The dumbest mistake you made when reloading?

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TheDomFather

TheDomFather

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So yesterday I had a couple of spare hours on hand and decided to make some test loads for .45 ACP

Historically I had been shooting .45 ACP with 185 gr Hornady XTP over bullseye. I have a box of Ranier 200gr and a box of Hornady 230 gr XTP I wanted to make some test loads with to compare how heavier bullets shoot in terms of accuracy as well as recoil impulse.

I determined I would make 50 rounds of the 200gr Ranier with 3 different powder charges of Bullseye and then 50 rounds of the 230 gr Hornady XTP with 3 different powder charges of unique since there was no bullseye load in the hornady manual. I got all my brass prepped and meticulously dropped the 50 charges for the 200 gr Ranier when I realized after dropping the last charge that I never put primers in the cases! Dammit dump the 50 charges back in and start all over again! Im so damn stupid sometimes!!!!! Hey at least I caught it before I started seating bullets :)
 
TheDomFather said:
So yesterday I had a couple of spare hours on hand and decided to make some test loads for .45 ACP

Historically I had been shooting .45 ACP with 185 gr Hornady XTP over bullseye. I have a box of Ranier 200gr and a box of Hornady 230 gr XTP I wanted to make some test loads with to compare how heavier bullets shoot in terms of accuracy as well as recoil impulse.

I determined I would make 50 rounds of the 200gr Ranier with 3 different powder charges of Bullseye and then 50 rounds of the 230 gr Hornady XTP with 3 different powder charges of unique since there was no bullseye load in the hornady manual. I got all my brass prepped and meticulously dropped the 50 charges for the 200 gr Ranier when I realized after dropping the last charge that I never put primers in the cases! Dammit dump the 50 charges back in and start all over again! Im so damn stupid sometimes!!!!! Hey at least I caught it before I started seating bullets :)
Click to expand...
Been there. I once had a scale lose zero and didn't catch it. Now I use Lee dippers and a scale.
 
Bfh_auto said:
Been there. I once had a scale lose zero and didn't catch it. Now I use Lee dippers and a scale.
Click to expand...
Same. I had loaded about 200 .30-06, 150 .270WSM, and 200 .45ACP since I could confirm the last known zero. I learned the value of setting your scale in the same, level spot each time. Thankfully, weighing a few powder charges from each verified that only, IIRC, the last batch of 50 .30-06 had to be redone. :whew:
 
Removed a hopper from a Lee Auto Disk powder measure when getting ready to change the disk setting.

Forgot to turn off the hopper by closing the valve on the bottom first ...

Yes, it was a mess, compounded by the fact I was using AA#2 at the time— those fine grains really exit a hopper quickly if it’s not turned off!
 
Early on, my first attempt at .223 I used a very light load (starting load) and it failed to cycle the action of an AR. The RSO came over to "rescue me" from what must have been a horribly dangerous situation... He kept muttering " I hope this doesn't blow up on me" while he pried a jammed cartridge from my gun with his Leatherman tool.
I was more than a little ticked off.

My mistake? Using standard starting loads likely intended for manual action rifles vs. looking into semi auto specific loads.
 
Setting off a live primer in the press. I wanted to deprime a Radway Green case for recycling the corroded brass. I forgot about the crimp and the decapper set the primer off. Scared the crap out of me and the primer was very loud.

I have deprimed a fair amount of live non crimped primers with no issue and I am not advising against it. But be careful with those crimped primers!!
 
About ten years ago I had a friend come scrambling to me looking for .44 Special rounds because he had a ccw qualification appointment in a few hours and couldn't find any .44 Spl ammo locally.

I set up my stuff and loaded him a 50-round batch of 240 gr SWC over low-mid range charges of unique. These should have been spot-on for what he needed to use in his lightweight .44 Mag ccw gun (he's a bear-country backpacker.)

I FAILED TO SET A PROPER CRIMP!!! I had last loaded .44 Mags, and in my haste the crimp I set for the shorter Spl case wasn't sufficient. Bullets naturally pulled due to recoil, and bound up the cylinder during his ccw shoot.... which he failed and had to repeat after geting the gun unstuck on his own time.

Man, I felt like a heel! Since then I run a fingernail over every crimped round to make sure all is kosher before I put it in my ammo cans or boxes.
 
#9 shot spills far and wide with a MEC 600, Jr. if you don’t replace the bung plug and tip the shot bottle back to remove it. Missed the spill tray by that much. The bung had been out to allow pouring shot back in while setting the measure to one ounce.

Now I leave shot and powder bungs in all the time and temporarily put measured shot and powder in a cup. Only goes back in the bottle when done reloading and the bottles have been been removed.

Two kind of people: Those who have spilled shot and those who will.
 
take your pick,

Dumped powder all over the bench by pulling the hopper out of my Lee auto drum without shutting the flow off, multiple times

Dumped powder all over the floor and bench because I forgot to close the door after emptying the powder dispenser, multiple times

Loaded up a bunch of loads with different charge weights and powders then forgot to write down what the heck they were, multiple times

Accidentally swapped a plastic scale pan for the heavier metal one resulting in 3 grain overcharges in a 223, luckily I learned my lesson on this one and now there is only one scale pan allowed on the bench.
 
Gottcha said:
Skipped putting powder in one case out of a 200 round run. Its amazing how far a primer will push a round into the barrel :eek::fire:
Click to expand...
I did that once. Went to answer phone and missed putting powder in a case when I came back loading. I was lucky, the primer did not push the bullet, a 123 gr 30 CAL cast pullet, down the barrel and stuck at the throat preventing next round chambering. I was shooting 7.62x39 reduced load, so I did not even sense it was a squib. Lesson learned is finish what I am doing before side tracked to do something else. Increase the reduced power load to have better sense if a squib.
 
TheDomFather said:
...when I realized after dropping the last charge that I never put primers in the cases!
Click to expand...

That's not how to do it!
First one must pick up a case and hold it over the press while grabbing a bullet. This ensures enough time for the powder to be evacuated from the case and dispersed gently, over as much accoutrement as possible. When one finally notices there is leaking powder everywhere they must be sure to not know where to put the leaky case, and wave the pouring powder in a Witch Doctor fashion, blessing every nook and cranny with the power of fire.

When cleaning up, after one has regained composure from the ritualistic chanting, use a light solvent (like brake cleaner) to attract the kernels to the cleaning rag. Then marvel as the solvent dissolves (TA DAA!) the gun powder into a smeary, flammable, gooey mess.

Experience is the best teacher, not the least cruel, but very effective.:)
 
Loading 38 specials . looked in the manual for say blue dot powder ran my finger over to grains . BUT missed the line . 200 rounds of right powder wrong grains . Triple checked several powders and in 357 magnum and 38 +P . Turned out to be a 38 +P+ > hot load . Got out the nail polish and put a hot pink dot on those things .
Shot them out of my 357 no problems . could have been a problem had I not gone back and checked before putting them in with regular 38's .SO recheck everything .
 
Dumped powder all over the place when I first got my lee auto drum. Was used to Lee Pro Disk where the hopper is attached with screws, forgot it wasn't one time with the autodrum.
Went to dump remaining powder back into the jar. Dumped is a good word....

I Not counting the rare finger pinch.
 
Last edited:
someguy2800 said:
Dumped powder all over
Click to expand...
Yep, did that one.
mstreddy said:
primers, somehow missed the flip tray.
Click to expand...
Yep, did that one.
rayatphonix said:
I now make sure I’ve seated a primer before I drop powder.
Click to expand...
I haven't done a whole batch, but I have missed a case before and wondered why there was powder in the ammo box.
Dudedog said:
I Not counting the rare finger pinch.
Click to expand...
Me either.......

If all you have ever done is the little things, you're doing well.
 
I loaded 1000 rounds with N310 instead of N320. Pulled them all and recycled cases and bullets. I didn't even know I had any N310 and, unlike Winchester powders, VV is very shy about labeling their 4 lb. powder jugs. I've also made all the little mistakes and then some, but to name a few not on the list:
1. Started up my RL100 with no primer tube in place
2. Started up my RL100 with primer tube misaligned
3. Started up my RL100 prior to putting the primer tube spring pin in place
4. hit run on my Mark 7 with no bin in place
5. run the Mark 7 with the bullet sensor "off" with no bullets in the bullet die (don't ask)

The 1050 is running absolutely great now after a bit of a process learning curve, but in the beginning every time I turned my back on the thing something went wrong at speed. I had to watch the thing with the remote stop switch in hand. Fortunately, those days are gone.
 
Creating and following a written reloading checklist will allow the reloader to catch many problems before they occur.
 
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