Reloading shotgun shells question (Powder bushing malfunction)

[johnpaul]

I just bought an MEC jr. to start reloading 28 gauge shells. I was reading the manual and it suggested weighing powder to make sure your getting accurate powder charges before starting to reload.

The recipe I wanted to use called for a size 13~ powder bushing (14.5 grains of Hogdon longshot powder). As I weighed the powder it was well under the grains it called for. I went up one size to a 13A and it was even low, averaging around 14.2 grains per drop (10 samples). I figured I'd be better off erring on the side of caution being as it was my first shells to load.

Here is where the trouble starts. I loaded about 100 shells and thought I'd check to make sure I was getting around the same amount of powder per drop and it came out at 15.7 grains (1.2 grains over what the recipe calls for). Then I took another sample and it came out around 14.2 grains. Now about every 3rd sample it comes out at 15.4-15.6 grains, with the remaining 2 being around the 14.2 grain average.

Here are my questions:

Is this normal to for powder charges to vary so much? These bushing seem very precise and like that shouldn't happen.

Are these shells safe to shoot? The original recipe was 14.5 grains of powder and was supposed to be around 1200 fps. So not a super hot load by any means

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to keep all my fingers if at all possible.

[bboswell]

Make sure your stroke is consistent in both length and speed during the step that loads powder into the bushing. My MEC is progressive so I have no experience with the JR but I have observed similar when using a powder drop for hand gun ammo and 223.

[Drycreek3189]

I’m not familiar with that powder, but it may not meter well. I used a MEC progressive also when I was shooting sporting clays, but I used Winchester powder and wads. I duplicated the AA loads as closely as possible as I thought they were the best loads at the time. Sorry, I’m not more help.

[SJP51]

I've loaded thousands of 12-ga shells with my Mec 600 Jr. But I've never weighed a power charged to see if it was consistent so I don't know if it's a "normal" or not.

Shotgun powders are fairly low energy in general but I don't know about yours. And given the open nature of a shotgun barrel I don't think a 1gr variance is going to blow up your gun, especially if the 15.2 gr is not in the "magnum" level for that powdr. But you may sure get a velocity difference which in an autoloader might be an issue. Pump or double gun not so much.

I'd never say that about a pistor or rifle powder charge. They need to spot on and consistent.

[Quackerbox]

I've loaded thousands of 12-ga shells with my Mec 600 Jr. But I've never weighed a power charged to see if it was consistent so I don't know if it's a "normal" or not.

Shotgun powders are fairly low energy in general but I don't know about yours. And given the open nature of a shotgun barrel I don't think a 1gr variance is going to blow up your gun, especially if the 15.2 gr is not in the "magnum" level for that powdr. But you may sure get a velocity difference which in an autoloader might be an issue. Pump or double gun not so much.

I'd never say that about a pistor or rifle powder charge. They need to spot on and consistent.

This exactly.

in fact,at the time I was doing it the favorite bushing had been reamed out with a drill bit or someone. I loaded and shot 12ga by the bucket and never blew anything up but ducks and doves

[M16]

If you just drop a charge and check it your weights will be off. There’s a whole lot of vibration and shaking going on when you are loading causing the power to settle in the bushing. That’s probably why you are getting lighter weights when just checking and heavier weights when checking after loading a bunch of rounds. Powder bushing charts are just an estimate and you will rarely get the same results. I doubt if you will damage anything by going a grain over without it being a top end load. Smaller gauges operate at higher pressure. From the research that I’ve done it takes about double the pressure to blow up a barrel on a shotgun above published load data. Prolonged use of heavy loads could accelerate wear and tear on your shotgun.

[SJP51]

I had not thought about the vibration. It is true. I've seen loading set ups for rifle that had a little vibration device on it that get the powder drops much more consistent.

I don't reload rifle much anymore, but I did tap on the powder drop a few times to get more consistency and when I indepently weighed the charges, it had worked. Got to where I just weighed every charge since I usually only loaded 25 to 50 at a time.

[Quackerbox]

M16s post has me thinking. When my dad taught me how to load, he actually knocked on the load bar after each slide back and forth. But I want to say it was more to make sure there wasn't any shot stuck somewhere that it might damage the aluminum bar

back in the duck/goose guiding days i saw some guys do crazy stuff in the loading to get max bang. Most of these guys loaded 10ga for rem SP10s. Two guys in particular were pushing the envelope daily. You could literally hear the difference in their guns from across the 3000ac properties. And I witnessed those loads kill geese at stupid ranges.

Once upon a time a popular katy Prarie guide ran out of powder and Johnny's was closed. He ran to the Katy BPS in search of.powder. He nor the bass pro guy really knew enough about loading. Well bass pro sold him blue dot pistol powder and he loaded the same load he had been using with green dot. He ran a box and went down the road to shoot it.

After he blew his 10ga up and sent the feed ramp into pieces in his forearm he decided there was a reason the wad flat lined 70 yards on the 1st shot. Its been a few years but that SP10 receiver was hanging on Johnny's sport shop wall

[SJP51]

Blue Dot is a high on the energy scale that was/is listed for shotgun and magnum pistol. Heck, I use it for 44 Mag rifle ammo, too.

[M16]

On a Mec Jr. most people just slide the powder bar and drop the powder in a pan to be weighed. This will give a false reading. When you are actually loading shells you have five pulls of the handle. That’s a lot more shaking and rattling on the machine which causes the powder in the bushing to settle. Hence a higher charge than just dropping the powder and weighing it. If nothing else cycle the loader at least five times before checking your powder charge weight. This will give you a more accurate reading.

[Drycreek3189]

On a Mec Jr. most people just slide the powder bar and drop the powder in a pan to be weighed. This will give a false reading. When you are actually loading shells you have five pulls of the handle. That’s a lot more shaking and rattling on the machine which causes the powder in the bushing to settle. Hence a higher charge than just dropping the powder and weighing it. If nothing else cycle the loader at least five times before checking your powder charge weight. This will give you a more accurate reading.

This sounds reasonable to me. I loaded on a 600 also and never weighed a powder charge. I also never had any inconsistency that I could tell in sound or recoil in my Citori.

[johnpaul]

Good to know. Thank you everyone for the advise. Will report back after giving the new ammo a spin.

[locolobo]

I don't hand load shotgun, only rifle/pistol, so take it as you will. I weigh every round.