Warning to progressive loader users

[omgb]

This has got to be short as I don't have much time right now. Last night, while loading a couple of thousand rounds on my Hornady Progressive I ran into a problem that could have been nasty. The load was a 158 grain lead slug in 38SP cases over 3.0 grains of Clays. I use a powder Cop die and here is where the problem lay. I removed a case from the tool head to weigh the powder charge. I dumped out the powder and found it short by a full grain wt. Closer inspection revealed that the Powder Cop die had compacted the flake powder. When I dumped it out, some remained in the case. Had I put the case back on the shell head and run it through the cycle again, I would have been a full grain heavier. In a rifle, this would be no big deal. But, in a light weight revolver or in an automatic or if you were at the top of the load tables, this could spell disaster.

The moral of the story seems to be, look inside of each and every case you dump and visually check to see that it's empty. Also, watch those PC dies. The weight of the check stem is light but it is enough to cause flake powder to "bridge" in the bottom of the case and as a result, not come out even when tapped smartly on the bench top.

As a second reminder, when using a progressive press, keep your motions in sequence. Have a standard protocol of movement and procedure and do not alter it.

I've loaded thousands of rounds through my press and have yet to have a problem. Last night illustrates how easy it can be to get into trouble. Fortunately, I had a couple of failsafe steps built into the process and I caught the error before anything bad could happen.

[omgb]

I've got a few more minutes now and can elaborate a bit.

The Hornady machine, is a true progressive as it auto advances each time you pull the lever. If for some reason you want to remove a shell from the line it's easy enough to do. The cases are held in their slots buy a spring that wraps around the shell head. Simply tilting and removing a case gets it out of the sequence. Replacing it is just as easy, just use the head of the case to push the spring band aside and slide the rim into its slot.

Viewing down into a case while it is in the que is not easy so removal is going to be happinging on a daily basis. Because the case advances with each pull of the handle, double charging seems to be impossible. Note I said seems to be. The reality is that if you remove a case from the line and then return it, it is possible to pass it under the powder drop station a second time; not likely mind you, put certainly possible. With a progressive press, you've got so much happening at once that getting lost in the confusion of it all is fairly easy. To prevent such idiocy, I bought a powder cop die. The die has a small piston rod with a flat disk on one end. The rod extends up through a universal die body. On the end of the rod is a white elastic "o" ring. When the die is adjusted, the "o" ring is flush with the top of the die body when a properly charged case is run up into the die. If the "o" ring is either above or below the top of the die, the charge is incorrect. All of this is great except that the weight of the measuring rod is obviously sufficient to slightly compress flake powders. In large diamerter cases this most likely isn't a big deal. But in small cases where the diameter of the flakes is large in proportion to the inside diameter of the case, bridging can and does occur. This again, is not an issue unless you attempt to remove and reinsert the powder. In the process, a portion of the charge will remain stuck inside the case. If you run it back under the charge station again, not only will the correct charge be added, but a portion of the old charge will remain resulting in an over charged condition. In the case of the loads I was making last night, it was a 33% over charge. That my friends, is a big freaken deal; a gun wrecking deal if you will. Of course, the Powder Cop die would note this as the case passed under it. No harm no foul you say? Well, what if you skipped that station and went directly to the seating station? It's possible and if one is taking short cuts, very probable. That could and most likely would, get you in trouble faster than you could say "Jack Robinson".

So, be careful when altering anything in progressive reloading. Pay attention, double check and don't get distracted.

When loading less dense powder people don't usually worry about double charges, they won't fit in the case. but if you think about it, a 33% over charge is almost as bad and might not even be noticed unless one were specifically looking for it.