Complete Table of Contents
My “Secrets” guide covers everything below. Items that are underlined are also on this website.
Chapter 1: Reload a Box of 25 Perfect Shotshells in 2 Minutes Flat
- Save time and frustration
- The owner’s manual is not enough
- Which MEC reloaders does this guide cover?
- How to get a free replacement owner’s manual
Chapter 2: Live to Shoot Another Day
- Don’t be stupid!
- Have you ever seen a gun blow up?
- Follow MEC’s advice
- Use components by the same manufacturer
- What’s the big deal about following recipes exactly?
- Making sense of primer designations
- Do this and your house may not be covered in the event of a fire
Chapter 3: Which MEC Reloader Should You Buy?
- The conventional wisdom is wrong
- Make your first reloader do triple duty
- Two exceptions to my advice
- Should you buy hydraulic?
Chapter 4: Getting Your Reloader Ready to Go
- Bolt the reloader down to the right surface
- Be careful with the bottles
- Adjust the primer drop mechanism to gain speed
- Another speed-increasing adjustment
- Look at your placement
- WHATEVER you do, you must get this accessory. This one extra purchase will do more for your reloading speed than any other single thing you can do
Chapter 5: Which Hulls Should You Use?
- So many decisions
- Be careful using discount store promotional loads!
- Which hulls last the longest?
- One note on 28 gauge
- Consistency
- Watch out for wet hulls
- Some people recommend running shells through the washing machine before using them
Chapter 6: Reloading to a Recipe
- How to set up your reloader for any combination of components
- Do you really have to weigh your own powder?
Chapter 7: Getting Other Components Ready to Go
- The fastest way to remove crooked primers
- An easier way to refill powder
- Keeping shot in the shells and off the floor
- This helps you to avoid running out of shot or powder
Chapter 8: How to Prevent Most Problems, and Catch the Rest
- Deprime station Tips
- Reprime station Tips
- Primer tray adjustments
- Adjusting tray position
- Adjusting tube height
- Adjusting the chain
- Shot and wad station: Learning this principle will save you a lot of spilled shot and grief
- Two common mistakes. One of these can result in a blown-up gun.
- Crimp starter station
- Crimp closing station
- Final crimp and sizing station
Chapter 9: Solving Consistency Problems
- Shot or powder not dropping consistently
- One piece of equipment that causes more problems than it cures
- After you’ve checked everything and STILL have inconsistent loads, there is one more place to look
- Blown-apart 28 gauge hulls
Chapter 10: What to Do When: Using Your Senses Each Step of the Way
- Starting the downstroke. You’ll save yourself a lot of grief if you work the handle this way
- THE most important thing to watch for in the whole reloading process, if you want it to go smoothly This takes far less time to check than pulling out ruined shells, cleaning spilled shot and powder out of the machine and restarting the process.
- During the upstroke, listen for this.
- Summary of handle resistance
- Save time when removing finished shells
- Be sure to do this when you resume reloading after a break
- A very handy tool that will save you money
Chapter 11: Be Watchful, be Consistent, and Make Reloading a Satisfying Challenge
Check out the Troubleshooter. This laminated, full-color card lists over 40 problems, their causes and solutions. Many are not in the MEC Owner’s Manual. Keep it near your reloader for reference
Chapter 12: Good Resources
And that’s just what is in Secrets.
You’ll get lots more information in my companion volume Mail Call,
including:
- One tool you should not do without at your reloading bench. (Hint: It’s not bought at a gun store.)
- When you can and cannot swap out powder, primers and other components safely;
- Solving sub-gauge powder drop problems once and for all.
- Sick of paying big bucks for popper loads to train your hunting dog? Make your own popper loads with this recipe!
- An absolutely critical adjustment to make when loading subgauge shotshells, to ensure you are getting a full powder charge
- What to do when your reloader jams on the upstroke.
- What do the markings mean on my old charge bars?
- A surprising fact about .410 hulls, and how it directly affects the quality of your crimps.
Shot bridging
: What it is and how to prevent it.- The pros and cons of making your own shot.
- The best places to buy MEC equipment, and sell it.
- How old of a MEC reloader is too old? Answer here.
- The cheapest places to buy components.
- The $1.49 popular lubricant that can rot your $5,000 barrels.
- The Ideal Recipe.