Shooting reloads

[RB98SS]

I'm curious, do any of you guys have reservations in letting friends or family shoot your reloads out of your pistols? Lets say you make a trip to the range with some of your shooting buddies. Do you have any concerns with the possibility of some mistake -- God forbid -- you could have made reloading and causing permanent harm to someone.

I for one do let my friends and family shoot my pistols and reloads but it's always in the back of my mind.

 

[ranger335v]

Never crossed my mind to be concerned about it.

 

[jjohnson]

Only now and then.

Oh, not usually. Now and then I'll load something that's on the hot end - and I'm reluctant more because I know I'm letting an unexperienced or casual shooter fire something that I know from experience is going to be um, well, let's call it a 'flinching moment.' It's NEVER been my intention to show off just how nasty recoil can be.

Most of what I load is in the moderate range of acceptable charges anyway. If I thought there was any danger of a double charge or something, I wouldn't allow it.

 

[jcwit]

Very seldom happens but yes it's always on my mind. Like you say God forbid.

I never make mistakes when reloading--then there's that 3 letter word BUT. BUT maybe this time did I goof-up, nah--BUT.

Sorta like the thread about sweeping people with an UNLOADED gun. BUT BUT BUT

 

[ambidextrous1]

I've been reloading for 14 years or so. I've never experienced a bad (meaning explosive or otherwise injurious) load, and allow friends & interested enthusiasts to shoot my firearms with my reloads, on a limited basis. The risk is infinitesimally small.

 

[possum]

my reloads, out of my gun? no that isn't an issue for me, now if it was someone elses reloads in my guns i would be a little uneasy about that, unless it is my dads, there isn't anyone elses that i would trust.

plus of my training partners, they either always bring enough ammo or they reload too so there is no big deal.

 

[tango2echo]

I will only let friends/family shoot fairly mild stuff. No max loads, as I have not worked up loads for their particular gun.

I will let them shoot some "hot" loads in my guns, but not the max stuff.

T2E

 

[rfwobbly]

The few errors I've had were squibs that left the next round unable to chamber, or swollen cases that wouldn't chamber at all. With either, the slide wouldn't go into battery. Never had more powder in a reload than I expected or any dangerous explosions. Even the one or 2 split cases were little more than puffs of smoke.

But of course I'm using a quality reloading machine and I've proven to myself that the powder charges I'm throwing vary by next to nothing. The reloads that scare me are from the guys using powder dippers.

 

[dave from mesa]

Used to go on a camping trip and all the dads would have their sons come to me so they could learn to shoot. Just because I shot competition they thought I knew EVERYTHING about shooting. All of the kids would eventually get to shoot my 38 super race gun. Never gave it a thought about them shooting my 1400 fps reloads. Never had a problem.

 

[wankerjake]

I reload for my brother a lot, and for a buddy of mine. I always stay on the light end to be safe. I really don't worry too much because I know I am careful.

 

[Cascades]

I reload for my wife, my sons, my daughter-in-law, my younger brother, and my lifelong friend and his family. They are not in danger when shooting my cartridges. I take it slow, check everything. Their well-being is most important to me.

I prefer they and their friends shoot my reloads rather than shoot factory ammunition.

 

[coloradokevin]

I usually run through the first magazine or two when I have a new loading. Beyond that, I am comfortable with letting my friends/family shoot my ammo.

For one, I'm neurotic when I load, and always double/triple check myself (as such, I load slowly compared to many folks). Also, I don't often push towards maximum loads. Lighter loads are easier on the gun and the brass, and seem to do fine for most purposes!

 

[Doc Rizzi]

Family and Friends shooting my reloads

I have no problem with letting family or friends shoot my reloads. I trust them more than I trust store bought ammo because I know the quality control that went into them. If I am working up a load for competition shooting I reserve that testing for myself. With regard to my reloading practices I never rush, always inspect for case integrity and make frequent comparison checks with my "template" cartridge for OAL. I weigh every charge. This takes longer but I always have peace of mind. I have had misfires due to bad primers but thus far have never had a squib. The reloader (and all shooters) always needs to have a high situational awareness when shooting, not only of yourself, but of those around you.

 

[James Thomson]

There is a liability issue that could come up if something went wrong. I don't load or let others except my son shoot my reloads. We have shot a ton of my own home spun 9mm lead 124 grain and every once in a great while we come across one that has no powder in it. We know that sound of no powder just the primer going off. We have never had an incident. It can and does happen to all of us eventually and it just pays to be careful. That being said I can tell you that I have had brand new ammo that has malfunctioned as well. On my Dillon 650 I use the powder check to make sure that the correct charge has been dropped. On my Dillon 550, I just view each case to make sure there's about the right amount of powder in it.

 

[RB98SS]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm gonna "knock on wood" for all of us, you know how it goes, just when you say you've never had an incident.......

I don't want this thread to be the one.