i want to reload for duck hunting my dad has a mec 650 that he used years ago for skeet and trap. i was needing help with getting started in loading some up . have been reloading for bench rest and hunting . what are some componets to use .

Check into Reloading Specialties Inc. or Precision Reloading first and lastly Ballistics Products Inc. They all have loading manuals and components for steel and some other nontoxic shot loadings.

For powder most now-a-days use Steel, an Alliant brand powder. You should also check in Lyman's 5th edition reloading manual for steel loads and a lot of good reloading info if you haven't loaded steel or lead in some time.

Most steel reloaders just use the machine to prime, re-size brass, maybe drop powder and crimp the shell. Most individually weigh out the shot and some also weigh out each powder drop with a scale while loading. Since most don't load a lot of steel loads it doesn't really take that much more time to just weigh them out.

Good luck.

I would say it kind of depends on what you are trying to do.

I reload bismuth shot (brought a bunch) and like it well- no cracked teeth when eating a bird, unlike steel. I don't know if anyone is still selling bismuth shot, as Notox went under a while ago. This was the safest of the non tox loads for nice guns.

Hevishot and some of the other tungsten shot are also out there. Lots of turkey hunters use this because of the patterning of the shot. Works really well, but when I tried it (just after it came out) the stuff I had scored barrels unless you used liners. This may be better now, but as I decided to stick with bismuth, I didn't do much with it.

The other new non tox shot are all variants on tungsten- most softer than hevishot.

All of the above are quite spendy.

Steel shot is much less so than the above, but still quite a bit more than lead.

As Joe mentioned, most of this is done by hand.

The reloaders that are specialized for steel have larger drop tubes as the shot will bridge in the drop tube and cause no end of trouble in a standard reloader- I'm not sure if your MEC is set up for that- but if you hand measure its not an issue.

I'm not sure if I would still mess with reloading steel as the cheap steel loads are not much more expensive than reloading them is, and it is a fair amount of work. If you still want to do it, for pleasure, or to make it work better, go for it, but it will take some time.

Given that you haven't done it before, get either a Ballistic products (status of steel current edition) or the precision reloading manual, although I think Hodgdon and Alliant both give out info for their powders in their in house manuals- and get what they recommend for whatever recipe you want. Then pattern the load at least 5 times. Change until you get whats acceptable, then leave it alone. The old steel load I did was a little hot in a 3.5" with 1.5 oz of steel using blue dot (over the book load, but it patterned out to 60 yards well, and was fast enough to kill well.)

Good luck with it.

thanks for the info if i decide to buy cheap steal what do you suggest. we are going to start duck hunting here where i live . another fun sport i have been wanting to do. i am suppose to go in 2 weeks on a hunt in tn. if everything goes good.
thanks

As far as brands, Win. Xperts, Rem. Sportsman, Fiocci, etc.

As far as loads, It really comes down to what kind of ducks are you shooting and how far do you want to shoot them. Obviously, shooting teal at 30 yards is a different load and choke proposition than shooting mallards at 50 yards.

If you get ducks inside of 40 yards they just aren't that hard to kill, just tough to put the pattern on their front end sometimes. At normal decoying ranges (20-40 yards), steel #4s, #3s or #2s (provided they are choked properly) will take care of most any duck business you have. Obviously, it is better to use small pellets (#4 steel) on small ducks to increase pattern density and larger pellets (#2 steel) for larger ducks to maintain pellet energy, but generally any of these would be a good starting point for ducks over decoys.

It doesn't take a 3 ½" or even a 3" shell to kill ducks. A 2 3/4" 1 1/8-ounce load @ 1,375 fps will kill ducks at reasonable ranges if it is choked properly for the distance and IF you take care of your part of the business by putting the pattern where it counts!

As far as chokes, out to 30-35 yards an IC will probably be best, at 35-45 yards a LM may be the way to go, and from about 40-50 yards a Mod. may be the best choice. The ONLY way to find out is to pattern them at the max. distance you will be shooting them!

Normally, I shoot steel #4s w/ an IC for close decoying and/or small ducks and later in the season when I'm shooting mostly mallards I shoot steel #2s with a Mod. choke. Steel #3s are a great compromise, but many times I can't find them so I go with some combination of #4s and #2s like having #4s in for the first two close shots and following them with a #2 for the last longer going-away shot.

As far as how they pattern, here are some pattern results shot from my Remington 870 SP 12-gauge 3" w/ 28" barrel and factory flush Rem-chokes (pattern average of five, 30" post-shot scribed circle, yardage taped muzzle to target, and in-shell pellet count average of five).

40 YARDS / Mod.
Win. Xpert 2 3/4" 1 1/8 oz #4 steel (222 pellets) – pattern 141 (64%)
Rem. Sportsman 2 3/4" 1 1/8 oz #4 steel (218 pellets) – pattern 150 (69%)

Win. Xpert 2 3/4" 1 1/8 oz #2 steel (136 pellets) – pattern 87 (64%)
Rem. Sportsman 2 3/4" 1 1/8 oz #2 steel (139 pellets) – pattern 110 (79%)

Now where's that soap box -- As you can see, these relatively inexpensive 2 3/4" 1 1/8-ounce steel loads are more than adequate to kill decoying ducks. There isn't a mallard alive (soon to be dead) that can fly though a well placed pattern of steel #2s and survive provided you are using the appropriate choke for the distance. Remember, if you can't put the pattern on the front end of the duck then little else matters!!!

Good luck.

I have had good luck with the cheap winchester steel- I use that on game farm birds and on clays where I have to. I would put the remington loads here too.

Federal makes really good loads, but they are not as cheap. Some of my buddies shoot the black cloud load and swear by it, but I have not been that impressed. (maybe its their shooting..)

Kent Fasteel is pretty good stuff if you can find it, this time of year some places are doing the close out.

For duck, I would stick with #3 or #2 if you're going to shoot at ranges over 30 yards.

For geese, I have best luck with BBB or T steel unless they are REAL close.

Basically look for something that has a velocity over 1300 FPS and your gun patterns it OK. Don't get too worked up about the payload- anything over 7/8 oz will work at most duck ranges.

The small stuff works if you can head shoot them, but I remember when I started, I had a lot of trouble killing them with steel (I still think of steel as being a great crippler, but I'm just a curmudgeon there. Its better than it was 25 years ago...)