Powder handling mistakes

[DustyRusty]

What did you learn from your powder handling mistakes? Have you thrown powder with no primers in the case? Have you fumbled your funnel and dumped powder all over? Have you dropped your canister of powder? Have you forgotten which primers you loaded into the tube?

Having fumbled my funnel last night, I wonder what others have learned from their mishaps. Care to share?

 

[Targa]

I have done it all more than once, I am a slow leaner.

 

[noylj]

I actually had a measure with a full hopper I turned upside down to check something...

 

[Walkalong]

Have you thrown powder with no primers in the case? Have you fumbled your funnel and dumped powder all over?

Yes, and yes.

Forgot to disconnect the powder measure and dumped powder in the empty spot on the shell plate too.

 

[.308 Norma]

I actually had a measure with a full hopper I turned upside down to check something...

I've never done that (as best as I can remember), but I feel your pain because I've sure done similar things.

 

[AJC1]

I once powdered brass with no primers. Now I process brass in the flip method so that doesn't happen...

 

[.308 Norma]

What did you learn from your powder handling mistakes?

I learned to never have more than one can of powder at a time on my reloading bench. And I probably don't need to explain how I learned that.

 

[Chief TC]

I think I've made most of the standard mistakes with powder except I have not mixed them by accident.

 

[bigpower491]

I have done it all more than once, I am a slow leaner.

I'm a member of this club also.....

And I don't doubt I'll have a few more mishaps before I'm done on this rock.....

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I think I've made most of the standard mistakes with powder except I have not mixed them by accident.

I did, I mixed Power Pistol and Unique together one day, and I also dumped powder all over my bench by flipping a measure over with powder in it. After I did that I knew it was time to quit for the day.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

What did you learn from your powder handling mistakes? Have you thrown powder with no primers in the case? Have you fumbled your funnel and dumped powder all over? Have you dropped your canister of powder? Have you forgotten which primers you loaded into the tube?

Having fumbled my funnel last night, I wonder what others have learned their mishaps. Care to share?

Every once in awhile I will check my dipping technique dropping powder, then pulling the case, dumping the powder in the pan and weighing, then pouring it back into the funnel/PTX. That’s pretty simple, right? Well you know what happens when I put the case back in the holder then forget to run the ram up?
It’s happened more than twice.

 

[cfullgraf]

There are those reloaders that have had a spilled powder event and those reloaders that will have a spilled powder event.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Everyone has made mistakes, some will admit it and some won't. I could care less.
I once threw a couple dozen primed 38 Special cases in my Ultrasonic with Citric acid and Dawn soap, with my dirty .357 magnum cases. Don't know what I was thinking.

I turned it into a science project to see if the primers were ruined. I set them up on a shelf for a couple months, then loaded them.

Every one of them fired with no issues. I couldn't tell them from fresh primers.
Those suckers are hard to kill.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Everyone has made mistakes, some will admit it and some won't. I could care less.
I once threw a couple dozen primed 38 Special cases in my Ultrasonic with Citric acid and Dawn soap, with my dirty .357 magnum cases. Don't know what I was thinking.

I turned it into a science project to see if the primers were ruined. I set them up on a shelf for a couple months, then loaded them.

Every one of them fired with no issues. I couldn't tell them from fresh primers.
Those suckers are hard to kill.

Wow! That is impressive!

 

[Walkalong]

Those suckers are hard to kill.

Sure are.

 

[cfullgraf]

I learned to never have more than one can of powder at a time on my reloading bench. And I probably don't need to explain how I learned that.

Sometimes I am a bit dense about things but going into reloading I could see having more than one powder on the bench at one time was an invitation for disaster.

I have had my share of spills. The worst was on a MEC shot shell loader flipping the powder charge bar over to remove the powder bottle without the base plug in the powder bottle.

 

[AJC1]

Sometimes I am a bit dense about things but going into reloading I could see having more than one powder on the bench at one time was an invitation for disaster.

I have had my share of spills. The worst was on a MEC shot shell loader flipping the powder charge bar over to remove the powder bottle without the base plug in the powder bottle.

Maybe that's why some people are looking for a single powder solution

 

[3D-Seth]

I've done plenty. The worst so far was shortly after I started reloading. Left a jug of Power Pistol open and on the counter nearby. Bumped it, and of course the entire thing went over the floor.

 

[Bush Pilot]

I can honestly say I've never had one issue with powder handling, several yes, but not just one.

 

[Blue68f100]

I've done most over the years but have not spilled bottles or mix powders. The latest being to forget to close the drain on the CM1500, soon after I got it.

 

[NMexJim]

Two young dummies had a cap and ball pistol out one day. Forgot to put spit-wad in one full cylinder, and watched the balls and powder pour out of the cylinder onto the ground. One young fellow decided to bend over and drop a match on the spilled black powder. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Poof - burned off his eye brows and singed his beard. Black powder sure can conflagrate. Sure, and it’s funny now. Not so much then.

 

[.45Coltguy]

If you've handloaded long enough, there's gonna be a "whoops" in there somewhere. Or two.

 

[joneb]

Having fumbled my funnel last night, I wonder what others have learned their mishaps. Care to share?

I have learned there should be only one powder on the bench, I learned that the hard way.

 

[MarshallDodge]

I've been guilty of a double charge several times. I forgot that the case was already filled and accidentally left the powder funnel on top of it, then threw another charge on top of that. It has always happened with a rifle case so the funnel never empties, and the mistake is easily seen.

 

[cfullgraf]

Maybe that's why some people are looking for a single powder solution

Yes not a bad objective. But, it is not always obtainable. I've tried reducing my powders to a minimum numbers but it just does not seem to work. There is always some load combination needed that needs a different powder.

Best to adopt the attitude that you keep only one powder on the bench during a reloading session. Make it a an hard and fast rule.

Many plinking level rounds can use many different powders with similar plinking results. But when venturing in or full power loads, powderchoice becomes more important and limited. It all depends on your objectives of the loads within the limitations of the cartridge,

For the S&W Model 642/442 and 638 thread, I get my new S&W M638 on Monday.I'll let you know how it shoots.

It'll go to TK Custom to be machined for moon clips. Moon ship clips rock. I have a 642, 442 and 437 that are machined for moon clips.

Stay tuned.