Pistol blown up

[abunaitoo]

We had a pistol blow up on Sunday at the range.
I didn't see anything, but a friend was standing right next to it when it happened.
He had his back to the shooter when they let off the first round.
S&W revolver, 357.
He said it sounded like a really, really hot reload.
He turned to watch the second round go off.
It looked to him like a really hot reload.
It blew up on the next firing.
Friend didn't get hurt/hit at all.
Shooter didn't get hurt.
Shooter behind my friend, on the next table, didn't get hurt/hit.
Person two tables away got hurt. Something cut through the top, between thumb and forefinger, of both his hands.
Another person was hit in the cheek.
I think both went in the ambulance.
Top strap and top of cylinder hit the roof.
I don't know if any of the parts were found.
Kind of a new reloader from what I heard.
Friend is very lucky he didn't get hit.
No pictures. Didn't have a camera.

[Plate plinker]

Well that is unfortunate.

[XDROB]

New Reloader? I have talked to other new reloaders while starting my career in reloading. I found a couple of wanting to find the hottest load they could develop. I asked why? They because they liked high power shooting. When I started, I read every book I could get my hands on ,I talked to a lot of Reloaders in my club. Most or all manual say to start at the lowest point and move forward if you get up to a point where you think it's too high you do 10% less at that point.
A few years ago my son was shooting my Beretta 92fs at the range. I heard him pull the trigger as I was getting ready to pull the trigger on my 45. I heard the gun go off once and then twice and at that point the second shot sounded completely wrong I put my gun down. I turned to my left to look to see what had happened, he was standing there the gun still pointing down range looking at me with such a weird look on his face black streak across his right cheek. I told him to drop the magazine put the gun on the mat. Picked up the gun to see what had happened tried to cycle the slide, the slide was locked back so hard I could not move it, no matter what I did. The right side of his port had black spots all over it I never found the brass from that last shot. We packed up and went home. Brought gun to a smith who was part of the club had him look at it for us. He said the only reason why that would have happened is if we had a double charged round on a reload. The rounds we were shooting were reloads but from someone else, from a trusted reloader that my dad had know for 20 years. Smith took gun apart.Racked it a few times ,pulled the trigger on one round, the gun seemed to operate correctly. He said take it to the range get some commercial rounds no reloads as low-power as possible and put one in at a time and shoot the gun for the for the next 50 rounds. If the gun operates correctly then you should be ok. I have heard stories of slides blowing off a 92fs,mine came back so hard and locked up, luckily did not blow off. I still have that gun in my safe and I still do shoot it to this day but I did learn about paying more attention to how much powder I was putting in my reloads. The one thing that I learned before I even started actually putting my own rounds together, was safety, take your time, pay attention to what you're doing, no outside distractions no radio,TV, double-check everything. To this day I have not had a problem with any of my reloads I have done myself.( I am knocking on wood) as I say this.
I have also added a Powder Cop to my Hornaday LnL.

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[slownsteady22]

When I was a new reload I never got close to the max, after reading the reloading manual that I received with my new rock chucker I figured the author took time to write at least 127 times to always start at the minimum and work up slowly, that it was probably a good idea. Hope the injured party's heal quick and the new reloader learns to tell when his firearm is getting warm.

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[kingstrider]

Glad your friend was okay but have to say some people have no business reloading.

[44man]

Two kinds out there. I am the first kind---accuracy. The other is searching for velocity only.
But then some machines can dump from the measure badly so speed loading has caused more troubles. How fast can the handle move?
Then a guy loads one round at a time. Bad move. Put cases in a block to charge and inspect.
I don't load for friends but have in the past. Every load is weighed. I now teach them and stand over them to see every move. Yes even with a single stage a few think the handle needs the speed of light, I keep a Billie club handy.

[dverna]

Stupidity at work. Glad no one was hurt. I am glad the gun was destroyed. It will teach the person a lesson.

Have to disagree with some comments from 44man but each to his own. If I could not use a progressive to load pistol rounds I would not shoot much.

Don Verna

[NSB]

I find it an irritating trend now days for new shooters to get on the internet and ask what load they should use in their new gun. A lot of them don't want to be bothered to read any loading manuals at all. Their belief is that anything you need to know is available on the internet or Youtube. They have no concept of basic safety in reloading, how to use the equipment, or even doing a sanity check on some free advice from someone they never met who might be a bit whacked out himself. I strongly discourage giving out load recipes to anyone unless you can cite where the load came from and tell them to reduce it a bit if it's anywhere near the top pressure. I usually chastise them for not having a reloading manual which usually gets them mad for me telling them that. Most of the time I just tell them to get a reloading manual, read it, and my own results with a certain powder but don't tell them how much. There are WAY too many new shooters who only want to make noise with a gun. Accuracy isn't even a consideration. Sad. Our "up and coming generation"?

[shoot-n-lead]

It is not just new reloaders that blow up guns.

I have a friend that has been reloading for 40yrs. He is one of the best reloaders that I have have ever known. Has reloaded literally hundreds of thousands of rounds...blew a gun up about 7 or 8yrs ago. Never been one to load hot rounds, has always reloaded for accuracy. To this day, he does not know how he went wrong...and I believe him. Sometimes, stuff happens...

[w5pv]

I have had one KaBoom and it was from my scale being jammed and me putting too much powder in the load.If I had been more careful I would have noticed that the charge was way over.The Ruger Black Hawk held the charge,the only thing I suffered was a bump on my forehead from the revolver hitting me between the horns on my fore head.For safety sake be careful and double check your work.

[44man]

Learn the progressive and how to check each load. No problem from me.
We had SEE events in a caliber without gun damage but I figured it out and stopped it.
But even Dillon understands and does all he can with machines to prevent stupid. Some slip through cracks. I don't depend on machines.

[castalott]

Too little powder can get you in trouble too. Several of us were shooting fast at moving targets....
My 45 auto had a stovepipe.... Immediate action to clear and shot again... The gun was locked up 1/2 way back in recoil. There was a bullet in the barrel and I fired one behind it.... The best barrel I have ever owned is now a head space gauge on my bench....

Yes... speed loading on a 450 Dillon....was not the fault of the press...it was me...

185518

You can see the 'ring' an inch in from the muzzle... Just to show you how goofy a kid can be... I had my toolbox with me out in the boonies.... Beat the gun apart ( wasn't bad) filed the buldge off the barrel with a file...and continued shooting. It didn't shoot too bad either. After thinking aboout it, I retired the barrel. It would feed empties out of the magazine....

Stupid does hurt...

[243winxb]

Stuff happens. http://s338.photobucket.com/user/joe1944usa/slideshow/Firearms%20%20and%20%20Reloading/KABOOM

[dverna]

One small suggestion 44man. Weighing every charge is not only tedious, but it can cause a problem. It happened to me when I accidently bumped the weight on a beam scale...fortunately I discovered it immediately but a new reloader might not.

For a teaching a new reloader, you may want to consider using a dipper. Beginners should not be using maximum charges and a dipper is reasonably accurate and faster. Of course, only one dipper on the bench at a time and it needs to be checked with the scale at the start of the session.

Teaching them how to make one out of a scrap case is a useful exercise.

Don Verna

[castalott]

That slideshow should have to be watched before you can buy a primer...if I may misquote Phil Sharpe

I don't know what it would take to blow some of those bolt guns apart... But WOW!

[Mr Humble]

Rule # 1 Use a powder that fills more than 50% of the case, a double charge will be obvious.
Rule # 2 See Rule # 1

[44man]

I do it with any powder that does not flow in a measure. Time means nothing at all. Just why is speed so important? I am happy with 20 loads that shoot over 500 scuds and danger. Dippers are better with BP. Not going to see me with smokeless and I do have a set of them.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

There are too many people getting into the shooting/reloading hobby without any instruction. Our club holds classes for those wishing to learn, but so many just jump into it with no guidance.

I have always used the loading block technique. Inspect the powder level before seating the bullets, and it's so easy to see if one is higher than the other. I have found, and corrected, double charges several times. For rifle cartridges I individually weigh each and every load, but for pistol cartridges use a bench mounted measure. As charged, each is placed in a loading block, and after 200 have been charged the charge from the last is poured onto a scale and weighted to double check the measure.

It's not just the double charge problem, because if your fancy runs toward top end pushing the envelope loads, then just a couple of grains more can destroy your gun, but is less easy to detect than a double charge. So there is an advantage to having them all there together in a loading block for inspection. A flashlight is a great asset also, because relying on just an overhead light will light up the interior of the charged cases from slightly different angles and make the powder levels less easy to evaluate.

I can readily see the point that a progressive operated as fast as possible could lead to irregular powder levels, perhaps by short stroking the handle.

Personally, I've never trusted the scoop method, but know those who successfully use it. The problem is that scoops don't often throw the exact charge listed on the charts and it's a matter of finding one that does, and then for most folks (not all--some are very practiced and accurate) each charge will be a bit different; whereas a scale or bench mounted powder measure will prove pretty reliable. Most powder measures, like the Lee Perfect, have a rotating drum inside that is adjusted by the operator to accept the desired charge with the powder being used. Once set, the area inside the drum can not be exceeded, so there is safety in that system. On the other hand, refilling the reservoir with a different powder and not resetting the drum capacity can lead to great problems.

All stuff that should be brought to the attention of the novice reloader, but in many cases isn't, and brings us full circle to the need for instruction.

[Electric88]

I also use the loading block technique to inspect every cartridge at every step. This way, I can inspect my brass at numerous times and inspect powder levels to prevent an overcharge. I was using a powder measure, and may still continue to do so with rifle cartridges to some extent. I forsee myself using a scale and individually weighing powder from now on though, simply as an extra step to satisfy paranoia to prevent such events.

[rr2241tx]

Dippers are every bit as accurate as mechanical powder measures. Both are volumetric measuring devices and both can be as accurate or inaccurate as technique allows. Weighed charges have again and again been proven to be no more accurate than competently thrown charges so unless you are prepared to scientifically prove with statistically significant sample sizes that your weighed charges ARE superior to thrown charges, the obviously safest way forward is to teach a beginner to use a set of Lee dippers and a powder that fills >50% of the case and to check all his filled cases for *some* powder. That's my opinion, it's worth what it cost you.

[WILCO]

Glad no one was hurt.

Two folks down the line were hurt Don. Fly debris skipped over those next to the shooter.

[Teddy (punchie)]

Rule # 1 Use a powder that fills more than 50% of the case, a double charge will be obvious.
Rule # 2 See Rule # 1

I was going to post something along these lines.

Also if you know your loading not fallowing this. I would not use a machine to load. I have been know to weight each reload for overall weight when teaching someone new.

[earlmck]

I would feel very uneasy shooting a round where I hadn't visually inspected the powder level. For single-stage loading I also use the loading block technique; with my progressive I have a powder cop but find that I prefer looking at the powder level -- I have a really good overhead light and just eyeball the powder level at the point the press is in the "up" position and my left hand is grabbing the next empty to place in position #1.
In 50+ years of reloading I have had several "ooopses" that I caught in the inspection stage -- mostly "no powder in the case" events, as I recall; maybe a couple of suspiciously high powder levels where I suspected "bridging" in the measure so recharged several cases. (I now use a "triple-tap" with the powder measure and haven't seen suspected "bridging" in many a year).

I also have some preference for loads that wouldn't allow room for a double charge, but I do use several loads (Red Dot or Bullseye in pistol; Unique in rifle) that would have room, so it is not a hard rule for me. Just inspect powder level every round every time.

[country gent]

Theres alot of unanswered questions or lack of information here. There are a lot of old S&W 357 revolvers out there that could be pushing 60-70 yrs years old. Metal fatigue occurs not only from over pressure but also from basic use. ANother is there are alot of reloads out there that may be or not be safe being sold at gun shows and small shops. While Im not saying the shooter was completely with out blame there are many factors that need to be considered also. Hopefully the 2 injured werent seriously injured and will heal in short time. Hopefully the shooter has learned a lesson. The actual condition of the revolver isnt given either, an older well worn maybe loose firearm will give up sooner than a new tight one will.

[243winxb]

Always look into the case before seating a bullet. Does the powder level look right.

Progressive or loading block, dont matter.

[garym1a2]

My younger brother blew a KKM glock34 barrel. It shreaded about half way down. He thought it was a double charge, but 9mm wont take a double charge of clays. His press was set at 4.0 grs of clays. I dropped the charge to 3.5 grs. Maybe he had a bullet setback issue, but 4 grs of Clays is NOT a good load for 9mm and a beginner loader.
When I first started loading my other brother wanted me to load him some 40S&W +P+ for his Glock22. I told him no, I don't load over book value. So I loaded him a thousand with Holgens mid range WSF value. He complans it kick too much. Turns out 40 S&W is a nice round when loaded very light with WST or Bullseye. Just make sure a bright light is used to inspect powder charge. With my lee pro autodisc I have gotten charges not dropping and measure sticking. This can stick a bullet in the chamber.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Too little powder can get you in trouble too. Several of us were shooting fast at moving targets....
My 45 auto had a stovepipe.... Immediate action to clear and shot again... The gun was locked up 1/2 way back in recoil. There was a bullet in the barrel and I fired one behind it.... The best barrel I have ever owned is now a head space gauge on my bench....

Yes... speed loading on a 450 Dillon....was not the fault of the press...it was me...

185518

You can see the 'ring' an inch in from the muzzle... Just to show you how goofy a kid can be... I had my toolbox with me out in the boonies.... Beat the gun apart ( wasn't bad) filed the buldge off the barrel with a file...and continued shooting. It didn't shoot too bad either. After thinking about it, I retired the barrel. It would feed empties out of the magazine....

Stupid does hurt...

Yes, it can happen that way from an obstruction, and we can't altogether discount the possibility of a revolver cylinder and topstrap failure being due to a lodged bullet. But with those symptoms, I think a simple overload is far more likely. There have been as many new reloaders as there have been reloaders, and only a very small minority do that. I wouldn't blame the injured people from suing. The backs of the hands could easily have been tendons, and the cheek could easily have been an eye.

While I wouldn't have high hopes of accuracy from a pistol with a ring bulge an inch from the muzzle, and filed flush on the outside, I wouldn't consider it very dangerous. Nothing to compare with a revolver load that attracts unusual attention, anyway.

I regularly create typos by dragging a thumb on the touchpad of my laptop. It is important to know exactly when you are touching the handle of your powder measure, and do with it only the one single stroke you intended. Another point is that powder isn't the only thing that can go in a cartridge case. Make sure nothing else inert or nearly inert can be in there, to reduce the powder space. It could be a smaller bullet or even cartridge, or something like a case trimmer pilot.

[shooterg]

I read stories like this BEFORE I started reloading, that was enough to make me "vewwy, vewwy, careful" ! Reminders always good, glad no serious injuries (except for the firearm, which was terminal !). I tend to do a lot of pistol on a single stage, but all bottlenecked rifle on a 550 . Frequent use of a Square Deal for low power .38 loads. And never very hot. I remember looking at very flat primers on the USMC shooters 7.62 brass when they were shooting 14's - they wouldn't say what the loads were- but they had a shop full of government replacement parts and I could barely afford to feed my M1A as was !

[castalott]

[QUOTE=shooterg;3916060]I read stories like this BEFORE I started reloading, that was enough to make me "vewwy, vewwy, careful" !


I had to laugh....I grew up on Bugs Bunny too.....

Thanks, Dale

[abunaitoo]

All from what I've heard. Didn't go to see any of it.
No idea what model S&W it was. Stainless, 6" barrel, 357.
Someone said he was using a progressive. Cast boolets with Blue dot.
The whole top strap and top half of the cylinder was missing.
Someone said a third guy got hit by a small piece in the chest. Nothing happened. It just stuck to his shirt.

[robg]

Loading tray and a good light is a godsend .those kabooms look awful painful and expensive.

[Tom W.]

I'll admit it. When I started handloading I had nothing but books and a friend that wanted to start. We used the Lee tap and bang method and I instantly found that ammo loaded for his revolver wouldn't fit in mine. We used Unique and Speer rnl bullets. As time went on I bought a Lee turret press. Boy, I thought I was in high cotton with that thing. I'd load one cartridge at a time, wiped it off carefully and boxed it up for future use. I then bought a few other pistols and revolvers, more Lee dies, a few molds and you couldn't tell me squat. In retrospect I'm glad I bought Ruger revolvers.
Fast forward a few decades and I'm a whole lot smarter. I never damaged a firearm with my handloads, and have ( or had ) several that have never seen a factory load unless it was a test load at the factory. I seldom if ever shoot jacketed bullets in my handguns, just coww boolits that I've made. I'm more concerned with accuracy than speed, and the last factory loads I bought were for my Colt Police Positive but as of yet that box is still sealed.
I'll not say I never loaded any hot loads, but I will say that nothing was over book. That .454 Encore pistol I had was way more than I ever want to try again. A top end load of Lil' Gun and a 300 grain boolit was too much for me. I'm content with 9mm pistols and .38 special revolvers now.

[castalott]

When I am loading single stage, all primed brass is upside down in the loading block. Pick up one case and powder charge in whatever method.... Inspect powder level immediately with a light and seat the bullet then...


Might be a business idea here... a see thru powder measure... You can see the charge and see it go into the case....


Why aren't I a millionaire?? LOL

[Blackwater]

Well, I've blown up a Super Blackhawk once, and when I did it, I'd loaded a huge number of rounds, and was QUITE careful, at least normally. Came in late, wanted to shoot the next day to prep for deer season. Started loading at 1:00 am and quit at a little after 3:00 am. Was tired when I started. See the variables stacking up against me yet? Well, I'd wanted to use 2400 with my loads, but reaching for the can, I found I only had enough left for a few rounds. Not NEARLY enough for what I intended to do the next day. So I had a can of W231, and had intended for some time to try it in some more moderate loadings. I looked up the data, and loaded 2 levels of it for a mild comparison on which worked best for accuracy. Loaded up 350 rds. from already prepped and primed brass. So far so good, right? Remember when I said I was tired and it was late? The NEXT thing is what blew up the gun. I reached for my can of 2400 out of force of habit, and poured all the 231 I had in the powder hopper into my can of "2400," thus, setting myself up for the subsequent loading episode, where I charged a number of cases with 22.3 gr. of what I THOUGHT was 2400, but was actually, primarily W231! I went out Thurs., I think it was, to check my sights good, and carried a 50 rd. box of those loads. First load blew the gun, but amazingly, that double charge of W231 didn't take the top strap out! It was cracked 2/3 of the width across where the notch is for the rear sight - the weak spot in the top strap in a SB. And it was bulged upwards, but held. The cylinder that detonated was gone on the left side, and the portion of the brass that that detonated was brazed to the side that was left on the gun. The cylinder to the left of the one that detonated was also blown open, and the round that was in it flung out about 30 ft. I found it later, and the bullet had been flung out with enough force that the bullet ripped open the brass and was gone, and what was left, viewed from the front of the case mouth, looked like a curved "W." It had ripped at the cannelure on the case.

So yeah, it CAN happen if we have even ONE instance of carelessness or inattention. No doubt about it, and most of the blowups I have heard of in the past were often loaded by pretty experienced reloaders. I know that's not reassuring, but that's a GOOD thing if we'll allow it to be!

Today, however, I can't help but notice how many new folks are getting into reloading. This is good. The only "bad" part is that some seem to bring with them the seemingly prevailing attitude that they can do anything they want, just because they WANT to, and they think there's no consequences if they make a "little mistake." Combine that with the afore mentioned aspirations to load "beyond the manuals," and a lack of understanding of WHY there are so many powders, and what their best uses are, and .... well, you have a recipe for things like that. I'm so glad nobody got hurt really seriously, to a life threatening level, but folks DO most definitely DIE from such shenanigans. And all for an attitude, mostly!!!

A proper attitude is NECESSARY if one is to become a good reloader, and for anyone of any stripe or intelligence level, being a newbie at ANYTHING would tend to indicate that one would have MUCH to learn. But so many newbies I see now, tend to portray themselves as knowing all they "need" to, and just want what they want, and don't want to hear anything that's contrary to what they want. That's a deadly attitude for a few, who pay the ultimate price for their foolishness. It's a product of ego, and "ego" is usually based in fears that one might NOT be quite what they present themselves to be.

You can pour water in a glass, and it'll slash up one side and then the other, but it ALWAYS LEVELS OUT. And attitude, more than anything else in reloading, will always, eventually level everything out, in time. We get away with things somethimes MUCH longer than it appears we should ever expect to. Guns are overbuilt (I'll always figure I owe my life to Bill Ruger's dedication to strength!), and manuals are cheaper than trips to the hospital or the morgue. I don't help anyone who won't buy and READ several manuals. If they're self righteous enough to think they're "beyond that," they're TOO self-righteous for me to contribute to their eventual destiny. I just don't want any part of it.

So I was "dumb" once, but it wasn't at least due to haughtiness or ego. I just plain messed up, and a moment's inattention and one mistake cost me a fine gun. It COULD have been MUCH worse! My young son was behind me on the shoulders of a friend I hunted with, watching it all.

Like they used to say on Hill St. Blues, "Y'all be careful out there, now. Ya' heah!" It CAN happen to ANY one of us! All it takes is one itty bitty, very human mistake made in a very brief moment's inattention. But that's all it really takes.

[tdoyka]

When I am loading single stage, all primed brass is upside down in the loading block. Pick up one case and powder charge in whatever method.... Inspect powder level immediately with a light and seat the bullet then...


x2

i used a lyman turret press when i began reloading. now i use a lee classic single press and a hornady lock-n-load powder charger. i do like the lock-n-load but i still take out my beam scale once in awhile to make sure the hornady is right. (its been right now for 6 or 7 years).

i find that i can't do liber...i mean, progressive press[smilie=1: can do an unreliable powder charge.

[Duckiller]

I really doubt that the steel in a 60-70 year old Smith contributed to the KaA BOOM. I have a bunch of old guns that I am very confident in when I shoot them. WW1 P17 and double heat Springfield 03s don't blow up unless some one does something stupid, really stupid. These guns are at least 100 years old. Metalurgists have known what they were doing for a long time. Speer Manual about #10, green cover, had a real hot load for 357 Mag and H110. Sure it was OK in Speer's gun(s) but it was really hot in my Security Six. Now not only do I inspect loads before I seat bullets but I also compare the load in several manuals. You don't want to deal with a typo or a test gun that can take extremely heavy loads. With very few exceptions if you need maximum loads to kill something you should probably get a larger caliber. Remember 44/40s killed deer and 45/70 in trapdoors killed Grizzley Bears 140 years ago , tese loads still work today.

[Tackleberry41]

Problem with the velocity is everything crowd, I have never seen any of them actually use a chronograph to know what the velocity was. I have loaded plenty of ammo that according to the book should do one thing, and in reality come in way lower.

I was testing some 45colt today in my Rossi, I started at the bare min charge in the book. Then you check the chrony, see how they did, only then do you start bumping it up. I was no where close to max when I was satisfied with the load.

[castalott]

Here is a link to an article by Phil Sharpe... 1937 was the date

It's short and worth your time....

http://www.darkcanyon.net/And_the_angels_sing.htm

[dverna]

I just deleted a long post...it was going to upset some.

If you are a beginner, walk before you run.

If you are a person who needs to reload in larger quantities than most, you will wind up getting a progressive press. These presses are not disasters waiting to happen. Many can be equipped with a powder check die that will flag an under or over charge.

You must choose the equipment and procedures that are safe for YOU and YOUR needs. You will find people who will justify their way of doing things for their needs. Evaluate and judge

Don Verna

[paul h]

You can make safe or unsafe ammo on a single stage.
You can make safe or unsafe ammo on a progressive.

You can't skip any of the steps required to produce ammo by switching from one piece of equipment to the next. Just because multiple steps occur at the same time with a progressive doesn't mean you can safely ignore any inspections required to assure you're loading safe ammo.

The big difference between a single stage and a progressive is you can load many more rounds of ammo on a progressive before realizing you made an oops than on a single stage. Unfortunately no one I'm aware of makes a progressive bullet puller :(

[XDROB]

I have a powder cop but find that I prefer looking at the powder level -- I have a really good overhead light and just eyeball the powder level at the point the press is in the "up" position.

As I said my previous post I do use Hornady's Powder Cop. I also have an led skylight, that goes into the center hole of my Hornady LnL. Also has a led strip that mounts to the inside of the frame. Manufactured by Inline Fabrication. Whole inside of press is lit up, making visual inspection very easy.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[XDROB]

First part of my last post was taken out of part of Earlmck 'S post. Not sure how I got it to look like the way it posted.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[JWT]

I had two lessons early on that make me a cautious reloader.

When I was little my Dad had a Browning BLR in 243 blow up. He ended up with a banged up hand from the lever, facial powder burns, and the temporary use of an eye patch. He was shooting someone else's reloads. Seeing your Dad injured makes an impression. I have that gun downstairs. The receiver lugs are bent, the lever and/or bolt gears are stripped, and the lever pin is bent.

About the time when I started reloading I was shooting next to a guy that blew up a 44mag super redhawk. He was about 15ft away from me but when he pulled the trigger the grass flattened out in front of him for a good distance and he knocked my glasses crooked. I backed off to watch the show. The glass in his Leupold scope shattered on the next cylinder full. After removing the scope he kept going. Half way through the next cylinder the top strap cracked. He was dumbfounded that you couldn't safely completely fill the case and seat the bullet.

My personal reloading mistakes have been limited to a couple of squibs in my 44. After that day I bought a lock out die for my progressive. Every time I set it up I test it with a short load and an overload. I load all of my rifles using the reloading block. I drop the charge about 0.1gr light and trickle up while on a beam scale.

[MaryB]

For my most common loads I made a simple level stick from a short piece of dowel. Mark the rim of the case after hand weighing and dropping a few charges from the Lee Perfect powder to make sure they all match. Mark the dowel with a piece of red tape. I use a loading block so I just check the level with the dowel before seating bullets. Dowel is labeled with caliber , powder charge, and bullet weight/brand.

[44MAG#1]

As I sit here reading all of this I think of how many rounds are reloaded every year in this country?
I would say a few. How many have actually blown up a gun? Are there any statistics on that? I doubt it.
Then I wonder how many people have been involved in an accident driving to and from the range to shoot said reloads?
How many have been in an accident going to and from the gun store to buy components for those reloads?
I also wonder how many have had an accidental discharge that has scared the fertilizer out of them or even caused damage of some type other than the wetting of themselves?
I wonder how many have smoked while charging cases?
I wonder how many have not watched where they were stepping and fell while going to or from their vehicles while loading their equipment to go shooting?
While I could go on and on on dangers of shooting and living in general I think it can be summed up in a few words.
WE MUST BE EVER VIGILANT IN BEING CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING WE DO IN LIFE.
Reloading is just one of those things.
While none wants to blow up a gun unless it is being done as a controlled experiment such as a lab, the possibility always exists and will continue to exist regardless what we do unless we just don't reload.
But, then we could always talk about the possibilities of using the wrong factory load in the wrong gun.
Or the possibilities of a factory load getting out of the factory that may be overloaded.
One of the local indoor shooting range used to have a blown cartridge that was a FACTORY LOAD from a popular brand that is sold cheap. But to protect the range and the people there they have banned the use of reloads though. Which I though was a good step to ensuring my safety along with others.
Oh well, just struggling along to understand.

[44man]

Really, loading your own is not as much as you think. 99% of hunters buy ammo. Then to use cast is even lower. Most shooters never load a single round.

[ole 5 hole group]

44MAG#1 - I like the way you expressed your thoughts on the matter - great post IMHO!!!

[myg30]

Castalot posted this, I messed up the reply with quote but credit is given to him.

Here is a link to an article by Phil Sharpe... 1937 was the date

It's short and worth your time....
http://www.darkcanyon.net/And_the_angels_sing.htm


I really enjoyed reading that. Thank you for posting the link.
Every time I read that question "What's the fastest way" or "What load is best for my....",
I'm going to post that link for load data !

Thank you, Mike

[kmw1954]

Just finished reading this whole thread and found it very enlightening. Many good points are brought up and a good number of varying viewpoints. Was also impressed with the slide show.
Good job folks!

I just started reloading again after being away from it for many years. My greatest concern in my practice is safety, for myself and for those around me. I spent many years working in an environment that safety was preached to us on a daily basis on many different topics and practices. It has become ingrained in every thing I do yet I still commit stupid accidents.. Like the time I tried to move something that was too heavy and knew it.

For now I am only loading one caliber and am doing it on a progressive press. I am not using this press as a means of speed trying to produce the most amount in the shortest time. I use it to reduce the number of strokes it takes to complete a batch. I do take my time as I have lots of that, I go at a very leisurely pace and take my time to look at each step with each pull of the handle. If something doesn't seem right I stop and investigate.

When I first started looking for load data I asked for advice here and on a few other forums and was given a lot of great information and many things to consider. I started looking at the different powders and what I wanted to accomplish. I learned that some pistol powders are much more forgiving than others, which is what I wanted, just for the safety margin. I learned that some fast pistol powders build pressures very quickly with just small increases. While some of the slower powders do not perform well in reduced loads.

Before I started my 1st load I took the powder I had and filled the powder measure I was going to be using. I must have thrown and weighted over 300 charges in each of a few of the different cavities on the Lee Auto Disk measure just to record the consistency of the measure and instill my own confidence in it. I then did the same thing when I obtained a Lee Auto Drum measure.

Then after reading a few threads here and elsewhere about over/under charging a case I took this pistol powder and weight out .1gr and was amazed at how small it was and then loaded up 20 cases to my target weight with 5 over and 5 under by .1gr and placed them all randomly on the bench together. With a visual inspection I could not tell which was which. The did the same thing only with 5 of each loaded by.2gr over and under and still had a hard time trying to discern which was which. Which made me conclude that a .2gr over charge with something like Titegroup at max load could become very dangerous in something like the 380 or 9mm.. I now limit my loads to 2gr below max for my pistols. A double charge is very obvious to see as is a missed charge as long as one is paying attention. It's in-betweens that can hurt you.

My theory is never get in a hurry, never load when one can get distracted and build a repeatable procedure that becomes a habit and when something doesn't feel right or out of order, STOP.

[fivefang]

Blackwater, this brings back memories, before '56 not a lot of info. on loading .44mag.#429215 gc. over 27.5 gr.2400 was my choice in Ruger 6.5" Ijust wanted to duplicate a factory load, still have 2-3screw .44's Fivefang

[castalott]

MYG30...You are very welcome...

Dale

[MarkP]

Well, I've blown up a Super Blackhawk once, and when I did it, I'd loaded a huge number of rounds, and was QUITE careful, at least normally. Came in late, wanted to shoot the next day to prep for deer season. Started loading at 1:00 am and quit at a little after 3:00 am. Was tired when I started. See the variables stacking up against me yet? Well, I'd wanted to use 2400 with my loads, but reaching for the can, I found I only had enough left for a few rounds. Not NEARLY enough for what I intended to do the next day. So I had a can of W231, and had intended for some time to try it in some more moderate loadings. I looked up the data, and loaded 2 levels of it for a mild comparison on which worked best for accuracy. Loaded up 350 rds. from already prepped and primed brass. So far so good, right? Remember when I said I was tired and it was late? The NEXT thing is what blew up the gun. I reached for my can of 2400 out of force of habit, and poured all the 231 I had in the powder hopper into my can of "2400," thus, setting myself up for the subsequent loading episode, where I charged a number of cases with 22.3 gr. of what I THOUGHT was 2400, but was actually, primarily W231! I went out Thurs., I think it was, to check my sights good, and carried a 50 rd. box of those loads. First load blew the gun, but amazingly, that double charge of W231 didn't take the top strap out! It was cracked 2/3 of the width across where the notch is for the rear sight - the weak spot in the top strap in a SB. And it was bulged upwards, but held. The cylinder that detonated was gone on the left side, and the portion of the brass that that detonated was brazed to the side that was left on the gun. The cylinder to the left of the one that detonated was also blown open, and the round that was in it flung out about 30 ft. I found it later, and the bullet had been flung out with enough force that the bullet ripped open the brass and was gone, and what was left, viewed from the front of the case mouth, looked like a curved "W." It had ripped at the cannelure on the case.

So yeah, it CAN happen if we have even ONE instance of carelessness or inattention. No doubt about it, and most of the blowups I have heard of in the past were often loaded by pretty experienced reloaders. I know that's not reassuring, but that's a GOOD thing if we'll allow it to be!

Today, however, I can't help but notice how many new folks are getting into reloading. This is good. The only "bad" part is that some seem to bring with them the seemingly prevailing attitude that they can do anything they want, just because they WANT to, and they think there's no consequences if they make a "little mistake." Combine that with the afore mentioned aspirations to load "beyond the manuals," and a lack of understanding of WHY there are so many powders, and what their best uses are, and .... well, you have a recipe for things like that. I'm so glad nobody got hurt really seriously, to a life threatening level, but folks DO most definitely DIE from such shenanigans. And all for an attitude, mostly!!!

A proper attitude is NECESSARY if one is to become a good reloader, and for anyone of any stripe or intelligence level, being a newbie at ANYTHING would tend to indicate that one would have MUCH to learn. But so many newbies I see now, tend to portray themselves as knowing all they "need" to, and just want what they want, and don't want to hear anything that's contrary to what they want. That's a deadly attitude for a few, who pay the ultimate price for their foolishness. It's a product of ego, and "ego" is usually based in fears that one might NOT be quite what they present themselves to be.

You can pour water in a glass, and it'll slash up one side and then the other, but it ALWAYS LEVELS OUT. And attitude, more than anything else in reloading, will always, eventually level everything out, in time. We get away with things somethimes MUCH longer than it appears we should ever expect to. Guns are overbuilt (I'll always figure I owe my life to Bill Ruger's dedication to strength!), and manuals are cheaper than trips to the hospital or the morgue. I don't help anyone who won't buy and READ several manuals. If they're self righteous enough to think they're "beyond that," they're TOO self-righteous for me to contribute to their eventual destiny. I just don't want any part of it.

So I was "dumb" once, but it wasn't at least due to haughtiness or ego. I just plain messed up, and a moment's inattention and one mistake cost me a fine gun. It COULD have been MUCH worse! My young son was behind me on the shoulders of a friend I hunted with, watching it all.

Like they used to say on Hill St. Blues, "Y'all be careful out there, now. Ya' heah!" It CAN happen to ANY one of us! All it takes is one itty bitty, very human mistake made in a very brief moment's inattention. But that's all it really takes.

A friend did the same thing with his Ruger No 1 in 257 Wby; had poured some 4064 into a RL-22 can on accident and filled the measure hopper with 4064. Did not blow the gun up but it looked like you brazed it shut.

[Mr Humble]

As there have been complaints filed about me, I will no longer be posting on this subject.
Anyone who wants to speak further, please PM me. Thanks!

[Idaho45guy]

I've been reloading for my .45 Colt and .40 S&W all of about 6 months...

I'm still triple-checking every case on the loading tray and measuring OAL every 5th round. And I'm using a single-stage Lee press; it takes me about two hours to load up around 50 rounds of two different flavors.

I hope the paranoia never wears off; seems it is safer that way...