Why do handloads fail?

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I must be the one who drags down the curve...well, when I started, like my very first 50 9mm reloads many years ago...with a roll crimp. Oops. Saved one to remind me to PAY ATTENTION. I've had a few loaded with a COAL too long, and the bullet get stuck in the lands before fully chambered - getting THAT one out was fun, and left unburned powder all over the inside of my sidearm.
Had one 38 Spl with no powder - to this day I have no idea how that happened, as I routinely triple check powder levels, bench faces a blank wall with no distractions, I just know it was my fault. No damage, caught it when it happened.
I have almost complete excellence with my handloads NOW, but when I started, hoo boy. I had nobody local who handloaded, so everything I did by book and 'net.
I do all of mine on the same single stage press, which does give better control over quality control. Currently I load 38Spl, 9mm, 303 Brit, 25-06 Remington, and a lot of 7.62x39mm, and have better luck with my handloads than most factory ammo, not to mention the fun of a secondary hobby that lets me enjoy my primary even more. Oh, and I cast my own bullets now, too. THAT saves a boatload.
 
Lots of variables with reloads, powder, primers, crimp, brass. A failure of any of these components will result in a dud round, or worse, a blown up gun.
 
jerkface11 said, "The writers who come up with this crap usually own sizable portions of some ammo manufacturer."

What?

Do you have an example of this? Or are you just making this stuff up as you go along? I know a lot of writers and journalists, and all of them are struggling to just get by. Chuck Hawks lives in a TRAILER, for crying out loud. And you think he's a major shareholder in the Federal Ammunition Corporation or something? What nonsense.

David
 
After 20+ years of reloading I have had exactly 25 screw-ups. 24 of which were when I was first starting and using old mil surp brass and a lyman primer pocket reamer. I was young and a little careless with it and made the pockets to big all the primers fell out in the block.

The other one was the primer. I loaded a 223 with my load of AA 2015 and a CCI BR4 primer and a 50gr V-max on teh range click and no boom. got home took it apart and all powder still there primer dented I carefully deprimed it and the priming material looked odd. That is it other than that mine work every time.

Still carry gold dots in my 45 but for hunting I will never shoot factory ammo.
 
dardascastbullets said, "Are you just trolling here?"

What are you talking about?

It seems like a pretty informative and interesting thread has gotten going here. Hardly the goal of a troll.

tasko 74 responded that although he has had outstanding luck with his handloads, and feels they are more accurate and consistant, he still carries factory rounds in his speedloader. My question is: WHY? This is the discussion I was trying to get started. tasko 74 sounds like a very experienced and skillful hand loader. So why not trust them to carry? Is it superstition, or do factory rounds hold together better when jostled around, or something?

David
 
db4570
the ? your asking is a touchy subject to some .
???there abilitys & all, but felt i must reply .
i`ve handloaded since `82 & had 2 ftf , both my fault , 1st was a home made lube that melted & killed the powder. 2nd was a primer that had no anvil .
i now inspect all huntin & sd primers under a magnifying glass & load these on a single stage so i can inspect & scrutinize each step!!!

practice & plinkers don`t get the thrird degree though& go in different color ammo boxes.
SD in red boxes
huntin in blue boxes
plinkin in smoke boxes
this system for all calibers handguns & rifles!!!!!
wanted to add: that some carry factory ammo due to the legal aspects that handloads open certian legel doors for the plaintiff.

maybe this will help someone , maybe not but i typed it anyways!!

GP100man
 
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my guess is its an attempt to avoid all the speculated legal sh*t you could if you had to shoot someone using handloads.... yah, even more discrepancy than with factory fodder lol.... just hope you dont ever need more than a single cylinder full of shells for the job!




lol gp100man beat me to it, i took 4 min to type ^^that^^^????lol
 
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I'd trust my handloads as much as I would factory loads, but I DO keep factory loads in my defense gun (and I make sure the primers are in right side up! :)) primarily for legal/liability reasons. Even though it shouldn't be the case, I think we'd have to fight against the image of a person muttering to themselves while "making their own bullets" in a dark, dank basement.

But yeah, I trust my own handloads just fine.
 
I also believe the article in question was referring to professional reloads. I could see where someone pushing their process to turn out 1000 rounds per hour on each machine, using the equivalent of migrant field workers for technical labor, could miss a few details here and there.


With personal handloads, the one area I didn't see mentioned was case lube. It's generally considered that too much lube can kill a primer. Maybe this wasn't mentioned because we're all a bunch of straight wall / carbide die guys.

Either that or the article in question was based on 15yo data. I also strongly believe the general introduction of the multi-station reloading press over the last 10-15 years has vastly improved the quality of home loaded ammo simply due to the reduction in number of times the cases are handled. Anything that reduces the human interface, also reduces errors.

Just my 2 cents.
 
glad you mentioned straight wall/carbide die.......are carbide dies ONLY for straight walled cases? i was gonna reload either .308 or .204 ruger...(or both if'n i get em:D)... and did not see any carbide die sets at grafs or midway... any reason in particular?
 
glad you mentioned straight wall/carbide die.......are carbide dies ONLY for straight walled cases? i was gonna reload either .308 or .204 ruger... and did not see any carbide die sets at grafs or midway... any reason in particular?
Click to expand...

Carbide itself is so dang hard that it's very difficult to work with, that is to say, form and finish into shape. With cutting tools where carbide tips are common, a diamond paste is used to do the final lapping.

Therefore, in a straight-wall pistol cartridge case die, there need be only a small ring of carbide material at the mouth of the die. The entire case length is sized as the ring slides over it. Easy to understand, construct, and use.

However, in a rifle cartridge the sides have much more taper. This would mean that the entire inner length of the die would need to be made from carbide. The cost of manufacturing such a die, even using multi-part construction would be something you couldn't afford.

Follow?
 
reloads

I never? have problems with my regular reloads only with ones that need reforming.like 1873 french revolver.
I think there is more trouble with progressive presses,because they are running them with out any real checking.when you load a 1000 rds an hour.
I do run a RCBS green machine but I am slower because I am in no hurry.:D
 
Exactly one squib between me and my dad's combined experiences.

We have had some feeding problems with 45acp, but the gun was really the main cause. Eventually we were even able to make that gun rock continuously.

Pay attention.
 
Will someone explain why there is this notion on the part of some shooters that there is some sort of "craftsmanship" involved in factory ammo and that it is the "best"? Hell it's an assembly line with machines turning out ammo at the rate of thousands of rounds per hour, components are fed to the machines in baskets brought in by forklifts! Like any assembly line product there are going to be screw ups that get past QC. Loading ammunition is not rocket science. A knowledgeable reloader who is paying attention to what he is doing is capable of loading ammo as good or better than the factory.
 
Out of about 7500 rounds of my handloaded 40 S&W rounds, I've only had a couple of dud primers, might have been from inadvertant contamination.
 
Been reloading for about 18 years, I will trust my reloads over factory any day of the week.

Reloads fail because of poor reloaders.
 
Wow- Only one way to prove it.

Seems to me that we have as many reloaders whose ammo will shoot 1000 rounds as we have pistoleros who guns will shoot 1000 rounds without a problem. The Truth of the matter is ---few guns will go 1000 rounds without a problem based on results during the recorded trials. Not just range talk or wishful thinking but actually results monitored and recorded. Remember the glock versus 1911 contests?

There is only one way to prove it.

Show up at a 1000 round match and put you ammo to the test. Double 00 is not allowing reloads in his next match, but I know of another match that allows you to bring what works for you. However if there is a failure with your ammo your credibility might take a significant hit here and at the contest. That condition alone might drive some of the reloaders to shy away as will any of many other considerations into proving up claims

Not to antagonize the masses but there might be some room for a few more failures in the reloading category than this thread might indicate. Just a thought.

Do I reload? Yes, Do I have issues with my reloads yes. Do I trust them with my life? Yes I carry them everyday.


Can a reloader make better ammo than factory rounds? Without question.
I have proven it to myself many times with each different caliber I load. Chronographs helped me to believe that the ammo I load can have much less variance between rounds than factory ammo. How much time do you want to spend on reloading and how much time do you want to spend or can you spend on the range.

Just a little food for thought. LM
 
Littlemac,

You need to use revolvers.

Seriously, if you put up money for my travel expenses you are on. I have never had an ammo problem after 25,000 commercial and personal reloads through my revolvers and perhaps 5,000 more commercial loads. I did have problems with a new revolver due to loose mainspring screw and one incident of the ejector rod coming loose, but those were part of the learning curve and long since history. One thousand rounds is a piece of cake.

I see very few problems at revolver competition matches (other than one Ruger SP-100; never take a Ruger to a S&W match :neener:). The International Revolver Championship has in the area of 150 shooters or so each shooting 10 scenarios which may require an average of 20 or so rounds. I have never heard of an ammo failure in the 4 years I was involved
 
Littlemac

Seriously, if you put up money for my travel expenses you are on.
Click to expand...
Ditto

Do I reload? Yes, Do I have issues with my reloads yes. Do I trust them with my life? Yes I carry them everyday.
Click to expand...

Issues yes, and trusts his life on them? :eek:

I have never had a reload not go bang either, but carry factory ammo. None of it is perfect. Sooner or later a primer is going to fail.
 
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