My first experienced mistake...

badkarmamib said:

I am not saying my way is perfect, ideal, or right. With my priming arm and powder-through expander die in my press, I can run the ram down on a primer, run it up to expand, and pour a scoop of powder down the funnel. It seems like a lot of steps, but it is simply running the ram down and up, placing a primer, and dumping a scoop of powder. I am not trying to justify if I am doing something wrong.

Honestly, the more I think about it, and read here, I am leaning towards some media on the flash hole as the most likely culprit. This is where I may have to slow down, and do a better job of inspecting each piece of brass as they come out of the tumbler. It is possible there was a piece that fell into the zip-loc bag, and found its way in after inspection, or was in the case and fell in the hole, or a lot of other possibilities that I just don't know, but have determined that whatever it was, I must need to be even more vigilant in the future.

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Something I do to further remove any media after tumbling you might want to try...
After brass/media separation, return the BRASS, just the brass, to the vibe tumbler and run it for a minute.
The cases will be shaken violently and most of the media trapped in the primer holes will fall out.
works for me.
I de-prime only, no resizing (off the press) before tumbling but leave the de-priming pin in the sizing die on my progressive to push out any media trapped in the primer hole.
Knowing that pin will be pushed thru the flash hole eliminates the need to look at/inspect every individual case.
works for me

badkarmamib said:

I am not saying my way is perfect, ideal, or right.... I am not trying to justify if I am doing something wrong.

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In no way was I trying to suggest otherwise and apologize if it did. I just thought it was cool that you posted a problem and got educated responses on it. Which I expect no less from THR members.
BTW, yeah I've done it too with my 40 M&P, except mine didn't clear, broke out the squib rod.

I like the bumped-case-powder-spilled notion. I load on a turret, so I don't spend much time shuttling cases back and forth between a loading block and the press. Except when I load some bottleneck rifle rounds. Every time I do, I feel like I flirt with this problem. I hate juggling cases. I hate "batch" loading.

I have had a couple no charges, one in 9mm and another in a 444 marlin and both times the bullet didn't make it into the rifling. The only way I could tell the primer had even gone off is by pulling the bullet and pushing out the primer.

I am also liking the jostled dipper theory. I know that one grain of 700X when three is wanted will lob a bullet to the target but with muffled report and very low impact.

Since the primer can develop 5000 psi in the pocket, I don't think a granule of nuthull will impair ignition much.

Did you verify your charge weight on a scale...or are you going by Lee's chart as to what the dipper is supposed to throw? I've found the actual charge weight thrown to be WAY off from what they said it should be...normally to the light side. So if you already are on the light side of things intentionally, a very slight further reduction do to whatever variable that comes with hand dipping could have created a very light load that barely made it out of the barrel.

Along the lines of a plugged or blocked flash hole and how to prevent it-
I have switched to wet tumbling with SS pins but still continue this same process...
I had media in the flash holes frequently when using corn cob etc. I de-prime by hand off the press and then clean. After cleaning and initial inspection all of my brass goes in a big plastic tub.
When I am ready to load those cases I take the plastic 100 count ammo cases and put it over the tub of clean brass and while holding the plastic case in one hand use the other to pile brass on top and shake lightly. It fills the case holder quickly and the brass is right side up. I then use a flashlight to look in to each case and inspect the mouth and inside the case. I then take the another empty plastic case and place it over the 1st one and turn them over. This then gives me the cases all upside down and I can do a final check of the flash holes and find any 380 cases that made it through to this point.
I will do this for 1,000 cases at a time and store them on my shelf. When it is time to load those brass cases, all I do is open the plastic ammo case, cover it with a post card and turn it over and place it on my reloading bench and slide the post card out. I can move the plastic case in to place and then lift the plastic ammo case off and have 100 pieces of brass all lined up perfectly and ready to load.
Since doing this, I have no more issues with flash holes, cracked case mouths or the random wrong size case making it through.
Hope this helps.

^ Good lord, that sounds like a boat-load of work! Why de-prime off the press and generate the need for all that extra motion?

ATLDave said:

^ Good lord, that sounds like a boat-load of work! Why de-prime off the press and generate the need for all that extra motion?

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Keeps all of the crap out of my press.
Allows me to spend time with the family as I de-prime.
It relaxes me.
It makes me feel good.
I come home with 15 to 500 pieces of brass at a time and I already spend enough time in the reloading room.
We all do it differently and for different reasons my friend.

A primer only load will stick the bullet in the barrel. You can verify this easy enough if you want. Maybe there was some kind of containment is the case - water or oil that fouled up most of the powder. Maybe the powder drop was short. Maybe it was a dud primer missing half the priming compound. I'm sure there are lots of other possibilities. Congratulations on realizing the problem.

Ghost In The Fog said:

We all do it differently and for different reasons my friend.

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Absolutely! I certainly meant to convey no disdain, just was trying to understand why. Heck, every time I have to load in anything approaching a single-stage fashion (like when I have to measure and trim bottleneck case), I contemplate buying retail ammo. I really like sticking the brass in the press one time and cranking it through.

Probably the same traits/preferences that make me a USPSA shooter, not Bullseye!

I did similar before. I traced it back to me making my die setup round with a primed case. Lost track of that setup round in the shuffle, looking fully loaded, it found it's way into the loaded batch. Now my setup rounds are all primerless so if it finds it way into the live rounds, even if I don't catch it, it's safe.

Primer lodged bullet in chamber, second round would not load, thankfully. Took me a minute to figure out. Changed the way I do my setup rounds, no issues since.

Jeepmor just leave the used primer in the case when making a setup round. I use aluminum cases as well if they are available. Better for the firing pin to hit a used primer than an empty hole. FWIW I color mine red with a marker to show they are inert as well.YMMV

Everyone has to look at the sequence of steps in their reloading procedures. This is why I have mine written down and reduced to a check-list.

• After re-sizing cases, I dry tumble them in walnut media to remove the lubricant.
  
• Occasionally, flash holes will have walnut media lodged in them.
  
• But the next step for me is to remove the primer crimp (if present) which requires that I look at the primer pocket.
  
• This is the first opportunity to clear the flash hole.
  
• If it is missed, then the cases are visually inspected again when they are run through the case trimmer.
  
• This is a second opportunity to check the flash hole.
  
• A third opportunity will come when the case is primed.

When I make dummy rounds up for testing, a lot of time I will drill 4 holes on the side of the case. This way there is no chance of getting mixed. Coloring them with a marker is also good but does wear off.

It happens with factory as well...

Last time it was with a 22lr. We have all had the "dud" with 22's, but this one just did not sound quite correct...sure enough the bullet only about 1" down the rifle.

Thing is you have to take care....even the best machine can screw up.

This was with RWS (IIRC)....I do know it was good target ammo as well.....not the cheap bucket o' boolits.

badkarmamib said:

I have caught myself a couple of times with errors, right after having done them. No harm done, just had to back up a step. Today was different.

Took the wife to the range this morning so she could try out some low-power reloads on her 1911 and my M&P .40. Started with the M&P. Heard the dreaded BANG, BANG, BANG, pop. Called a cease-fire, even though I had seen the paper tear, albeit more like a knife stab than a hole punch. Apparently the primer had enough uumph to push the lead out. Stripped and cleaned the lead out of the barrel, and went back to shooting, though more alert.

I load pistol on a SS. My practice is 50 prepped brass at a time. Prime, expand, and dip charge one one piece, then move to tray, awaiting die change for bullet seating. Before changing to the seating die, I visually inspect each piece to verify powder level. So, I honestly don't know how this happened, but there is no other explanation.

Thought I would share, that no matter how careful you THINK you are, mistakes can and will happen.

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Excellent post and safety share.

Everybody makes mistakes. That you handled the mistake correctly is what's important, and thereby avoided a serious safety issue. Sounds to me like you have a solid loading protocol and that somehow one slipped through, or, maybe it was a primer malfunction and only partial ignition? Anyway, glad to hear you handled it well and thanks again for a good safety share.