Reloading 12 Gauge

[Mana4real]

So I picked up my fathers Mec 600 Jr old model. It's the pre 1982 model. I've been cleaning it up and buying parts here and there to get it back up and able to reload. My question is the case resizer is missing and I cannot find it. How important is the case resizer for 12 Gauge shotgun rounds? I only shoot them out of my over under, so cycling isn't really an issue.I measured a fired case at the brass vs new and the fired was .005" larger. I'm a newbie reloader. I need to pick up a couple of books for this still.

[Revoman]

Some shotguns have slightly over-sized chambers and when a shell is fired from these shotguns, the brass base basically expands to that dimension.

If your shotgun has a tighter chamber, the over-sized brass will not fit.

If you buy new shot-shells and fire them in the same shotgun, you will prolly be fine, even once-fired from many other shotguns you might be fine, it's only when you run across empties that were fired in a loose chamber that you MAY have problems.

The problem is much worse in the small gauges and not so much in the 12, but it still can occur.

That's where the resizer comes in. You can prolly get one from MEC, or another parts place. I like the resizer that is a separate tool....that's all that it does is resize hulls. All gauges are available from MEC and are about $90-$100 or so.

MEC also sells a 'Go-No-Go' gauge that you can slip a hull into and see if it's out of spec. They are about $10, I think.

Or you can simply try the empty hull in your barrel and see if it fits. If it does, you're prolly good to go.

[Mana4real]

Some shotguns have slightly over-sized chambers and when a shell is fired from these shotguns, the brass base basically expands to that dimension.

If your shotgun has a tighter chamber, the over-sized brass will not fit.

If you buy new shot-shells and fire them in the same shotgun, you will prolly be fine, even once-fired from many other shotguns you might be fine, it's only when you run across empties that were fired in a loose chamber that you MAY have problems.

The problem is much worse in the small gauges and not so much in the 12, but it still can occur.

That's where the resizer comes in. You can prolly get one from MEC, or another parts place. I like the resizer that is a separate tool....that's all that it does is resize hulls. All gauges are available from MEC and are about $90-$100 or so.

MEC also sells a 'Go-No-Go' gauge that you can slip a hull into and see if it's out of spec. They are about $10, I think.

Or you can simply try the empty hull in your barrel and see if it fits. If it does, you're prolly good to go.

Thank you very much!! I ordered the resizer pieces from MEC. I was thinking to myself that I really need to do this right if I'm going to do this. So it's in the mail. I ordered it last night. Thank you again for your help.

[AAShooter]

A separate resizer is available for reloaders without resizers:

http://www.mecreloaders.com/ProductLine/SuperSizer.asp