please be safe, careful and think!

[nagantguy]

I just sat at my bench, and almost was visited by the stupid fairy again!
same story, busy, shoot coming up, work, harvest, canning getting ready for.hunting season, youth season in 2 weeks, on and on.
I was going to experiment with some new 357 loads, .357 remington magnum, as a member here was nice and responded to my ad in wtb and sent me a extra seater die so I can leave the other set for.my sweet go.to load!
I opened my trusty second edition by Richard Lee and said uhm, I don't recall using that much powder for this , so I looked again, yep, voice in my head yelled stop, my red .357 page marker was in the book.at that page, BUT I'd moved it to list after .357 maximum, cause I'm buying an encore barrel in that flavor. I was ready to go get powder off the shelf across the room and start loading way out of weight class for 357 rem mag! we sometimes are our own worst enemy! I'm not smarter or safer than any of you, and I believe the inverse is also true, be safe be smart, don't hurry, when you load, only load, check everything at least 3 times! not trying to.scold or lecture, I CARE about all you guys and gal's.

[OS OK]

At least you listened to that 'little voice' inside that told you to STOP!
I use those stick-on paper file markers that hang outside of the pages and I mark them with the caliber. Just another way, not the only way but...it works for this old fart!

Good Save!

charlie

[Blackwater]

Great post, Nagant. It's SO easy these days, with all the cares and concerns and questions that inundate us daily, to let our FOCUS drift. And that can be DANGEROUS when we're reloading! It ain't rocket science, and that's one of the things that makes it seem so hard to keep our focus on what we're doing. But we HAVE to! There's no do-overs in reloading, and once the trigger is pulled, it can never be un-done, and the projectiles can never be brought back once launched. Focus ain't always easy, but it IS always required. If we can't keep focused, it's definitely best to leave and come back to the bench when we've got our concerns settled, or can at least stay focused on what we're doing.

And not one of us is immune from the dumbest of mistakes, no matter how many thousands of rounds we've loaded, or how many bullets we've cast before. The question isn't what we've done before, it's all about what we're doing RIGHT NOW. Don't ask how I learned this. It's embarassing, and still scares me to think about it. It's startling how easy it is to mess up!

[shoot-n-lead]

Good admonition...I have nearly done the same. I have since sold all of my Max stuff...but it applies to other cartridges, as well. The good thing is that you followed your gut...and looked closer. Matter of fact, I have gotten where I tend to question a lot of things that I know...I just verify what I know...that I know. I figure that I have been too lucky over these years...so, I tend to verify a lot more now, than I have in the past. Fortunately, when I verify, I tend to have been right, but it makes me feel better to check it anyway.

[bedbugbilly]

Good reminder to all of us Nagant . . . and if we were honest with ourselves, we probably have always nearly done something similar. I only shoot cast so my "go to" manuals are the Lyman 2nd and 3rd Cast Bullet Handbooks. I find that when I'm going to load a specific cartridge, I run a copy of the page/pages for that cartridge. In the case of loading rifle (I only load 8mm and 330-30 presently), I lay the page on my bench and then make all my notes on the back of the page along with the results of how they shot. Powder . .. . I make sure that I only have one container on the bench - the one I'm presently loading with . . . that way I won't get busy and mess up. I story my powder on a shelf across the room so I have to make an effort to go get what I need. When I'm done with the powder, it goes back on the shelf.

It's pretty easy to get interrupted or have your mind wander to other thoughts . . . more than once I've said "enough" and stopped until a later time when I could concentrate. I chalk it all up to "old age" but it can happen to anyone. Glad you caught the error and you give very good advice that we all need to heed!

[Bzcraig]

Yes indeed, we need the reminders! thank you

[dverna]

When that little voice speaks......LISTEN

It has happened to me twice.

[pretzelxx]

I use a cheat sheet..or card. I toss it in my drawer that labels the specs and powder for each round and which depth each gun likes.. So then I transfer said data in my loaded boxes.. Almost loaded wrong a few times as well which is why I started each round a data card

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk

[Mk42gunner]

I have had the page turn unintentionally in loading manuals. My fix is to use a paperclip to hold the book open to the page I am using.

I would much rather read a post saying "Be careful, I just caught this before anything happened." Than a post saying "There I was in the emergency room."

Robert

[Ithaca Gunner]

The stupid fairy visits us all at times, that little voice saves a lot of hardship.