might list one light enough for a frenchman? to handle,,,,, Clay

Never confuse a coon-ass with a Frenchman.....and yes, there are a bunch of coon-asses is East-Texas, too. JMO, Dutch (A&M '91).

Relax. Most of us Texans are just multi-lingual. Makes it much easier to part coonasses from their money .

Besides, its claybusters that shoot pussy loads, not hunters.

quote:

Originally posted by F6Hawk:
I haven't shot a shotgun in years, but recently got my MEC 600 Jr out, and want to load some up for skeet. I was using WST powder, AA hulls, and #9 chilled shot.

Are these still good to use?

Absolutely good!

As others here have written, I think the new Remington STS hulls are a bit better than the old Winchester AAs. (The new AAs are indeed different -- they require a different wad.)

As for powders for 12 gauge skeet loads, I've used WST, 700X, Red Dot, Green Dot, Hodgdon Clays, Hodgdon Titewad, and probably some others that I've forgotten. They all work very well. When I can get it, my favorite is Titewad because it's a bit less expensive and because you use slightly less of it for the same velocity

For primers I use Winchester 209 or Remington STS 209 ones. They can actually be used interchangeably, but I usually match the primer to the hull. Same with wads -- I usually use Claybuster clones of the Winchester WAA12 (for 1 1/8 oz. loads) or WAA12SL (for 1 oz. loads), and I use them in both Winchester and Remington hulls interchangeably. I use these Claybuster wads because they are less expensive than Winchester or Remington ones.

One important advantage of using one of the Hodgdon powders is that Hodgdon publishes a very elaborate loading manual, listing many possible combinations of hull, wad, powder, and shot. This manual is free.