Which is better of the two ?
RCBS Grand or Mec
Rocketdog
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Better depends on the eye of the beholder. First, which model Mec? I have a Mec Sizemaster and a Grand and the Grand is vastly different than the Sizemaster. Between those two the Grand is clearly the winner. If you are talking a Mec 9000 then things are a little closer but I would give the edge to the Grand.
I have both the 9000'sG and the RCBS Grands. The Grand is warrantied for life parts are free should you happen to need them. It is as fast or faster than the Mec. The Grand will allow you to pull each shell for inspection or mistake, powder and shot is shell operated, " no shell, no drop". Shot and powder reservoirs are easily emptied and is much easier to change bushings. shot hopper will hold 25# of shot with no worry about the bottle breaking off when tipping the bottles back to change bar or bushing as with the Mec., but both are good machines. FWIW. Bill
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I have a Grand, 2 9000’s one manual, one pneumatic and a Grabber which requires manual indexing.
The MEC’s have fewer stations, meaning less to look over, but the shell is never out of sight on The Grand.
The Grand has “no drop” stations, meaning if there is no shell under the shot or powder stations, no shot or powder will drop. You can run at the end of a reloading session with the Grand and not have to worry about powder and shot everywhere, where as the MEC has a trip lever that does not always lock the shot and powder bar.
The 9000 has a Rube Goldberg indexing system which sometimes needs readjustment. The Grand as a simple system and fool proof system that never requires adjustment or retiming.
The Grand has a handle where the motion to operate is similar to a slot machine and less fatigue causing than the MEC which you pull than push down. If you buy a MEC, buy an AutoMate with it. It will double your cost and make it of equal cost to The Grand.
The MEC can be mounted anywhere on your bench as long as you can tilt the bottles back. The Grand must be mounted on the edge of the reloading bench and is best when purchased with the risers made for it. You can put the Grand at eye level and still operate it with little effort
If you have a shell that tips and spills in a MEC, you have to stop, clean up and remove all shot from the resizing collet or you will have a mess. If a shell tips in The Grand, the powder or shot will fall through press and not jam it up. Just watch out for shot in the primer cup station on either press.
The Grand’s shot and powder bottles can be swung out to stop powder and shot when wanting to change a bushing. You have to operate with hulls under the drop tubes to empty them. You pull a pin from the linkage of the shot and powder bar and changes shot and or power bushing. Hornady bushing will fit The Grand as well is some discontinued makes of reloaders that used a straight wall bushing like Pacific. The MEC requires proprietary bushings.
With the MEC, to change powder bushing or shot bar you have to tilt the shot and powder bottles backward and if the plastic stops fall out, you will have shot and powder everywhere. The shot bar on the MEC requires more work than to change the shot bushing on The Grand.
Changing shot or powder also requires tilting the bottles back on the MEC where as the Grand’s bottles can be emptied with a fast dump by bottle to the right over a drop tube. You can attach plastic tubing the drop tube and dump shot or powder into a container, fast.
The biggest selling point on The Grand is free replacement in any worn or broken parts. No cost, no freight and service is quick. If you need a part for the MEC, you will pay for it.
The MEC’s have fewer stations, meaning less to look over, but the shell is never out of sight on The Grand.
The Grand has “no drop” stations, meaning if there is no shell under the shot or powder stations, no shot or powder will drop. You can run at the end of a reloading session with the Grand and not have to worry about powder and shot everywhere, where as the MEC has a trip lever that does not always lock the shot and powder bar.
The 9000 has a Rube Goldberg indexing system which sometimes needs readjustment. The Grand as a simple system and fool proof system that never requires adjustment or retiming.
The Grand has a handle where the motion to operate is similar to a slot machine and less fatigue causing than the MEC which you pull than push down. If you buy a MEC, buy an AutoMate with it. It will double your cost and make it of equal cost to The Grand.
The MEC can be mounted anywhere on your bench as long as you can tilt the bottles back. The Grand must be mounted on the edge of the reloading bench and is best when purchased with the risers made for it. You can put the Grand at eye level and still operate it with little effort
If you have a shell that tips and spills in a MEC, you have to stop, clean up and remove all shot from the resizing collet or you will have a mess. If a shell tips in The Grand, the powder or shot will fall through press and not jam it up. Just watch out for shot in the primer cup station on either press.
The Grand’s shot and powder bottles can be swung out to stop powder and shot when wanting to change a bushing. You have to operate with hulls under the drop tubes to empty them. You pull a pin from the linkage of the shot and powder bar and changes shot and or power bushing. Hornady bushing will fit The Grand as well is some discontinued makes of reloaders that used a straight wall bushing like Pacific. The MEC requires proprietary bushings.
With the MEC, to change powder bushing or shot bar you have to tilt the shot and powder bottles backward and if the plastic stops fall out, you will have shot and powder everywhere. The shot bar on the MEC requires more work than to change the shot bushing on The Grand.
Changing shot or powder also requires tilting the bottles back on the MEC where as the Grand’s bottles can be emptied with a fast dump by bottle to the right over a drop tube. You can attach plastic tubing the drop tube and dump shot or powder into a container, fast.
The biggest selling point on The Grand is free replacement in any worn or broken parts. No cost, no freight and service is quick. If you need a part for the MEC, you will pay for it.
There is good and bad features on both reloaders which have been previously stated . It is up to you to decide which you prefer. I personally have had both , But prefer the Mec 9000 over the grand.
RCBS Will ship you parts for free for life if you do not mind being put on hold and waiting on the phone in order to order them.
If they did not have this policy they would not be selling their reloaders. So you decide which one you think is the best and gives you the most reliability .
RCBS Will ship you parts for free for life if you do not mind being put on hold and waiting on the phone in order to order them.
If they did not have this policy they would not be selling their reloaders. So you decide which one you think is the best and gives you the most reliability .
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574 Posts
I had the same question as the OP except I had the MEC (x3) already. My choice was between the Grand or a Dillon. Happy I bought the Grand. The MECs are down the road.
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124 Posts
As always lots of great info
I want to throw one thing out on picking a reloader...if little or no experience and not a lot of local people to help out..... lean toward a single stage to get started and learn......then move on to a progressive loader...the single stage can always be a back up and a load development loader..this was advice given to me and was a good way to get started and not get discouraged by the oops getting the hang of a progressive along with learning everything else...with all the support here any way he decides to go should work out in the end....
I want to throw one thing out on picking a reloader...if little or no experience and not a lot of local people to help out..... lean toward a single stage to get started and learn......then move on to a progressive loader...the single stage can always be a back up and a load development loader..this was advice given to me and was a good way to get started and not get discouraged by the oops getting the hang of a progressive along with learning everything else...with all the support here any way he decides to go should work out in the end....
The Dillon is better than both.
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50,530 Posts
Not a good justification at all. The MEC has a 40-50 year head start on the RCBS The Grand. MEC also has a different market philosophy than RCBS. MEC makes half a dozen machines for all kinds of budgets, but you must pay for all repairs and parts. The Grand has only one offering that can be compared to only the manual version of the MEC 9000 but you do not pay for replacement parts. Hunters far outnumber trapshooters, so a hunter who loads a couple boxes a year can get buy with a MEC Junior and will never need a RCBS.
The warranty on the RCBS is for the life of the machine, not the buyer. I have both machines, the Grand is a better machine, hands down. The main feature the RCBS has going for it is it’s ease of operation which is less fatiguing than the MEC.
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139 Posts
I am just thankful that we have access to such good equipment (nothing is perfect) we can’t go wrong with either machine. I don’t care for stamped parts but Mec loaders WORK.
Just one more opinion.
Just one more opinion.
That is true, none are perfect. Stamped or machined, they all make a great shell. I've never crossed paths with a Grand - I hope to see one in action before I die
I have two MECs, a P-W 800+, and a Dillon.
It just struck me: I've never had to pick shot out of the collet resizer on the Dillon the way I do the MEC. I assume that's because the collet on the Dillon works from the top down, whereas the MEC collet works from the bottom up. Sometimes I'm slow to catch on to things
But if it ever happens and I break the collet, Dillon will send me a new one for free.
The MEC's do have a short handle stroke, and that requires more muscle. I measured the handle travel on the Dillon once and it was something like 23 inches. It's easy and you can certainly "feel" the operation, but it's a long ways from top to bottom. I think I trade one fatigue for another.
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233 Posts
I built a handle for the 9000 on the left it's just a few inches longer and makes a world of a difference on how hard it pulls plus hand position is better with it being turned 90 degrees from the factory handle. I have never loaded on a grand but looks like a decent machine. I have figured out the quirks of the mec and can make my adjustments fast and takes me little time to change from shell to shell or load to load.
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It is very simple. If you can pull the handle get a Grand. If not get a Mec with automate
Both will turn out nice ammo, you just have to decide if you want to ever use a hydro or electric drive in the future. RCBS has free lifetime parts, which is nice but there can/will be delays in getting them at times. A friend of mine has the RCBS machine and has been waiting on parts for over 6 weeks now. He has called 3 times and gets a different answer each time, the last time he was told they make the parts up in small batches as needed. Other times in the past he's received them in a week to ten days. You have to pay for MEC parts but at least you can get them from multiple sources any time you need them! Have owned the RCBS Grand, numerous MECs plus a 366 Hornady and a PW 800+ and if I were buying a loader today I'd go for the 366 or PW and skip the Grand and the MEC.
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