Don't overload!

[TGinAZ]

I was just a few feet away when my neighbor blew up his S&W 629... he had one minor injury on his chin, but the psychological and financial impact was definitely not minor.

My Lyman 49th Reloading Manual suggests 12.0 grains of Unique as the maximum charge, when we pulled a few of his reloads apart they ranged from 18.2 to 19.9 grains. That much powder in a .44 mag case definitely results in a compressed powder charge.

That little piece of cylinder was the only part recovered and it was about 150 feet away!

 

[jbkebert]

Yikes...

That was a nice gun. Glad your neighbor came away with only a minor injury. The gun can be replaced the person can't. This is why I weigh each and every charge.

 

[Hondo 60]

Thanks for posting.
I think we all need a wake up call now & then.

Stay safe my friends!

 

[Bmac1949]

How could he have overloaded by over 50%? Have you figured this out? There was a gross error somewhere that needs to be identified so this doesn't happen again. Please follow up.

 

[Krogen]

Some questions: First as Bmac1949 said - how did 50% overload occur? One would expect a double charge to be more likely than 50%. Also, why was there a 1.7 gr variance in the charges? Perhaps it's a scale problem. That much variation should have been pretty eyecatching if the loader visually checked the charged cases.

I'm obsessive about the visual check. I look at each charged case at an angle, so that the surface of the powder appears as small semi-circle relative to the case mouth. Using an LED flashlight, I look at all cases keeping the same angle of view. Variations are pretty clear with this method. I've validated this method by purposely putting a wrong charge in a case to see if I could pick it up. Obsessive, yes. But, as of this writing I've had no disasters.

 

[evan price]

Cool, a break-top 629.. must be one of those performance center customs...


Where the heck did he get his loading data from?!?!?!

 

[Steve Koski]

It's the overload that was the problem. A compressed/uncompressed powder charge has almost nothing to do with it. I've shot many a safe compressed loads.

Dittos on the above: It could've been a lot worse. Nobody got permanently injured. Whew! Thanks for the pics.

Koski

 

[hogcowboy]

Was he maybe using a progressive loader? And what charge did he THINK he had loaded to? I would think he needs to be a little more attentive with his reloads. Damn I'm glad no one got hurt anymore than they did.

 

[RandyP]

I take it the cylinder was rotated for the picture? With that much destruction I'm stunned it was able to be moved.

Glad no one was killed or maimed.

 

[Sam1911]

That is one of the reasons I've moved away from any combination of small charge volume and large case volume.

When I started loading .44 Spc. for competition one of the powders I tried was Titegroup.

I found I could charge the case FIVE times and still seat a bullet! There was no way to visually tell if I had double or even triple charged the case -- it all just looked like a small bit of powder down in the bottom of the case.

Loading powders that fill a case to more than half with one safe charge means that if I accidentally double charge the worst thing that happens is I have spilled powder on the bench and have to dump that case and start again.

Yikes.

 

[JimKirk]

Like others here I prefer a powder that fills the case to 80% or even more... that way a double charge would spill over ...

I have a S&W just like the one in the photo... hope I never have to take a photo of it looking like that!!

I am very visual when it come to powder too... I always check, with good light before seating bullets... my powder measure is on the opposite end of the bench for that reason ... I have to get up and move to seat bullets...this is where I preform the visual check. It has worked well for me for 42+ plus years now....

JImmy K

 

[USSR]

That is one of the reasons I've moved away from any combination of small charge volume and large case volume.

With about 19 grains of Unique in a case, the standard "eye ball" routine would have told him this is all wrong. Chalk this up to either total ignorance or sloppy reloading technique, but certainly not a charge/case volume issue.

Don

 

[steelerdude99]

If you use the Lee Auto-disk, I have something to look out for… I have found that the Lee Auto-disk will give higher than expected charges if the thumbscrews work lose while reloading. This condition causes the hopper to sit above the disk without a tight fit. The lack of a tight fit allows extra powder to flow and settle above the disk. When the charge eventually falls, an overcharge occurs. I now initially snug the thumbscrews firmly and check to see if either of the thumbscrews have worked lose periodically.

 

[Sam1911]

With about 19 grains of Unique in a case, the standard "eye ball" routine would have told him this is all wrong. Chalk this up to either total ignorance or sloppy reloading technique...

Can't disagree with that. Still, the fact that he could fit 19 gr. of Unique in the case exacerbated his already serious proceedural problems.

 

[918v]

Procedural error?

I dunno about that. This is more like "I don't know what I'm doing and I don't give a rat's arsch" error.

 

[Sam1911]

This is more like "I don't know what I'm doing and I don't give a rat's arsch" error.

Hey, some people have money to burn ... and lots of extra hands ... I guess.

 

[BillyLegend]

I never thought of this and will pay more attention in the future. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[BillyLegend]

I never thought of this and will pay more attention in the future. Thanks for the heads up.

That being tightening down the thumbscrews on the auto disk.

 

[Overkilll0084]

I would be interested in observing the loading process that produced this ammo. It's incidents like this that gives reloading a bad name in some circles. It's bad enough for someone to get hurt KBing their own gun. When some of the fragments fly 150 feet, it's fortunate that no bystanders were hurt.
Was this intended to be a Unique load?

 

[MtnCreek]

Glad your neighbor didn't get hurt too badly and thanks for posting this.

Who knows what really went wrong, other than too much powder and not enough checking.

IMHO, reading data directly from the manual could have been the cause, but I can't say for sure. The reason I say that is because I think loading out of the book is risky (probably a better way to say that). When we look up data in the manual, we're looking at a chart for a specific cartridge, projectile weight, but many powders and sometimes (depending on manual) different OAL's. When scanning down the chart to your powder choice, then scanning over to the proper charge weight, all while setting up equipment adds risk IMHO. When I work up a new load, all data from the manual is written in a notebook and triple+ checked and all I'm doing at that time is focusing on data, not equipment. One load workup per page and one notebook per cart! I then list additional notes and my goals for this load and below that is the loadings with space left to document performance. After I come up with a load, I put the data for that load on an index card; the cards are stored in a index card box and the one in use is hung above the press. I treat the load cards with the same respect that I do powders, projectiles...., only the one that I'm using is out, the rest are stored away.

I'll go ahead and piss some folks off while I'm at it (don't want to, just figure it will). Digital Scales: They serve a purpose, but they are more risky to use than a good balance beam. For me, when I'm loading, I'm more focused on the smaller details; maybe I'm wired wrong, I don't know??? When I place a pan with powder on a digital scale, I pay attention to the number on the left of the decimal point, but I can't help but be more focused on the 1/10 grain. I bet this is true for most of us, admit it or not. When I place that pan of powder on a balance beam, the first thing I notice is whether it's close, while I wait for it to balance out to see if it's dead on.

 

[Husker_Fan]

I wonder if he was using a dipper to measure his charges. That could give the variance in weights, and the wrong dipper could give a 50% overcharge.

I don't use dippers because they don't let me fine tune loads. If I did, I'd still be checking the weight.

 

[1KPerDay]

The real question is whether he intentionally loaded that high or whether it was an error in procedure/equipment. I'd like to hear from the OP what he finds out. Perhaps the guy thought his big strong magnum could take it.

 

[Zak Smith]

He may have thought it was #2400 or H110.

 

[cougar1717]

This situation is definitely not funny. What I do find humorous is that everyone acts like they need to know exactly why this happened or explain why it could never happen to them. Do not be fooled or prideful - this is a mistake that you or I could easily make if we were reloading while tired or distracted. Whether it was as simple as reading the wrong line of the reloading manual or picking up the wrong canister of powder, we do not know. But this serves as a warning and we should take it to heart.

 

[ranger335v]

There is no need to tell competent reloaders to pay attention to what they do and not to overcharge, and there's no value to telling the others.

The photo proves the old adage, "Some guys can learn from the experience of others (like in a book) and some just have to p on the electric fence themselves."