Before putting a bullet into the shell casing....

[ColoradoShooter77]

Its an automatic habit for me, just peek in the case to make sure the powder level looks right. I load on a Lee Turret and its no big deal, take a peek.

That's a lot better than a blown up gun or a bullet stuck in the barrel.

 

[jeeptim]

WITH A FLASHLIGHT LOOK ALWAYS.
The most dangerous situation is shooting with a friend he shoots one of your rounds no powder bullet stuck in the barell chambers another round all bad.
Yeah I know dont shoot others reloads but it happens.
I personally check EVERY round I load check for case head seperation cracked necks loose primers primer depth powder fill seating depth check that they chamber powder condition powder type ect....
Out of the tens of thousands I have loaded one just one squib light load in colt45 powder did not fire. Took that batch apart.
This is dangerous you cant be to carful.

 

[hdwhit]

I never put a bullet into a shell casing until I have looked and seen for myself that there is powder there, and that it looks the same as all the other shells I've been loading.

Step 15 from my written reloading procedures:

15. Once powder charges are thrown, visually inspect each case. If any case appears materially over- or under-charged, check using a scale. [The procedures go on to describe what to do if a material discrepancy is found].

In any manual process, the possibility of error or omission exists, so as far as I am concerned, you are NOT being paranoid, but I think what you are doing can only be described as practicing a common sense quality check that is quick and easy to do.

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

No matter what press I use or what cartridge I am reloading, I always check to see that the correct amount of powder is in the case.

 

[alexcue]

I generally have a few sections of .375 and .25 brass rod in my match range bag.

Never have needed one myself but have given a number of them away over the years, generally to folks that, 1 don't put an eyeball on every charge and 2 don't have a powder check.

From what I have seen, where there is one squib, another is soon to follow.

That's pretty much what I carry in my range bag. Amazon has the brass rods for cheap! and with free shipping(Prime)? you can order them in all kinds of lengths, but my pistol range bag has the 12 incher's. Touch wood! haven't had to use one yet.

 

[evtSmtx]

I'd add, get your fingers out of the way. I've skipped that step memorably a time or two

 

[dragon813gt]

From what I have seen, where there is one squib, another is soon to follow.

Could be preceded or followed by a double charge as well. Nothing like a hearing a round that doesn't sound right only to be followed by a very quiet round.

I do my best to look into every case. It's extremely easy to do so when using a loading block or a 550B. Not so easy on a LCT w/ certain cases. I worry more when charging by hand then when using a case activated measure.

 

[washambala]

I havent been doing this very long, but I do a couple things that seem to work. I load on a single stage. Keeping the shells upside down in the load block, primers up. Pick up a shell by the rim, look in it, charge, look in it, set it down right side up. Pretty easy to tell this way if its already been charged. After the whole block is charged, I look in all of them with a flash light. I wet tumble my cases, so they look like a mirror inside. This makes it easier to see an empty. I check one last time as I set it on the ram to seat a bullet.

 

[Kaldor]

I look into every case when running on the LnL. Its part of my normal routine to ensure that I have powder in all my cases. On 223 its a PITA, but anything else is no big deal. When I load rife, I do have a station open, and have considered using an powder cop type die just to simplify.

When loading rifle on a single stage, ChargeMaster or Hornady drop for powder, my routine is different than most people. Get bag of SSTL tumbled brass. Prime and M die on first pass, put into loading blocks of 50. Change to seating die. Charge case and immediately seat bullet and place into ammo box. This way its impossible to double or miss a charge.

I do not load pistol on a single stage, ever. Even for load development.

I use just the tip of the M die to ensure my case mouths are perfectly round. If loading flat base bullets I might flare just the smallest amount. When you tumble with SSTL media, especially in very large batches, you might get the smallest amount of peening on the case mouth.

 

[mikemyers]

......I do have a station open, and have considered using an powder cop type die just to simplify....

I have an RCBS Lockout Die, in an otherwise empty station, but I still want to see the powder in every shell. To me, the Lockout Die is just "extra insurance".

 

[JonB]

I charge each case manually with Lee PPM and then place them in a reloading block.
1. 'Dump' each pistol case prior to adding powder to make sure no double charges using Titegroup.
2. Weigh the powder in every 10th round just to make sure my powder measure is still dropping consistently.
3. When I have 50 rounds in the block, I jiggle it slightly to settle/level the powder then shine a flashlight in each to make sure there are no empties.

Takes a bit more time, but I'm not in a hurry while reloading and I have confidence in the finished round.

 

[Potatohead]

I peep over into every one also...have tried and tried, to just one time trust the machine, but i cant.

 

[Toprudder]

It's what I do, since I had a squib once.

Ditto.

If I am batch loading, I look down in every case while it is in the loading block. If I am running my progressive press, I look down in every case before I place the bullet. I stand up when using the progressive press (Dillon 550B) which makes visual inspection easier. I also have an LED light mounted on the press.

If you can do a visual inspection with almost no impact in time, why not?

 

[Kaldor]

I have an RCBS Lockout Die, in an otherwise empty station, but I still want to see the powder in every shell. To me, the Lockout Die is just "extra insurance".

Yup, Ive considered that very die for loading rifle. M die, powder drop, lockout, seater, crimper would work well.

For pistol though, I want to keep my sizing, charging, flaring, seating, and crimping all on separate stations, so no dice for the lockout die. I prefer the M die even on my pistol flaring. Requires less flare and is far more controllable in my experience requiring almost no crimp to finish the round.