[DooFighter]

Picked up a used 12ga sizemaster last fall for a C note. Decided when I went on coronacation to start using it. My first foray into shotshell loading. Got fairly familiar with it, everything seemed good. Kept an eye out for 20 & 28 ga SM as well figuring I'd keep it simple. Got impatient, bought a new 28ga SM. It's very tight when the collett begins to engage and requires a little extra effort even tho I'm not doing much to the brass. I chalk it up to being new and not broke in. Not worried, have only loaded about 300 rounds so far on it.

Now, just picked up a 20ga SM for another 100 bucks. Cleaned it up and started loading. Everything seems to work ok but man, is it sloppy. Side to side slop in the handle seems excessive. Checked all the nuts and bolts, made sure to not over tighten them but that they were not loose. Just wondering, do these things wear out? It loads ok, my crimps aren't as nice as my 12s. And maybe 1/10 when I seat the primer it seems slightly misaligned then slams into place, but seats it fine.

Maybe I just got a junker or high mileage unit?

 

[frostyman]

They will wear out but pretty hard to do other than breaking the collet. The holes in the handle may wear oblong or wear the bolts down. You wont know that without removing some of the bolts to look though.

 

[1straightshot]

Yeah , they wear out. Generally after being handed down a few generations. I am sure yours may only need a tweak or two.

 

[skipsor]

I use a Sizemaster that I bought new in the mid '80s. A new collet and one other part, a rod can't remember what it is called, are the only parts that have had to be replaced.

Lube the collet and you should be ready to go. They aren't bullet proof, nothing is but they are pretty close.

 

[slide action]

Everything mechanical wears out Eventually , (even MEC loaders) but ,a few simple parts replacements will get them going again. good as new. I have a MEC 600 JR. that I bought in 1970 ! Had to replace a "few" parts over the years but it's still going strong ! The collet on the MEC loaders will wear out in time ,on the loaders that have them , but, it takes a lot of loading to do that.

 

[sts1100]

You didn't say which hulls you are loading, with 28 ga and 20 ga you will find slightly different lengths, which will impact the crimp. Check the handle pivot bolts they are soft and probably worn, another possibility is the previous owner replaced them with not correct bolts.
Like slide action, I have Mec jrs from the 70s, I have given my son in law 12 and 20 ga. sizemasters.

 

[john h ashcraft]

As frostyman suggested pull the bolts out and you will see that they will have warn and the handle as well but the nice thing about the MEC 600s and 700s are easy to rebuild and readjust.

 

[DooFighter]

Thanks for the tips guys, much appreciated. The bolts/holes wearing sounds like it could be what I'm experiencing. I'll inspect closer next chance I get.

As for crimps...well, I solved that problem myself (embarrassed). I'm using 20ga gun clubs and just learned this morning that there are 8 and 6pt crimps on GCs. It seemed odd that almost every time a crimp goofed up it came out as a 6pt...duh!

Mechanically I'm not always the quickest horse in the race. Thanks again

 

[1straightshot]

Mechanically I'm not always the quickest horse in the race. Thanks again

That's ok with reloading. I find the old adage "Slow and steady wins the race" works for all aspects of the hobby.

 

[DooFighter]

Upon further instpection, the 6 pointers are in a box labeled "game load". I'm pretty sure they're the same hull as the gun clubs tho.

 

[pbansen]

On the upside, a functioning Sizemaster for $100 is a pretty good deal!

 

[sts1100]

The collet pivot pin and the chain link will wear with alot of use, check those if the collet closure begins to give you problems.

 

[Spanky]

There is nothing on your sizemaster that can’t be repaired. Tough to kill any MEC press. I’ve worked on them all. I have a sizemaster that I ran the crap out of. Early on I had a collet crack a finger. Factory replaced. Have not had that happen again. I mostly run dove loads on that now. I have two 9000g’s that I’ve had for many years. Still on original collets, but I’ve replace various springs, indexing cylinder, all minor stuff and easy fix. So don’t write the press off can be brought back to life.

 

[SteveS1965]

they all wear out from lots of use and can be rebuilt with all the available parts

 

[DooFighter]

Thanks again for all the replies.
Disassembled the handle, the 2 handle bolts are worn some, not a lot, about 0.002" where the handle rides on the bolts. However found one set of holes on the handle worn also. The handle holes look like someone put lots of extra pressure on it at some time, enlarged quite a bit. Or just excessive wear. Going to replace the bolts and handle (30-some bucks but oh well). Hopefully this will snug things up a fair bit and give me a few years use.

 

[Pull & Mark]

Upon further instpection, the 6 pointers are in a box labeled "game load". I'm pretty sure they're the same hull as the gun clubs tho.

Even though the two hulls will reload the same. I'd toss them out and not reload them. You don't really want to be bothered with separating the two hulls and switching pre-crimp dies while reloading. There are far too many GC hulls on the ground to bother with this. Good Luck with your reloading. break em all jeff

 

[paul Harm]

For your crimp problems you can grind out the ribs in the start crimp [ if it's a plastic one ] and make it smooth, like the one Mec sells for the 12ga [ only, I beleive ] . The smooth one is for 12ga paper shells but a smooth one will work for 6 or 8 point crimps. The plastic has a memory and doesn't need the ribs in the crimp starter. I've done about 10 of them for the guys at the club who don't have a Dremal tool. It's all I use on my Jr, 650s, Grabber, and 9000H. If you adjust the fingers on the resizer to resize about 3 or .004 bigger than a factory shell it will last a lot longer. You'll be putting less strain on the fingers and the resized shell will be resized enough to work just fine.

 

[saskbooknut]

Truly cheap guys, like me, can make a bushing for oval holes, install new bolts, and be back in business.
These are simple machines, good candidates for simple fixes.

 

[DooFighter]

Thanks for the tip paul.

I appreciate all the replies, however 20ga gc hulls don't grow on trees where I shoot so I won't be throwing out the 6 pointers. I ordered a 6pt spindex. However, if it doesn't match up with my 8 pointer so that I can change it out without adjusting the depth I may try grinding the points out of it.

 

[Perazzi_MX8]

Send it to MEC and let them change the sheet metal parts that bent and new screws. It’ll be good as new except it will still be a MEC. There’s never a problem get advice on what to fix on here About MEC loaders because everyone has problems with them.