[JW6483]

Any opinions on which one is best?

 

[Gross Man]

I have owned an reloaded on both. Thee P/W is a superior machine, but takes a little more care and feeding. The MEC is better for someone who is not mechanically inclined. Billy

 

[jsraney]

Apples and oranges. PW800+ by 20 lengths. PW is made of machined quality materials. MEC's are punched pressed out of junk yard scrap. Just my opinion, and I've owned both.

 

[Smithy47]

I have both. My PW 800+ is electric drive, my MEC 9000 is hydraulic. Both are good machines. Neither is a good reloader for a person new to reloading.
The MEC is faster than PW if you that makes much difference to you.
The MEC is much easier to correct a jam or other problem. The PW can be pretty tricky but once you get to know the machine it is not bad.
The PW is a much more of a machine, few stamped parts, unlike the MEC. Like comparing a Win. Model 12 to a Rem. 870. Both will do the job ----
The biggest advantage to the PW 800+ is you can change to any guage, 20, 28, 410, by the purchase of the a guage change set for about $300 new, somewhat less than that used.
My 2 cents worth. Regards, Bob

 

[smokintom]

I've loaded on a MEC 9000G since they first came out. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

[JW6483]

Thanks for the input guys. I load mainly 20 and 28ga so having one loader to do both would be nice.

 

[smokintom]

I have owned an reloaded on both. Thee P/W is a superior machine, but takes a little more care and feeding. The MEC is better for someone who is not mechanically inclined. Billy

And on a side note you shouldn't have to be mechanically inclined to load shotgun shells. Simple as that

 

[grizquad]

Totally 2 different machines. When I started back to reloading about 10 years ago, I bought a used MEC9000 and loaded several thousand shells with little to no problems. After loading a few hundred, my shoulders and hands hurt. I decided to get a "heavy duty machine", sold my MEC to a friend for almost what I paid and we were both happy. I did research and decided on PW800+. It took getting used to its operation. I added the hull feeder, to free up my right hand and then found a good deal on the electric motor. Again it took getting used to and making modifications to hull feeder to work better. The only thing that hurts now is my butt from sitting on my stool watching the machine spit out beautiful shells! If you have the money and are doing a lot of loading, the PW 800+ will probably outlast us both.

 

[Proofdoubles]

I have owned an reloaded on both. Thee P/W is a superior machine, but takes a little more care and feeding. The MEC is better for someone who is not mechanically inclined. Billy

Right ON!

 

[claybrdr]

MEC by a thousand.

 

[tcr1146]

Owned both in the past! If I did not load 6 different powders, 5 different hull and 4 size shot, I probably would still have the 800! The bushing nightmare would drive me to more drinkning! Nice machine though! Still have the 9000, 2 grabbers and 2 650s! Tom Rhoads

 

[skeeljc]

I load 20 & 28 gauge on a Ponsness/Warren 800 Plus with an Auto-Drive. I load my .410's on a MEC 9000. The MEC 9000 does a better job than the P/W 800 Plus on .410's. The P/W 800 Plus is a production machine requiring little effort to produce 500 shells per hour.

 

[Haystacker88]

The P/W is twice the machine as a mec built like a tank and there made in the 208! So what’s not to like about them

 

[Spanishammer]

I would not go as far to say that mecs are stamped out of junkyard scrap, but the 800+ is a superior machine in alot of respects. I load on a 9000g currently with no qualms about it,I was looking for a Pw but found a NIB 9000 for a steal. I started on a mec sizemaster and the transition to a 9000g was almost seamless...I blinked and had 100 loaded my first time with it. A pw would cause alot of cursing for someone who hasn't used them before or doesn't know someone who is knowledgeable

 

[waverider]

If you load mostly 20 and 28. Look into purchasing 2 MEC as opposed to a PW and conversion kit. With the PW you should be loading volumes of each gauge, rather than a few hundred as you need them, since you need to convert and adjust the press.

Jason

 

[Nebs]

Is there some reason you are limiting yourself to these 2 machines? They seem to be at opposite ends of the engineering spectrum and there are brands in between.

 

[riflegunbuilder]

I started with MECs bought a PW. Got 5 PWs MEC went down the road.

 

[dhn]

Been loading on a PW 800B (converted to 800C) since 1974. Still works as good as new. No matter which brand of re-loader you use, you need to be somewhat mechanically inclined to keep it maintained and functioning flawlessly.

 

[MATT01073]

One of the posts above stated you would need to adjust after gauge conversions , with an 800 plus, there will be no adjustments just change the toolhead ,wad carrier insert and shell post after the first setup when you change gauges no adjustment required. Even without much mechanical ability a gauge change is 10 or 15 min. 3 allen wrenches is all that is needed I have 2 presses on autodrives and 4 tool sets . I load all 4 gauges and all make near perfect shells between 15 000 and 20000 a year and the only thing I will say is the 410 requires a major slow down most of the time I put the handle back on for 410 . but the 12 20 and 28 are all done on the autodrive full speed no issues , that said when a problem does occur it generally a mess

 

[se2884]

The PW is a better built machine, I like the MEC better for two reasons, 1- you can get the adjustable charge bar, and 2- the MEC is a lot easier to get going if something goes wrong.