Handloading Horror Tales?

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coldshot03/04

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Jul 11, 2003
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Well? Do you have any? Close calls? Anything?

Me? No, I havent even started yet.:) Still saving my loose change until I have enough to buy my equipment.
 
Nope;)

not yet,and I don't plan on it either:D

when in doubt,throw it out.
disassemble,really

unless,you call spilling powder or dropping 100 primers on the floor
horror stories:p

clown
 
Just one squib. Pulled trigger and things didn't sound or feel right. Dropped magazine ejected case and sure enough big barrell blockage.

Lesson learned: don't reload at 3am while half asleep. Go to bed and load in the morning.
 
I think Dillon makes some great products, but I have to admit that I did get a few faulty parts on my 550B.

I got mine NIB and there was a defective powder bar with it. You could adjust powder drop and eventually it would loosen and give you up to 1.5gr variations. I called Dillon and they told me to pull the powder bar out ( while i was on the phone with them). When I pulled it out and wiggled the screw that adjusts the powder drop and said, "this thing wiggles around too much" and they said, "its not suppose to wiggle at all.":uhoh:

I later had the powder bar reset adjustment (that little blue wing-nut) wear out and got 2 squib loads.

I've reloaded about 20,000rds threw my Lee single stage and my Dillon 550B.

2 squibs in 45acp

3 cases that failed to extract from a Mini 14 (I think because the cases were too dirty or not sized enough).

And I had to shoot up 1500rds in my Mini 14 that wouldn't feed in my AR15.
I use to reload with any kind of brass I could find. Now I only reload the good stuff.
 
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I started reloading in 1966. I started with a Lee reloading kit. The first caliber I reloaded was .221 Fireball since ammo was hard to get and expensive to shoot my XP-100. I got the WRONG powder (as I remember I got 2400 instead of 3031) and scooped the charge. There was a tremendous muzzle blast and recoil of my X-p100 and I had to pound open the bolt and found a melted case head in the chamber! I sent it back to Rem. and they fixed it while I was in Nam the first time. When I came home I had to have it rechambered for .223 for the unlimited ammo I had! I think this was the first time that was done. Anyway the strength of the Rem 600 platform saved my bacon from a stupid reloading mistake, my first and last dangerous misake!:eek:
 
I first started reloading when I was 21, I had noone to learn from so I was kinda teaching myself. Started with .357 and 2400. I thought I knew what I was doing and loaded up some rounds. Gave the first 12 to my roomate in college to give to his dad. Before he had a chance to shoot them I figured out that I had read the lyman dispencer wrong and the numbers were not the ammount of powder. To make a long story short. They had about 20 grains of 2400 behind a 158 grain jsp. I got them back and felt embarrased . But lucky.
 
I went up to my uncles house today. Shot the Taurus 44mag. I began asking him about reloading/handloading the 44mag. He told me to be careful loading the 44mag. About a year or two ago. He had a Llama Commachee 44mag blow up with him shooting his own reloads. He advised me not to reload the 44mag over twice. But I was told here that the 44mag could be reloaded several times. Any info?
 
coldshot,

I think your uncle is possibly placing blame where it does not belong.....

If he loaded the round too hot and caused the KaBoom, then that's not the brass case's fault.
If something was wrong with the gun, that's not the brass case's fault.

.44 mag cases are loadable many, many times. As "hot" as the .44 is, it's still at a lot less pressure than most rifle rounds. Straight wall pistol cases will last a very long time.

Swampy
 
I have been reloading for my S&W 629 Classic for about a year. I have reused the brass many times, unless there is something wrong with it. I don't load mine hot though so that helps to keep the pressures down. I load mine at about 10grains of Universal, with the max being 10.2grains.

If you are in doubt throw the case away. Buying more brass is a lot cheaper than replacing a gun.
 
No Ka-Booms?
Click to expand...

Nope, I don't own a Glock :evil: (just kidding!)

The 44 Mag can be loaded as many times as anything else can, it all depends on the loads, how large your chambers are, how much you bell/crimp etc etc. There's nothing special about the 44 Mag that prevents you from using the brass dozens of times.

I agree with Swampy, if your uncle blew up a 44 (even a Comanche) I would question the loads first, and the quality of the gun second.
 
I've been reloading since 1965, no accidents. But I remember reading, I think it was in the Rifleman or Handloader, a fellow was reloading and he stored his large volume of powder, and all the primers he owned close together, a primer ignited and touched off all the primers and all the powder. I used to store both fairly close together, but after reading that article I store my primers as far away from the powder as possible. A friend of mine stored all his 8 lb cans of powder on the shelf below about 15,000 primers. He read the same article, but it had no effect on him.
 
A fellow I once knew lost his eye depriming a live primer from a case. He did a lot of African hunting, and he was trying to save a pricey and hard-to-get caliber case. He wasn't wearing goggles, either, so two big mistakes here.
 
I occasionally end up with spent primers stuck to my shoes. They then release themselves when I enter the living room.
Other family members step on said primers, then they hunt me down...
 
Guys,

Another important tip if you reload inside your home....

Make sure you don't drop live primers into the carpet. This will NOT endear you to your SO the next time she runs the vacuum cleaner.

A live primer getting sucked in to the turbine of a Kirby WILL go off..... creating TWO very loud and sharp noises. The first of it's own making, the second eminates from the lady operating the vac.

The resulting tirade can be something yoiu don't want to experience... ;) and may get your reloading activities banished from the domicile for good.

The previous tip comes from personal experience with my FIRST wife. :D

Best regards,
Swampy
 
Well I hate to tell this story but it shows how easy it is to do stupid things when you don't think.
About 20 years ago while loading primers in a tubular primer feeder, you know the ones that you snap the primers into, I loaded 50 primers and it jammed, the tube had been bent at the bottom. I couldn't get them out ether end, bent on one end and that snap groove on the other.

I though I could insert a bolt that had a flat end on it into the base of the tube and would only be in contact with the flat side of the primers and force the primers to pop out.

Well that didn't work and the explosion made a 1/4"separation in the bone of my finger. Ended up loosing the end of the finger at the first joint.

I never though that primers stacked on top of each other would go off by pushing a flat bolt.

Well 20 yrs later, I'm still reloading and shooting, but I do have a Dillon reloader now and have not had a problem since then.

BTW Just found this site, I think its great.

Rusty
 
welcome" Rusty"

good folk here:D

sorry about your digit:(

maybe,somebody else will heed your lesson;)

that's what it is all about:)

nothing is for granted

clown
 
Once mis read my powder scale and had 10 grains over in a .243 case testing for accuracy. I lit that one off and knew it. Bruise on my shoulder and had to pull hard on the bolt of my rem 700 to open the reciever. Nice impression of a bolt face on the brass head, primer blown out, and a lasting flinch for a couple of weeks. Figured out what happenned when I pulled the other test rounds and remeasured the powder charge. Felt pretty lucky there was no major damage.
 
Here's one for you,in the late 70's me and my brother were loading up some rabbit loads for his 30-06.These were a #1 buckshot pellet and about 5 grains of red dot powder along with some type of cotton wadding used to keep the powder next to the primer.
After i left he decided to load some 220gr silvertips using data for 4064 but didn't change powder:what:.The result was 1 model 70 lightweight blown up really well,just about in half.The bolt hit my brother in the face causing a massive bruise.I think he picked wood and powder out of his arm for a week.So far i have had any problems except for a flatten primer now and then,i guess it taught me to be really carefull.
 
Wow probably 50 grains of Red dot behind a 220 grain bullet!:what: THATS a tribute to Mod 70s that he survived without being maimed!
 
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