16ga.com ~ View topic - What's It Worth - DL-366

Joined: 28 Sep 2014 Posts: 241 Location: Kingsland, Texas

I found one these for sale. Not sure the year it was manufactured . Pacific Hornady 366 reloader in a 16 gauge.
It does have to auto indexing and has the hole where the finished shell falls through.
Looks to be in great shape just not sure what the market would be on this particular loader.

so I take it I these are not very good loaders and I should pass?

I have not used the Pacific 366 (later it became the Hornady 366) to reload, but have played around with them. I'm waiting for friends to buy one so I can set it up and try it. From all I've heard and seen, the 366 is a very good auto advance progressive reloader. Resizing is not a part of the progressive sequence, but it has a separate resizing station and you can resize if you want, and it is little easier to do so than on something like the MEC 650, another early progressive with a resizing option, but not in the progressive sequence.. Other than the resizing issue, it is close to the Ponsness Warren auto advance progressives in results and operation. That means it is pretty darn good. You can also change die sets for other gauges on a 366.

When new, the 366 is priced just a little less than the PW progressives, but you are likely to get a better deal on them used, as they are less popular. You can still get parts for them, and Hornady still makes the 366 (though not in 16 gauge anymore), so I should think if you could get one for about $200 it would be a steal, and if it was complete and in great shape, $400 would still be an OK price. I've seen used ones for sale at our gun club for $300 (12 and 20 gauge). Of course I would buy a MEC 9000 for that mission, but that's just me. Popularity seems to be holding MEC prices up a little too high these days, and used PW's are also pretty high. I should think it would be pretty hard to go wrong with a good used Pacific/Hornady 366.

I've used a 366 in 12 ga for years. No difference between Hornady & Pacific except in the advance mechanism. As is true of all progressive loaders, you have to spend some time tuning the machine to your loads.

I currently use an RCBS Grand in 12 ga, and have been looking around for a set of dies in 16 ga for my 366. I am considering modifying a set of 20 ga dies to 16 - not hard except for the crimp die.

As is true of many progressive loaders (except my RCBS), if there is a screw up in the loading process, it is a pain in the butt to reset the machine into proper sequence. In this case most of the time you have to back the rotating plate up by hand to get the bad load out of the sequence, then put an empty dummy shell in where the bad on was, advance the plate, then continue.

First time is a pain. Then once you get the hang of it, it's much easier. If you don't try to re-load a shell 'just one more time', that should be dumped, you'll not have any problems.

The 366 turns out great reloads, consistent as hell - not like my 16 ga 650. And it is fast.

Tom

Member Joined: 02 Sep 2010 Posts: 829 Location: SW Ohio

I also use a Hornady 366 for 12 ga reloading and find it very consistent. I can put out 300 shells in 45 minutes. Could go faster if I had the larger shot and powder hoppers. Crimp look like factory.
I bought a second one as I found a set of 16 ga dies on eBay. However, they did not fit real well and had trouble with it since the dies were designed for a different model. So I sold the 16 ga die set here.
Love the machine but I only reload 16 ga for hunting loads so a MEC Jr works ok.

Hey top_cat, whaddya mean dissin' the 650! Wink

Fer shure, I understand. I always looked down on the 650, and it certainly has its disadvantages. But I've somehow acquired two in my lifetime, against my better judgement -- the first was free, so I couldn't resist, that's my excuse. I converted that one to 16, and found I could load just as fast with it as with my 9000's. Of course that wasn't taking into account the resizing operation -- woops. I sold that one to someone on this site. It did work great. Later I bought another in 12 gauge on this site. It was a wreck, but very overhaul-able. I actually have that on an Auto-Mate electrical assist, and use it at my winter home, to load what few 12 gauge target loads I shoot there. Again, barring resizing, it works as well as my 9000's, and just as fast, but you've got to "get the hang of it". I actually wouldn't recommend a 650 for high-volume reloading, with so many other better choices available, but I think it's a hoot to use, and I am a nut about history and historical products, and that's just me. I get a big kick out of the evolution of MEC progressive reloaders, from the 500, to the Super600, to the 650, and then the Grabbers and finally the 9000's of today. It's amazing how "backward compatible" they are. The irony of the need of foresight to create backward compatible products was never lost on me.

Woops! Thread drift . . . sorry Wink

Back to the 366!