Intro to Reloading Series

Made this video as a longtime shotshell reloader, to contradict @CivilianTactical saying that low brass shotshells cannot be reloaded. On the contrary they can, and are often easier to work with than high-brass hulls. Low-brass is way easier to reload and quality hulls like Winchester AA's, Remington Gun Club's, or Nitro STS hulls last me 10-12 reloads personally before the crimp petals begin to split. High brass hulls are largely a holdover from the era of paper shotshells that couldn't withstand the firing temperature and pressure around the initial ignition of the powder charge. These hulls would burn pinholes through right above the brass head, between the wad a shot. Thus, the brass length on these hulls was extended to prevent these burn throughs. With modern polymer hull bodies, that is no longer an issue and the added brass doesn't achieve anything the polymer can't do, other than complicate the reloading process. There's a lot of misinformation out there on high brass hulls being superior when they're really not, for anyone who is loading typical trap and skeet type loads, or even general purpose hunting loads. What matters most is the internal geometry of the hull, case head THICKNESS, and how it is designed to contain pressure. Also, the sizing mechanism on a MEC 600 JR does not completely eject high brass hulls from the sizing ring, and they can get stuck leading to them being pulled out by hand or possibly damaged in doing so. Links below for more info. Ballistic products is one of the cutting-edge suppliers of shotshell components and reloader parts. https://www.ballisticproducts.com/bpi/articleindex/articles/curmudgeon_articles/060124_hulls_in_general.htm (exerpt below) "Rule#3. The brass head height may be any length. The reason for HIGH-BRASS goes back to paper hulls. Paper hulls often produced pinhole burn-through(s) parallel to hull powder containment section. When the powder amount was higher than the brass section a burn through could occur. Magnum (additional powder height) paper shotshells were made with a higher brass head to protect against burn through. Thus a fantasy was born! The higher brass indicated a more powerful paper shotshell - (i.e. magnum). With current plastic shotshells the head (steel – brass or nickel-plated) height/length has no bearing on the strength of the load. Hulls (ACTIV) were made with no metal heads. The important feature is the strength and often the thickness of the head and not the height. Promotional hulls are always suspect, because the metal of the head is often rolled super thin to save costs. Promotional hulls are expected by one and all to be discarded in the field. Perhaps the factory downloaded this hull with some load designed for cheapness such as a Mouse & Cockroach promotional load at 7000PSI. Some reloader tries to cram a SuperDuck formula into this hull and then wonders why the hull did not hold up."

Made this video as a longtime shotshell reloader, to contradict @CivilianTactical saying that low brass shotshells cannot be reloaded. On the contrary they can, and are often easier to work with than high-brass hulls. Low-brass is way easier to reload and quality hulls like Winchester AA's, Remington Gun Club's, or Nitro STS hulls last me 10-12 reloads personally before the crimp petals begin to split. High brass hulls are largely a holdover from the era of paper shotshells that couldn't withstand the firing temperature and pressure around the initial ignition of the powder charge. These hulls would burn pinholes through right above the brass head, between the wad a shot. Thus, the brass length on these hulls was extended to prevent these burn throughs. With modern polymer hull bodies, that is no longer an issue and the added brass doesn't achieve anything the polymer can't do, other than complicate the reloading process. There's a lot of misinformation out there on high brass hulls being superior when they're really not, for anyone who is loading typical trap and skeet type loads, or even general purpose hunting loads. What matters most is the internal geometry of the hull, case head THICKNESS, and how it is designed to contain pressure. Also, the sizing mechanism on a MEC 600 JR does not completely eject high brass hulls from the sizing ring, and they can get stuck leading to them being pulled out by hand or possibly damaged in doing so. Links below for more info. Ballistic products is one of the cutting-edge suppliers of shotshell components and reloader parts. https://www.ballisticproducts.com/bpi/articleindex/articles/curmudgeon_articles/060124_hulls_in_general.htm (exerpt below) "Rule#3. The brass head height may be any length. The reason for HIGH-BRASS goes back to paper hulls. Paper hulls often produced pinhole burn-through(s) parallel to hull powder containment section. When the powder amount was higher than the brass section a burn through could occur. Magnum (additional powder height) paper shotshells were made with a higher brass head to protect against burn through. Thus a fantasy was born! The higher brass indicated a more powerful paper shotshell - (i.e. magnum). With current plastic shotshells the head (steel – brass or nickel-plated) height/length has no bearing on the strength of the load. Hulls (ACTIV) were made with no metal heads. The important feature is the strength and often the thickness of the head and not the height. Promotional hulls are always suspect, because the metal of the head is often rolled super thin to save costs. Promotional hulls are expected by one and all to be discarded in the field. Perhaps the factory downloaded this hull with some load designed for cheapness such as a Mouse & Cockroach promotional load at 7000PSI. Some reloader tries to cram a SuperDuck formula into this hull and then wonders why the hull did not hold up."

00:00 Intro and Press Restoration History 02:52 Why Do I Need to Adjust My Press? 03:42 Station 1-Adjustments 07:09 Station 2-Adjustments 08:13 Station 3-Adjustments (Powder & Shot Bar) 12:20 Station 4-Adjustments 14:10 Station 5-Adjustments (Incl. Primer Feeder) 17:43 Other Adjustments 20:22 Reloading 12ga Demonstration and Explanation 24:59 Conclusion & Why The 600Jr Is The Best Shotshell Press For The Money In this video, I go over each station on the MEC 600Jr (Pre-82 model) and explain how to make adjustments in each station. I also include some live walk-through loading, and cover the history and my restoration process of this press. Disclaimer 1: Handling of various reloading components comes with inherent risk. Consult a reputable reloading manual for proper safety procedures, and do so at your own risk. The reloading craft and its members are not responsible for your safety, you are. The content contained herein is intended for entertainment purposes only. Like & Subscribe Button animation courtesy of Graphics Expert on YouTube. Used with Permission. https://youtu.be/S1Hb-wrwFxA #12gauge #shotshell #reloadingbench #hornady #lee_precision #redding #redding_reloading #dillonprecision #dillon_precision #lyman #frankford_arsenal #starrett #milwaukee #milwaukeetools #frankfordarsenal

In this video, I cover some of the basic essential differences between tapered and straight-sided shotgun hulls.

In this video, I explain why having a shotshell reloading manual is so important to safely reloading shotshell, and why it is more than just a recipe book.

In this video, I go over the basic differences between a 6 and an 8 point crimp for shotshells, and the essentials of when to use which one.

In this video, I demonstrate the basic purpose of a wad, and show some examples of different ones available on the market today.