The load your own may be your only way to get 2 1/2" shells in any numbers. I checked a local gun shop who had a large number of 2 1/2" shells for sale. He bought them just to have something to sell. I recall they were from one of the Spanish makers. He had nothing larger than our 7 shot when I looked. Just to be sure I called and he said that they were almost gone and he had noting in the 5-6 shot range. He was trying to lay in another supply but so far with no luck.
You might consider finding a bit or International or Universal powder and roll crimping your own. For that matter you can trim hulls to 2 1/2" and load most 2 3/4" loads in them with a roll crimp. That opens up a lot more powders as a option. Go to Hodgdon reloading site and find any low pressure load that fits your needs. Then call around to locate what you need. It takes leg work but powders are showing up in lot of places in modest amounts. PM me and I can give you four or five places to contact. Hazmat shipping is doable but you need to buy a bit extra to spread that cost over several items.
There are a lot of MEC 600Jr just sitting around for the job. Just about every old timer at any club has one in his loading room just collecting dust. Most will give them away or sell them for just a few bucks. They also may have a bit of powder that they are not using that you could swing a deal for. Put a note up on the sale board of your local gun club and see if anything pops up. Friend did this looking to reload some rifle cartridges. Old timer gave him just about everything he could need from press, dies, to shells, powder and bullets, because he no longer loaded and knew it would be a burden for his wife to dispose of if he died first. He also gave him books and notes he had on hand and a lesson how to load bullets.
I cleared out most of my 16 gauge stuff because I just do not shoot my 16's very much anymore. But I am still stocked up on 10, 12, 20, 28 and .410. When I have a chance I have been loading 100-200 shells at a time and boxing them up for future use. I'd rather load than watch TV or stream anything.
