I wouldn't bother with that kit.  I haven't needed to replace any of those things after many, many K rounds.

Although my Primer arm thingy is chipped on a corner.   But it's been like that since I got it.  

Edit:  I have replaced the little white round things that go on the rods for the powder and shot drop.  But Dillon supplied them to me, and sent me an extra so I'm not down waiting for another one.

Cool!

Thanks!

I already have 2 , 650’s and it looked like there was some repeats or overlaps in the SL-900 spare parts kit.

Steve Z from the Power Factor Show is the guy who really put the bug in my ear about getting an SL-900:



(Dang!  It’s been 11 years already?! )

Then he did a follow up video:

The Lyman book has a load using Rem Premier STS hulls, Win 209 primer, WAA12 wad, 24 gr 800x, 12 pellets #1 buck, 15 gr #47 buffer with a 20 gauge shot card over it.

Would it be safe to substitute the HOA hull and 8 pellets of OO? 12 pellets #1 weigh 1 1/4 oz, while 8 pellets of OO weigh 1 oz.

Also, how critical is it that you use the specific buffer called for? I have buffer and shot cards, just not #47 buffer.

if it is the HOA  hull it is a sts hull. And you use sts data. Look it up on Hodgdons load data. If you pick a load with STS data, Write it down then go look up the HOA data. It is all the exact same data just with a different name on the hull used

Also I don't use buffer so I can't say. But if you follow Wade Rush on Youtube he goes back and forth on buffer from BPI by what ever he grabs first or has the most of.

.

I got an email from my gun club treasurer.  My SL-900, casefeeder, and 12 gauge plate got delivered to the club!

WOOT!  WOOT!

I’ll be picking it up in about 13 hours.

Congrats!  If you have any questions, let me know.  I'm not an expert, but I've sure loaded more than a few rounds though the SL900.

Thank you sir.  I appreciate it.

The one thing I did notice about the website versus the actual box is that the website only gives you the option of  12, 20, or 28 gauges:

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But the outside of the box lists a .410 option:

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So I have to wonder did the outside of the box always list a .410 option, from the git-go?

And the Dillon engineers just couldn’t get it an actual .410 machine to work properly?

Or is .410 an option coming up in the future?

.410 has been coming for about 20 years.  Never going to happen.

Yeah, I noticed 16 gauge was missing from that list on both the box and their website.

I probably would have looked harder at a Spolar if they had been at the Grand last year, where I could see one operate in person.

Spolar was at the Grand say like 10 years ago.  And it was fun to watch the (blonde?) lady manipulate the foot controls/ pedals and feed the machine.

But 10 years ago, I wasn’t into shotguns as much as I am now.

Okay, I kinda figured that.

UNobtanium and vaporware.

The other thing I noticed on the Dillon website:

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Have you guys tried loading up #9’s on your SL-900?

I could see where say larger diameter shot like #5’s or #4’s could be problematic.

But going to a smaller diameter shot like #8.5’s or #9’s or even smaller is going to cause problems in an SL-900???

In reality, it doesn’t matter to me because all the factory shot I have ever bought has always been #8’s.

I am not at the proficiency level in skeet where I could see shooting #9’s  would make a difference.

And all I have ever shot trap-wise has been only 16 yards, so I really don’t feel I need the larger/heavier #7.5’s .

WOW!

Thanks Hoser!

EDIT:  NEVER MIND!

I see now:

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Same style of powder measure like on the 650 or 550, with the same style of bell crank arm that the failsafe rod passes through.

As long as that failsafe rod  stays connected at both ends, that powder bar has no other option but to shuffle back to the start position.

I load 9’s all the time.  Never a problem.  

Kool!  And the Gang!

Thanks!

I found one more Power Factor Show video on another tweak to the SL-900:



Steve was talking about  how the shot bar can travel out too far and spill or piece of shot or three.  And then later that can kinda jam up the works.

He also talked about the “rubber snubber” that is in the shot dispenser and how after a while it can get deformed.  That prevents the shot bar from traveling all the way to the start position.  So Steve ended up with a few shells which had NO shot in them.

The “rubber snubber” on the SL-900 is basically the counterpart to the  white rubber “dog bones” in the Mec powder and shot bars:

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I'd run yours for a while and see if that happens to you.  I've never had an issue with the shot bar "leaking" shot.

Before bolt it to your bench, you may think about putting a baking sheet between the press and your bench.  This will help catch any shot/powder that may spill.  I'm going to de-mount mine and do this soon.  I saw it recommended on another board and seems like a sound idea to me.

Yeah, I did the baking sheet thing with my two Mec 9000GN’s .

For my two 650’s, I have two different pieces of 3/8ths thick steel plate  that are mounted to two different sets of Dillon strong mounts..
The steel plates have all sorts of holes already drilled into them to match up with whatever (RCBS single stage,  Dillon 650, Dillon 550, Star lubri-sizer, RCBS motorized trimmer, etc)

So I might just  get by clamping some angle iron to like box in or frame in that steel plate to keep shot from rolling off onto the bench and down onto the floor.

Have you all ever used one of these Lyman ammo checkers before?

Some of my reloads will drop right into it.

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And others will be  be like a 1/16th to an 1/8th from dropping flush.

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EDIT:  these were made in my Mec 9000GN about a year and a half ago.  I haven’t had any problems shooting them in a pump, semi-auto, and an over/under.

I wouldn't bother with it.  If they fit in the gun, shoot 'em.

Yeah, those are kinda my thoughts too.

I have probably had the 12 gauge checker for a year.  The 20 gauge for about 6 months.  I finally broke them out of their packaging yesterday for the first time.  A friend ordered them for me.   I doubt I would  have ever ordered them for myself.  

I took some Winchester AA hulls that I had dumpster dived for.  So I knew they were NOT shot in any of my guns.  Then I ran them through just the first station of my Mec 9000GN.

One hull in particular just would not size down no matter what:

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But other hulls were right on that 0.810” mark:

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Of course, those would drop right into and right out of that Lyman checker.

The resizing collet on the Mec looked like it was closing all the way:

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There is a chance that once I get the Dillon SL-900 set up, that I set up the Mec to do buckshot rounds only.

Well there's your problem.  You're loading AA's.

LOL!

I had kept all my Winchester AA empties from when I dabbled in 3 gun and shotgun side matches.  Besides, my Mec came with a bunch of AA compatible wads.

I have a few small-ish tubs of the Remington “gun clubs” that I have sorted through.  But not enough yet to pick a load and dial in the machine.

I still have a bunch of hulls that I have to sort through from my dumpster diving efforts a few years ago:

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I've loaded gun-clubs, AA's, Nitros, STS all in the same hopper before (not something I've done a lot of, but I have done it).   The recipes are all the same, and the crimps come out pretty good.

I saw your loaded shell bin picture on the first page.  I was thinking “What are those gray hulls doing with those gold hulls?”

I didn’t want to muddy the waters any more than I already have in this thread, so I didn’t ask.

Excellent info in this thread!

I load on an RCBS Grand. Buddy was closing it out of his shop, had to practically give it away. LOL. Add an empty hull. Stick a wad in the wad carrier. Pull the handle. A round is born, perfectly formed. Repeat. It's that simple once everything is set up correctly on the press. It';s a mite more complicated than a MEC Jr or your Lee. Both good presses. I use a MEC Jr for my Blackpowder loads, Grand for everything else.

I use the same load for my cowboy action, trap, sporting clays, Red Dot, 1/18 #7.5's heavy target. Bout 1100fps I think. Remington STS, Gun Club or WW AA's. I get around seven loads out of a hull.

Cookie sheet under the press. Definitely. ShopVac is your friend. Mixed results if you have a stickvac that has a roll bar sucker end, LOL. Don't reload barefoot, you won't feel the spilled shot LOL.

It’s a boring job, but somebody’s gotta do it:

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I noticed that the frame of the SL900 had “DILLON XL” cast into the side.

The last time I looked at SL900’s, the frames actually had “ Dillon XL 650” cast into them.

So I was thinking “OH!  OH.  I bet those holes are not going to line up exactly.”

Sure enough, I had to woller out all 4 holes.

The little ledge or “lug” cast into the press seems to have been set further in:

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Nothing like that new press smell.

Very cool!

Congrats!


Did you order the 1oz or less shot bar?

Thanks!

No, I did not.

At least not yet anyway.

All I have loaded for the 12ga has been  1 ounce and an 1/8th  .  (Or said another way….  9/8ths )

One thing I did notice last night was the usual brass locator pins or buttons you would see on a 650 or a 550 have been replaced by spring loaded, captured buttons.  The spring forces the pin/button in the up location.  It  would make it so much easier to remove a shell from stations 3, 4, or 5 for whatever reason.

I thought that was clever.

It did come with strong mounts, but since I have that piece of steel, I won’t be using them.

I might have to rig up some other kind of chute to guide the loaded shells into an akrobin or an ammo can.

Thank you!

Dillon does an excellent job of packing or packaging:

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And it looks like  it comes with two set up “gauges”:

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One is an actual inert shotgun shell ( a Remington Gun Club).

The other is some red plastic doohickey.  I have not read far enough into the instructions to see what that is used for.

The red thing is to shut off the primer drops.   push up on the chute and insert underneath it.  

Ahhh….gotchya!

Thanks!

There is another thread going on in this sub asking about the money aspect of reloading 9mm.

So I decided to run my shotgun shell costs through this calculator:

https://ecsc-skeet.com/linked/shotshell_reloading_cost_calculator.htm

And this is how my numbers shake out:

Attached File


I have NOT seen any Winchester 12 gauge AA’s at this one Walmart on the Illinois side of the river for a while now.

But there is an Academy Sports over there that has them:

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It is almost a 9% sales tax over there, so I figured $13.05 out the door for a box of Winchester 12ga AA’s .

How do my numbers look above?

ASSuming a 9/8ths payload which is the most expensive part of the whole shell.

I wish I'd seen that before I made an excel sheet that does basically the same thing.

Older pic, the prices are higher now.  Other than shot.

I guess I could get my price per box down to about $5 if I used my homemade shot.

I shot trap with a buddy on Tuesday.  There was another older gentleman who joined us.

You could just tell he was a “veteran” or “pro” at it.  He was shooting a Kriegoff K-80.

Plus he had the Decot Hy Wide glasses with the side shields.

And the main thing I noticed was his vest….the rubber from the buttpad had rubbed a dark spot into the fabric right under the shoulder pad.

We got to talking and I asked him which shells he was shooting.

He pulled out one of those Winchester Super X bulk pack shells out of his pocket.  Then he said, “It isn’t worth it for me to reload.”

I googled his name later.  He had a record going there of either 1,300 or 1,600 registered birds broken in a row.

So that’s why I pulled  up that particular reloading  cost calculator.

I am still using an 8 pound jug of Clays that I bought 10 plus years ago.

Then my Mec originally came with at least 5 bags of wads.  

The numbers I punched in above would be my current  costs.  

Cost is the main reason I started loading 3/4oz for skeet.   Less shot, less powder.  Added benefit of very light recoil.   And they break targets just fine on the skeet field.

3/4 ounce, for 12 gauge?

I just looked at my 20 gauge reloads.

Those are 7/8ths of an ounce:

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Yup.  3/4 for skeet.  They're fantastic.

Are you shooting #9’s?



I got the SL900 completely assembled tonight and got it dialed in.

Which there wasn’t much to dial in.

I had to dial the powder drop in for 17.0 grains of Clays.

The shot drop was there already at 9/8ths.

So I made 25 good ones tonight.

I had a few that had crimps that went like this:

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For whatever reason.

I did have a couple of hiccups.

One was a sideways primer that jammed up the primer feed.   EDIT:  the pic below is from the second time a primer went sideways.  I caught it before it jammed up the primer feed mechanism.

When I was unpacking everything, I saw this plastic rod that looked a lot like the primer follower rod that you would see on the 550/650/750.  But this has a magnet on the end:

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The other hiccup  I had was with the white plastic “bushings” on the failsafe return rods on both the powder measure and the shot dispenser.

This isn’t an SL900, but you get the idea:

Attached File


They weren’t staying “hooked in” to the “platform”.  So I trimmed down some blue painter’s tape, and gave each one a few wraps.  Problem solved.

Overall, I am real happy with it.




I’ll try shooting these 25 later this week.  And if they run right, I’ll really start cranking them out.

Oh….yeah…. The hull feeder + the tip out wad guide so your right hand stays on the roller handle = genius!

For skeet loads (most of what I shoot) I load 3/4oz of number 9's.   16 grains of Red Dot and the same for Clays if my memory serves me.  

Awesome!  The 900 doesn't make the best crimps on every round like a MEC Jr. does.  But they're good enough to hold shot in (which is what matters) and I don't worry about that at all.  

The primer thing can be a pain when one goes sideways, but that happens pretty rarely.  

Once you get familiar with the machine, you'll be able to load a lot of hulls in a hurry.  I can load a couple of K in an afternoon with ease.  

I would recommend getting the low powder alarm as a backup.

Thanks again!

I need to place an order with Dillon soon, so I will add the low powder alarm (for the powder measure) to my order.

What I did do was using my label maker, I made basically a measuring tape that I stuck to the side of the powder measure, vertically.  So I had a real good idea where I started out level wise.  And then I had a real good visual clue where the level was when I stopped last night.

What I had a real problem with last night was static electricity.

I have been reloading since 1994, and last night was the worst with respect to static electricity.

I guess I am going to have to wipe the machine and the powder measure down with a bounce dryer sheet.

Then maybe connect a ground wire to the press.

I was trying to get an accurate weight on the powder charge, so I would dump the Clays into the scale’s pan and watch the numbers tick up to the 16.0 + grain mark.

Then I would look inside the hull…sure enough!  There would be about 20 + flakes of powder stuck inside the hull.  I would hold the hull with one hand over the pan, then I would flick the headstamp with my other hand.   And watch the numbers tick up.  

Getting back to the sideways primer issue, the first time it happened, that plastic lid for the primer tray was under so much tension…..

The first two thumbscrews unscrewed without any problems.

The third one was a bitch.

I had to use needle nose pliers to unscrew it most of the way.

When it unscrewed all the way, that plastic lid went “SPROING!”  and about 10 primers went flying everywhere.  Half landed in a drawer I had open.  The other half fell to the floor.  

But now I know….keep an eye out for sideways primers, and don’t let them get too far down or too low down into the primer tray.

Attached File



I am ASSuming that once you’re happy with how or where the shot hopper is positioned, then you can pinch down fairly hard on the white plastic “hose clamps”???

And there really should never be a need to undo those hose clamps and remove the hose???

I found another SL900 video.  Fast forward to the 16 minute and 30 second mark:



You gotta remember that Steve from the Power Factor Show is an engineer.  And putting two and two together, I am assuming that it must be in aerospace because of where he is located.

So, engineers just by their nature are going to point out every little hiccup with a machine.  But they will come up with a solution, too.


Don’t let my comments above deter anybody who is looking at getting a shotshell reloader.  EDIT:  especially an SL900.

The SL900 is light years ahead of my Mec 9000GN.

I've only removed that shot hose once and that was just because I was cleaning the press from top to bottom.  

Otherwise, nope.



For the primer tray, I've found that a good sized magnet underneath the tray will keep primers from spilling out when you pull the cover off.  It's not perfect, but it helps a ton.  

I also keep a stash of primers in a magnetic try stuck to the side of my strong mount.  For when you just need a single primer.  Its easier than fishing one out of the tray.  

Thanks again for the tips!

I already have 2 of the Craftsman magnetic bowls.  I use them to hold my hulls straight up when I am cranking my Mec’s.

I was at the local reloading store (LRS).  I bought their last 2 four pound jugs of Blue Dot.  They had not seen Red Dot or Green Dot in a long while.

So while I was there, the counter guy was showing me Hodgdon’s new website on a regular desktop computer.

So I just looked at 3/4 ounce loads.

They only gave me 3 powder choices:

1.  700X
2.  Titewad
3.  Clays

So I went with Titewad, since Clays seems to be unobtanium for the foreseeable future.

This is what Hodgdon’s new website spit out for me:

Attached File


EDIT:  that was with Winchester 12 gauge AAHS hulls.

For 16 yard trap 1 oz of 8s at 1190 / 1200 fps is a great plenty. Save your wallet and save your shoulder.

I shoot mostly 7/8 oz 20 ga for skeet.  3/4 ounce 28 ga is fine to.  At one time my 28 ga average was higher than my 20 or 12 ga average.

International trap is a 12ga game and is shot with 24 gram loads - which is slightly under 7/8 ounce.  Of course they use a bit higher speed.  I think my bunker loads are something in the 1350 to 1400 fps range.  Actually pretty nice shooting loads.

I can almost guarantee that you'll love 3/4oz for the skeet field.  They're just plain pussycats.  Not sure how they'll work for trap, I don't shoot trap.

There is a range over in Illinois that has wobble trap..

And then the Gateway Gun Club in St. Louis has bunker.

I am willing to try both

Yeah, I was looking at 3/4 ounce wads yesterday:

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The raised edge on that bench looks handy!