My FIRST PRESS: MEC Marksman

[Hohn]

Just ordered it.

Why this one?

It seems to be a great value. The picture shows the press with the $40 stand. As it sits, that's $220. Hornady iron press alone is $220. Redding Big Boss? Also $220 or so. Made in Wisconsin by people who really care about quality (BCM, Kreiger, etc). Made of DUCTILE iron, which is typically 3x stronger and 20% stiffer than grey cast iron and far, far superior to a cheap offshore aluminum alloy press in most stores.

Great primer collection system. Great shell holder management. Great company. Works with Hornady L-n-L bushings. 4" of travel loads anything under 50BMG (416 Rigby on down).

No on-press priming. I don't know any experienced loader that primes on the press with a single stage. Either they prime off press for single stage or on-press for a progressive (Dillon 650, etc).


I'm excited about this investment, I expect it will last a lifetime.

 

[miguel]

Good for you! Happy reloading...let us know how it goes.

 

[bgcatty]

Fantastic! Welcome to the reloading "fraternity" so to speak. You will recoup the cost of the press with reloading. But, there is the old adage: I reload and I'm saving money. Yup! But then again you will find yourself shooting more and more and reloading more and more to keep up. No matter what its all about having fun with your firearms and reloading is an extension of that and a great hobby to boot! Enjoy...

 

[Steel and wood]

Sure looks very interesting. If you would let us know how you like it

 

[Doublehelix]

I've heard good thing about this press, hopefully your experiences will be similar. Congratulations!!!

 

[tranders]

Congratulations!
I also have heard good things about this press.

 

[Wolfhound]

Seems like a great choice. Here's to many years of successful reloading.

Please give us a review after you've had the time to test it out a bit.

 

[Hohn]

The stand arrives today. No word yet on when the press itself will show up. (Had to order from an unknown-to-me vendor to get a substantial savings).

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

Very nice.

 

[4651feeder]

Will the shell holders interchange with any other brand?

 

[Hohn]

Looks like it takes standard shell holders. Since they don't sell shell holders as accessories for the press, I think that's a reasonable conclusion.

 

[Hohn]

The stand arrived today.

The stand is Black powdercoat over 3/16 (presumably mild) steel. The whole thing is made from two pieces. It appears to have been laser cut (not water jet) from plate, then bent on specific brake dies, then MIG welded at strategic locations for reinforcement. Through the coating, there is the faintest hint of ripple on the edges which is more consistent with laser cut than water jet (waterjet leaves much smoother edges). One piece is the outer "horseshoe" that includes the ears for the die holders; the 2nd piece is the small reinforcement "truss plate" underneath that is just there for stiffness.

They didn't finish or deburr the edges very well before powdercoat, so there's one place at the top back edge where the coating has been chipped off. (coatings hate sharp edges). Touch up paint or nail polish will fix it, it's tiny and I only noticed because I was specifically inspecting for defects.The edges aren't sharp to the touch, just to the coating adhesion. It could be packaging/handling damage.

That said, the coating is about .060" thick, so it's not super-thin. Away from the edges, it should last well.


Overall, it's a well-engineered piece that is more than up to the task of supporting the press with good stiffness, reasonable weight (about 4#) and low cost at about $40. A casting here would cost more and provide no value to you the customer. This thing costs about what the cast Redding powder measure stand costs, while being a much more complicated and feature-laden item.

Good job, MEC. Looking forward to getting the actual press!!

 

[natdscott]

I don't know why the press would be any issue.

Buy good dies, and it will be a good press.

 

[Hohn]

I don't know why the press would be any issue.

Buy good dies, and it will be a good press.

Almost certainly true (as evidence by 40-year old presses with 10k+ rounds on them still holding <0.001" concentricity).

But why buy something good enough when as good as it gets is just a tiny bit more?

 

[Steel and wood]

I am glad you are staying with this thread. You have me thinking hard about this press. Everything so far looks like it’s built good.
What kind of dies are you going to use?

 

[Hohn]

Press arrived today. Got it mounted on the stand. I don't have my bench area set up yet, so it'll have to stay portable for now with C-clamps.

What I like:

1) SUPER smooth.
2) SUPER Rigid. This thing will be more rigid that whatever it's mounted to.
3) NO SEAM ON THE HANDLE BALL. Have you ever held a plastic ball in your hand and had a small but sharp seam from the molding of that ball just irritate the snot out of your hand? Well, this doesn't have that. It's like an old Hurst Shifter in your hand. Glorious and perfectly sized.
4) Quick change shell holder is clever and gives some of the "float" of the Forster in a press that's about half the price of a Co-Ax.
5) Comes with 1 1/4" threads parent in the casting, and a reducer bushing for 7/8" dies. It'll take the larger dies if you want them. It's also compatible with the Lock n Load conversion bushing setup. (Which I'll probably do).
6) Handle location is perfect and travel range is excellent. Did I mention it's super smooth?
7) Linkage has fewer parts that are sturdy and have little play in the linkage. There's less to come loose over time. Each end of the handle travel ends with a very solid "thunk", there's no sponginess in it at all.

What I DON'T like:
-- The included packaging is totally an afterthought. "manual" is a bunch of stapled papers. Hey, they splurged and printed *in color*.
-- The powdercoat on the press has major dings in several places exposing bare iron. So, do they not care about QC or is this a packaging problem? Looks to me like it was damaged before it was packed. Granted, it's only a cosmetic flaw that's easily remedied, but still. It has the MEC brand on it, you'd think that care about the association. I know I care about what MY name goes on.


Sorry I can't offer much more useful commentary on it until I actually start using. These are VERY preliminary thoughts, and I can't offer and real insight into the amount of leverage or how hard it is to resize or anything like that. Since I'm only planning to load .223 at present, I'm sure it's plenty easy even with small base dies.


Steel and Wood, I'll send you a PM about my die plans.

 

[Wolfhound]

That thing looks like a beast. I bet it will handle anything you decide to load on it.

As for the dings......probably just issues with the new(ish) manufacturing process that they will get worked out as time goes on.

I am looking forward to more posts once you start loading with it.

 

[Hohn]

I didn't realize when I took the pic, but you can see two of the worst finish flaws. There's one next to the ram on the corner of the shell holder deck front left. Another is at the top front edge just to the right of the small "MEC" oval.

Not the end of the world at all. I'd gladly buy this press again even knowing it would come with dings. It's is super smooth and stout.

What REALLY sold me on this press was a video from FortuneCookie45LC showing he was getting on average less than a thousandth (0.001") of runout (TIR) on rounds loaded on the MEC.

[video=youtube_share;txJ2bfFqxSk]https://youtu.be/txJ2bfFqxSk[/video]

 

[natdscott]

TIR has a lot more to do with dies and components than it does the press.

Also, don't get TOO crazy with how close you try to get TIR. If it's 4-or-under, it's fine. Maybe more. I just won't take anything over 4 to a National or similar.

If you want to talk .223 dies, lemme know. I've run..several.

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

I always like FC45LC videos... He sold me on the Lee Autodrum when it first came out. His case prepping reminds me that I don't really obsess about it. Deburring, chamfering, flash hole prep, etc. Then using the right dies be it Lee or Forster.