Watch for a double charge ???

[Whitetail1]

I have been reloading 9mm and .45 for a couple years with about 10k+ through my Lee Classic turret. I am very diligent about looking in EVERY case for powder as i place my bullet in place. Last night I was shocked when a saw what seemed like a double charge as I was about to place the bullet in place. For about 10 seconds I second guessed everything I had been doing for the last 2 years and was about to start pointing fingers elsewhere. I just couldn't believe I double charged a round. I took the shell out of the holder and dumped the powder out and found the case had about 1/3 of it's volume filled with hard clay like dirt. The case didn't get cleaned out in my tumbler very well. (i had a match in the rain and everything was a mess the week prior.)
If i hadn't been diligent about looking in every case this could have been disastrous.
Word of wisdom and lesson learned. LOOK IN EVERY CASE NO MATTER HOW CERTAIN YOU ARE!

 

[rcmodel]

+1
I inspect everything once before it goes in the tumbler.
And a second time when it comes out.

If that don't find it, the depriming punch will when I size & expand after the first cleaning.

In addition to mud pack, I have found range pick-ups with:
* Spider nests firmly glued inside cases.
* Rocks stuck tight in cases.
* Cigarette filters somebody had rolled up and stuck in cases.
* Old fired bullets jammed back inside cases.
* Smaller caliber cases wedged inside larger caliber cases.

rc

 

[1in9twist]

Creepy stuff. I had a hibernating bee in one of my .223 cases a while back. That was fun......

 

[jmorris]

Another reason why I love the powder check die.

 

[sugarmaker]

Anything I load requires 2 levels of verification for:

Double / missing charge

VISUAL is 1 means - I must see the powder in each case. Dillon Powder check on progressive or shake / crunch / maybe some feel (all this depends on the fill level) on single stage is the 2nd means - this is the AUDIO check, on every round. I also use powder that more than half fills the case.

High primer - seat feel and tactile on hand prime or single stage.
Body die or 2nd resize after seating the primer on progressive - haven't seen a primer yet that'll stick out under sizing forces, even with dirty pockets.

inverted / missing primer / forgot to deprime old case

Feel on the press and visual - i always place my rounds base up in an MTM or equiv. box - it's part of my inspection procedure.

 

[Hondo 60]

Whitetail1 - Thanks for posting.
Hopefully this'll be a reminder for everyone.

 

[beatledog7]

Part of my case prep routine is to run a nylon brush into the case and then do a visual check. If the brush won't go in cleanly, or if I can't see through the flash hole, that case has something in it that must come out.

 

[Walkalong]

Always check for small cases in your .45 Colt brass.

 

[gamestalker]

Getting complacient about inspecting your brass can lead to a very bad experience. If your inspecting your brass properely, you shouldn't be discovering such things as clogged brass during the seating step.

 

[EddieNFL]

I am very diligent about looking in EVERY case for powder as i place my bullet in place.

Lots of folks rely on powder checkers, but I'll never trust a mechanical device/battery more than my eyesight.

 

[1SOW]

Good post. Good catch.

I had a rock lodged in a 9mm case once.

Dirt is a problem in my area, so I soak and pre-wash my cases when I get home from the range. This doesn't mean cases don't need checking, just that not as many will have dirt problems, and my tumbler media stays clean longer..

Keep double checking.

 

[Walkalong]

I brush the inside of every case I scrounge before it is tumbled and put away for later use. I do not do it with my fired brass, but it starts off OK, and as many times as I handle it before it gets a powder charge, I will catch something in it. Should it get that far, I also "see" each powder charge I seat a bullet over, and would hopefully catch it as the OP did.

My "brass brusher" is an old centrifuge that I put a chuck on to hold brushes.

 

[jmorris]

Quote:


I am very diligent about looking in EVERY case for powder as i place my bullet in place.


Lots of folks rely on powder checkers, but I'll never trust a mechanical device/battery more than my eyesight.

They haven't made crank start carburated cars in 80 some odd years and to not trust any mechanical device you'd need a heck of a horse. As far as simple devices go a PC die would be at the top of the list, way down that list you would find pace maker and others that people these days don't live without.

 

[Whitetail1]

Nice brusher Walkalong. This looks like a good way to get my son involved in the reloading process. He shoots almost as much as me at 11 years old now.
Thanks for the tip.

 

[Maximumbob54]

Assuming you are using the Pro Auto Disk or the Adjustable Charge Bar on a Lee Classic Turret, I'm not sure how you would get a double charge. I love that press. I tried for a while to figure out a way to get a case activated powder meter on the Lee Powder Through Expander die and just ended with I could buy the RCBS or Hornady system with the Powder Funner mod and it would have worked but it was really bulky. I love that press.

 

[Whitetail1]

Your correct

I do have the Pro auto disc. I have never had any issues. It is very reliable. I found a whole bag of discs at a garage sale and have tweaked several for specific loads. I color coded them and use a chart to keep them straight. The whole system has been flawless. I get about 150-175 an hour without killing my self and this is good enough for me.

 

[chrt396]

If you were powder charging the round and noticed all the clay like dirt in the case...how did you re-size, de-cap and re-prime without running in to that obstruction?

 

[EddieNFL]

They haven't made crank start carburated cars in 80 some odd years and to not trust any mechanical device you'd need a heck of a horse. As far as simple devices go a PC die would be at the top of the list, way down that list you would find pace maker and others that people these days don't live without.

Faulty analogy. Anyway, there's no need to defend your choice; it's your's to make.

 

[BADUNAME37]

This is one reason I clean every primer pocket.
This would not slip by my process of cleaning primer pockets.

 

[1SOW]

Most straight wall case pistol shooters don't clean primer pockets.

 

[Walkalong]

I know I don't.

 

[Greg Mercurio]

OP: How did the case get de-primed?

 

[jmorris]

Faulty analogy. Anyway, there's no need to defend your choice; it's your's to make.

I'll never trust a mechanical device/battery more than my eyesight.

Not defending any choice, simply pointing out, like it or not, every day we have our lives in the "hands" of both electrical and mechanical devices. This is due to the fact they don't get tired or bored of doing the same thing over and over. They are also very repeatable from one device to another. If this were true about eyes as well...well there would not be threads like this one every few days.

 

[Walkalong]

Excellent point.

It is quite easy to lose focus and miss looking into a case. Focus is something we have to guard against losing any and all the time we reload.

 

[RandyP]

+1 on the auto-advancing Lee turret - it would require 'extra' special effort to double charge a case. I never thought about clay inside a spent case before - I scrounge all my brass at an indoor range that prohibits smoking, so there is not much foreign material than can get stuck in a case and make it past my inspection when I am separating the spent brass pre-tumbling.

I deprime/prime on the press - perhaps the decapping pin would go right thru any dirt/clay with ease and not be noticed?