Wanted a good 3rd press to replace lee challenger, went with mec marksman, really happy with rebel but wanted to see what mec was all about and the way I have my presses lined up if I bought another rebel I would have had to space them apart further cause of the way the handle sits way to one side vs MEC where I could adjust it to be out of the way. First let's look at appearances, rebel has nice even finish on it, mec has little bumps here and there, kinda blotchy finish, like no finish sanding or anything done before coating, but it's a press not a new car but rebel is finished way better. Now to fit, rebel has machined arms with bigger bushing surfaces, me has thick stamped steel that bushings ride in but not as thick as rebel, I can feel a bit of slop in neck ram where as rebel is tight, much tighter than mec, ram is longer on rebel and has more leverage than mec, rebel feels smoother than mec and and sizes with less effort, mec feels good but rebel feels powerful and does everything effortlessly. So what about the finished product, how did the round turn out? Well I body sized and seated with me, just as I did with rebel, so far good rounds but not better than rebel, actually seating seems to be more consistent on rebel and shoulder bump seems to be a little more consistent with rebel, runout is about the same, still staying around .001. This is day one and mec needs to be worked some, I think all presses need a little break in, so I will be putting it through it's paces. I had a friend come over who is just starting reloading, gave him my lee, and he was surprised when I told him the rebel was cheaper than the mec, he thought it looked like a better press, quality wise the rebel is made very well, I was very surprised to feel the slop in the mec ram, the floating shell holder feels pretty close to the slop or float I had in my lee shell holder. Today if I had to choose between the two I would definitely go with the rebel, it has a great feel to it and is strong and straight, fit and finish is much nicer than mec, not even close in my opinion, the rebel also seems like a press that will last forever, mec seems cheaper, bullets seem fine so we'll see.
Mec vs rebel, first impressions
- Thread starter 6pakzak
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