RCBS Powder measure dangerous

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

bigjim

Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2002
Messages
793
I am so mad!! I started loading and checked my powder measure and it was throwing 4.3 grains of win 231 just like it has for about the last thousands rounds or so.
I loaded 10 and checked again. Perfect. Loaded 50 and checked. Perfect
Loaded 150 more and checked. The powder charge had migrated up to 5.6 grains of 231.

This would blow a case. ( 9mm 124 FMJ seated to 1.30) Since I had been dumping the rounds in a box I have about 250 that are garbage.

This means that this RCBS uniflow powder measure is garbage. I am looking in my trash can at 250 rounds and a uniflow powder measure. I have 25,000 rounds on my Dillon powder measure since I last adjusted it. It has not changed at all.

My RCBS Uniflow is a piece of crap.
 
OK, you say powder scale, and then powder measure in the same message.

Couple of questions for you.

How long have you been using the Uniflow? (I've thrown thousands of charges with mine without a single problem).

Did you check your scale with a set of scale check weights to make sure you didn't bump it off?

Did you tighten all of the Uniflow's locking bolts tightly?

Are you sure that you have the correct stem in right chamber in the Uniflow?
 
eating crow.....big fat chunks of crow.

Adjustment was loose. Loaded ammo is still useless and dangerous.

My fault.
 
RCBS

Have to differ...........been using my RCBS Uniflow..since 1974...without any problems! Lost count of how many times I have loaded with it..easily over 100,000....rounds..of various calibers. 38-357...44special-44mag...9mm....223...308...a lifetime of reloading...and it holds true......just have to PAY ATTENTION when setting up.....
 
Another happy RCBS Uniflow user here.

bigjim - Even though you found the problem, I would suggest one thing. You might want to consider checking the powder weights a little more often. I usually check a sample about every 25 throws, certainly no more than every 50. Going 150 without a check is asking for trouble, IMO.
 
I use a Uniflo with small drum and micrometer spindle for nearly all single stage loading, the ones I don't have a Bonanza setting for. It has not walked around on me.
I weigh every tenth or fifteenth charge. Every fifth magnum.
 
I'm concerned!

I'm concerned, bigjim. The problem has been discovered ,the corrections made and new strategy recommended to prevent this error from occuring again.Maybe everyone above knows you well enough to know that you will not leave those hot rounds in the trash but I do not know you and feel that this needs to be addressed.I don't know about everyone here but in my shop no live rounds or even live primers go into the trash . It is our responsibility to disassemble the rounds and make the primers inert before trashing them . Of course ,when you diassemble the rounds there is no need to trash them- just reload them again properly.
The main thing is that no one is injured or killed because of an error on our part that was compounded by the fact that we could have removed the danger and chose not to do so.
 
Sounds like the bullet puller is going to get a workout. No way would I have the heart to waste the components.
 
No problem with my 1984 Uniflow. I recheck the setting if I even bump that thing. Some of my friends think I'm a little anal about checking charges I do it so much. OTOH, you've never seen a KB thread from me either. Hope you never will.

The closer I am to a max charge, the more often I check it of course. You can't trust anything more mechanical than a knife & fork.

I had one occassion where it started throwing more than I set it for and you guessed it, the adjustment had loosened. Luckily I caught it right away. Dont trash that ammo, pull it. The cost of more componants will pay for the puller.

Do you guys do it by the book and after reaching your desired setting throw 10 charges and average it? I do. It's a PITA for rifle cartridges but worth it I think. Peace of mind.
 
I think you do have some responsibility to deactivate those rounds.

Besides, that's what a bullet puller is for. Chalk it up to experience and learn from it. Don't load that many rounds without checking the what it's throwing.

I've loaded a few (5-10) hot by accident when the adjustment loosened, but caught it before I made that many. Guess what I did? Yup, pulled them.
It's become routine to load a few, then make sure everything is still tight. It gives me peace of mind that I'm still within spec.

esheato....
 
I too have a Uniflow and it has been nothing but accurate for me. I suggest you retrieve your Uniflow from the trash and get a micrometer adjustment stem for it. Not only does it help you dial in your load quickly, there's no nut to snug up (and come loose).
 
I have a uniflow and have had no problems with it. I set it at a medium charge that is no where close to max. I check the charge on a scale about every 10 th or 15 th round. I use it on pistol rounds but I always weigh my rifle charges on a RCBS digital scale and RCBS 510 Scale.
 
Thanks to all the safety frogs out there.

The rounds are sitting taped up in a box labled BAD LOAD
DANGEROUSLY OVER PRESSURE. DO NOT FIRE!

I will figure out what I am going to do with them later.

However my personal opinion is that If I did throw them away and some
one dug them out of the trash and fired them I would not loose much sleep over it.

I also don't worry that someone will get cut on the broken glass I threw out last week. I also put a half a bottle of old bleach in the dumpster. Gosh I hope nobody drinks it.
 
However my personal opinion is that If I did throw them away and some
one dug them out of the trash and fired them I would not loose much sleep over it.
Click to expand...

The issue is that trash often gets compacted, either in a municipal truck or a dumpster. As your trash is compacted, there is a very real possibility that some other piece of trash could get pressed against the primer of a loaded round with enough force that it goes off. That's dangerous.
 
No it's not. When a round goes off outside of a barrel(or other supporting tube) it just blows the case open with a bang and that's about it. You have some flying brass on occasion, and maybe the bullet goes about ten-15 feet. BTDT, ain't no big deal.

If it's really a problem you're concerned about, get a 55gal burn drum, go out in the boonies with some gasoline or some paper and burn the rounds. It's going to sound like fireworks, but I doubt it'll even have enough juice to blow ash out the the drum.

The local range has burn barrels for trash and rounds pop off all the time. Might poke your eye or scratch the paint on your car or your skin, but that's it. S/F,,,,Ken M
 
Thanks to all the safety frogs out there.

The rounds are sitting taped up in a box labled BAD LOAD
DANGEROUSLY OVER PRESSURE. DO NOT FIRE!

I will figure out what I am going to do with them later.

However my personal opinion is that If I did throw them away and some
one dug them out of the trash and fired them I would not loose much sleep over it.

I also don't worry that someone will get cut on the broken glass I threw out last week. I also put a half a bottle of old bleach in the dumpster. Gosh I hope nobody drinks it.
 
It's my understanding that when you burn rounds, you heat them up to the point that the gasses inside the round expand enough to blow it apart, only after which the powder ignites and burns freely. Activating a primer on a (unsupported) round would have a different effect.

Either way it may be perfectly safe, but putting live rounds in the trash still doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies.
 
My Uni-flow works well with ball type powder, with extruded powder it is another matter. Bridging seems to occur regularly.

I have for the most part used nothing but ball powder and it makes reloading a joy. with all the ball powders out there I have been able to find one for each of my applications.
 
Cortland,

You understand imprecisely.

EchoSixMike is correct. It's largely unimportant as to the mechanism of firing, the ultimate effect is that the bullet exits the case mouth with little fanfare.

In situations like these, the primer cup is actually more dangerous than the bullet as it can be expelled with considerable velocity. But, the fact that it's so light means that it's dangerous only for a few feet at most, unless it hits you in the eye.
 
I'm thinking that the force of the explosion is not the real issue here. I think it's more that if a round goes off while being compacted in the back of a garbage truck the resulting flame could start a fire. A burning garbage truck cannot be a pretty sight.......:D
 
That was my thought also, sebago. A fire on the way to the dump is far more dangerous than a bunch of reloads going off at the dump. However, since things usually happen slowly in the back of a trash truck, the probability of a primer going off is very small.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

d31tc
RCBS Powder Measures - School Me
Replies
4
Views
526
irishlad
irishlad
T
  • Locked
RCBS Turret w/RCBS Uniflow Powder Measure?
Replies
8
Views
2K
P-32
P
mikemyers
  • Locked
RCBS Uniflow Powder Measure
2
Replies
32
Views
4K
cfullgraf
cfullgraf
W
  • Locked
powder measure usage
Replies
8
Views
410
GeoDudeFlorida
GeoDudeFlorida
S
  • Locked
Powder Measure for 2.5+ Grains
Replies
22
Views
1K
wingman
W
Back
Top