bummer! ...captured a bad mistake!

[mozeppa]

loaded up 501 cast boolits ...100 grain cone nose.

inspected all the brass for cracks, all the primers for good seating, c.o.l. is real good, checked each one for plunk fit. all is good!

but something was itching my think tank...so... i re-checked the load books for my load.

i loaded each with AA#5 and my dispenser ran each off at 4.6 grains ...and it was VERY consistent!

wrong!

i mused that this was too hot a load...and i was right.
first ....i could not find any loads for that boolit , or grain weight ...and none using aa#5.

so where tyhe heck did i come up with 4.6 of aa#5?
i re-checked 5 manuals .....it's not there!

from what i am able to find, 4.6 of aa#5 is nearly a double charge.
sig sauers are tuff little guns but i don't think they'd stand a chance with a KABOOM load!

so check good....then re-check again.

don't know how i initially missed this![smilie=b:

[modified5]

Glad you paid attention to that little itch in the back of your head and caught that.
Much better than a "hey, look what happened to me and I am recovering" post!
Be safe and shoot straight! :Fire:

[OS OK]

Uuuh oooh!

Me thinks that you are going to become an expert at dissassembling lots-O-ammo soon...

[DerekP Houston]

Ouch that could've been bad news! There's usually a reason for that itch in the back of your mind...good on you for finding it.

[ghh3rd]

Thanks for admitting your mistake publicly to help us all remember to listen to our gut feelings and check everything one more time if something doesn't feel quite right.

[jeepguy242]

Ouch.

I did the same thing once with 44 mag. Wrong powder

Hope you have a collet puller. My hands got sore after the first 100 with an impact puller and I went and bought a collet puller that day

[DerekP Houston]

Ouch.

I did the same thing once with 44 mag. Wrong powder

Hope you have a collet puller. My hands got sore after the first 100 with an impact puller and I went and bought a collet puller that day

I *may* have done something similar with my 38 wad cutter loads, the impact puller wouldn't even budge it. Solution I found was to remove the decapping pin and run them through the sizing die. You'll have to recast the boolits but they popped right out after being sized down.

[EDG]

You might consider giving up handloading and finding a activity that does not require paying attention or conscious thought.
You don't usually get any do overs.

[RogerDat]

Thanks for admitting your mistake publicly to help us all remember to listen to our gut feelings and check everything one more time if something doesn't feel quite right. Our instincts are always trying to protect us and always based on something, often the basis that is triggering that feeling is something we don't notice consciously but it's something our mind picked up on without our noticing it.

Glad your posting that you listened to your guts and double checked rather than I knew there was something wrong but not what was wrong so I just went ahead with pictures of injuries.

Not many live deer "think" they smell or hear something that might be "wrong" and ignore it.

[redneck1]

You might consider giving up handloading and finding a activity that does not require paying attention or conscious thought.
You don't usually get any do overs.

Spoken like someone who has never made a mistake ?

The post shows both attention to detail and conscious thought .
While the attention to detail came at the wrong time , the conscious thought caught the mistake before it became a problem .

If we do not make mistakes there is very little to learn from , luckily it was caught in time to be a learning experience that caused no harm .

To the op ... carry on . Something tells me you won't forget to check your notes and manuals beforehand again :)

[mdi]

The only thing I may think the OP did "wrong" is load up 500 rounds of an untested load. I thank the OP for sharing his mistake so mebbe someone else may not make the same mistake.

This is why I keep my manuals near my bench and write down the load I'm gonna use on a post-it and stick it to my powder measure, I've had to dump a few charges and start over...

[dragon813gt]

The post shows both attention to detail and conscious thought .


It does not show attention to detail. That would require getting the load manuals out before loading and writing the load down on a piece of paper that's then kept on the bench until you're done loading that batch. This is what I do every single time. All the specifics for the load are written on a notepad. The load manual is left out and open to the correct page if the load came from one. If it came from QL the printout is on the bench. While I'm glad the OP caught the mistake. Attention to detail is not how to describe what took place.

[redneck1]

You did a fine job of taking what i said out of context , but thats ok .
And as i said above , the attention to details came to late in this instance .

even though it came at the wrong time it was still there . In my opinion . But then that's my opinion , you have yours and I have mine .. the world keeps on spinning

But let's disregard all that and go back to the point i should have made , telling someone they should find a new hobby because they made a mistake .. and luckily caught it is absolutely no help what so ever .

[DerekP Houston]

It does not show attention to detail. That would require getting the load manuals out before loading and writing the load down on a piece of paper that's then kept on the bench until you're done loading that batch. This is what I do every single time. All the specifics for the load are written on a notepad. The load manual is left out and open to the correct page if the load came from one. If it came from QL the printout is on the bench. While I'm glad the OP caught the mistake. Attention to detail is not how to describe what took place.

man I do the same thing. I'll be honest, mine was powder bridging/not dropping full charges in the lee auto disk, I caught it after a few rounds during my spot checks. I couldn't verify how many of the rounds had the issue so I broke down the lot of them. A few days later the return spring snapped and I replaced it, I'm guessing that was causing the drop issues.

I stopped using unique in the lee after that and switched to hp38. Making mistakes is human I reckon

[Tom W.]

Me? I NEVER made a mistake and had to break down some loads............ If you believe that I have a really nice bridge for sale..:holysheep

[Moonie]

I'm betting the experience makes him a better reloader.

[mozeppa]

i want to thank all of you who have NEVER caught a mistake, then admitted to it.

you PERFECT PEOPLE who say i should give up reloading because in YOUR OPINION i'm not mentally up to the task
and you have indeed elevated you own abillities far above mine ... you are my gods.....AND BITE ME!

i was wrong, and i should have blown myself up and died due to the misfortune of catching my mistake...i shant catch any others.

i did look in 5 manuals for loads when i came across what i thought was right ...but was indeed wrong AS I DID RE-CHECK FOR THAT LOAD BEFORE I FIRED ONE OFF!.....AND WHEN I COULD NOT FIND IT AGAIN I KNEW IT WAS WRONG...AND I PULLED EVERY ONE DOWN!

P.S. YOU BUNCH OF BUTT MUNCHS.... THERE ARE THINGS I DO AND HAVE DONE THAT YOU MOST LIKELY ON YOUR BEST DAY COULDN'T DO.

SO REVEL IN YOUR SUPERIORITY.[smilie=s:

[Maven]

mozeppa, I did almost exactly what you did the other day, but with a double charge of IMR 4198! Your description of an "itching" in your "think tank" is a good one as I had an uneasy feeling that something wasn't right too. I then weighed the 15 or so fully loaded cases until I came to the one which was at least 20 gr. too heavy, pulled it, dumped the powder, and recharged the case with the correct amount of powder, i.e., 24gr. 4198. As I still had that itching the next day, I weighed all 60 loaded rounds and found all was well. Glad you (and I!) caught our mistakes and are here to write about them!

[OS OK]

i want to thank all of you who have NEVER caught a mistake, then admitted to it.

you PERFECT PEOPLE who say i should give up reloading because in YOUR OPINION i'm not mentally up to the task
and you have indeed elevated you own abillities far above mine ... you are my gods.....AND BITE ME!

i was wrong, and i should have blown myself up and died due to the misfortune of catching my mistake...i shant catch any others.

i did look in 5 manuals for loads when i came across what i thought was right ...but was indeed wrong AS I DID RE-CHECK FOR THAT LOAD BEFORE I FIRED ONE OFF!.....AND WHEN I COULD NOT FIND IT AGAIN I KNEW IT WAS WRONG...AND I PULLED EVERY ONE DOWN!

P.S. YOU BUNCH OF BUTT MUNCHS.... THERE ARE THINGS I DO AND HAVE DONE THAT YOU MOST LIKELY ON YOUR BEST DAY COULDN'T DO.

SO REVEL IN YOUR SUPERIORITY.[smilie=s:

Well...mozeppa...I'm sorry you had to endure that roasting here in forum. I certainly didn't expect to see this post go south like this but...
there seems to be a pretty low grade of reloaders ('assemblers', if you get my drift, not handloaders by a long shot!) hanging out here as of late.

The more you try to help the 'newbs' the more you end up getting it in the butt!

"Good on you for trying though...c h a r l i e"

A sad commentary on a once great forum...huh?

[MyFlatline]

I thought only one person got nailed to a cross, I must have missed the others...

[DougGuy]

^^^^ This...

In the oddest way, the angst of this thread will creep and haunt and make one BE SURE to double and TRIPLE check loads and therein is the silver lining...

[buckshotshoey]

mozeppa, I did almost exactly what you did the other day, but with a double charge of IMR 4198! Your description of an "itching" in your "think tank" is a good one as I had an uneasy feeling that something wasn't right too. I then weighed the 15 or so fully loaded cases until I came to the one which was at least 20 gr. too heavy, pulled it, dumped the powder, and recharged the case with the correct amount of powder, i.e., 24gr. 4198. As I still had that itching the next day, I weighed all 60 loaded rounds and found all was well. Glad you (and I!) caught our mistakes and are here to write about them!

I did that once. But caught it before I seated a bullet on it. I look at all of them in the tray before moving to the next step.

Avoid that mistake forever. Choose a powder that can't be double charged.... even with starting loads.

[lightman]

You might consider giving up handloading and finding a activity that does not require paying attention or conscious thought.
You don't usually get any do overs.

This seems a little harsh and uncalled for. The man made a mistake, caught it, and passed on the experience in the hopes that others could learn from it. Glad you have never made a mistake!

Mozeppa, Glad you caught this before you were injured or damaged a firearm. Thanks for posting this so that the rest of us can review or refine our procedures. So, step back and take a deep breath and figure out the best way to pull 500 bullets. Maybe review and revise your records. I keep a loose leaf note book in a spread sheet style copied form with my loading data in it. It was kind of a copy of the MTM sheets from years ago.

[pjames32]

Thanks to the OP for this post. No roasting need tho. Just glad you caught it and took the time to remind ALL of us that we need to keep thinking as we enjoy our hobby! Carry on with care.

[45workhorse]

I bet he never gets flat tire either.

I have had that itching in my brain housing group before and found things wrong. Always trust your itch

[Uncle Dave]

Thanks OP
Everyone needs a safety reminder of how mistakes happen(common and uncommon ones) and I appreciate your shared experience. OSHA says all accidents are preventable but I have never meet that perfect human yet and never will. Probably why I hurt so bad lol.

[Driver man]

If that load was for 9mm it would be a hot load but not that hot surely. Same burning rate as WST

[crackers]

All the detail-oriented stone-throwers don't even know what caliber was involved.

[Forrest r]

There's a silver lining in every cloud. At least the op is going to get good at playing wack-a-mole.:brokenima:brokenima

Myself I swage my own bullets, have for 3 decades. A lot of the bullets I've made there's no data for so I compare the seating depth of the bullet to known bullets that weigh more than the bullet I made and use that data for test loads. Then I make up 10 rounds and take them to the range and test them on paper over a chronograph.

I'm glad the op caught the overload. Perhaps loading 5/6/10 test rounds to begin with might be better. It my be the slower path but it's also the safer path.

I also have my data written down in front of me when I reload. I also never leave powder in the powder throws and keep the bottle of powder I'm using/reloading with next to the written down reloading data. When I'm done with the powder/test load I empty the powder throw into the correct container, put the container away or out of the area and grab another powder to test. It's nothing to do test loads with 8/10 different powders this way along with ladder tests for each powder.

I also put the test loads in boxes and use painters tape to mark/label the different loads. I stick the painters tape to the test rounds and write what they are. When I store the reloads they either all go into ammo cans and get labeled on the outside along with a big piece of paper stating what the reload is on the inside. Of smaller lots of reloads go into bags with paper labels stating what they are along with paper on the inside with the reload data.

Sorry for all the I/I/I/ME/ME/ME. But just putting out there what works for me. Hopefully someone can find something useful in this post/this thread and incorporate it in their reloads endeavors.

Been reloading a long time, learned what I posted above from a couple of mentors that started reloading in the 60's/70's and taught me to do those things from day 1.

I'm just glad the op caught what was going on and no one got hurt.

Thank you for starting this thread.

[Smoke4320]

Mozeppa thanks for posting your error to again remind us to Always recheck your data.
It only takes a minute or so to do so but may be a lifetime to live with the results of NOT doing so
I get asked many many times what my load data is for a certain caliber. My answer is always let me check my ammo boxes or target
OCD makes me label the boxes on the outside, a slip of paper with data inside and on every target I keep.
Never do I quote a load from memory to anyone

[bedbugbilly]

Mozeppa - thanks for your post. Glad you caught the error. A bunch of work to break 'em down but you'll get it done.

I don't know how many times I've looked at loads in a number of different manuals that I have and there is a "variance". Mostly due to the different ages of the manuals. BUT . . . it is certainly easy to make an error and the important things that your inner voice warned you and you listened.

Fort those that want to "crucify" and "condemn" - all I have to say is that perhaps you had ought to start a thread on "perfection" as you obviously have so much to offer others. And . . . I wonder if when you do make a mistake, regardless of if it is in hand loading or any other thing that you do, if you are man enough to admit it?

I have often heard some say things like "I've never had a squibb", etc. Well, I had a "squibb: and ffortunately, I caught it or I would have bulged the barrel on my Smith 36. And, I know exactly what caused it - my wife interrupted me while I was reloading and I didn't drop the powder charge. It taught me that, whenever I get interrupted while reloading, to go back, dump everything on the press and start over. So get your nails out boys and meet me at the cross . . but you'd better go buy a good supply of "em as thee are a lot of us out there who do make mistakes.

Mozeppa -you post serves as a good reminder to all of us to double check everything and if we have a doubt, checkout again. Sometimes we do read things wrong and other times, we get "laid back" and don't stay as alert as we should - or don't walk away from the bench if we ae tired or struggling with other problems. Too bad some choose to criticize - but ignore them. I thank you for your post as it will serve as a reminder to all who are open minded enough to realize that "things" happen and they can happen to anybody so it pays to double check and then check again.

Good luck to you!

[Certaindeaf]

I wonder what cartridge you are talking about? Maybe you should trade in that SIG for a Hi-Point.. you pretty much have to drive a bolt down the barrel, weld the action solid and fire a blue pill out of it to hurt it in any appreciable way.

[Tom W.]

Squib? Me? Hey, meet me in the harbor in New York. My uncle just bequeathed me this huge statue that I really have no need for....sell it to you cheeeeep!

Those that spout uncalled for remarks will, sooner or later get bit. Crow doesn't taste good.

[flint45]

Mozeppa glad you caught that we all have had those moments,that back of the neck feeling I here you.There are all ways those guys who know better then every body I don't go to my range on Tuesday any more because thats when all the guys that think they have to tell you HOW TO DO IT RIGHT are there for there Tuesday morning shoot they take one look at what your doing and they know and tell you 20 differnt ways YOU should be doing it!!! They are just PITA'S you know what I mean.

[ShooterAZ]

I had a mistake and it cost me a nice set of 1911 grips, a perfectly good magazine, and a barrel bushing. Double charge in my Kimber 1911 after I first got my Dillon 550 some 25 years ago. Hell yes I learned from it, and it has never happened again. I'm still shooting that 1911.

[buckshotshoey]

Mozeppa - thanks for your post. Glad you caught the error. A bunch of work to break 'em down but you'll get it done.

I don't know how many times I've looked at loads in a number of different manuals that I have and there is a "variance". Mostly due to the different ages of the manuals. BUT . . . it is certainly easy to make an error and the important things that your inner voice warned you and you listened.

Fort those that want to "crucify" and "condemn" - all I have to say is that perhaps you had ought to start a thread on "perfection" as you obviously have so much to offer others. And . . . I wonder if when you do make a mistake, regardless of if it is in hand loading or any other thing that you do, if you are man enough to admit it?

I have often heard some say things like "I've never had a squibb", etc. Well, I had a "squibb: and ffortunately, I caught it or I would have bulged the barrel on my Smith 36. And, I know exactly what caused it - my wife interrupted me while I was reloading and I didn't drop the powder charge. It taught me that, whenever I get interrupted while reloading, to go back, dump everything on the press and start over. So get your nails out boys and meet me at the cross . . but you'd better go buy a good supply of "em as thee are a lot of us out there who do make mistakes.

Mozeppa -you post serves as a good reminder to all of us to double check everything and if we have a doubt, checkout again. Sometimes we do read things wrong and other times, we get "laid back" and don't stay as alert as we should - or don't walk away from the bench if we ae tired or struggling with other problems. Too bad some choose to criticize - but ignore them. I thank you for your post as it will serve as a reminder to all who are open minded enough to realize that "things" happen and they can happen to anybody so it pays to double check and then check again.

Good luck to you!

I can honestly say I have never had a squib. But I hand weigh every charge. Don't load enough of a volume to warrant a progressive. But I will never say I have never made a mistake. Most recent was a 9mm that showed a light primer strike. Upon investigating, I found the case was too short. I must have over trimmed it. And as mentioned above, I double charged a case but found it before seating a bullet on top of it. I solved that by changing my charging routine, and using a powder that fills the case more then half. It will spill over if it is accidentally double charged.

[clum553946]

I know this is getting redundant, but thanks again for posting this, it's certainly a good reminder for me to double check and listen to that little voice in the back of my head!

[johnho]

I appreciate the post also. Yes I've made mistakes and thankfully caught them too. Not many for sure out of some 90,000 reloads. When I start loading after changing out the dies for the new rounds I always check my little book of load data even though I have the load data on the boxes I store them in. Then I set my scale to zero and set the weight I want on it. Then I double check it from the book. Then I set my powder drop and tune the powder drop to my load, and check the book again and the scale setting. Only then do I start loading. Also, only ONE can of powder on the bench. Complacency is a bad thing. Do every load as you're starting out cold and assume nothing. Yes it's all common sense but that is why there are SOP's for everything today.

[Virginia John]

Good catch - prior to shooting.

[Texas by God]

Good catch - prior to shooting.

^^^^^^this. What caliber and boolit? Some are easier to pull down than others.

[rintinglen]

What were you loading it in? Western Powder lists 5.2 to 5.8 grains of AA5 for use in the 9mm Luger with a hundred grain bullet. If it was a 380, they list 4.3 to 5.1 grains with a 100 grain Berry.

[mozeppa]

^^^^^^this. What caliber and boolit? Some are easier to pull down than others.

.380 .....they are all good now!

[Certaindeaf]

It looks like your 4.6gr load was right in the middle there.
A buncha hoopty over nothing.

[mozeppa]

It looks like your 4.6gr load was right in the middle there.
A buncha hoopty over nothing.not nothing....i couldn't comfirm the load.
if you can't confirm it ....would you pull the trigger? ....not me brother.

[Geezer in NH]

not nothing....i couldn't comfirm the load.
if you can't confirm it ....would you pull the trigger? ....not me brother.
Excelent post and statement! :goodpost:

[Certaindeaf]

not nothing....i couldn't comfirm the load.
if you can't confirm it ....would you pull the trigger? ....not me brother.
Are you wont to diddlefinger your loading processes? Do you have a stroke every once in a while? Honest question. Yes or no. If it was me, the first pulldown woulda told me what was up. but anyway

[OS OK]

Are you wont to diddlefinger your loading processes? Do you have a stroke every once in a while? Honest question. Yes or no. If it was me, the first pulldown woulda told me what was up. but anyway

Honest question..."What does that mean?"

[EDG]

The OP committed to loading 500 rounds without triple checking his work. That borders on poor work and thought habits.
His error was not caught in time to avoid loading FIVE HUNDRED ROUNDS WITH AN EXCESSIVE CHARGE OF THE WRONG POWDER.

Yes you are right. I have never loaded a single round with an excessive powder charge much less 500 of them.
To load 500 rounds with over charges means you were basically not paying attention to what you were doing for hours.



Spoken like someone who has never made a mistake ?

The post shows both attention to detail and conscious thought .
While the attention to detail came at the wrong time , the conscious thought caught the mistake before it became a problem .

If we do not make mistakes there is very little to learn from , luckily it was caught in time to be a learning experience that caused no harm .

To the op ... carry on . Something tells me you won't forget to check your notes and manuals beforehand again :)

[EDG]

You either have good work habits or you don't. There are no points for trying. There is only do or do not.
I suppose you would be ok with dropping an occasional newborn on his head just because humans can make mistakes. So how many dropped kids is ok for one nurse in one year?

No one is reveling in anything. There are so many people out there that consider reloads inferior because they see incompetent handloaders blow their guns up.



i want to thank all of you who have NEVER caught a mistake, then admitted to it.

you PERFECT PEOPLE who say i should give up reloading because in YOUR OPINION i'm not mentally up to the task
and you have indeed elevated you own abillities far above mine ... you are my gods.....AND BITE ME!

i was wrong, and i should have blown myself up and died due to the misfortune of catching my mistake...i shant catch any others.

i did look in 5 manuals for loads when i came across what i thought was right ...but was indeed wrong AS I DID RE-CHECK FOR THAT LOAD BEFORE I FIRED ONE OFF!.....AND WHEN I COULD NOT FIND IT AGAIN I KNEW IT WAS WRONG...AND I PULLED EVERY ONE DOWN!

P.S. YOU BUNCH OF BUTT MUNCHS.... THERE ARE THINGS I DO AND HAVE DONE THAT YOU MOST LIKELY ON YOUR BEST DAY COULDN'T DO.

SO REVEL IN YOUR SUPERIORITY.[smilie=s:

[mozeppa]

EDG IF YOU ARE SAYING you NEVER make a mistake....you are a narcissistic LIAR.

and youve proved it to everyone here.

p.s. ....i found the load data and i wasn't off at all...so shove your superior attitude up yours!

[buckshotshoey]

Ouch! That was a little over the edge. Come on people..... let's not get another thread deleted do to a pissing match. Two threads (Hodgdon thread is the other one) going to **** in one day. Im guessing EDG didn't read the entire thread before responding? He must have missed post 41 - 44.

[GARD72977]

Im OCD and i can tell you my mistakes are different than others. 500 rds is still only one mistake. It was made when the measure was set. It was not made 500 different times. When i set my load i dont go back and check my manual every 10 rds.

I have never had a car accident that was my fault. I have done a lot of things driving that could have caused an accident. I didnt quit driving.

[GARD72977]

You either have good work habits or you don't. There are no points for trying. There is only do or do not.
I suppose you would be ok with dropping an occasional newborn on his head just because humans can make mistakes. So how many dropped kids is ok for one nurse in one year?


In this case by your standard of "do or do not" The baby was not droped!

[mozeppa]

i'm done with him....he's obviously a troll.

[Crash_Corrigan]

There are trolls everywhere and it up to us to ignore them. Keep the faith brother and keep on going.

[mdi]

Don't know where (or why) this thread is going, but work habits do come into play when reloading. (I had one mistake, in 1970 and since modified my reloading methods, aka work habits, and eliminated that mistake). If you don't have consistent work habits, use consistent methods, your results won't be consistent, and inconsistency when reloading can be disastrous. Work habits show up in many aspects of life. I was taught very early how to "work" and take care of my tools ( every tool is cleaned/wiped off and put away, in it's designated place, after every use. This extends to my reloading where every component [powder, primers, bullets,] is put back in it's designated place after every use). This work ethic extends into everyday life too. A slob at work is a slob at home, and a slob with their finances, a slob with their relationships, ad infinitim...

I am glad the OP found his mistake and shared it with the forum and the overly critical members of this forum have reason to feel superior...