Sometimes ya just have to laugh at yourself...

[JBinMN]

I have been "under the weather" with a flu bug for a few days & have not been doing much reloading. But, I thought I would share my "tale", since I found it funny, like the title says, "Sometimes ya just have to laugh at yourself..." & others might get a chuckle as well.

It "did" happen in the reloading room, so it fits there in that topic, What did you do in the reloading room today?...
but as it is a pretty long tale,so I thought I would just make it a "stand alone" topic instead.

Regardless... You can always skip the story & just move on if ya don't like to read long posts, let alone read what "I" type. I still thought I would share the story here with ya'll...

-----------
Anyway...

There has been a tray of 9MM sitting on my reloading desk/bench with a jug of Bullseye waiting for me to do a ladder test on some 356-102 1R since last week. I had not used that boolit in 9MM yet, and only in .380, so, since I thought I was feeling a bit better & was tired of fighting the flu bug, decided to go run those 50 rounds.

Everything was set up in the turret for 9MM since just last Monday or Tues., I had made up 2 ladder test loads for cold weather for it using a couple of other powders for my experiments, but I had been using 124gr. TCs and figured I would reset the seating die for these 102-1Rs, and make a dummy round for this type of boolit for (MM. So, I reached over to my shelves with boxes of cases & looked for a bag of mixed 9MM cases I had, that did not fit in with the other sorted bags of 50 & 100 for each type of 9MM I had in the box.

Since I was using Blazer 1X fired for the 50 ladder batch, I thought I would just use one of the odd mixed shells for a "dummy" round. I opened the bag & grabbed a case out of the bag & set it in front of me. Grabbed a 102-1R boolit, cleaned off the excess pan lube that the cookie cutter left on the boolit & then set the shell into the shellholder to start.

I just recently bought a Lee 4 hole Classic turret to use & I was thinking over the process in my mind again , since I have only run about 150 45ACP & 100 9MM thru it and am still getting used to the process of not having to change dies. It really makes me have to re-think what I am doing since I am so used to just batch loading one step at a time with each step & die change. Might not be that way with other folks, but I have been used to a single stage for a while & I am a fairly "picky" sort of reloader, so I like things, "Just so", to keep any errors to a minimum. Don't need any , "accidents", if I can help it... So, thinking thru things is just "my way" before I proceed. Usually that seems to help, although perhaps it was "too much" thinking this time.. but I should just tell the story...

So, getting back to the story, I reached over & grabbed my Lyman Cast Boolit Manual (LCBT) & looked up the boolit in the 9MM pistol section & saw that the OAL was listed for that 102-1R as 1.03". So, I reached across the bench & grabbed the calipers & turned it on, zeroed it & set it to just a bit over 1.03. I put the odd case in the shellholder & ran the case up thru the deprime/size die & brought it back down. I then brought the case up to the expander die.

But... and this is where I should have thought something was up, but I did not...

Ya see, I felt -0- resistance when I went to expand the mouth for the boolit. Now, many of you will know what happened by now, but I, being not feeling that I was "used to" this new press, thought perhaps it was just because I was not used to using the new press yet & how it felt when running rounds with it. And for those who may not have realized yet what is going on here, I will continue to tell the tale. Others who guessed already are on their own from now on, on whether to read on or not...

Well, continuing, since the boolit doesn't fit, I run it up again. No resistance felt. Hmmmm. But, it is a new press & maybe just doesn't have the "feel" that the other presses do when expanding...

Then, I think back & I remember that I sized those last TC boolits to .357, so perhaps these unsized boolits I am using ("as cast") are just a bit larger & that is why they are not fitting into the mouth of the case like they should. Taking the calipers I check a few boolits & yes, they are a bit larger but not enough to resize the whole bunch, I thought, as I am just going to be doing a simple ladder test at 15 yds, I will let the pistol do the sizing of the boolits, so I do not have to interrupt the process of making a dummy & loading up the 50 rounds by sizing the 51 rounds.

Well, since I have to open up the mouth a bit more to accommodate the larger diameter boolits I loosen the locknut on the expander die, turn the expander down a mite & repeat the expanding. I , not thinking about it, turn it quite a bit before I am seeing & feeling a change in the case mouth & trying the boolit for fit. Just when I get it to where the boolit will fit & start to slide in I stop & tighten the lock nut. Now we are "ready to rock & roll" , I think... ( nope... as you will see...)

So, I put the boolit into the dummy case & push it in slightly & place it back into the shell holder. Even though the TC boolits appear to be just a bit taller than the 1Rs, I decide to turn back/out/up the seating die to clear the boolit for sure & then I will slowly bring it down to where I cover just the lube groove on the boolit & then I will start to use the calipers to check for OAL.

I run the boolit up into the seating die & bring it down to look, make an adjustment & repeat. I do this until I see that the lube groove is covered up & so now it is time to check for OAL. I pick up the calipers & start to check OAL & the boolit is down around .986" or something like that. Hmmm. So I think, doggonit, I must have bumped the boolit in too deep as I was doing things, so I will just pull it out & start over. Only thing is, is that I can't get a hold of the boolit since it is so small for my big fingers that I can't pull it by hand.

So I just think I will just grab the inertia hammer & tap it out a mite & re-seat again.

3 times I did the same thing.... I would give the puller just a small whack & the boolit would come out of the case each time. Not just coming out a small bit. All of the way out. So, I would press it in & take it out of the press & check the OAL. Like I said, "3 times". Kind of frustrating in a way... So, finally, instead of using the press, I just pushed the boolit into the case just over the lube groove & very carefully, so I would not move anything & have to retry once again, I checked the OAL once again..

Still short... Around .9xx" or something like that...

So, I thought to myself, maybe I looked at the wrong data for OAL & thus I reached over & got the manual, opened it up to the page in the 9MM pistol section, looked at the load data & there it was... 1.03" OAL , just like before.

Now, I thought to myself, "This data can't be wrong can it?". And just as I was going to pick up another manual to see if I could find correlating data for the same boolit, a light blinked on in my head...

I reached over picked up the case I had been working with & turned it over & Voila!, I have been mucking around with a stray .380 case that found its' way into a bag of mixed 9MM cases.
And as "my luck" would have it, I did not realize it until I had wasted all of that time.


So, I took the "stray" 380 case, set it in a container I use for "scrap brass", and got another case out of the Mixed 9MM bag and "CHECKED the case for being a 9MM", and proceeded to reset all of the adjusted dies & repeated the process to make a "dummy" round.

This time it was successful on the first go around... Imagine that!


I got up after making the dummy round & pushed in the chair, turned off the lights & went upstairs... I was "done" with my reloading adventures until I felt better & had a better head on my shoulders.



So, that is my tale of what I did in the reloading room last night.

I hope you found it funny enough for a chuckle or a laugh, as I did!


Thanks for taking the time to read the story, I thought to share it , because as I said & think...

Sometimes we just have to laugh at ourselves!


Note- Mods -If, by chance I did not put it in the proper place/forum, please move to the one where it fits, Thanks!

[bbogue1]

All education costs something. I've been there, too. Try as hard as you might it just is not working right, time to retreat and stop till you feel better. Thanks for the story.

[lightman]

I've found that laughing at myself when I do something dumb makes it hurt less! If you think so, it is so. Right?

[OS OK]

When you are not at the top of your game, that's always a good time, if there ever was one...to procrastinate.

I too have had little situations like this come up over the years...when I finally figure out what has happened, I usually stomp out of the shop saying..."What the heck were you thinking?"

[kbstenberg]

If you can't laugh at yourself you better not laugh at anyone else.
I use to beat myself up for dumb mistakes. Getting all frustrated. Now instead i try like you to just learn from the mistake an keep on keeping on.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Have been experiencing that same wonderful flu bug here; Somehow I was expecting a different story, I dunno why

Humor is a GREAT resource; Only way to survive!

I reload 380 as well as 9mm so I've never had that particular issue - But did manage it with a 38 special case in my 357 test rounds LOL - Oops. Learn and try not to repeat the same mistake? But it's SO easy at times...

[CraigOK]

life is easier if you can laugh about things like that. Glad you figured it out!

[RED BEAR]

Don't feel bad I find myself laughing more and more at myself. Maybe just getting old and forgetful . but like to think just getting a better since of humor

[Grmps]

Glad your feeling better, laughter is good medicine.

Sometimes when the "problem" is so obvious it's hard to see.

I just know I would do something like this so-- all my 9x18 cases are nickel and 9x19 are brass, I don't have a 380 (though I've tossed a lot of 380 cases in scrap brass when I do find them from .......

[MaryB]

Been there and done that! Not reloading but with electronics. I replaced a transistor in an amplifier and couldn't figure out why I had no power to it, checked I had it in right, redid the solder, double checked again... after about 30 minutes of head scratching I glance to the right and there sits the fuse for that side of the stereo amplifier...

[mold maker]

The best jokes are always on us.
Glad you survived the flu. Everybody in my family has had it but me. Talk about a pitiful crowd!

[WRideout]

I once replaced the rear wheel bearing on a Honda, when it was the sagging brake springs that were rubbing.

Wayne

[JBinMN]

Thanks for the comments! I am glad to hear that I am not alone, although I already knew that there would at least be a "couple" who have done things & then had to laff about it. Wasn't sure if anyone wanted to admit to it like I did though. It was kind of cool that some folks did.


Have ya ever noticed that sometimes, when someone ya know does something goofy , or just by mistake & ya know it hurts, but ya can't keep from smiling or even laughing out loud, just because ya "know" that it hurt & you are really... down deep... glad it wasn't you? Like seeing someone hitting their thumb with a hammer, or something like that...

Ya feel embarrassed for laughing & usually ya get the "evil eyes of doom" from the unfortunate "victim of circumstances"... But ya just can't seem to wince & still not laugh about it as well... Even turn away so ya don't make your friend feel even worse than they already do/did...

Well, I guess I was just giving everyone a chance to laugh at "my" mistake in the same way, I guess.


Glad to see that it helped at least a few of ya feel good & chuckle a bit!


Thanks again!

[mold maker]

You mean like the time I found my claw hammer in the fridg and then knew to look on the workbench for the mayo?

[JBinMN]

You mean like the time I found my claw hammer in the fridg and then knew to look on the workbench for the mayo?

LOL


That'll do for an example.