Bone head mistakes?

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Tumbling mixed brass. Lots of it will just nest but 45 ACP and 50 BMG brass turns into puzzles.

I build a machine to sort brass by outside diameter to eliminate the problem.


BRILLIANT! I was wondering how you would get them to stand on end and pass over a series of increasing diameter holes, then watched the video. Ingenious. My hat is off to you, sir.
 
I haven't done that yet, but I did somehow put a 30-06 round in my 300wm once. Fortunately it didn't fire, but didn't extract either.

You have to try harder! And do it on the 4th of July, so everyone will appreciate the fireworks. And use a rifle with a claw extractor, such as Mr Potter did:

Mr Potter loves the M70 Winchester rifle, particularly pre 64’s, and he has a number of them. He was at the range, shooting a 270 Win, and once he was finished with that, he picked up a M70 in 300 Win Magnum. He had not completely removed all the loose 270 Win rounds that were on the bench. And guess what, he picked a 270 Win round and inserted it into the 300 Win Mag . The claw extractor on a M70 held the 270 Win round in place, enough so, that when the firing pin hit the primer, the cartridge ignited.

Kaboom!

WaK5QrG.jpg

Case head ruptured on the 270 Win cartridge. Entire left side of his face was bloody from brass and gunpowder particles, his left eyelid was closed so he did not lose sight in that eye. Mr Potter was very lucky that he did not lose his right eye, he was not wearing shooting glasses, but the scope bell deflected debris and he did not have eye damage. However, scope was bent/deformed. Strangely the floor plate was not blown open.

His Mc Millian fiberglas stock came out of it without splitting.

The action was headspaced and found to be OK. The rifle is back in use with a new scope.

Always wear your shooting glasses! These events happen faster than human perception, and they are unexpected.
 
I rarely make faux pas when reloading. Not because I'm perfect, but because I'm stubborn, anal, and never in a hurry. I have habits that I adhere to religiously. One bottle of powder anywhere near my bench. Write load data on a sticky note and attach it to my powder measure. Look at every case after every step. Second step for me is close brass inspection. I also look in every charged case to make sure there is powder there and not two charges. I plunk test several cartridges each session, in my gun with tightest chamber. I am alone in my shop when I reload and if I have something come up I stop and put everything away and start anew next time. I'm not bragging, but I had one squib in 1970 and zero since, learned from my mistake. I check primer seating often during a session so I haven't had a FTF in a very long time.

I am not an "expert" but my stubbornly anal methods doesn't take a noticeable longer time, and I don't have to clear any jams or hear any "click, no boom" at the range...
 
I don't have to ... hear any "click, no boom" at the range...

You're a tough act to follow.

But, speaking of "click, no boom" - I've told this story before -
I was at a match. 10 minutes to shoot 10 rounds, military bolt gun.
Click.... Nothing. Wait 30 seconds, work bolt to recock firing pin.
Click.... Nothing. Wait a full 60 seconds (eating into my shooting time), work the bolt, eject the round.

No primer.

Not a misfire, just missing completely. A hole in the bottom of the case.

How I managed that I don't know. Powder leaking out the flash hole, but no primer.
 
Long ago I thought listening to music would be good. Nope it don't work for me as I forget where I am at in a stage. Have dumped powder more than once into cases that were not primed. If I get interrupted in a process now days I put a little sticky note as to where I was on a certain tray...
 
Been out of state on business this week, but I have a “tub full of dumb” in my reloading bench. I originally started collecting them to share as hands-on examples of common mistakes when I was still offering the NRA Metallic Reloading course, but I expect I’ll always now keep them around as reminders to myself and others of how easy it can be to make a mistake in change-over, and that while MOST of these errors only result in comical defects, some equally simple errors can be made which will have unfortunately catastrophic consequences.

I’m traveling home today, a few hours left, but if I remember to do so, I’ll post some photos of my favorite defective rounds from my “tub of dumb”.
 
The worst I have ever done was to accidentally try to load a large pistol primer into a case with a small primer pocket, using my Lee hand loader. Quite a suprise, loud bang, flash and a lot of dog urine from the sleeping dog at my feet. From that day forward, if I sat down at the bench he would leave the room.
 
I had 2 clicks no booms today.... dam rem spp from that same batch.... I'm running them out of my inventory asap.
The worst I have ever done was to accidentally try to load a large pistol primer into a case with a small primer pocket, using my Lee hand loader. Quite a suprise, loud bang, flash and a lot of dog urine from the sleeping dog at my feet. From that day forward, if I sat down at the bench he would leave the room.
I think I mixed .45 ACP spp brass with Lpp brass. Might be just paranoid, loading on progressive. They make a cheap primer gauge?
 
The worst I have ever done was to accidentally try to load a large pistol primer into a case with a small primer pocket, using my Lee hand loader. Quite a suprise, loud bang, flash and a lot of dog urine from the sleeping dog at my feet. From that day forward, if I sat down at the bench he would leave the room.
:rofl: Smart pooch.
 
Looking back, one of mine is a bit humorous. (Sure wasn't when it happened!)
Picture a RCBS Chargemaster Lite, half full of Varget,,,
I attempted to remove the cap from the powder reservoir,,,
Cap was on so tight, I ended up pulling both the cap and the reservoir off,,,,

All I will say is it didn't take long for the reservoir to empty itself,,, :cuss:
 
Looking back, one of mine is a bit humorous. (Sure wasn't when it happened!)
Picture a RCBS Chargemaster Lite, half full of Varget,,,
I attempted to remove the cap from the powder reservoir,,,
Cap was on so tight, I ended up pulling both the cap and the reservoir off,,,,

All I will say is it didn't take long for the reservoir to empty itself,,, :cuss:

Ouch!
 
Looking back, one of mine is a bit humorous. (Sure wasn't when it happened!)
Picture a RCBS Chargemaster Lite, half full of Varget,,,
I attempted to remove the cap from the powder reservoir,,,
Cap was on so tight, I ended up pulling both the cap and the reservoir off,,,,

All I will say is it didn't take long for the reservoir to empty itself,,, :cuss:
I've done similar.
Lee Auto Drum. The powder reservoir bottom opening closes with a 1/4 turn clockwise. Then one lifts the (partially filled) reservoir off the body of the measure, and dumps the powder back in the jug.

If one doesn't close the bottom opening by using the 1/4 turn clockwise, but still lifts the reservoir off the body of the measure, well -

I will tell you that HS-6 flows RAPIDLY through a 1/2" hole at the bottom of a plastic reservoir. One cannot move quickly enough to avoid a mess.
 
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