[Soundtrackzz]

Hey there everybody. Im new to reloading and I'm a little unsure of myself, but the real problem is that I'm a college student and still live with my parents. My mother is absolutely positive that im going to blow my face off. I wondered if anyone knew of any statistics or studies showing how few reloading accidents actually take place every year. That would put her somewhat at ease and make my life easier. Thanks.

Zach

[LB7_Driver]

I've had a few reloading accidents:
- a few primers inserted up-side-down. No injuries.
- A few primers inserted sideways & crushed. No injuries (did not go off).
- A few squib (no powder) loads. No injuries.
- A few buckled case necks. No injuries.
- A few mashed bullets. No injuries.

The real danger is a double charge, which I have never experienced. I recommend using a powder that fills more than half the case whenever possible.

Follow the basic safety rules and there is virtually NO danger of anything blowing up or catching fire.

The only "injury" was from a failed case I had reloaded; one of thousands of 9mm Luger reloads, and there was no damage to the gun. My hands got a bit dirty and they stung a bit, though.

[Floppy_D]

I'll ne honest, after scouring miles of pages looking for the same myself, the only risk seems to be a double charge, will damage the firearm. The next worry is making sure your fingers are out of the way of the press (it'll mash your fingers should you be forgetful and leave them there). Aside from that, follow the recipe like you were in a chemistry class, and you're golden.

[ranger335v]

Tell your mom that an old poop told you that he's been reloading since '65 and has never even heard of any injury worse than a pinched finger while reloading. I think moving furniture is more risky, and women LOVE to do that! :)

[FlyinBryan]

i had a primer go off trying to seat a large pistol into a nt45acp case (takes small primers.)

i pre-prime in my progressive with a case feeder and the die turret out so it just fired straight up.

it was very loud (seemed louder than a black cat) and a little fire shot out the top of the press, which made me almost crap in my pants, but no injury.

[rcmodel]

I had a friend blow himself up with an 8 pound keg of Bullseye pistol powder stored with the lid off.
Well, blown-up is really too strong a word.
Burnt-up would be a more accurate description, although he did survive the fire, but was crispy-critter critical for months in a burn unit and lost most of his fingers, nose, and ears.

Lesson to be learned = Don't store open kegs of powder under your power bench-grinder!

Heard of a fatality where a guy dumped all his primers in a glass fruit jar, then later dropped it on the floor and they all exploded at once.

Lesson to be learned = Keep primers in the factory containers / trays until ready to use them.

That's the extent of my personal knowledge of actual really serious injuries from handloading.

In the grand scheme of things, any number of other hobbies & interests are far more dangerous then reloading.

Like:
Hanging out in bars.
Skydiving.
Motorcycle racing.
Bedding married women.
Fishing. (I've had two personal friends killed while fishing, and know of many others!)

rcmodel

[Shoney]

Although it doesn't answer the question, these stats in the attached file do put things in perspective.

[Ceemack]

The process of reloading can seem frightening to the uninitiated.

One thing she'll need to understand is that the powder with which you're working is not explosive. It burns...and different powders burn at different rates. There's no way it can "blow up" while you're working with it.

And of course, you'll always wear safety glasses when reloading, so if a primer does pop or a powder charge burns (I've been reloading since I was a college student, 25 years ago, and never had that happen) your eyes are protected.

When it comes to using reloaded ammunition, three things can hurt you:
1. A double-charge, causing a catastrophic failure of the case, the gun, or both. These are usually only possible with handgun rounds.
2. A no-charge or "squib", which will usually lodge a bullet in the bore and cause a catastrophic failure when the next round is fired.
3. A single charge that exceeds the maximum pressure for the cartridge.

You can show her the things you do to make sure none of these three ever happen to you:
1. Use the bulkiest powder you can find that will do the job, so that a double-charge either overflows the case or gets so close to the top you can't miss it. This will also make a no-charge more obvious, as well.
2. Visually inspect each and ever powder charge to make sure every case is charged and that the charges are all the same.
3. Staying within the maximum charge weights shown in your reloading manual.

[GaryL]

Other than a couple missing primers (opps), I've never had an issue.
Have a friend who has worn out parts on his press (well over 100K rounds) who has had a couple of hot rounds in a 1911 style 45acp where the case failed and damaged the magazine. All he did was pop in a new mag and continue shooting. He recently admitted to me that in the last couple years he's backed off from loading max loads.

Lesson to be learned = Don't store open kegs of powder under your power bench-grinder!Sounds like he could have been a potential Darwin Award winner.

[RustyFN]

I had one reloading accident. I got my finger caught between the ram and the die. It hurt like hell but no blood.
Rusty

[scrat]

I went for years with out anything. then just in the past month i have had 3 primers go off when loading. in all i believe it was due to bad primer pockets. as the last two times i had just went to load a primer and BOOOOOOM. after the shock i got the case took a primer pocket cleaner to it. checked it out again. looked ok. set another primer tried it again. and BOOOMMMMM. After that i just chucked the case. all other rounds were ok before and after

[wingman]

[QUOTE]Don't store open kegs of powder under your power bench-grinder!/QUOTE]

Dang, that is one for the dumb reloader of the month book,:D

Over 30 years of reloading and my worse accident was a pinched finger
in the press when adjusting dies.

[Navy joe]

Lesson to be learned = Don't store open kegs of powder under your power bench-grinder!


Was he trying to make it in the paper or did it just slip his mind? Of course I know someone like that, certifiable genius, invented many things. Was flow testing fuel components and no substitutes would do, the physical properties of racing gas had to be passing through his parts. And atomizing. In his house. Powered by an electric motor. Not a total loss, he pushed his race car out of the garage before the house burnt to the foundation.

Most reloading accidents reveal themselves on the range. I think home reloading is pretty safe. Store your components responsibly. Mind loose powder. The was a gun store employee named Ric, who now unwillingly goes by Ric Flare(WOOO!) who was dumping an ammo can of range sweepings into a cold burn barrel to dispose of it. Cold winter day, large flow of unburnt powder equals big flash and no eyebrows.

[Otto]

My mother is absolutely positive that im going to blow my face off.

More importantly, have you told her how much money you'll be saving her?

[Soundtrackzz]

yea ive told her. she doesent seem to care. I said that if she wants to buy all the ammo i ever shoot for the rest of my life that i wouldnt reload. She didnt like that idea either :)

[Jim Watson]

Thing is, serious reloading accidents are so scarce, you can just about call them out one by one as anecdotes. The accident RATE per hundred thousand users or per million rounds loaded is tiny.

My parents were scared of reloading too, based on an account in the newspaper describing a cop running the department Star to load practice ammo. Apparently he had a primer feed jam and poked at it with the metal weight rod. Bad idea.
But I eventually started reloading. Haven't blown up yet, but it has only been 36 years.

[308sc]

getting to much S@#$ for this comment

[Jim Watson]

"JUST had a squib load, that's ALL"?

Not a good attitude. A powderless load, commonly misnamed a squib these days, is a sign of a major lapse in attention or a rare but serious mechanical malfunction. Pay attention to your work, you have a long life loading and shooting to protect.

[scrat]

squib load oh ya i had one. lets see i was at the range loaded up 5 rounds in my 30-30. fired one or two. then fired the next, but i didnt feel a kick or anything. I stopped right there pulled the shell out it looked too clean. so unloaded the rifle. to it to the rear bench. took out my cleaning rod. pushed it down. YEP then tapped it a few times. out comes the bullet. EVER since then after i charge the cases i look into everyone of them to make sure i see powder. Then i do the shake test to when im done to make sure i hear powder. Or weigh them out. so they go through about 4 checks now.

[evan price]

I managed to pinch my thumb between the turret plate and the case slider rail on my Pro1K while trying to fix a stuck shell with my left hand, while my right hand forgot to stop pulling the handle. Dang, that hurt.

[M47 Dragon]

I am relatively new to reloading, and have not had any accidents.

To avoid squibs and/or double charges, I clipped an LED booklight onto the frame of the press and pointed it down at the bullet seating station so it lights up the inside of the case. This way, I can see the charge very easily before I place the bullet.

[qajaq59]

Read the rules, then follow them, and your injury rate will be zero. And don't try to remember what you loaded last time. Work out of a manual and keep accurate notes. I've been loading for 40+ years and haven't been hurt yet. But I don't cut corners either.

[bugs100]

I had a loose primer get under the shell plate. It went off and flew across the room and buried it self in to the wall.

I almost fell backwards off my stool..

[Eric F]

Oh but wait..........I thought in the shooting world there was only negligence and accidents were a thing of the past!:confused::scrutiny::banghead:

[308sc]

removed

[BAT1]

Took a primer in a .45 shell and shot it inside my workshop sounded like a fire cracker. I've tumbled finished rounds, had to remove bullets and primers to resize, they have fell, I've vacuumed them up. Just store your powder in a metal storage unit, away from heat or sparks. Gun powder will just burn rapidly, I had a friend toast himself with Coleman lantern gas, one in a million. NO distractions when loading, an experienced person can give valuable advise, Always look at the load in the shell, before pressing. I use a little magnetic led light to see into the shell, use a good scale. Welcome to the world of your own accuracy.

[Otto]

I really don't think Squibs are that bad, you can obviously hear them, but you are right about the attention thing, It was in the first pistol batch that i ever reloaded...

Wrong. Squibs are very serious. And don't assume that you'll always be able hear one when it occurs. I realize you're only 15 yrs. old but squibs should be avoided at all cost. The goal here is to keep you reloading for the next 70 yrs.

[308sc]

I have only had one, everyone calm down, I have not had another one 699 rounds later, hopefully it will be my first and last. I have never had any other problems though,

[floydster]

Years ago there was a guy that lived down the road from me, he was a big time reloader( rifle mostly).
Anyway he had a 25 lb. keg of 4831 in the metal container with the single pouring hole in the center of the can, the guess was he was trying to get the last lb. from the container by drilling a hole on the edge of the can, when it went off it blow him thru the first floor and he was in the basement, he lived about a day after it happened.
Floydster:(

[308sc]

wow! 25 lb is alot of powder, but if there was only one pound in there I highly doubt it.

[bogie]

If you drop a rockchucker, and you're not wearing steel toed shoes, you'd best move the piddies out of the way, or you're going to have a problem...

I suspect that most reloading accidents are either dropped stuff or muscle strains...

Closest I ever came to a real accident: I accidentally deprimed a live primer in case full of powder... Damn lucky. Wondered why it was so hard to do at the time, until I raised the handle, and all the powder went everywhere...

[CHEVELLE427]

this is why i started reloading my own ammo, this K-BOOM was from some fact reloads in my 1911-A1. SOME 33 YEARS AGO:cuss:

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff103/CHEVELLE427/DSCF2515.jpg
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff103/CHEVELLE427/DSCF2514-1.jpg
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff103/CHEVELLE427/DSCF2516.jpg

[Snapping Twig]

Ran my finger through a Lyman 450 sizer once.

Pay attention, stick to the receipes and keep safety as job one and all will be well.

I can't tell you how many relaxing hours I've spent reloading with a talk station playing softly in the background.

Dr. Laura would get a kick out of it if I told her how many times I listened to her show while reloading. :)

[CHEVELLE427]

I can't tell you how many relaxing hours I've spent reloading with a talk station playing softly in the background.



SAME HERE

[THe Dove]

I've been reloading and casting boolits for over 15 years now. The worst incident was I smashed my thumb in the press! It's all good amigo! Just stay tuned in to what you're doing, don't over charge or get distracted, relax and have fun/ENJOY!

The Dove

[CHEVELLE427]

smashed my thumb


Strange how the right hand just does not care at all about the left.:neener:

smashed my left finger and the rt hand just kept pulling down on the
leaver.:cuss:

[THe Dove]

You are correct Chevelle, I wanted to stop the ram but my right hand kept pulling!! HAHAHA

The Dove

[rcmodel]

Smashed my thumb in a Lubrisizer on Feb. 18th. changing top-punches & the handle fell down.

Probably about another month and my thumbnail will be all better & new again! :eek:

rcmodel

[dakotasin]

ripped off a 15 or so inch strip of skin from my right forearm on up to my triceps when i reached over the top of my rockchucker - and exposed depriming stem on an rcbs sizer die - and did not allow enough room for clearance between my skin and the stem.

after i got the bleeding stopped, i went back out and had to pull the long strip of skin off the die. that was the part that made me a bit queasy.

to prevent future reoccurences, i have found a bottleneck rifle case of almost any variety makes an outstanding buffer between skin and sharp threads.

[Halo]

Hey there everybody. Im new to reloading and I'm a little unsure of myself, but the real problem is that I'm a college student and still live with my parents. My mother is absolutely positive that im going to blow my face off. I wondered if anyone knew of any statistics or studies showing how few reloading accidents actually take place every year. That would put her somewhat at ease and make my life easier. Thanks.

Zach

Hello Zach,

Chances are your parents, like most home owners, have a can or two of gasoline in their garage, shed, or utility closet -- as well as cars, a lawnmower, and whatever else with gasoline in their tanks. Tell them gasoline is far more volatile and potentially dangerous than modern smokeless powder. If they have been comfortable having gasoline (which is a true explosive, unlike smokeless powder) in their house for years, then a few canisters of powder is nothing! As others have noted, all you need to do is read a good reloading manual and adhere to the fundamental safety rules, and there is no danger whatsoever.

You might even add this little tidbit, when smokeless powder is exposed to moisture it breaks down into its constituent nitrogen compounds which are actually the same compounds your parents might be using to fertilize their lawn! In fact lots of people dispose of unwanted powder by spreading it on their lawn and wetting it down. You certainly wouldn't be able to do that if it was a volatile explosive.

[FieroCDSP]

Welcome to reloading.

As you can see, far more injuries result from the actual mechanical press operation than the components in the ammo being made. :D
I've done the finger in press thing, though came up short of running it through with the decapping pin.

Perhaps my only remotely serious mishap occured with my Lee Pro Auto-Disk mounted on my LoadMaster. I had too small a charge and pulled the disk to switch cavities without turning off the feed and clearing the dispenser.
Suffice to say, my LM got a bath in AA#2, an incredibly small spherical powder that sticks to everything. I ended up stripping the whole press to clean it, took me three days. Had I not cleaned it thoroughly, and were a primer to go off, the flash could have ignited residual powder, and that would be bad.

Reloading is safe and fun if you take the safety rules for what they are: Rules to obey to avoid genuine danger.

[CBS220]

I attempted to resize my finger once.

Not comfortable, but it healed up quick.

[RonJon]

Some powders (E.G. Hodgdon H110 and (IIRC) Winchester 231) do not like to be loaded less than 3% under maximum load (other powders recommend starting @ 10% under max and working up until you like - Without exceeding the max load, of course).

If you do load those powders too light it will not always be ignited by the primer and the power of the primer is enuff to put the bullet into the barrel and that is where it stops!

I learned this the hard way when attempting to load light loads for my S&W 500. My son heard the light 'pop' and shouted to me not to attempt the next shot (might have saved my life!) Boy that bullet was really hard to remove from the barrel and the H110 made a big mess to clean up before that gun could be fired again.

After the clean up, I tried shooting some more rounds (much more carefully this time) and damn if it didn't occur again!! That ended that range day!

At home, I pulled all the rounds I had made too light and brought up the load to within 3% of max and had no further problems.

Moral: Always check your Mfr's load warnings before using any powder!

Ron

[.38 Special]

Sounds like an awful lot of people have decapped their fingers. Me too.

The worst accident I've had was similar to RCmodel's note about the bench grinder and the open keg of powder, but slightly less foolish -- although slightly more concerning, I think, simply because I would not have thought this exact incident was possible, are at least at all likely.

I was using an angle grinder which threw sparks onto the shelf where I keep some reloading components, which was definitely foolish. But I did not expect a spark to find its way through a pile of junk into a half buried, closed sleeve of primers. The resultant explosion (about 300 large rifle magnum primers) broke the 3/4" particle board shelf upon which the primer box rested, and of course scared the absolute living daylights out of me. I got peppered by fragments, but was wearing glasses and long pants/long sleeves so only suffered some red marks on my face.

And now of course I mind where my sparks are going...

[CHEVELLE427]

Storing powder and primers?

On other forms someone will post let's see you reloading setup and I see a lot of powder setting on the shelf's along with primers etc.

I for 1 keep all mine in sealed cans, up side nothing can harm them, the down side if I have a fire they will most likely explode in the sealed cans.
Anybody have a better idea on storing powder and primers.


guess you could store them in some plastic containers, that would keep things away from them and in case of fire the container would just melt like the powder container would.

[FieroCDSP]

for 1 keep all mine in sealed cans, up side nothing can harm them, the down side if I have a fire they will most likely explode in the sealed cans.

Plastic dry-boxes for hunting/fishing, etc... Larger than a 308 ammo can and can hold 4-5 cans of powder (depending on which ones). Plus they'll blow out at a lower pressure rather than a catastrophic explosion. K-mart, Walmart, most places carry them in one form or another. And they stack nice, too.

Otherwise, build or buy a wooden magazine box.

[Halo]

When my old college dorm fridge stopped cooling, I unplugged it and promoted it to powder storage duty. It keeps out humid air and buffers against temperature swings due to the insulated walls.