fuzzypigeon Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 So gents I have decided to go down the route of reloading carts for wildfowling but I haven't got a scooby what I need to be looking to buy to get started.....so what press etc do u guys use/recommend .......I would be wanting to load steel and tungsten or nice shot...... Anybody near Doncaster/Barnsley or near Peterborough fancy showing me the ropes?? Cheers Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super sharp shooter Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 Hi mate I use a mec steel master to load 3.5" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenntay Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 Get a decent set of scales to start with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK fowler Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 hope you have a spare grand to throw at it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 hope you have a spare grand to throw at it ~ +1 the start up is expensive, it is expensive, but then so is driving, eating, drinking, life is expensive. shooting is one of the most expensive sports ever, (if done right ) . butt, and this is a big butt, reloading can produce better cartridges than factory. in the case of the 3.5" 12gauge steel reloads, the financial gains becomes quicker, say in the first few k shells. gamebore 3.5" is £550, they can be reloaded for £300, the only thing is the powder cost of these is going to be astronomical. but i`m going to take a punt and say, in the first 1.5 shells printed you break even, then you start saving minimally therafter. if the user was to only reload 1oz lead #6, he`d need a miracle not to loose lots of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanky Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 You dont have to invest in an expensive loading machine to start loading 3 1/2", you will need a good set of scales and an RTO, either a pillar drill type or invest in a hand held RTO from Alan Myers, purchacing new primed cases will save the resizing until you have used them and hopefully saved them if you are lucky enough to find them if you have a semi auto, all powder charges are individually weighed, wads are fitted with a piece of wood dowling as there are no legs to compress wad pressure doesnt matter, shot charge can be weighed and then use an old cut down empty case to find the volume of your shot charge so you have the shot measure, yes it takes more time but doesnt cost a fortune to reload them, to be honest it will be more economical to just use new primed cases all the time and forget resizing or using the old used empties, saves buying a loading machine, if you are lucky enough to pick up a secondhand MEC cheap enough you can buy just the resizing die, I would forget about crimping. Cost really doesnt matter as you will soon find out they are much better than factory loads, and really there isnt much in it anyway. Now thats out the way you need to find a good powder that will do the job, I use CSB 0 some prefer Steel powder, but you will have to find out what you can get your hands on locally at a sensible price, best of luck !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigger Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 I use an RTO also been there done that with the presses to much fannying about for my liking more than happy with the results...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted November 1, 2012 Report Share Posted November 1, 2012 You dont have to invest in an expensive loading machine to start loading 3 1/2", you will need a good set of scales and an RTO, either a pillar drill type or invest in a hand held RTO from Alan Myers, purchacing new primed cases will save the resizing until you have used them and hopefully saved them if you are lucky enough to find them if you have a semi auto, all powder charges are individually weighed, wads are fitted with a piece of wood dowling as there are no legs to compress wad pressure doesnt matter, shot charge can be weighed and then use an old cut down empty case to find the volume of your shot charge so you have the shot measure, yes it takes more time but doesnt cost a fortune to reload them, to be honest it will be more economical to just use new primed cases all the time and forget resizing or using the old used empties, saves buying a loading machine, if you are lucky enough to pick up a secondhand MEC cheap enough you can buy just the resizing die, I would forget about crimping. Cost really doesnt matter as you will soon find out they are much better than factory loads, and really there isnt much in it anyway. Now thats out the way you need to find a good powder that will do the job, I use CSB 0 some prefer Steel powder, but you will have to find out what you can get your hands on locally at a sensible price, best of luck !!! exellent post. recently, i had a friend contact me, he wanted some more hulls, so i dropped some round, he exclusively RTO all his loads. i asked why? is there some kind of conspiricy i dont know about? he has had his mec for 5 years and has never crimped a hull after the first disasterous first few attempts.... i can get my crimps as close to factory, all i need to do is put a rto to neaten up the crown. i even got rid of the octagonal angular crimps. so i`m mesuring my crimp settings on my mec, and going to transfer that to his machine. i hve had to strip and rebuild parts of my mec, i reset my crimp setting and the crimps are as good as can be. astheticly, you can see its a homeload, but the crimp, looks grand ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughshooter Posted November 1, 2012 Report Share Posted November 1, 2012 You can easily load 3 1/2" crimp loads on a standard lee loadall. Just put minimal pressure on final crimp stage and then finish off with a gaep or siarm roll turn over. I have had some very satisfactory results. The issue with rto only is you need to trim the cases down so that they will function in a semi auto. Crimps are also much easier to resuse as the crimp memory is there. I tend to throw 12g rto's away as it is too much hassle to recondition the case Just my two penneth worth Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzypigeon Posted November 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 Ok so I've ordered a mec sizemaster/steelmaster so what other bits and pieces should I be looking at getting to go with this?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super sharp shooter Posted November 2, 2012 Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 Ok so I've ordered a mec sizemaster/steelmaster so what other bits and pieces should I be looking at getting to go with this?? You will need a data sheet to follow (recipe) Scales Hull (cartridge case) Primers Powder Wad Shot That's what you will need Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzypigeon Posted November 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 Anyone know where to get some reliable recipes then as I don't fancy blowing myself up anytime soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super sharp shooter Posted November 2, 2012 Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 If you are going to use Alliant steel powder go on their web site or contact Clay and Game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzypigeon Posted November 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 Cheers fella Appreciate the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted November 2, 2012 Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 If you are going to use Alliant steel powder go on their web site or contact Clay and Game. my recomendation is to go directly to the manufacturer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanky Posted November 2, 2012 Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 If you need the data for Alliant Steel or CSB 0 I can help you out, mostly CX2000 or Winchester 209 primers are what you need, make sure you get the correct Steel wads or for ITM, ordinary wads will NOT do the job, Next issue is what are you going to shoot at??? Geese or ducks - flighting or decoyed - at what range You the need to decide what size shot you need to purchace, totally different ball game depending if steel or ITM, I am sure all of our members will give you plenty of advice on shot size !!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted November 3, 2012 Report Share Posted November 3, 2012 there seems to be a lot off opinions on steel shot, #2s for duck and BB minimum for geese. even at 1400fps they are going to be usable. 32g for duck, and 36 / 42 geese. should be easily loadable and better than any factory. although gamebore mammoth it pretty hard to beat, certainly has been an industry leader for a while, (with just cause too.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigeon jim Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Roughshooter post me all you RTO cases, dont bin them, I roll all my steel loads now, i only loss 30fps compared to crimps, all you need to renew a RTO case is a tapered dowel and a steaming kettle,comes out like new, Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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