Bottom Gun
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When I’m reloading, I keep a can near the press for what I call “factory seconds”. These “seconds’ are rounds that are less than perfect for various reasons. Usually it’s because I didn’t like the way it felt when I seated the primer or the bullet. For whatever reason, I gage the round then put it aside as a “second” for practice only. I’ve never had a “second” round fail but I don’t want to depend upon a less than perfect round so I separate them.
I was shooting a few .357 Sig “seconds” the other day at a paper target. I had a pretty good group going when I dropped the hammer of my P229 on a short round. It felt and sounded much different than the other rounds I had shot. This round was notably less powerful than the previous rounds and, in comparison to the full power .357 Sig rounds I had been shooting, it felt almost like a squib round.
The bullet did come out of the barrel though and it struck the target approx 5” above the group I was shooting, a sign of a lower power round. The slide cycled and chambered the next round in the magazine.
This really concerned me. How in the world could I have gotten a reduced powder charge in that short round? I’ve never had a powder issue in my 40+ years of reloading. It really shook my faith in my ability and the thought nagged me the rest of the afternoon.
Later, when I was sorting through the brass from my session, I saw a very strange looking case. That’s when it all made sense. See attached pics.
Apparently some senile old fool threw a round of 9MM into the wrong “seconds” can and it ended up mixed in with the .357 Sig “seconds”. That same old fool must have somehow failed to notice the 9MM round when he absentmindedly loaded a magazine with .357 Sig and ended up shooting the 9MM round out of the .357 Sig pistol.
Despite the off center primer strike, the round fired and the 9MM brass conformed to the .357 Sig chamber.
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I was shooting a few .357 Sig “seconds” the other day at a paper target. I had a pretty good group going when I dropped the hammer of my P229 on a short round. It felt and sounded much different than the other rounds I had shot. This round was notably less powerful than the previous rounds and, in comparison to the full power .357 Sig rounds I had been shooting, it felt almost like a squib round.
The bullet did come out of the barrel though and it struck the target approx 5” above the group I was shooting, a sign of a lower power round. The slide cycled and chambered the next round in the magazine.
This really concerned me. How in the world could I have gotten a reduced powder charge in that short round? I’ve never had a powder issue in my 40+ years of reloading. It really shook my faith in my ability and the thought nagged me the rest of the afternoon.
Later, when I was sorting through the brass from my session, I saw a very strange looking case. That’s when it all made sense. See attached pics.
Apparently some senile old fool threw a round of 9MM into the wrong “seconds” can and it ended up mixed in with the .357 Sig “seconds”. That same old fool must have somehow failed to notice the 9MM round when he absentmindedly loaded a magazine with .357 Sig and ended up shooting the 9MM round out of the .357 Sig pistol.
Despite the off center primer strike, the round fired and the 9MM brass conformed to the .357 Sig chamber.
View attachment 233606 View attachment 233607 View attachment 233608