Advice on reloading steel on a MEC 600jr

[bigbossman]

I've loaded lead for decades, so I am an experienced reloader.

A few weeks ago I stumbled across a 12ga MEC 600jr and a box full of bushings and charge bars at a local garage sale. I already have a 650 that I have used since forever, but at $20 I just could not leave it there.

This year, I'm hunting some islands for dove and since they are part of a NWR, steel is required. The last time I bought a box of steel 12ga it was $8.99, and when I went in to buy some this last weekend I was shocked at the price increase. So - I'm wondering about the efficacy of turning this 600jr into a machine for loading #6 steel shotshells.

So far, I've determined that I'll need the MEC conversion kit, and a new steel charge bar. But, what else? I know I'll need different, thicker wads, and probably a different powder (I have a ton of 700x on-hand)

For those of you with experience, I'd appreciate your guidance and what you've found to be most cost effective, efficient, and successful.

[kcstott]

Ballistic products has "Multi metal" wads
Precision reloading has steel wads
You are also going to need some 20 gage felt wads
And maybe some over shot cards.
And I don't see any load data for 700X, Most steel 12bore loads are Unique/HS6 or slower.
Steel, Unique, Blue Dot, 800x, WSF,HS6, HS7, SR 4756

Unless you just want to make it easy and you don't mind spending the money you may be able to get away with using your lead bar. You would be using the largest of the bushing to drop steel in the 1 oz 1-1/4 oz area. if the bushing go that big. I'd test and see before buying parts you may not need.

Please remember that steel must be used in chokes no tighter than modified. a Modified choke shooting steel is the same as lead shooting full. I've tested side by side
Barrels do not need to be "Steel rated" they just need to have an open enough choke and not shoot shot size larger than a #5.
newer guns with removable chokes should not shoot shot bigger than #4 and again no tighter than 1/2 or modified.
Do not use steel in any shotgun that was not made for Smokeless powder, or has Damascus or twisted steel barrels

[bigbossman]

Ballistic products has "Multi metal" wads
Precision reloading has steel wads
You are also going to need some 20 gage felt wads
And maybe some over shot cards.
And I don't see any load data for 700X, Most steel 12bore loads are Unique/HS6 or slower.
Steel, Unique, Blue Dot, 800x, WSF,HS6, HS7, SR 4756

Unless you just want to make it easy and you don't mind spending the money you may be able to get away with using your lead bar. You would be using the largest of the bushing to drop steel in the 1 oz 1-1/4 oz area. if the bushing go that big. I'd test and see before buying parts you may not need.

Please remember that steel must be used in chokes no tighter than modified. a Modified choke shooting steel is the same as lead shooting full. I've tested side by side
Barrels do not need to be "Steel rated" they just need to have an open enough choke and not shoot shot size larger than a #5.
newer guns with removable chokes should not shoot shot bigger than #4 and again no tighter than 1/2 or modified.
Do not use steel in any shotgun that was not made for Smokeless powder, or has Damascus or twisted steel barrels

I appreciate all the good info.

I have a bunch of different charge bars, so I'll look into that, thanks. I have some HS-6/W540 on-hand, and HS-6 seems to be available at the local store. I only use a Skeet choke for dove, so no issues there.

Why the 20 gauge felt wads?

[Revoman]

Yes, there is a lot of information on the Ballistic website. I too looked into it and have a few loads for the powders on hand, however, I have not tried it just yet.
Steel shot is expensive, coupled with the cost of primers and powder, it seems that now is not the time to try it out. Plus, the straight wall hulls are the most recommended for use with steel, of course I have tons of AA's which as you know are tapered hulls.
All of these things have prevented me from trying.
There are sales on steel rounds if you're diligent in searching them out. So, I found a few 'deals' on shotshells and plan on shooting them (4 flats) before diving into reloading steel shot myself.

[Thefeeder]

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The only thing you need to change on 600 & the 650 is the drop tube (650 the shot tube) to 16ga. steel wads are thick, when you ram the wad down it will stick and come back up, spilling the shot.

Your charge bars and bushings will work fine for steal. I load up to # 4 steel on my 9000 with all lead charge bars and bushings. I learned to turn auto index off....just a lot easier to fix little things with out the indexing making things worse.

Get a "status of steel " reloading manual from BP

Revo----I load AA hulls with alliant Steel powder, win 209 , 7/8oz #6 steel and Tps 35mm wads.....the wads are expensive, but the rest I had on hand.

[kcstott]

Why the 20 gauge felt wads?

Because that?s what?s in the manual. I believe it?s for stack height.

[kcstott]

Yes, there is a lot of information on the Ballistic website. I too looked into it and have a few loads for the powders on hand, however, I have not tried it just yet.
Steel shot is expensive, coupled with the cost of primers and powder, it seems that now is not the time to try it out. Plus, the straight wall hulls are the most recommended for use with steel, of course I have tons of AA's which as you know are tapered hulls.
All of these things have prevented me from trying.
There are sales on steel rounds if you're diligent in searching them out. So, I found a few 'deals' on shotshells and plan on shooting them (4 flats) before diving into reloading steel shot myself.

Steel is the same cost as lead. About $2-$3 per pound.

[Revoman]

"Steel is the same cost as lead. About $2-$3 per pound."

I stand corrected, it seems that the price has dropped some since last I checked a year ago....it was actually not available back then as well (size #6).
Plus, lead has gone up since I bought back in 2010 (800# of lead shot back then was $30 (per 25# bag).
Thanks for the correction!

[kcstott]

"Steel is the same cost as lead. About $2-$3 per pound."

I stand corrected, it seems that the price has dropped some since last I checked a year ago....it was actually not available back then as well (size #6).
Plus, lead has gone up since I bought back in 2010 (800# of lead shot back then was $30 (per 25# bag).
Thanks for the correction!

Yeah lead as doubled and I never knew what steel cost but now I?m looking as I do plan on continuing to bird hunt in this state. I?d love to have 2010 prices.
But in reality I?d rather have 2019 availability.

[bigbossman]

The only thing you need to change on 600 & the 650 is the drop tube (650 the shot tube) to 16ga. steel wads are thick, when you ram the wad down it will stick and come back up, spilling the shot.

Your charge bars and bushings will work fine for steal. I load up to # 4 steel on my 9000 with all lead charge bars and bushings. I learned to turn auto index off....just a lot easier to fix little things with out the indexing making things worse.

Get a "status of steel " reloading manual from BP

Revo----I load AA hulls with alliant Steel powder, win 209 , 7/8oz #6 steel and Tps 35mm wads.....the wads are expensive, but the rest I had on hand.

All good info - thanks! I ordered the book you mentioned from BP, and will give it a thorough read when it arrives.

As an aside - if I decide to load bismuth, would be just a matter of changing the shot from lead to bismuth and leaving everything the same?

[NapalmCheese]

I second the "get the Status of Steel" book from BP. They're cheap and have decent info.

I don't load steel, but do load Bismuth in 16 and 12. I've used felt wads under the shot to bring the shot column up to an appropriate height to get a good crimp.

Bigbossman, you're a good shot and I don't know how much you're planning on hunting those islands, but you could just load bismuth and probably use your current components. The same volume of lead will be a bit light with bismuth. How many boxes do you need to put together?

[bigbossman]

I second the "get the Status of Steel" book from BP. They're cheap and have decent info.

I don't load steel, but do load Bismuth in 16 and 12. I've used felt wads under the shot to bring the shot column up to an appropriate height to get a good crimp.

Bigbossman, you're a good shot and I don't know how much you're planning on hunting those islands, but you could just load bismuth and probably use your current components. The same volume of lead will be a bit light with bismuth. How many boxes do you need to put together?

I ordered the book today. As far as being a good shot - I think so too, until I start shooting at doves.

I don't shoot those islands a lot - you need a boat to get there, so I'm at the mercy of two good acquaintances that have boats and want to go. So, a relatively low volume - 1 - 2 boxes a trip, 4 - 5 trips a season. The cheapest #6 12ga steel I can find around here is $13.99/box to $14.99/box

I'm looking at it from a perspective that ammo prices are going up and up, and it would be good to lay in a supply of my own for the cost of components. Even though bismuth might be expensive to buy, if I can use existing equipment and components and just switch out the lead for bismuth, that might be the way to go.

Currently I'm set up for 1oz lead, pink Winchester wads, 18gr of 700x, and a Winchester primer in compression formed hulls (STS, Winchester AA, RP Premier). That has been my 12ga load for decades.

[NapalmCheese]

It's not necessarily quite as easy as just swapping in bismuth, but bismuth will use the same components. For instance, I load AA hulls with Claybuster WAA12R replacement wads, Longshot, and #5 bismuth for ducks on my sizemaster. I think I'm using the 1-1/8 oz bushing and dropping 1oz of bismuth? I'd have to go back to my notes. I use Longshot in my 16 and 10mm as well so have lots on hand.

Looking at Hodgdon Reloading I can, with WAA12R wads, Win 209 primers, and AA hulls load:

1-1/4 oz Bi at 29 grains of Longshot for 10,700 PSI and 1350 fps
1-3/8 oz Pb at 28.1 grains of Longshot for 10,900 PSI and 1295 fps

Something to think about anyway, wads are bulky and a pain in the *** to store. Bismuth 5 or 6 is a bit big for dove but could serve dual purpose for ducks and pheasants on federal land.

It might even use the same shot bushing.

[NapalmCheese]

I just found one recipes I loaded with:

1-1/4 oz #5 Bi, 29.2 grains Longshot from a #29 bushing, AA hull, WAA12R wad, Fed 209A primer, 1375 fps predicted.

The other recipe dropped 25.5 grains of Longshot from a #25 bushing for an estimated 1275 fps.

[bigbossman]

I just found one recipes I loaded with:

1-1/4 oz #5 Bi, 29.2 grains Longshot from a #29 bushing, AA hull, WAA12R wad, Fed 209A primer, 1375 fps predicted.

The other recipe dropped 25.5 grains of Longshot from a #25 bushing for an estimated 1275 fps.

Find me a recipe with 700x, please.