Whooops!

[kidmma]

Today I had one of those enlightening experiences in reloading. We were trying out a friend's Charter Arms Bulldog in 44Sp. While 2 of us were watching the proud owner testing out the 44, we heard a "pop" instead of a crack. All 3 of us(shooter included) watched the 240gr slug fly from the muzzel into the berm. It was easy to see against the snow.

I had loaded 4.7 gr Unique and 240 gr swc. It must have had some small amount of powder in it but not the full charge. I don't think the primer would have cleared the forcing cone (had that happen with a 357 way back in the begining).

[smilie=1:

[I'll Make Mine]

You're right, primer only won't get past the forcing cone in any revolver I'm aware of. In fact, I once stuck a 90 gr. bullet in the forcing cone in a .357 with a grain or so of Bullseye under it.

I'd watch out for the case that got the other half of that charge; 7-8 grains of Unique probably wouldn't be unsafe in that Bulldog, but it'd be a lot less comfortable than the intended load.

[btroj]

I agree about the other half of that charge. Sort of like finding half a worm in an apple.

I sure would want to know where it was before I found it the hard way.

[kweidner]

I agree about the other half of that charge. Sort of like finding half a worm in an apple.

I sure would want to know where it was before I found it the hard way.

Now that's funny

[shooting on a shoestring]

Had virtually the same thing in .357. I switched to Herco. I still haven't finished that pound of Unique....gives me the shivers.

[WARD O]

Unique is a great powder for 1 1/8 oz load for a 12 gauge. Been shooting it for years as a good heavy trap load. Over the years I've certainly burned well over 25# of Unique without issue!

ward

[cloakndagger]

I never had a problem with unique until I switched from my lee dippers to a auto powder feed on my turret press, and then, only one out of several thousand. learned real quick to give the feed a tap with my bench pencil before moving on to bullet seating.

[Wayne Smith]

I keep my Unique to my Belding and Mull measure. It is the only one of my many measures that does not allow the powder to bind.

[454PB]

I had a squib in my Ruger SRH .454 Casull. The powder failed to ignite, but the force of the primer pushed the boolit about halfway through the barrel.

[pietro]

It's been many, many years, and several different loaders - but I STILL stop & visually check ALL my charged cases (before I start boolit seating), when they're all together in a loading block, so I can easily spot any under/over charge.


So far, so good....................... ;)



.

[jdgabbard]

It's been many, many years, and several different loaders - but I STILL stop & visually check ALL my charged cases (before I start boolit seating), when they're all together in a loading block, so I can easily spot any under/over charge.


So far, so good....................... ;)



.

And this is my policy. This is why I refuse to move from a turret press to a progressive. There is too much going on, and I want to visually inspect every aspect of the loading process.

[Porterhouse]

My experience is identical to 454PBs'. Loaded some 41mag with no powder accidentally. The 220gr boolit went about 2" into the barrel just with the force of standard primer.

[454PB]

In my case, there was powder, it just failed to ignite. I found a big clump of it behind the boolit when I drove it from the barrel.

[Lloyd Smale]

were you using tumble lube or did you possibly leave some lube on the base of the bullet? either can surely cause a squib by powder contamination

[ROGER4314]

Bridging in the powder measure is common and as the guys correctly stated, the round following the light one will have a heavier charge.

I have two Dillons but I've always been uneasy about not seeing my charges in the case. On a single stage, I put a loading block of charged cases under a strong light and inspect each one. I can spot a mistake immediately!

On the Dillons, I tried two different powder sensing units like the "Powder Cop". They retain a few flakes of powder which eventually end up on the primer seater plug. A flake of powder will dent a primer so I wasn't too keen on that.

I tried attaching a mirror to the press to visually check each charge and I liked that method the best.

In .223, I changed from IMR 4895 to 748 ball powder because of bridging. 4895 is a powder that looks like tiny cylinders and it bridges in small necked cases.

That's my history on bridging of powder charges. I'm still looking for the best answer.

Flash

[kidmma]

I had't checked back for a while. lots of responses. I only loaded about 15 rds. Didn't get an overcharge. I do remember spilling one when seating the bullet. I dumped it out, then went back to the powder measure and threw another charge. I don't know if I looked at in the case or not(should have). I was using an RCBS measure. It had been 5-10min since I charged the original cases. That one my have bridged. I do check the loading block under a light after charging too.

[Lizard333]

For those that worry about checking powder on a Dillon, I used to have the same problem. I bought a set of LEDs from inline precision. A WORLD of difference. I can see in all of my pistol cases and most of the rifle cases.

59678

Best money I've spent in a long time.