My FIRST PRESS: MEC Marksman

[Wolfhound]

Any updates on the new press?

 

[Hohn]

I got primers today-- CCI 41s. I'm still getting the rest of my stuff together-- need to get dies, scale, etc.

Once I actually start loading, I'll post an update.

I can tell you this: this thing is smooth and has excellent leverage, great quality (minus the powder coat finish dings), machining is excellent. Decapping crimped primers is no problem at all.

 

[Wolfhound]

Thanks for the update. I am seriously considering purchasing one just for loading some of my larger rifle cartridges like 30-06 and 270.

 

[Hohn]

Time for an update on the MEC:

I ran into an issue with the press bushing having threads that are a little too tight. One of my Lee pistol dies wouldn't thread in without great difficulty. The die appeared to have some dings in it. I sent it to Lee, they cleaned up the threads and sent back to me.

It still took a LOT of effort to get that one die in.

I decided to get the LnL conversion bushing kit since this MEC uses a RockChucker style larger thread in the casting and bushes it down to 7/8"-14.

The bushings on the LnL are much looser, they spin right on. There are now now problems at all.


I'm not sure why MEC threads their original bushing so tight, perhaps out of misguided idea that they are making the press more precise? Anyway, if you get the MEC, expect to get the LnL conversion bushings if you're not already using them.

The press operates with superb smoothness. Easily resizes little .223 and 9mm. EXCELLENT feel for bullet seating. You can really feel differences in neck tension.

Ergonomically, the open front is much easier to use the a topical O-frame that would force you to load cases from the side. This is perhaps its best feature.


From what I can tell, this is essentially a "poor man's CoAx" only the die swaps take longer. (The CoAx primer seating is no better then a Lee Prime for on-press priming).

The tiny bit of float on the shellholder is a great idea, just enough for alignment without a lot of slop.

Annoying quirk: the die holder holes on teh side of the press are not all the same size. Some will accept a die with the LnL bushing still on, one of them won't quite fit.

I'm assuming this is due to powder coating thickness variation. Still, it's irritating.

Overall you get the impression that this a well designed press that is lacking a bit of attention to detail in some areas.

Given that it's only $180 and compares to a CoAx at $320, I'm thinking it's nearly the same press at nearly half price.


Very pleased with it overall.

 

[Hohn]

You can learn much about a press from decapping and resizing 700+ 9mm cases.

Accessibility is excellent with the open front design. It’s like a Lee loader on steroids.

The leverage is a good balance between speed and power. My 9yo son has no problem resizing a few hundred 9mm in a row.

Spent primer handling is a weak spot. The primers drop down through the ram and exit through through a sidecut in the ram where they ostensibly land in a cheap little plastic tray. Mostly they do. But about 10% of the time it will either not exit the ram (until the next round pops the previous and itself down) or it will bounce out of the tray.

The primer handling does achieve the goal of keeping the shelf at the shell holder level clean, and it keeps primer crud off the ram where ground glass theoretically could cause wear.

But it does that in spite of not containing the mess very well. At the table level, it’s still pretty messy.

The tube-based design like Redding and Forster use must be superior in that regard.


Aside from that annoyance, it’s an excellent press. There’s no play in the linkage or ram travel. The ram bottoms with a firm stop.

It allows for excellent feedback also. You will know very clearly when you are sizing an S&B case vs a smaller Federal.

Feedback when bullets seating is pretty good, though it is possible to bump OAL a bit without feeling it. By feel you’d swear nothing happened but the calipers say otherwise.


For reference, all my dies this far are Lee.

 

[Steel and wood]

Thank you for all the reviews. Sounds like a good buy, I am going to check them out again.

 

[Hohn]

Thanks for the bump, it reminded me to post an update.

I've loaded now about 500 rounds of 5.56 and 400 more rounds of 9mm on the MEC.

It's an excellent press. The leverage is great, it's super beefy and made of premium materials. The ammo is loads has shot pretty accurately for me. (cloverleaf 5-shot groups at 50y from my 5.56 AR).

I'm confident that this press is not giving up anything in accuracy to something like a CoAx.

It's less convenient than a CoAx because it still threads in the dies. I converted to Lock N Load bushings and never looked back (it's has the larger thread in the casting).


The only problem with this press is that I wish I had 3 of them!!

 

[SmileDocHill]

...
The only problem with this press is that I wish I had 3 of them!!

Or a buddy that lives nearby to barter with and share the workload, time, components and benefits with.