MEC 302 Steel Shot Charge Bar 1 oz BB-#2 Single Stage

Description

If you run a single stage MEC press and load your own steel waterfowl shells, this is the bar that meters your shot. The MEC 302 Steel Shot Charge Bar is cut specifically to drop 1 ounce of steel shot in sizes BB through #2, which covers a big chunk of the duck and goose loads folks are building at the bench. It's made from anodized aluminum and designed to accept removable MEC powder bushings, sold separately, so the bar handles your shot charge while the bushing handles your powder.

What the 302 Series Means for Your Press

The 302 designation tells you this is a single stage bar. It fits the classic single stage MEC lineup like the 600 Jr, Sizemaster, and 700. One thing worth knowing up front: charge bars cut for steel and charge bars cut for lead are not interchangeable. Steel pellets are harder and sized differently than lead, so this bar is dedicated to steel work and shouldn't be swapped onto lead loading duty.

Dialing In Your Steel Loads with This Charge Bar

The way MEC bars work is simple and dependable. The bar itself is machined to throw a fixed volume of shot, in this case 1 ounce of steel in the BB to #2 range, while the swappable powder bushing lets you fine tune the powder side to match your published recipe. That volumetric metering is what keeps your shells consistent from the first round to the last, which matters when you're chasing clean patterns on birds. Steel loads leave very little room for guesswork, so having a bar matched to the exact shot weight and pellet size you're loading takes a lot of the uncertainty out of the process.

For anyone already set up with a 302 series single stage reloader, adding dedicated steel bars in the weights and shot sizes you shoot most is the smart move. This 1 ounce BB-#2 bar is a practical starting point for lighter steel duck loads and upland steel, and it drops right into the machine you already own.