Find at gun show a shot in the arm

About eight months ago, I was able to buy a used 10 gauge semi-auto shotgun I had wanted for the past couple of years. I was holding off buying it because of cost, but I finally found a seller who let me pay over time. Remington dropped this model, the Remington SP-10, from its line several years ago, but they are fairly common in the used gun market. The gun is primarily used in waterfowl hunting for geese and turkey hunting.

I’ve wanted to get back into waterfowl hunting and, more specifically, goose hunting. I’ve got a couple of shotguns that work just fine for ducks, but geese are a much larger bird often taken at longer ranges than ducks, so I was looking for the best tool to pursue that situation. I already own a 10 gauge side-by-side shotgun and have a perfect score on downing geese with that gun. I’ve gotten shots at exactly two geese and got them both! I did find, however, that having a third shot immediately available is a distinct advantage if one shot was only a crippling hit.

I also found a short barrel with sights attached for the SP-10 that I was able to buy from another seller. I now have a shotgun for geese and, with the change of barrels, a “turkey gun” that can be used with rifled slugs or for close-range predator hunting. To aid in using the short barrel, especially with slugs, I found a scope mount base by yet another manufacturer made especially for this gun and I now have a shotgun scope mounted for use during the ongoing targeted moose hunt if I’m lucky enough to draw a permit.

If you’ve even priced shotgun shells, you already know that hunting loads aren’t cheap. I have a fairly good stock of 10 gauge hunting loads I bought way back when the Alaska Commercial (AC) company was holding a stock liquidation sale in Anchorage years ago. However, a few good hunting trips will exhaust the majority of my steel loads. Trying to find rifled slugs or buckshot in this gauge is also quite difficult and if you do, figure on a second mortgage to buy them.

I attended the Wasilla gun show last weekend and, while I wasn’t looking for this specific item, I lucked into another good deal. As I was leaving Saturday evening, I noticed an open box on a seller’s table that was labeled as a 10 gauge MEC Steelmaster shotshell reloader. The labeling said the tool was new and listed a price. My initial take was the price looked good, but I wanted to research the whole thing a bit since I’m a longtime metallic cartridge reloader, but have very little experience loading shotshells.

That evening, I went to the MEC website to learn about the particular model and get a retail price listing. I learned that this particular tool was, in all probability, the best reloading tool available for the purposes I would use it for — namely relatively low volume (maybe 100+ shells per year) steel shot reloading for waterfowl hunting, loading small size lead shot loads for target practice, and loading buckshot and slug loads for the 10 gauge gun.

The other nice feature is that for the cost of another set of reloading dies in a different gauge, this tool could readily be converted to load shells for any of the other shotguns I already own. I went back Sunday afternoon to talk with the seller.

The MEC box had been opened, but the tool had never been removed from the packaging. All the paperwork and parts were present. When I asked why he was selling it, he said he had gotten it to feed his Remington SP-10, but life got in the way and he never did start waterfowl hunting. He had sold the shotgun and now wanted to get rid of the reloading press.

The best part is that he was only asking about half of what the current retail price was for the tool. I wrote him a check and brought the reloader home.

I’ve purchased Lyman’s shotshell reloading manual and I’m reading it to come up to speed on proper shotshell reloading procedures. I have a friend who has a lot more experience than me reloading shotshells. I helped him with metallic cartridge reloading questions and equipment; he’s now willing to help me with shotshells. Life is good!

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by emailing sports@frontiersman.com.