Anyone have opinions of Hornady 366 for shotshell loading?

[John Trap]

I was thinking about purchasing a Hornady 366 for 12 gauge. Does anyone have an opinion on them?

Thank you.

 

[Aszerigan]

Personally, I’d stick with a MEC loader. RCBS and Hornady make nice machines but MEC is the king.

 

[Twangbanger]

The Hornady 366 is a very nice loader. I have a Ponsness-Warren in 12ga, a 366 in 20ga, and a MEC in 410. If you get in at a good price and it's all intact, go for it. I think they never caught on super-big because the PWs dominated the shotgun sports for so long, then even more high-end stuff like Spolars came along. There are more choices than ever now.

 

[John Trap]

I've got a mec 9000 now, but the primer drops are rather inconsistent. Just when I think I've got it adjusted correctly, it either fails to drop a primer, flips the primer upside-down, etc. I have read that the 366 is very good for primer drops.

 

[John Trap]

Do you have to remove the top of the 366, and remove two screws, in order to change the bushings?

 

[Whip_McCord]

I have 3 MEC loaders for shotgun, 12 & 28 gauges. They work fine. I do not know anyone that loads shotgun on a Hornady. I do load metallic cartridges (25 different cartridges) on a Hornady LNL AP. I like that press and prefer it to Dillon.

 

[Limpy88]

The hornady/pacfica 366 was hard to find parts for last year. Have a 20ga for 10years. The manual shut off for powder and shot can be frustrating/messy. The primer tube is manual as well. So easy to forget the primers. The resizing is a seperate station out side of the progress stations. If you only shot one gun and no pick up shells its ok. Multiple guns and what ever hulls I get. So it adds one more step to the process that wouldn't nessarcy if it was inline.

I stopped using the 366. I have 2 rcbs grands. They are awesome can do 450-500 hr with them. They have been discontinued. But still supported

The i have an older model pogness warren it has the same manual shut off. I don't use it either.

I have 4 mec single stages 12,20,28,410


If you got the funds a spolar with autodrive is the top.
Dillons are cool but pricey

I would go with a mec progressive that is still supported. (Some are not) if you wanting to stay in a budget.

 

[2in1evtime]

I have steered away from most hornady products the last few years myself, there warranty isn't very good and had poor customer service, others may have had better experiences but i haven't, tried a hornady vibratory tumbler and it died in a year and i didn't use it like i do my LYMANS!!!!!

 

[John Trap]

It's hard to beat the mec 600's, for the money. I have a few of them, and still load 410's on one. The beauty of the 600 in 410, is that you can load 3" and 2 1/2" shells on them, just by using the mec "short kit". I heard the rcbs grands are hard to come by.

Another option that I was looking into was the Ponsness Warren. But some of their older machines are difficult to find parts for.

 

[Limpy88]

It's hard to beat the mec 600's, for the money. I have a few of them, and still load 410's on one. The beauty of the 600 in 410, is that you can load 3" and 2 1/2" shells on them, just by using the mec "short kit". I heard the rcbs grands are hard to come by.

Another option that I was looking into was the Ponsness Warren. But some of their older machines are difficult to find parts for.

Yes, loading different length hulls is why I have the mec singles

Ponsness warren is on quite a back order. They still make parts for every machine they produced. But just have to wait for a year or more. Have a friend with 5 of the newer 800's or patriots(dont remember which). He likes them. He sold all his others brands to get more PW after his first machine.

The newest mecs 9000 that can use the electric autoloader are pretty neat. Probably the most compact of all the progessive loaders. My grands are big. Spolars and dillon 9000sl are hugh.

If money wasn't an option, buying new machines in order
spolar, with electric drive
dillon.
Mec, with electric drive
PW

Im not giving up my grands till I can afford spolars in all 4 gauges.

I would go with a PW over a 366. But make sure it is one with removable dies. That is a issue with the 366 and old pw have. When there is an issue you have to run the carousel all the way around to unload the hulls. Newer PW have a removable die system that make its simple to remove one hull from the line.

Other than mec, they share the same shot and powder bushing which is a plus. Rcbs, hornady, pw and spolar.

 

[Twangbanger]

It's hard to beat the mec 600's, for the money. I have a few of them, and still load 410's on one. The beauty of the 600 in 410, is that you can load 3" and 2 1/2" shells on them, just by using the mec "short kit". I heard the rcbs grands are hard to come by.

Another option that I was looking into was the Ponsness Warren. But some of their older machines are difficult to find parts for.

I previously assumed you might have had a line on a cheap used 366, but if you're buying new, there are other considerations.

The thing about Ponsness-Warrens is, do you really need super-precise shell resizing? The selling point for presses like those is they apply a true factory crimp, with a "roll" or taper on the forward edge of the finished round, and they also force the sizing ring down around the metal base of the shell. Due to neck injury, I shoot all 12 gauge sports with a fleet of 3 identical Beretta autoloaders, so resizing is important to feeding of second shots, and that was the reason for getting the PW950. I wish to heck they'd come out with the removable shell collets at the time I made the investment (without the removable collets, if you mess up or crush a shell, you aren't getting it out of the machine until it cycles all the way around, and if it's crushed you're going to have to cut it out). They are built like a tank, but they take a lot of force to operate due to the resizing, and become tiring for high volume without the hydraulic drive. But the PWs do make a shell that is resized to true factory condition. There is no possibility of a flipped primer, but they will occasionally fail to feed and you are routinely tapping the track to keep them moving, so you have to learn to keep an eye on it at a consistent point in the cycle on each shell. (The manual powder and shot shut-offs require a specific start-up and shut-down procedure to avoid spilling materials...I wrote it down and taped it to the front of the press, but still manage to F it up occasionally).

Resizing is the "weakness" of the MECs and 366; they are designed for use with break-open guns where you're placing shells in the chamber manually, and super-precise resizing isn't needed. They are perfectly fine for those applications.

If you're going to be shooting break-open guns, or autoloaders in single-shot sports like trap singles/handicap, the easiest road is to get a MEC. The operation force is a lot less than something like a PW.

If you're shooting autoloaders for multiple-shot sports where cycling of square, blocky shotshells is critical, you will want to reload on a press that has good resizing, like a PW. Just be aware the operating forces are higher, and your shoulder will eventually want the hydraulic drive if you load very much.

 

[John Trap]

I think, that the last used spolar that I saw sell, was in the $4,000 to $4,500 range. That was with the hydraulic pump and the spolar table. I heard that they have doubled in price, over the last few years.

The neat thing about the mec 9000, is that you can set the collet resizer, to what ever size that you want. But the drawback is that the tighter that you make it, the more wear it places on the collet. I think the collets are 50 or 60 bucks now, and it's kind of a pain to replace one. I use never-seize on them, and always wind up getting a mess on my hands.

I have a line on a Ponsness Warren 950 elite, from a guy at the club. He wants $500 for it, and I don't know what it has for bushings. He claims that it hasn't been used much, but I haven't seen it. I don't know if you can remove a shell from the carrier to check the weight of powder or shot drops, like a mec though.

 

[Limpy88]

I have a line on a Ponsness Warren 950 elite, from a guy at the club. He wants $500 for it, and I don't know what it has for bushings. He claims that it hasn't been used much, but I haven't seen it. I don't know if you can remove a shell from the carrier to check the weight of powder or shot drops, like a mec though.

the 900/950 dont have a changable die collet system originally. There is an add on for it. I wouldn't get it with out the changeable system.

I have a 900. I may pay the price to convert for 28ga or 410. And get the removal die kit too. But a $160 it shoot the price up of used machines alot to update.

900 Die Removal System

DIE REMOVAL SYSTEM (900/950 SERIES)Part # DieSystem1Update your older reloader with this Die Removal System. This system allows you to easily remove shells during the reloading process for checking shot or powder weights, inspecting shells, etc.Lift a die pin and slide out the shell - it's that...

www.reloaders.com

 

[John Trap]

Wow, they're proud of that upgrade. Probably be close to $200, with shipping and tax.

 

[DadSmith]

I have steered away from most hornady products the last few years myself, there warranty isn't very good and had poor customer service, others may have had better experiences but i haven't, tried a hornady vibratory tumbler and it died in a year and i didn't use it like i do my LYMANS!!!!!

I bought a Hornady vibratory tumbler from Brownells it came with Brownells forever warranty and they had it half price when I got it. It's been working well so far. Thousands of brass cleaned in it so far.
Only reason I bought it was because Brownells warranty, that and the 50% off sale. I figured of it goes bad it's covered. So far so good.
I did research it before buying and it did not have good reviews. So Brownells pushed all the right buttons to get the sale.