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Bad feeling

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109Hammer

109Hammer

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Dec 3, 2010
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I was reloading today 45 acp using HP-38. While charging the cases i visually noticed a couple double loads and was able to correct them. But, at the end of the session after 150 rounds loaded i just can't get past this bad feeling i have. I keep double guessing if i double checked every load before seating the bullet. I'm 99% i'm ok, its just that the 1% is bad enough to consider starting over.

I know what the answer is, but I just need a little extra nudging. It's going to be a pain in the butt to have to pull them all apart and start over.
 
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If your cool with being 99% sure about how much you currently enjoy your quality of life and the current number of hands and fingers you have then I would say ride it out..... If it were me I would spend the 30 minutes it would take to pull down 150 rounds to make sure I have all my digits next time I come home from the range.:D
 
What kind of press are you loading on that you got a double-charge?

You have already answered your own question, you know if there's any doubt you must check them all.

(BTW, HP-38/W231 is my favorite 45 ACP powder)
 
I suspect this 'bad feeling' you currently have will pervade the entire experience(s) of shooting down those 150 rounds. It will make your range time miserable. To help alleviate it, why don't you take down 15 of the rounds, selected at random. If you find one double charge--then take them all down. If you find none, then perhaps you will have dissipated the bad feeling somewhat....

Jim H.
 
Get one of Hornady's collet bullet pullers for pulling your loads apart. I here they work pretty well and aren't supposed to mar up your bullet.

Quarentine that batch and deal with them when you have time.

To me, it's not worth taking a chance.

I know how you feel, I was in the same situation last year, I pulled 50 rounds of 357mag because of a squib round that stuck a bullet in my favorite model 28's barrel.
Over charge usually follows an undercharge so I stopped shooting immediately, quarentined the batch and moved on.

I hated to pull them apart but it's better than wondering about someone standing beside you getting hurt when the gun possibly blows up in your hand, when you knew there was possibility of it happening and did nothing about it.

I couldn't live with that.
 
I know i need to pull them and start over. Its single stage LEE press i was using with a RCBS Uniflow. The trouble came because i was distracted between music and the dog. I always check every 10-15 powder throws with a scale and must have double charged at that point.

Its so stupid because i caught the mistakes halfway through yet i'm still paranoid. But i agree with JFH that it will (at best) ruin range time, at worst ruin my new Les Baer 1911
 
I would pull them if I were you.

I would recommend a powder that will overflow with a double charge. I also use an RCBS lockout on my LnL. And then I visual inspect as I put on a bullet. So everything is a triple check. So far so good for me.

On a single stage I load using a block of 50 and would charge them all and then visually inspect or would charge and then seat at the same time.
 
Thanks everyone. I needed that push. I'll "quarantine" them and start over when i get some time. Umph!
 
RCBS lockout die.

Physically halts the operation if powder isn't where its suppose to be. Every progressive press should have one installed.
 
i wouldn't hesitate to pull them

when i charge handgun ammo, there are only 3 "classifications" for a piece of brass on my bench. there's a plastic bin with primed brass, there's a single "working round", and there's a bin of finished rounds. i pick up a piece of primed brass, throw a charge into it with my uniflow, put it in the shellholder, put a bullet on it, seat the bullet, and then it goes into the bin of finished rounds. when i stop to check my powder thrower, i throw into the case, pour it in the scale pan, check the weight, and pour back into the case. i find that only having one "working round" makes it very difficult for me to screw up. i never leave a round just laying on the bench. it must fall into either bin category. so, say i throw a charge and when i reach for a bullet to seat in it, i realize i've run out of bullets and will need to find and open a new box. i would dump the charge back into the top of the uniflow, put the case back in the bin of primed cases, open my box of bullets, and resume the process.

i started out loading only rifle ammo and i was very nervous about double charges when i started loading pistol ammo. i knew i needed to come up with a good system to protect me from myself. now i use the same system for rifle ammo unless i'm weighing every charge. this is just what i've found works for me.
 
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I tell you, I've been reloading for about a year or so now and it never ceases to amaze me how focused you have to be. Its either 100% or nothing.
 
dirtengineer said:
I would pull them if I were you.
Click to expand...
NeuseRvrRat said:
i wouldn't hesitate to pull them
Click to expand...
+1. I would choose peace of mind over anything. Better safe and be able to sleep restfully at night than be nursing an injured body part. :D

I know how you feel.

Once when I first started reloading, I mixed up some load data for another powder (yup, I was in a rush and distracted). When I got to the range and shot the first round, instead of the "bang" I was expecting, I got "BOOM!". After bringing the pistol down from above my head, I knew exactly what I had done. :eek:

After checking for body injury and soiled underwear (it was dry ;)), I packed up and drove home saying, "Boy, I won't ever DO THAT again!" After that incident, talk about me being "gun shy"!!! :cuss:

With determination, I sat down and went over my reloading steps and made a step-by-step checklist and added Quality Control (QC) checks into my reloading procedures. Whatever steps that made me wonder or gave me the "bad feeling," I modified the practice and/or added the proper QC check. Perhaps you can review your reloading steps and modify and/or add QC steps?
 
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What is the powder charge you are using? Is it heavy enough to notice different weights in the rounds?

If you're using the same headstamp cases and the bullets are fairly consistent in weight you might be able to weigh the rounds and see if there's a difference in any. If most are within a slight deviation and you have a few that are heavy you can pull them first and check for a double charge.
 
ArchAngelCD said:
What is the powder charge you are using? Is it heavy enough to notice different weights in the rounds?

If you're using the same headstamp cases and the bullets are fairly consistent in weight you might be able to weigh the rounds and see if there's a difference in any. If most are within a slight deviation and you have a few that are heavy you can pull them first and check for a double charge.
Click to expand...
This is what I would do.
 
What is the powder charge you are using? Is it heavy enough to notice different weights in the rounds?

If you're using the same headstamp cases and the bullets are fairly consistent in weight you might be able to weigh the rounds and see if there's a difference in any. If most are within a slight deviation and you have a few that are heavy you can pull them first and check for a double charge.
Click to expand...

Not a safe way to check for a double charge, way to many variables.

I'd pull them, then I suggest you get a loading block and batch load, check the cases for powder just before seating a bullet. That is checking all 50 cases in the loading block at one time with a flashlight.

Hope this helps, remember its better to be safe than sorry. The old adage, maybe I can do it just this once, isn't to cool.
 
5 grain charges of HP-38. mixed brass and nickel cases. Weighing them wouldn't give me the warm and fuzzies. Good thought though.
 
I just went through the same thing with some .223 I loaded a couple weeks ago.
I had a bunch (150) of cases that had been primed before I bought my Lee classic Turret press. So I was manually indexing back and forth between powder charge and bullet seating. About half way through I caught myself seating a bullet with an overpowering sense that I did not look in the case to see the powder charge. After I pulled the bullet and found no powder in the case I couldn't get it out of my mind. Then it occurred to me that I could weigh all the rounds on my digital postage scale and sure enough I found one more that weighed 3 grams less than the rest. Pulled it and no powder.

I'm guessing that .45acp the bullets themselves might vary in weight more than a double charge of powder? not sure about that.

Chuck
 
Is the powder charge high enough to be able to weigh the rounds & discern the difference?
(at 5 grains, I wouldn't think so)

If not, be smart & safe, pull 'em.
 
Hondo 60 said:
ArchAngelCD said:
If you're using the same headstamp cases and the bullets are fairly consistent in weight you might be able to weigh the rounds and see if there's a difference in any. If most are within a slight deviation and you have a few that are heavy you can pull them first and check for a double charge.
Click to expand...
Is the powder charge high enough to be able to weigh the rounds & discern the difference?
Click to expand...
Most jacketed/plated bullets will vary by 1 gr+ and lead bullets 2-5 gr+. Mixed head stamp case weights will vary by several grains. For 5.0 gr powder charge, there's just too many variables to identify a doubled charged case.

If you have any doubts, pull em.
 
+1 to jcwit

If you are using a single stage press, use a loading block. Charge the whole block at once. Check all cases with a flashlight after charging. A bad charge is obvious. Then seat bullets for the whole block.

I've never heard of anyone screwing up the powder charge using this method.
 
is there air space in a normal load?. Shakem.. You can easily find a squib, possibly a double charge. I use slow powders to the extent that a double charge would overflow the case.

I know your feeling all to well. I've pulled 50 before, all good, then I loaded them again. I pay more attention nnow as a result.

edfardos
 
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