Hi All,

I just purchased my first 28ga, an AyA. I also just purchased a MEC Sizemaster because I want to take up reloading to offset the expensive cost of 28ga shells. I don't really know where to start. I have never reloaded before. I will be almost entirely using the gun for grouse, woodcock, and non competitive clay shooting.

Any help would be appreciated.

John

I recommend you stick with a good hull and other components, and you will get along fine. I like AA hulls (newer type), Winchester 209 primers, new style AA28 wads. I like 13 grains/Unique powder, with 3/4 oz of shot. Other powders that work well are 20/28 and Universal Clays. Get data from the powder manufacturer in their online reloading sites.

Unless you have a stash or a good supply chain of once fired hulls, I recommend you buy a couple flats of new 28 ga. AA shells, then use those hulls.

Be sure you are acquainted with your machine, and understand what's happening at each station. Crimps are often a source of frustration; MEC's troubleshooting section of the operators manual will be useful in these cases.

I also recommend that you install the loader on a bench or sheet of wood that can be clamped to a table or bench. Bolt the loader with wing nuts in large flat pan, such as a flat cake pan, above the wood to catch spills. On spills, it's not "if", but "when". Definitely don't set it up in a carpeted room.

Yes, I also like Unique for my 28 gauge loads
Also, I stay with 3/4 ounce loads.
If I need more shot, I go to a 20 gauge gun.
Mike

John--you picked the right press to begin loading. I'd suggest you buy a flat of Winchester AA 28's and use these as your hulls for reloading after you use them up. They are the very best hulls to reload. Keep it simple. Use Alliant Unique or 20/28 powder and the standard 3/4 oz. load. I like 8's or 8 1/2's for targets. I'd use Winchester 209 primers and factory or Clay Buster HS wads. Buy a powder scale to periodically weigh your powder charge to know exactly what your press is dropping in the hulls. The bushing chart will give you an estimated powder drop, but the bushings usually throw light charges and you may have to go to a higher number bushing to get the correct charge. Take your time and save a bunch of money!!

One good thing for 28ga reloaders, given the ongoing shortages of some brands of powder: Both Unique and 20/28 are still fairly readily available. Agree with the above posters that the AA HS is the best hull.

I have a Mec 9000 with a universal charge bar installed. I find being able to adjust the drop of both powder and the shot without removing the bar a big plus. I weigh
the powder charge each time I start to reload and adjust if necessary. I find it necessary when changing shot size from 8 1/2 to 7 1/2 to readjust the bar. I load longshot powder 14.7 gr and 3/4 oz shot using AAHS hulls and Claybuster 28HS wads and WW209 primers.
.

I'm using this load and it is working well.

AA hull
Red duster 2834
Cheddite primer
Pro reach 16.4
3/4 oz
1300fps
8540 psi

Right out of the manual
Hope this helps,
Bill
ithaca1

I suggest a good reloading manual. Lyman shotgun book is good, I like the BPI Advantages book as it has data for 2.5" shells and ITX shot but does sell it's products. Loadbook 20, 28, 410 has excerpts from most of the individual manuals plus data from powder companies.

Link to Loadbook.

https://www.precisionreloading.com/cart.php#!l=LB&i=00003

http://www.loadbooks.com/Store.html

Congratulations on that 28 gauge. AA hulls a must. Wads I used either clay busters or AA. Powder Theres a lot of choices I used 700x and green dot if I ran out of 700x. Follow the manual and measure everything twice.

700x is very fast for a 28ga, sure you don't mean 800x.

You've got until midnight tonight to buy AA's to qualify for the $2/box rebate. Look at Cabelas or Academy Sports for free shipping prices. Here are the details:
http://www.winchester.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/217923%202015%20AA%20Form.pdf

I have used HS6 for years, very dense, leaves a lot of room, ball power that meters very well. It is the original WW540 with a Hodgdon name. Lowest pressure of any recomended so far.

bill

Longshot vs 20/28: You use a couple grains less 20/28, and it's cheaper to start with.

Oskar is correct. 700X is unacceptably fast for 28 gauge and Green Dot is not the best either. Stick with the Unique. Just because a load is on the chart does not mean it is a good load.

Thank you all so much for your help! Luckily my uncle gave me a flat of 28ga AA's to get me started. I am glad to see that is what everyone here is recommending for hulls.

As for the other components.. Is there a good place to buy these things online? I cannot seem to find anywhere that had Unique powder in stock.. I would like to buy everything (shot, wads, powder, primers, from the same place if possible to save on shipping.

John

Graff, Gamaliel, Brownell (crow)
bill

I saw Unique on the BassPro site. However, that doesn't mean it's stocked. They will ship store to store free of shipping. If you buy online, there is a typical hazmat fee of $25.00.
Precision Reloading and Ballistic Products carry a wide range of wads, primers, etc., but both are currently out of Unique.

Components on hand: one reason for belonging to a gun club (or more than one). Mine has both Unique and 20/28 on hand, 8 pounders.

Wow,
Your right 700x was my 12 gauge loads. Very clean powder though. I pulled my old loading I used green dot for sub gauge and 800.
I can,t read my grain the pencil has faded to pretty much impossible to read. ( follow the reloading data recommend for your load--start at a minimum of of 10-percent below recommended data listed) is a good rule of thumb.

Dupont did list a 28 gauge load with 700X at one time. If I recall it was only with the 11/16 oz shot charge and probably with fiber wads. I had an old fella now deceased (not from his reloads)that used 700x in his 28 ga. I mentioned to him that that was to fast a powder for the 28 and his remark was that it was listed. Yes it was listed with 11/16 oz of shot,not 3/4 like he was using. He shot that load a lot without any problems in a 20 ga Winchester 101 with 28ga tubes. Dupont did not list it in later manuals,I wonder why? I have used green dot with 3/4 oz and really liked the clean burn and low charge weights. I had some problems with older Unique and gave Alliant a call about it. I was told that Unique was the better choice over green dot due to consistency and lower pressures in warm weather in the 28ga. I solved my problem with Unique and find it to be a great powder in the 28. SR7625 was also a very clean low charge weight powder but got expensive and is now discontinued anyway. A friend of mine had a bad shoulder and was finding his 28's recoil a bit much for him. At that time I was loading SR4756 since I had a lot of it. I noticed that the recoil was very soft with this load and let him try some,he switched to that powder real fast even though it burns dirty with 3/4 oz loads leaving a lot of flakes in the tubes. Not to bad in a double but I wouldn't want to use it in a auto or pump. Now I think 20/28 is my go to powder if I am just buying for that purpose. You can't beat it.

Agree on 20/28, which is also a very good 20ga powder--especially if you're reloading 3/4 oz.