20 ga. reloader

[Norsk Fisker]

I am thinking about getting into reloading for my 20 ga. Does anyone have experience with the low end loaders? Most of my 20 ga. shooting is casual clay targets, grouse and doves when the law passes. I figure one load should work for all my shooting.

Any suggestions?

[scotty18]

Hi Norsk, I started reloading 20ga. about 2 years ago. I use a mec 650 jr. That's about as low end as you can get and still put good ammo together. Other than the powder shot and wads, you can probably find one for under a 100. Do you load for the larger gauges? If you don't you should also get a shot shell reloading manual.
If you need any help getting started, let me know. If you just starting out relaoding, you'll find it fun, relaxing and rewarding.

Thanks, Scotty

[Norsk Fisker]

I have a MEC 700 Versamec 12 ga. loader that sits idle, more and more of my 12 ga. shooting is steel. I am looking for some inforamation on connverting to 20 ga. What kind of luck have people had with loaders, etc? I will likely sell what I have and go with a loader in 20 ga. unless I can convert my press. Because I don't plan to continue loading 12 ga., having all this stuff sit idle doesn't make sense. My first step is to research my 20 ga. options.

[Fisher Dave]

Norsk.. you have a couple options .. your press can be converted to 20ga, or you can convery it to reload steel 12ga.. My reloads for steel cost me about $7/box and shoot just under 1600fps.. saves me a ton of cash in the waterfowl season.

If you plan on going to 20 guage, I would recommend selling what you have now, and buying a new reloader already set up for it.. I dont know how much the parts cost to convert it, but I'm sure you would have to order them from the factory and they might be on the expensive side. Your current model has a decent resale value .. sometimes putting out a few extra dollars saves a lot of hassle.

[scotty18]

Norsk, I would concurr with Fisher Dave. Start out fresh with a new loader. I also have a versamec in 12ga. I would be interested in yours but because of eye surgery I've had my surgen advised me to stick to small bores.(20and 28 gauge) I would stick to Mec reloaders. They are a good mix of quality and price. I can put out about 75 to 100 round per hour on either of mine.
Now Dillon and Hornady make progressive reloaders that are real sweet, but they are BIG bucks!

Scotty

[This message has been edited by scotty18 (edited 03-09-2004).]

[Norsk Fisker]

Dave and Scotty, I was leaning in that direction. A good clean used 20 ga. unit would be fine, but may not be worth the hassle of waiting for one to come along.

I was trying to figure a price for my used stuff. With the loader, primer attachment, ez loader, hulls, wads, extra bars, etc. the price creaps up. I usually figure used is about one half of new price. I checked ebay, but got little help. I think I have some time to watch this site and others before I make a commitment one way or the other.

Thanks for your responses. I was leaning in that direction and you helped put me over the edge.

Scotty, Thanks for hosting a new site, this will be one of my regular stops at FM