Handloading Mishaps?

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cal01

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I read a lot about new loaders not being aware of the dangers of handloading and just expecting that if you follow the instructions everything should be OK. This is pretty much the approach I have always taken with my reloading efforts.

I have loaded my share of reloads over the years and the only mishap I have had was a couple of primers going off when I was seating them using my Lee Classic Loaders and a rubber mallet.

I have never had any problems at all with my reloads. I am careful to inspect the brass and the condition of the finished product but that is about all I do.

What mishaps have others experienced in course of their reloading and what safety measures do you feel are most often overlooked by beginners?

Cal in TX
 
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cal01 said:
What mishaps have others experienced in course of their reloading and what safety measures do you feel are most often overlooked by beginners?

Cal in TX
Click to expand...

I think the word would be COMPLACENCY not just reloading but other things also.

New reloader is very careful checking, double checking gets a few hundred or thousand rounds done and down range.
They then forget the basics, and maybe not wear eye protection. get sloppy and leave two or more powder out on the bench, get in a hurry, get distracted kids, music, TV etc.
 
CCI and Magtech primers being too hard for a Taurus PT709 Slim firing pin spring and getting "good" primer strikes and no detonation, gotta love a hang fire!
 
PLEASE FOLKS!

DO NOT use a wood dowel rod to try to drive a stuck bullet out.

If the end of the dowel splits, it will wedge the bullet in the bore tighter then a gnats hind end!

It will become The Mother of All Bore Obstructions.

Use a brass rod from the hardware store.

Or be more careful when reloading, and don't stick bullets in the first place!!

rc
 
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I got a 165 grain cast bullet stuck in my M94 because of a...ummm....funnel misalignment, more or less.

I also caught myself double charging a 30-30 case with Unique just the other day. This was only the third round I had charged that day so I took the other two apart and started over with a different system.

Scoop, dump, seat bullet.

Messing with scales (I have an older beam scale that swings like a metronome. It works but takes far too long) is distracting, especially if I'm trying to measure every charge. It takes me out of my rhythm and leads to inconsistencies and, inevitably, mistakes. YMMV.

Edit to add: +1 on not using wooden dowels. I tried that and only ended up with even more stuff jammed into the barrel.
 
I began reloading in 1950, yes I am that old, I have not had a reloading mishap of any kind, not even a squib.
I began reloading on a Delta drill pres, then graduated to a Herters press, then a CH press, then a Rock Chucker, am now loading on a Hornady LNL and two Lee Classic turret presses, and a Lee Classic Cast single stage.
I do all my priming by hand, and 90% of my loading is batch loading.
In all my rounds I have fired in the last 63 years, the number of misfires I can count on two hands, don't even have to take my shoes off:)
 
rcmodel said:
PLEASE FOLKS!

DO NOT use a wood dowel rod to try to drive a stuck bullet out.

If the end of the dowel splits, it will wedge the bullet in the bore tighter then a gnats hind end!

It will become The Mother of All Bore Obstructions.

Use a brass rod from the hardware store.

Or be more careful when reloading, and don't stick bullets in the first place!!

rc
Click to expand...
agreed RC, But that was 40 years ago and I was a poor hillbilly and they aint no hardware stores for miles were I lived. P.S. knocked out that bullet with three licks.
 
I tend to get concerned when I see posts that appear to down play reloading mistakes, as if they happen to every reloader at some point in time. Like other long time reloaders here, I've had zero mishaps, and I also intend to keep it that way.

GS
 
Not a mishap so much as a mistake that caused me to begin reading aloud to myself.
I was shopping for 30-06 brass and found some Hornady 30-06 brass on the shelf. I grabbed the box, bought it and took it home. When I went to size it a couple days later, I found that I had grabbed a box of .270 brass! Now when I pick up a box of bullets, brass, powder, or primers, I always read it aloud, to confirm audibly what is in my hand.

THe brass was non-returnable, but luckily they are the same base cartridge size, so I was able to size it to 30-06 spec. I don't own, nor do any of my hunting/shooting friends have a .270, so they shouldn't get mixed up. I painted the heads red and will only shoot them in my -06.
 
I put a case in a mill collet, a lathe tool in the mill vise, and started turning down the brass.
I did not notice there was a primer in the case.
The brass was not cutting nicely, and there was some heating going on.
When the primer went off from heat, my face was 6" away and my nerves were already wound up.
The spike in noise was matched by the spike in adrenalin.


I took a 7mmRM and a 270 to the range.
The 7mmRM did not shoot right, and it ejected a destroyed 270 case.
 
My first batch of .30 carbine, I had a squib load. Fortunately, it barely left the case, and the next rounds wouldn't chamber, it wouldn't go into battery. I asked the range guy for a rod, and knocked out the bullet, it was just inside the rifling. I was sure I checked every case, I double check now.
 
I once ran out of primers before I ran out of powder.

Awful, I know... wont let it happen again.
 
In almost 5 years of reloading I have never made a mistake, or had any accident.
chain_zps00db7d8a.gif

Actually, I've set just one primer off in my loadmaster, still don't know how it happened, but it was early on.
My worst was loading mousefart loads in .38 for the wife. I loaded hundreds.
Squibs were not uncommon.
I think it's possible that when she drops the gun to her side before shooting, the powder falls forward, and there's just a bit too little in there that the primer didn't ignite it.
We won't be doing that again.
 
My Son did the same thing as Clark with a .270 win cartridge in a 7mm RM bolt gun. It went bang alright, but when he opened the bolt the .270 brass came out in pieces. I was rather ticked off, to say the least, as he was shooting one of my nicer rifles. It didn't do the bolt any good either, as it left an indentation of the 270 win. case on the bolt face. I inspected the bolt and chamber thoroughly following that incident, and couldn't find anything else out of the norm, and my smith said everything looked fine also, and to just shoot it. Fortunately it only set it back about .00023", which disappeared after a couple hundred rounds of 7mm RM ammo running though it.

These things do happen, but we must not consider that as an inherent part of shooting sports or reloading. Just the mere fact that we are working with instruments that produce any where from 10K psi to as much as 70K psi, keeps me on my toes and my awareness at peak levels.

GS
 
I've had two mistakes, and only one of those was 100% from not being entirely focused on the task at hand.
I seated a primer backwards, I wasn't paying attention and adjusted my grip which caused a primer to flip. It didn't go off thankfully and I keep that case(with a dead primer and enough "slits" around the case mouth to make it look like Edward Scissor hands tried to hand it to me) on my reloading bench as a reminder.

I completely seated a bullet. By completely, I mean the tip of the truncated cone was flush with the end of the case mouth. I partially did it on purpose, although I didn't mean to seat it that deeply. I used it to set my seating die for the first time(very first time so I used an uncharged and unprimed case) and didn't realize how easy it was to seat a bullet. That case is also on my bench, though more to remind me that I have to make sure I don't over do things.
 
I've never had a mistake and don't plan on having any. As long as you pay attention to the details, everything will be good.

When I was in the military, the biggest thing they always preached, was Attention to Details! I always pay attention to the details in everything I do, reloading is just one more thing to pay attention to the details with.
 
DeadFlies - sounds like you need to buy a better scale, one that has a magnetic dampener on it, they take about 5 seconds to show where on the meter you're at. Throw that thing away !
 
rcmodel said:
PLEASE FOLKS!

DO NOT use a wood dowel rod to try to drive a stuck bullet out.

If the end of the dowel splits, it will wedge the bullet in the bore tighter then a gnats hind end!

It will become The Mother of All Bore Obstructions.

Use a brass rod from the hardware store.

Or be more careful when reloading, and don't stick bullets in the first place!!

rc
Click to expand...
You can also use a 1/4 fiberglass chimney sweeps extention rod for calipers over 25 cal. My granddaddy used one he cut down from 4 foot piece as a replacement rod for his 50 cal muzzleloader after he modified the ends.
 
Google "kabooms" and look at the pictures. You need to be aware of the seriousness of what you are doing. There is really a fine line between a handgun and a hand grenade.
 
never had any big problems only 2 situations with standard large rifle primers used when i should have used magnum primers. always thought that primers would light anything up but working up a load with BLC-2 in 54r and 303 British found out differently and yes rc i used a brass rod to get them out. always pay close attention cause things will happen. just make sure if it does it's :confused:and not:what: you only get 2 hands and 1 face stay safe.
 
My worst event so far was when I accidently threw some brass that had just been cleaned in to a container with brass that had already been resized and primed. Later that week I de-primed and resized it all. lost 100 primers basically.

Dave,
 
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