Dan in Alaska

I have loaded on several brands of shotgun presses over the years - Mec, PW, Pacific, Hornady. In my opinion, the Mec machines are hard to beat. They are relatively inexpensive, and they last forever. They are not the prettiest machines one the market, but they do make some nice looking loads. Currently, I have two Sizemasters - one in 12 and one in 20 gauge. I also have a 12 gauge 9000G.

I like using the progressive machine for target loads. It is certainly faster than the single stage machines, but you need to pay close attention to what you are doing. One mistake can take several minutes to rectify and clean up.

I like the single stage machines for loading hunting loads, especially those with large shot sizes. Sometimes the larger-sized shot will "bridge" in the shot drop tube (especially in the smaller gauges). When you are loading one at a time this is an easy mistake to catch and quickly remedy. On a progressive machine, I don't always catch this, until it's too late. What a mess!