Mec vs Rebel round 2

[6pakzak]

For this test I sorted once fired Lapua brass in .223 with less than .0005 runout at neck and distributed 5 cases with the same runout between the 2 presses, body sized with Redding die then neck sized with LCD and finally seated with Forster die. First thing I noticed was Mec varied shoulder bump around .001, rebel was right on for 4 cases and off by .005 on one case, next I found that if you pressed on the arm harder with the mec press my bullet seating length could be off by .004 depending on how hard you push, with the rebel the seating length stayed the same if you pushed on it harder so this explains why shoulder bump varied much more on mec. Lastly I measured runout at ogive, mec averaged .00115 with worst runout at .002 and best at .00025, rebel averaged .00089 with worst at .00125 and best at .0005. What I think kinda matters most from this test is that the mec could give various results on shoulder bump and seating depending on your force working the press, if you have a shoulder gauge this can be checked but of course you can't make it grow if you push shoulder to far and seating can be checked also but will involve more tinkering, if you don't have shoulder gauge try and keep your pressure the same. In the end the runout was a little better with rebel but I think where it shines is that it is more consistent with a solid dead stop, using the rebel was less tidious cause results were very predictable, this MEC press might be going back, lol.

 

[6pakzak]

Rebel was off .0005 on one shoulder not .005.

 

[6pakzak]

I gotta say if you replace the RC with the rebel my results are pretty close to the results of the 14 press shootout with the rebel having the least runout and the mec being close to the rebel and the coax far behind both.

 

[nwmnbowhunter]

My findings as well with the mec. Really smooth and i love the open front access, but it was ever so slightly behind my RC and two reddings

 

[6pakzak]

I still put the case in from the side on the mec so for me having the front open doesn't really make a difference.

 

[6pakzak]

Been using the mec all day today, loading BT 223 rounds for my ar, runout is over .001, some going over .0015, these rounds have always loaded pretty straight, in the rebel I'm always around .001 with many under that so I think the mec will go back and I'll make the space for another rebel, not really happy with the play in the ram on the mec, I can move it easily and I can see the movement easily, it is not a terrible press, makes good ammo but the rebel in my opinion is a little better all the way around and cheaper not that that is a factor but if I can spend less and get better I'm gonna do it.

 

[6pakzak]

I will say that if I didn't have the rebel and only bought the mec I would have been happy with the mec.

 

[6pakzak]

I called mec today, asked them about slop in ram, guy says he don't understand how this could be, also top of ram that holds shell plate you can see all the tooling marks on it, like did someone cut this to size with a hacksaw, never mind terrible finish, makes lee challenger look like a precision piece finish wise, anyways guy tells me to return to place I bought it from, midway, now call them and they want to inspect it before they return. Just letting you guys know, if you want to buy anything for reloading check with Scheels first, they usually have best price and if they don't they will price match, if you're not happy with product you can return no questions asked and they pay for shipping back, also no time frame for returns, I suppose it's got to be within reason though. I thought mec would want to take care of it, nope, don't want to be bothered, not even look at it, I'll stick with rcbs.