how to avoid double charges?

[Guy B. Meredith]

I'll second uglymofo's comments.

I have a Hornady LNL AP with an RCBS lockout die in the third position (Hornady has five) and it has saved my skinny arse a number of times.

 

[Roadkill]

Must be an Alabama thing, I weigh each rifle charge due to the case size but since I use Unique in my pistols I just check every 10th round or so. And I always load about 1g under the max anyway. I also use two loading blocks, once charged they go on the other side.

rk

 

[Jwar88]

Best way to avoid a double charge is to use a slower or bulkier powder...always visually inspect the powder charge in each case, and weigh any that look off...(Sounds like a lot of work but I manage to do it) ...but the best way is to...

Just put one charge in there to begin with...

 

[mr_dove]

yeah, seems like the general concensus is eyeball and weighing (either individually or randomly).

thanks for the tips guys.

Safety first.

 

[Red_SC]

I always put the Mk 1 eyeball on it, too. Yesterday I was loading a handful of test rounds for the .308, and when I inspected them I found I'd missed putting powder in one completely. I think that's the first time I've done that, but a quick visual was all it took to catch it.

 

[renaissance]

Not the best Idea.

You measure out 500 grains
You build 100 Rounds
You find that you have have powder left over (5 grains)
Great!
You have caught the fact that you missed putting powder in one.

Your scheme worked

Now

You look at the 100 completed cartridges in front of you.

Duhhhh! ................................( Which one?) ????????

 

[Jwar88]

Well...what he was looking for was a scheme to avoid "double charges"...not necessarily squib loads...

Seriously tho... there are some good ideas here. I find the lockout die to be a bit much, but the various powder checker dies are good tools... they detect high and low charges... if you have a space on your loader that is a good use of it.

But... I don't think that any scheme is foolproof as you so aptly pointed out....Any tool or method is just that ... just a tool. You still have to use it in a way that makes sense to you.

I personally know competitive shooters who have Dillon equipment (what else?) set up with an audible powder checker die... and on the last station is a factory crimper die...

Then... they weigh every finished round on a digital scale to check for high, low... or no powder... THEN... they insert every round into the chamber of their barrel to make sure that they will chamber!

Do I think they are excessive????

No... I think their methods are merely born of experience. They check, double then triple check. ..Then they are pretty confident their ammo is not going to be a problem. With all the pressures of competition, the last thing they need to worry about is out of spec ammo... now they can concentrate on sight alignment and trigger release with no distractions.

I pretty much check, double check, triple check.... and then one more final check until I am satisfied that I got it right.

Am I excessive... Sure ... I admit it ... I want every round of ammo I load to be as perfect as I can possibly make it....because mistakes can and do happen even to the best of us...

Here... check out this thread...it is an eye opener...

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=67867

 

[BigG]

The Dixie Way

You go, Dan!

Check it with a MagLite not a candle