16ga.com ~ View topic - Ponsness-Warren DuoMatic 375

Joined: 30 Oct 2009 Posts: 67 Location: Fox Valley, WI

I have been looking at and debating for a long time on this, and would like very much to hear all of your thoughts on this press and reloading new Fiocchi and chiddite hulls. My mac jr buckles the plastic body and mangles the crimp after the first reloading. I have given up on reloading from that press and have been only hand loading all brass hulls but this is laborious......

Joined: 16 Sep 2006 Posts: 334

I have a 375 set up for 16ga. PW single stage are fine machines IMO. I haven't loaded Fiochi or cheddite so can't address that.

Joined: 22 Feb 2019 Posts: 63 Location: United States

The PW loaders are excellent. I have 7 of them. Take the time to learn hoe to adjust and fine tune the 375 and it can give you better than factory ammo.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1840 Location: Central ND

The MEC is out of adjustment. I have loaded countless new 16 gauge hulls on single stage and progressive MEC machines with great results, especially with Cheddite hulls. Fiocchi hulls tend to be a bit less rigid and have the tendency to crush just above the metal head if the crimp is set too deep or there is just a little too much wad column height.

There is no machine out there that is perfect, each has their good points and bad points. It is all in how they are adjusted.

Joined: 22 Feb 2019 Posts: 63 Location: United States

There is a pretty good one on E-Bay for 229 and free shipping it is a 12 ga BUTT if you get a 16 ga Taper Crimp Kit and a 16ga deprime punch, from PW, for around 130 shipped this loader will do 16 ga shells just fine. Then it will be a Taper Crimp 16ga loader for 360 that 1/2 the cost of new.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/375-DUOMATIC-PONSNESS-WARREN-SHOTSHELL-12-ga-RELOADER-DUO-O-MATIC-PRESS/372702162738?hash=item56c6c7af32:g:qo4AAOSw3YpdFlwx

Joined: 10 Sep 2017 Posts: 24 Location: Saskatchewan

I use a PW 375 and have 12 and 16 gauge dies on the head. It makes a very nice load. I used to use a Pacific 105 and it is a crude, inferior machine in every way.

Joined: 10 Sep 2017 Posts: 24 Location: Saskatchewan

I use a PW 375 and have 12 and 16 gauge dies on the head. It makes a very nice load. I used to use a Pacific 105 and it is a crude, inferior machine in every way.

Joined: 10 Sep 2017 Posts: 24 Location: Saskatchewan

I use a PW 375 set up with 12 and 16 dies on the head. Used to use a Pacific 105 but it is a crude, inferior machine in every way.

Joined: 03 Jul 2007 Posts: 64 Location: Wasilla, Alaska

I must like them a little. I have 4 of them and dies for 12, 16, 20, 28 and 410. I've not loaded 410 on mine but have loaded everything else. The 16 gauge Fiocchi hulls seem to load just fine. I've loaded a lot of ammo on PWs and have been very happy.

PW told me they could make a set of 24 gauge dies for my 375 but I haven't pursued that yet. I also plan to get a 10 gauge head for one of them.

Member Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 2168 Location: Florida

I have had both Mec & PW and sold all my PWs .

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 1257 Location: Nebraska

My PW is an automatic, easily adjustable as should be your MEC Jr and I'm sure the 375 will work quite well, too. I've mangled hulls with mine in the past, a fine line adjustment pretty much cured that although the DR16 wad still gave me trouble as its base would frequently turn instead of feeding smoothly into the hull. Instructions with progressive presses caution about smoothly and firmly operating the handle for uniform powder drops, when run as a single stage I have been able to make that DR wad work pretty well so I would think a 375 should put out perfect reloads with any proven combination.

One thing I did for my press is buy a MEC Supersizer in 16ga and run shells through it prior to going into my 900. The steel headed shells of today can require some serious force to get them into the dies and back out, the Remington GL reloads can hold down the ejectors of my M21 when the gun is closed and then reopened without firing. I assume the 375 dies are similar to those in my press, something to watch for. 12ga AA and Gold Medal hulls go through their dies like butter, as you might guess the old AA style 16s do likewise when I load them.