What is required to start reloading shotshells? Does everything that is needed come in something like the LEE Load All or is more equipment required? All that I do with my 12 guage is varmit control , so I am not too picky on patterns, etc. I normally buy the 100 pack of Fedral at Wal Mart and they serve me well for what I do. I have a ton of these used cases in a box and thought about trying my hand at reloading them and maybe save a little. Thanks for the help.

Wads, Powder, Shot, and your hulls are all that is really needed. A Lee Load - All is a good little press. I have an RCBS Mini-Grand that was about $100 or so.

Those Federal hulls use the same data as Federal Gold Medal hulls.

I own a MEC 500 JR also, and I like the RCBS unit better, the stations don't swap around and the powder and shot drop tubes are seperate.

I'm not aware of what powder and shot bushings the load all has, but thats the only other equipment you will need.

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UTU, TY&E Service, BNSF

Started out with a MEC and that's not a bad way to go. One thing to keep in mind, shotshell reloads are no place to experiment. Stick with loads that are EXACTLY as you find them in the reloading manuals, and you shouldn't have any trouble.

A good shotshell reloading manual like the Lyman is recommended.

Best of luck.

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MikeG

Mike is right, don't experiment with the shotshell loads. I don't even test at max published loads.

I have the Lyman shotshell manual, its about the only one on the market, I like the readability of it.

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Buy American, it may be your own job you are saving.
UTU, TY&E Service, BNSF

Wow. That simple as far as equipment goes. How cheaply should I be able to load a box of #6 or #8 for squirels, etc? Thanks again for the help.

Here's my setup, it's two Lee loaders, a 12 and 20 gauge on a small turn table that I just spin to the gauge I want to load. I have to say for just a few boxes your probably better off to just buy a few boxes of shells at Wally world. The loaders aren't much money, but you've got to buy shot in 25 pound bags and wads and hulls usually come a hundred to the package minimum and a pound of powder and primers. Once your set up it is a little less expensive to load, but not a whole lot. One wingnut and I can spin the loaders or just set the whole thing under the bench for extra bench space.

I've used the MEC 600 Jr. and frankly I like the straight across feed, one side to the other of the Lee's better than the back and forth feed on the MEC. Once you get into the bigger progressive MEC's they are better and faster, but much more money.

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Bob from Idaho

Just a note to announce that the LONG-awaited Lyman #5 Shotshell Manual is now out. LOTS of new data.

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To see my books and articles, just Google my name.

It's a fun hobby, but as Bob says for a few squirrels here and there it's cheaper in the long run to just pick up a box. Get them around bird hunting season on sale.

Reloading makes a lot more sense if you are shooting a bunch of clay targets every week.

Thanks for the heads up on the new manual, Rocky.

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MikeG

for the 300.00 it'll take to get a good start i'd probably just buy
a few cases of shells
if you shoot a lot then reload
i have two ponses two mec's and a hornady and with the price of shot right now they just
sit there about 3500 worth of machines and i can't afford to operate them
i even have a machine to make my own shot and can't hardly find any lead

I have an old Pacific DL-266 that is a dream machine. My other shotshell reloaders are MEC SizeMasters and 600 JR. The SizeMaster resizes the brass and the rim. Otherwise, a MEC SuperSizer is helpful to assure shells work well in pumps and autoloaders. All the best...
Gil

I started loading Shotgun shells in 1971 using nothing but Winchester Brand hulls, primers, powder, wads, shot, etc. because my brother worked for Winchester/Western. But I experienced lots of "Poof,Bang,Poof, because of Floridas Superhigh humidity. But when I switched to Blue Dot powder I never experienced another Dud load. The Engineers at Winchester still claim that their powders are not nor have they ever been moisture-prone, but they still fail down here. So shop around with different Brands of Primers, Hulls, Wads, Soft or Hard shot, etc. My brother still uses nothing but Win.Western components and he has had to learn to live with Dud loads for the past fourty years. So don't put all of your eggs in one basket when shoppng for reloading equiptment or components. I make my own shot from wheelweights melted in a small aluminum pot which has had some small holes drilled along one edge of it, so my birdshot is mostly FREE.

Hopefully the OP has it all figured out by now, but i wouldn't mind seeing the quality of shot your aluminum pot method drops.

I love it when an old thread gets resurrected that Bob took part in.

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"Let his days be few; and let another take his office."-Psalm 109:8

I bought my first Mec 600 Jr about 1968, a 700 a couple of years later and a couple more 600 Jr's about the sime time. I load a several different guages. I'm still using those loader today and could not see me using any other. Back then, the Mec was about the only loader that would reliably roll the crimped edge so they didn't hang in a semi. Granted, I've had to replace more than a few parts over the years, but these loaders have loaded untold thousands of shells. I can easily load 250 shells per hour, which is more than fast enough for my needs.

I haven't even looked at shot shell loaders since, because I've never had a reason to, so needless to say, my vote is for the MEC 600 Jr, if they still make it and it's as good as the ones back in the late 60's

The big expense nowadays is Shot. The best price that I have seen is at $32/25 pounds. Do the math.....using one ounce loads, you get 400 out of that bag of shot. (8 cents per charge or two dollars a box for the shot, plus the primer, the wad, the powder....3 cents, five cents, about five cents for powder.....adds up to over five dollars per box. Buying in in bulk may lower this a bit.
Peter

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"Only hunting and mountain climbing are sports. The rest are just games."

I used to reload 12 Ga shotshells. But several years ago, a new sporting goods store had a grand opening sale with Federal 12 Ga shells for $18 a case. I bought 20 cases of assorted shot size. Most of those cases are still stacked in the corner of our office. (which my wife gripes about regularly)

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I have a MEC 600jr that sits most of the time. The price of shot has me buying shells when they are on sale. I like reloading rifle and pistol rounds but reloading shot shells always seemed more of a PITA rather than fun.

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NRA Life Member

Wow, over $30 a bag. Now I'm not so mad about what happened a few years ago now. Several years ago I got my supplies wholesale so I would make a group buy once a year for about 30 different people, friends, friends of friends, relatives, etc, and I would make enough to pretty much get mine for free and still save them a bunch. Well, I got stuck holding almost 2,000 pounds of shot, and a lot of other supplies so I guit buying for them. That shot only cost me $5.50 a bag, and since I'm already 65, I think I still have enough left, I shouldn't have to buy anymore the rest of my shooting lifetime.

"Over $30 a bag". Yep. $32 is the best price that I have seen. More commonly the cost is north of $37. At this point, I am loading about 10K shells a year. It adds up fast. I bought a Littleton shot maker a year ago and it has already paid for itself. One of these days, I am going to try the homemade shotmaker route again. Last time I made the holes too big. IIRC, a #70 drill will give me #7.5 shot.
Pete

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"Only hunting and mountain climbing are sports. The rest are just games."