WHEW!! My intuition was right...Be CAREFUL

[ak_milsurp]

WHEW!..... Over the past week I've been assembling cast boolit loads for 7.62x54R, .303 Brit, & 8x57 Mauser...

With these light, low density loads. it's very possible to double charge a case by mistake!!!!

Using "the load" I.E. 16 gr 2400 with 150-200 gr cast boolits. I have done about 200 rounds, and was just finishing up when I noticed I had double charged an 8x57 case...... TWICE in the same loading block. I thought I had visually inspected all the other cases before I seated boolits.

Mind you.. I was individually weighing charges, not "throwing them " in a measure.

THis scared me..... to be safe I assumed I would have to pull down every round and check!

THen I had a brain storm.... as long as the cases were all from the same manufacturer, they shouldn't have more than a 5-10 gr variation if the entire loaded round was weighed.

With 16 gr charges, it would stick out like a sore thumb if I had double charged one.

I have a digital scale so this was fast.. I weighed all 200 loaded rounds and found ONE MORE that was double charged!

WOW... that saved my bacon.

You can bet your life I'm looking at every single case before I seat a boolit now!

[plainsman456]

When loading small amounts of powder I charge one case then seat a bullet.
Also the cases are neck down in the loading block till charged,It pays to be sure.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

I worry about the same thing happening some day. I load my 223/300BLK/308 on Dillon 550B's.

I bought one of the digital boxes from sponsor SA Development a month ago and set it up. A few times it has buzzed to let me know I forgot to turn the starwheel. Cheap insurance to my way of thinking.

It is well worth the time to watch his video.

Rich

[Rokkit Syinss]

I have a box of primed cases to one side, pick up a case, throw the charge, put it in the loading block, repeat until the block is full. I also visually check with a mini-maglite.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I must be either "old fashioned" or just plain old as to how I load rifle cartridges. I take a sized prepped and primed case from a box. I then pour the hand weighed charge of powder into it and then seat the bullet. Been doing it this same way since I learned to load a "few" years back, still got all my digits and never have had a double charge in a rifle case. I load my pistol cases on my old Hornady Pro-Jector progressive. I may have had a instance or 2 of a case with no powder - my Bad - but again no doubles.Robert

[daschnoz]

I keep my primed brass in the loading block. I remove the brass, throw the charge, seat the bullet, and put that (now loaded) case back in the block. I tried the "load a whole block" method. It actually took me longer because I kept loosing my place in the block. It's one thing to miss a case. A double charge on the other hand.... Plus, cleaning up spilled powder from an overflow sucks.

[NickSS]

I generally through my powder charges with a reading powder measure. I weigh every 10th charge and have found that I never get more than a .2 gr difference with stick powder and usually less than that and with ball powder it usually is near zero difference. I have been using the same measure for over 40 years and we are old friends. I have found that unless you need bench rest accuracy a small difference in powder is almost insignificant to accuracy After all if I am loading like 43 gr of powder a .2 gr differece is only .45% variation which is pretty small for most purposes.

[caseyboy]

I do one case at a time. I take the resized, primed case from the block. I drop the powder charge and then seat the boolit and put straight away into the ammo box. Then I proceed to the next case. I find that this works for me and I have never double charged a case.

[uscra112]

Good on you ak milsurp ! Being a Lert saved yer bacon. Nothing wrong with being a Lert.

But I will add one more voice for the "charge one, finish one" brigade, with a small twist.

I've got a little socket at the front of my load bench. I drop a weighed charge in a case, and set it in the socket. Throw another charge into the pan, put the pan on the scale. While the scale is settling, I pluck up the case from the socket, insert and seat a boolit. Finished round goes in a separate tray. Look back at the scale, trickle if necessary, and repeat. This eliminates that boring few seconds of watching the scale. No, I do not use electronic scales. After a lifetime in precision metrology, I have concluded that they cannot be trusted. A beam balance never drifts off zero as it warms up.

[Gunnut 45/454]

Hardcast416taylor
Yep same here ! Then there's no way you double charge.

[Suo Gan]

"The Load" is 13 gr. of Red Dot.

http://members.shaw.ca/cronhelm/TheLoad.html

[PatMarlin]

Digital scale works well and there's no reason not to do a quick check on the overall weight if there's any question.

I've never double charged, knock on wood.

[jonk]

I really doubt that 32 gr of 2400 would have taken apart a large ring Mauser, but it wouldn't have been pleasant either........glad you're ok.

[Blammer]

if mistakes are made, it may be time to change reloading proceedures.

[Char-Gar]

I do like many here do, in that for rifle rounds I only charge one case at a time and seat the bullet forthwith. With pistol rounds, I charge a block of 50, then visually check the powder level with a very strong light before seating bullets.

I have only had one overcharge in my life and that was with a Dillon progressive press. That is why I don't use progressives any more. My one foray into that was enought. Way to many destroyed firearms these days, and I attribute it to the increased use of progressive presses.

[swheeler]

Two hundred rounds and three double charges, wow! It is time to stop and think about what you are doing, handloading requires attention to detail.

[Jim]

Weigh powder, charge case, seat boolit.
One at a time, every time, no exceptions.

[Me not you]

I use a set of LEE dippers for most of my loads now. I set up with a batch of empty, primed cartridges, scoop and strike the dipper level, pour the charge into the case, visually check it then immediately seat the bullet. I know how much powder was dispensed, and where it all went. This seems to be the safest way to go. I do use an RCBS rotary powder measurer/dispenser with fine grained ball powders sometimes. For the extruded powders I only use the lee dippers.

I never have used a loading block.

[mdi]

I often use a variation of some of the methods listed above. My prepped/primed cases are in a small container (Cool Whip tub-like container), and not in the block, only charged cases go in the block and I look in every case before continuing. Other times, usually with bottle necked brass, I'll charge a case and drop a bullet in the neck (not fully seat) and sit the cartridge in the block, then seat all bullets fully. Works for me...

[adrians]

I must be either "old fashioned" or just plain old as to how I load rifle cartridges. I take a sized prepped and primed case from a box. I then pour the hand weighed charge of powder into it and then seat the bullet. Been doing it this same way since I learned to load a "few" years back, still got all my digits and never have had a double charge in a rifle case. I load my pistol cases on my old Hornady Pro-Jector progressive. I may have had a instance or 2 of a case with no powder - my Bad - but again no doubles.Robert

me too,,,,,,,slow?,,,,,sure, but no double charge .
:twisted:[smilie=w::evil:

[Hickory]

Weigh powder, charge case, seat boolit.
One at a time, every time, no exceptions.

I have loaded 10's of thousands of round like this without using a loading block and see on reason to ever use a loading block.
To me a loading block makes absolutely no sense.

[ak_milsurp]

THanks for your comments.... In 30 years of reloading I've never had this happen.... THen again this is my first foray into small charges into deep dark rifle cases......lol

While I've loaded a few thousand full power rifle cartridges, the vast bulk of my reloading experience is from pistol and revolver cartridges. No way I could double charge the rifles cases with the bulky powders I was using... and the straiight walled pistol and revolver brass is easy to spot a double charge in.....

At any rate... I felt compelled to write about it! Live and learn! WInks

[ak_milsurp]

Well... the digital scale is on a bench separate from the reloading press (the other side of my shop) the Lyman scale instructions said "we recommend you place the scale in a different area from your press for best accuracy" OK then so walking across room and back for every round was.....tedious....

So I used the loading block.......

My 8x56R and .303 brit won't fit my block, lol so I did those three at a time and handcarried them....

Still, as long as you have your block set up so you have about 1" separation between cases you can still check...

SO-- now I use the block, but only put 1/2 as many cases in it widely separated, so I can inspect them much faster and easier to catch a mistake..... (you can bet your booty I will be looking into each and every case with a flashlight from now on!)






I have loaded 10's of thousands of round like this without using a loading block and see on reason to ever use a loading block.
To me a loading block makes absolutely no sense.

[LuvMy1911]

When charging cases I use two loading blocks. The first contains the sized and primed brass, case mouth down in the block. The case to be charged is removed from the first block, the powder charge thrown, and then placed mouth up into the second block. Prior to seating the boolit, all cases are given a careful visual inspection under good light for the powder level in the case.

If a case is mouth down it cannot contain a powder charge and if it is mouth up in the second block it has been charged. The visual inspection is just another check to prevent a double charge. ....

PB

I also use two loading blocks and flip the primed cases up only after charging and moving to the second loading block.... So far, so good.

[canyon-ghost]

To me a loading block makes absolutely no sense.


Sir, they are good for working brass, sizing, cleaning primer pockets, etc.

[Donor8x56r]

I charge all cases in the loading block and take them all under table lamp light.

I can see inside all charged cases and I never managed to double charge any so far.

On the other hand I found many empty cases this way.

[vernz]

I did not see any suggestions to use a very cheap piece of insurance....a dowel.

My mistake occurred a few years ago. I was helping a friend shoot my M1 Garand and had a failure to eject a round. No problem, just cycle the action by hand. The next round failed to fire and when I checked that one I found that the bullet was pushed partially into the case. Closer examination showed a bullet jammed in the lead to the barrel. The round that failed to eject did so because it had no powder, only a primer. Luckily, it only pushed the bullet a little way into the barrel and the next round hit it before fully chambering. If that primer only bullet had gone a little further, we would have had big problems.

This really bothered me as I'm always careful when loading. No distractions allowed, empty cases upside down, then turned when filled. I apparently lost my concentration at some point and got myself out of sequence. Obviously something had to change in my loading technique. I added a step to fill all cases in a batch, then use a dowel to check the powder level in each case. I validated the method by deliberately double filling and not filling cases to ensure the difference is readily visible. It is. Vern