MEC 9000GN Progressive Shotshell Press – 12 Gauge 2-3/4″

Description

If you shoot enough 12 gauge that buying boxes has started to feel painful, the MEC 9000GN is the press that turns reloading into a rhythm. This is a six-station progressive setup that completes ten operations at once, so a finished shell drops out with every stroke of the handle. You feed in wads and hulls, work the handle, and pull a loaded round. The factory-set Auto-Dex indexing moves shells through each stage automatically when you return the handle to the top, which keeps the cadence smooth and consistent no matter how fast or slow you run it.

What Sets the 9000GN Apart

The big draw here is the automation. The press runs a fully automatic E-Z Prime primer feed that holds a couple hundred primers, plus Auto-Cycle charging that meters powder and shot without you touching a thing. The Power Ring resizer brings high and low brass hulls back to spec for clean feeding and consistent patterns, and it does it without breaking your loading sequence. At the end of the line, finished shells eject themselves from the carrier after the final crimp, so there's no fumbling to clear the station.

Crimp Quality and Output on the 9000GN

MEC's three-stage crimp is what gives these reloads a factory look and feel. The first station starts the crimp, the second closes it, and the third puts a taper on the mouth so rounds chamber smoothly. Run at a steady pace, the 9000GN will move somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 to 400 shells an hour depending on your recipe and how practiced you are on the handle. The steel frame and cast construction hold up to that kind of repeated use.

This particular press is set up for 2-3/4" 12 gauge hulls and comes with powder bushings 29, 30, and 32 along with a 1-1/8 oz charge bar for lead shot. It's dialed in for one gauge, so it's a workhorse for trap, skeet, sporting clays, and dove hunters who go through plenty of ammo.