bob4
Member
I did that once(with one cartridge) in a hunting load. Didn't notice until I took it out of the box to load.
Dumbest reloading mistake
- Thread starter KB0VSO
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Dr.Zubrato
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My mistakes have been from negligence, and I got lucky due to several reasons.
I had been mass loading pistol cartridges, and forgot to calibrate my scale before starting, assuming it was right on. I wasnt loading anywhere max, the powder was extremely weak (800x in 115gr 9mm), and I had kept a very consistent location of the scale on my bench which was meticulously leveled.
I realized my mistake after loading, and this was early on in my reloading hobby so I pulled a few cases, calibrated my scale and weighed the charges again in a random sample of 15 cases and found my charges were still spot on. I still remember that mistake and calibrate/zero my balance everytime I drop charges to ensure my powder measure is spot on, and my balance is spot on.
My second mistake was letting 223 brass go one or two firings without trimming. I checked 30 samples and they were within spec, but this is out of 400-600 cases.
After firing I was inspecting my primers when I noticed maybe 3 out of those 600 had a tiny rupture in the primer where the FP hit. I checked my AR bolt face and sure enough there was a tiny divot where the firing pin protrudes. It doesn't affect function but I learned my lesson, and I bought a WFT 223 trimmer to make the process less painful and I trim after every sizing operation to 1.75"
The last one is the most benign, but had I not noticed could have caused some problems with extreme setback. I have a single stage where I do all my reloading, and 9mm cases can be quite tedious, especially if you're doing them in batches.
After priming and expanding my cases, I noticed in a rare few instances the bullet had barely any neck tension when placed in the case, and some would drop right in with zero neck tension!
I thought, damn you blazer, and pmc brass! Cheap bastards. I marked them with a sharpie for later primer removal and disposal.
A few years later, I decided to deprime/resize while I was at it. Did it slowly and methodically for the sake of primers. Once I had these cases resized and deprimed, I thought... Last chance for you sorry bunch, else you get smashed and tossed. Expanded the cases, and they had perfect neck tension. I realized every few thousand, I wouldnt fully resize a case, and lowered the ram when I saw the primer pop out. They weren't fully sized down, and werent able to hold neck tension beyond the part I had expanded.
I'm only human, and I'm lucky enough to have caught my mistakes early on, and remedy them before I made any real mistakes. The end result is what matters, and little mistakes have made me safer overall and more cognizant of my practices.
A lot of really good advice and lessons learned in this thread!
I had been mass loading pistol cartridges, and forgot to calibrate my scale before starting, assuming it was right on. I wasnt loading anywhere max, the powder was extremely weak (800x in 115gr 9mm), and I had kept a very consistent location of the scale on my bench which was meticulously leveled.
I realized my mistake after loading, and this was early on in my reloading hobby so I pulled a few cases, calibrated my scale and weighed the charges again in a random sample of 15 cases and found my charges were still spot on. I still remember that mistake and calibrate/zero my balance everytime I drop charges to ensure my powder measure is spot on, and my balance is spot on.
My second mistake was letting 223 brass go one or two firings without trimming. I checked 30 samples and they were within spec, but this is out of 400-600 cases.
After firing I was inspecting my primers when I noticed maybe 3 out of those 600 had a tiny rupture in the primer where the FP hit. I checked my AR bolt face and sure enough there was a tiny divot where the firing pin protrudes. It doesn't affect function but I learned my lesson, and I bought a WFT 223 trimmer to make the process less painful and I trim after every sizing operation to 1.75"
The last one is the most benign, but had I not noticed could have caused some problems with extreme setback. I have a single stage where I do all my reloading, and 9mm cases can be quite tedious, especially if you're doing them in batches.
After priming and expanding my cases, I noticed in a rare few instances the bullet had barely any neck tension when placed in the case, and some would drop right in with zero neck tension!
I thought, damn you blazer, and pmc brass! Cheap bastards. I marked them with a sharpie for later primer removal and disposal.
A few years later, I decided to deprime/resize while I was at it. Did it slowly and methodically for the sake of primers. Once I had these cases resized and deprimed, I thought... Last chance for you sorry bunch, else you get smashed and tossed. Expanded the cases, and they had perfect neck tension. I realized every few thousand, I wouldnt fully resize a case, and lowered the ram when I saw the primer pop out. They weren't fully sized down, and werent able to hold neck tension beyond the part I had expanded.
I'm only human, and I'm lucky enough to have caught my mistakes early on, and remedy them before I made any real mistakes. The end result is what matters, and little mistakes have made me safer overall and more cognizant of my practices.
A lot of really good advice and lessons learned in this thread!
KB0VSO
Member
Thank you
2354 views / 51 replies - thank you your views and replies
Now if just one person made a change in how they reload or
was kept from making a dumb mistake due to reading
one of the post please let us know.
Larry (kb0vso)
Northern Minnesota USA
2354 views / 51 replies - thank you your views and replies
Now if just one person made a change in how they reload or
was kept from making a dumb mistake due to reading
one of the post please let us know.
Larry (kb0vso)
Northern Minnesota USA
BSA1
member
When I reload on my single stage press I do everything in batches of 50 at a time. After flaring the case mouths I set 50 rounds in a loading tray and then add the powder. I charge all 50 cases then check their powder level with a flashlite.
Except one day last winter. Seated the bullets on 10 rounds and then it dawned on me. I skipped charging the cases. Worse yet I had tossed them in a coffee can with loaded rounds. Fortunately I didn't have to pull the bullets in all of the rounds to find the 10 offenders.
Except one day last winter. Seated the bullets on 10 rounds and then it dawned on me. I skipped charging the cases. Worse yet I had tossed them in a coffee can with loaded rounds. Fortunately I didn't have to pull the bullets in all of the rounds to find the 10 offenders.
I've most definitely had a couple backwards primers as well as failed to seat primers from my progressive....
When I was newer I also learned the importance of trimming cases when I loaded up some test .223 rounds and about 50% were too long to chamber... That's why they were a test batch. Lesson learned.
I admit my scariest deal was a .45acp squib. It was completely powderless, so the pistol didn't cycle. I knew what was wrong. It was so shallow it would not allow another round to chamber, so that was good piece of mind at least. Really glad it was in my revolver rounds....
I've since adopted a powder cop and a seating position that allows me to visually check much easier before seating.
When I was newer I also learned the importance of trimming cases when I loaded up some test .223 rounds and about 50% were too long to chamber... That's why they were a test batch. Lesson learned.
I admit my scariest deal was a .45acp squib. It was completely powderless, so the pistol didn't cycle. I knew what was wrong. It was so shallow it would not allow another round to chamber, so that was good piece of mind at least. Really glad it was in my revolver rounds....
I've since adopted a powder cop and a seating position that allows me to visually check much easier before seating.
jolly roger
Member
One mistake in 30 years. Double charged a 38 wadcutter one time..fortunately it was shot in a S&W Highway Patrolman with no ill effect at all 
You could not read Winchester anymore on the back of the case. Case held. Therefore I watch ALL powder drops now particularly in such loads. In 45 and 9 not so much because a double charge will spill over anyway.
You could not read Winchester anymore on the back of the case. Case held. Therefore I watch ALL powder drops now particularly in such loads. In 45 and 9 not so much because a double charge will spill over anyway.AABEN
Member
Well boys I have made a few my self like no powder beck-ward primers used different bullets weight and using rifle primers in my pistol brass. That is over 57 years loading. I would bet that some people did not tell on there self!
I didn't see your post until now. Did you notice it or shoot the next shot? Scary stuff.
I did not understand it to be a squib... I was shooting outdoor and it was the first shot with the gun, ever... I missed the target completely (or so I thought... Thinking I didn't understand the sight picture) ... I should have noticed that there was no puff of dirt at the backstop. I shot another one. Gun held together and barrel did not bulge.
I was very very lucky. I am uber careful now... Always.
OilyPablo
Member
I have one............I passed up some great new/used dies at gun shows for low prices before I learned to reload. I mean I knew eventually I would reload but figured I wouldn't that specific caliber......ugg.........
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I had a new experience this evening which was both disconcerting as well as reassuring.
I keep my in-process .223 brass in those plastic containers that lettuce comes in. Tonight I was taking stuff from the "Sized/Decapped/Cleaned" bin and processing them to get them into the "To Be Primed" bin. (I hand prime and I have a single stage press.) To get them from one bin to the other I 1/Drop the case into a case gauge; 2/Check length; 3/Trim and debur if necessary; 4/Clean primer pocket. I probably had 200 cases to process.
I was cruising along and about 2% were failing the plunk test in the gauge. No worries - I'd put it into the "To Be Sized" bin, and on more than one occasion I thought that maybe I needed to lower the sizing die a titch. As I worked through the cases I hit a string of 5, maybe 10 cases in a row that failed the case gauge test. It's as if I got to a "layer" in that bin where stuff hadn't been resized. Cases were failing the gauge test left and right. If that's the case I'm pretty stumped as to how unsized cases made it into that bin. I must have made some mistake. That's the disconcerting part.
The reassuring part is that, since I'd committed to myself to check every single case in the gauge, I discovered the issue.
Now I have to pay more attention to that plastic bin process and make sure I'm not screwing things up.
OR
I keep my in-process .223 brass in those plastic containers that lettuce comes in. Tonight I was taking stuff from the "Sized/Decapped/Cleaned" bin and processing them to get them into the "To Be Primed" bin. (I hand prime and I have a single stage press.) To get them from one bin to the other I 1/Drop the case into a case gauge; 2/Check length; 3/Trim and debur if necessary; 4/Clean primer pocket. I probably had 200 cases to process.
I was cruising along and about 2% were failing the plunk test in the gauge. No worries - I'd put it into the "To Be Sized" bin, and on more than one occasion I thought that maybe I needed to lower the sizing die a titch. As I worked through the cases I hit a string of 5, maybe 10 cases in a row that failed the case gauge test. It's as if I got to a "layer" in that bin where stuff hadn't been resized. Cases were failing the gauge test left and right. If that's the case I'm pretty stumped as to how unsized cases made it into that bin. I must have made some mistake. That's the disconcerting part.
The reassuring part is that, since I'd committed to myself to check every single case in the gauge, I discovered the issue.
Now I have to pay more attention to that plastic bin process and make sure I'm not screwing things up.
OR
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Hondo 60
Member
Dumbest mistake 1
Accidently dbl charging a case.
Lost a Ruger SP101 with that mistake.
Dumbest mistake 2
Reloading with the wrong powder.
Had about 75 rounds that had to be taken apart.
Accidently dbl charging a case.
Lost a Ruger SP101 with that mistake.
Dumbest mistake 2
Reloading with the wrong powder.
Had about 75 rounds that had to be taken apart.
gamestalker
member
Daveyboy, I'm not doubting that your situation with the .223 rounds not chambering didn't happen, or that the brass may in fact needed trimming. But for a piece of bottle neck brass to exhibit chambering issues, the brass would have to be really, really long in most instances to interfere with or prevent chamber fit. And if in fact that were the cause, the case mouth gets pinched in the throat between the bullet and chamber throat upon firing, and this would almost certainly cause a major spike in pressures, even a catastrophic spike. The bullet gets restricted at ignition, and can even cause a KB.
What almost always contributes to a cartridge not fitting the chamber is either bullets jamming into the lands, brass that needs the shoulder bumped, or some other aspect of resizing not having been properly performed.
I only addressed this to maybe help you better understand the cause and effect of brass preparation, including why we must maintain our brass to within SAAMI trim too specifications. The primary concern and indication, is to avoid serious pressure spikes, not usually chamber fit, though it could present under extreme circumstances.
GS
What almost always contributes to a cartridge not fitting the chamber is either bullets jamming into the lands, brass that needs the shoulder bumped, or some other aspect of resizing not having been properly performed.
I only addressed this to maybe help you better understand the cause and effect of brass preparation, including why we must maintain our brass to within SAAMI trim too specifications. The primary concern and indication, is to avoid serious pressure spikes, not usually chamber fit, though it could present under extreme circumstances.
GS
gwarrenster
Member
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2015
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- 1
What do you do in that case???
I also loaded about 50 cases without priming them. So, am I right in thinking that I can't prime them as is? I can't find anything about the topic in my searches so far. What is the process to fix this for the rounds I messed up? #rookiemistake
I also loaded about 50 cases without priming them.
So, am I right in thinking that I can't prime them as is? I can't find anything about the topic in my searches so far. What is the process to fix this for the rounds I messed up? #rookiemistakeNot cartridge loading per se, but the dumbest thing I ever did was while bullet casting. I plunged a wet lead dipper into a furnace full of 750F molten lead alloy. The water flashed to steam instantly and rather explosively emptied the pot of 10 pounds of alloy. A occurrence aptly called "a visit from the tinsel fairy" by bullet casters. In the future I kept my dipper well away from the water.
I also loaded about 50 cases without priming them.
Correct---do NOT prime cases charged with powder and projectile! Use an impact puller and pull the bullets & salvage the powder & start over. Be safe!
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