Bad Morning At The Range!

[Wayne Smith]

Or get a Belding and Mull (They are making them again) and use that - I got mine used before the current price craze. It just might be cheaper to buy new today.

[robertbank]

Double charge, without a doubt. Case is wedged in the chamber which is why you can't pull the bolt back.

Do not use a brass rod. It can buckle and jam in the bore. Steel piano wire makes the best rods. Polish it to a shine and it will not hurt your barrel.

Smokeless powder CANNOT detonate. The chemistry is all wrong. Wish that old wives' tale would die, but it it's like Herpes, you can suppress it but it never goes away.

edit: K&S makes piano wire 9/32 diameter which is optimum for .30 calibers.

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Met...2945569&sr=8-4

This and what Dale53 said. I would never have a double charge until I did.

As soon as you think there is no way you can have a double charge because your method is full proof is the first step to having a double charge. As Larry pointed out no method is full proof. NONE! We are human and as every woman on the planet will tell you we are also men.

Take Care

Bob

[JohnH]

Some are saying no charged cases in a loading block. I disagree. I inadvertently double charged a 25-06 with 2400. Without going into the why's and wherefore's, I continue to use a loading block, but I inspect all cases with a flashlight AND I took a tire gauge apart and use the stem as a powder check. The numbers on the stem give a nice reference for fill.

[bigdog454]

I can not say that I have ever had bridging of powder; BUT" I had a lady bug beatle get into my drop tube one time and caused a similar thing. It would let a proper charge fall and then randomly only a partial charge, The next charge would be over charge. Took me an hour to find out what the problem was. I took the PM apart and found the bug in the drop tube. Once debuged the powder measure was again accurate. Lesson learned, cost me a good Ruger Blackhawk.
BD

[centershot]

Got the rifle back this morning! The firing pin had been jammed back into the tailpiece but the 'smith got it freed up. He said the headspace was good, there was no evidence of damage to the bolt body or locking lugs. He test-fired it with three factory rounds and pronounced it good to go! He charged me $40.00, out the door. Whew! A solid lesson learned here, this could have been much, much worse in so many ways!

[RKJ]

Good that no major damage was done to your rifle. I double charged a 45 acp years ago and it blew off the slide stop (the outer part but not the pin) and destroyed the magazine in a GM. I had a smith check it out and he declared it okay, so fixed it up and cleaned it real good and still shoot it. I'm a lot more careful now though.

[dverna]

Got the rifle back this morning! The firing pin had been jammed back into the tailpiece but the 'smith got it freed up. He said the headspace was good, there was no evidence of damage to the bolt body or locking lugs. He test-fired it with three factory rounds and pronounced it good to go! He charged me $40.00, out the door. Whew! A solid lesson learned here, this could have been much, much worse in so many ways!

That is awesome!

[David2011]

I saw a friend had a case with a small wasp nest in it once (30-06), filling 2/3 the case interior or so. And I've seen pebbles stuck in cases etc. after cleaning.... I tend to keep my brass in sealed places since, and inspect the case interior before loading. Not SURE that a wasp nest would cause a kaboom but I'd rather not take the chance!

For me it was June bugs. After several low power shots (.40 S&W) but no boolits left in the barrel, I finally saw one of the beetles stuck in a case when I emptied the case feeder. I had the press set up in the shop where insects could come and go. June bugs were crawling into the cases in the case feeder. Best guess was that they were suppressing the primer explosion but some powder was still burning.

Got the rifle back this morning! The firing pin had been jammed back into the tailpiece but the 'smith got it freed up. He said the headspace was good, there was no evidence of damage to the bolt body or locking lugs. He test-fired it with three factory rounds and pronounced it good to go! He charged me $40.00, out the door. Whew! A solid lesson learned here, this could have been much, much worse in so many ways!

Congrats! You were very fortunate. Glad nothing worse happened.

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

I do the same as Tazman. NO CHARGED CASES IN A LOADING BLOCK. In fact I stopped using loading blocks. Primed rifle cases are in a box or bin. Pick one out, charge case, and immediately seat the bullet. Not only safer but less handling and faster.

I respectfully, and strongly, disagree. I want all my charged cases in the same loading block. It allows me to compare and be sure the charges are all the same. If you're looking at one at a time, you have no point of reference to know your charge is off.

[txbirdman]

I’ve been doing what dverna’s doing for 40+ years. See no reason to change now

[Wilderness]

I put uncharged cases in a loading block but they're mouth DOWN, solves the issue. Inspect Primers for proper seating then pull, charge, seat & crimp, done.

Ditto with uncharged cases in loading block mouth down. In fact no case gets a charge anywhere, with or without loading block, unless it is mouth down immediately before charging. I mostly charge a bunch of cases , THEN CHECK WITH A LIGHT, then seat bullets. All loads are thrown with a measure onto the balance and from there into the case - this as a double check that both the measure and the poise on the balance are correct. Bridging with Unique is a regular and frequent occurrence, though in the measure drum rather than the drop tube, so the only consequence is the occasional light charge.

If I have doubts about a loaded cartridge I weigh and compare loaded cartridges before I pull anything apart.

It also helps that my light charges are less than 50% of max, so a double charge would be non catastrophic.

New contributions to the discussion are using balance and measure to cross check each other, weighing loaded cartridges and, for reduced loads, using charges that are less than 50% of max.

Most of this comes from the experience of others.

[robertbank]

I put uncharged cases in a loading block but they're mouth DOWN, solves the issue. Inspect Primers for proper seating then pull, charge, seat & crimp, done.

I use a variation of this as well. I clean, deprime and resize my rifle cases placing them mouth uo. I then prime them all placing them in my reloading block mouth down. Powder is dispensed from an RCBS electronic powder dispenser from a preset charge. I fill each case one at a time and them immediately seat and crimp the bullet.

Pistol cases are loaded in bulk using a 550B Dillon. I am not concerned with double charging a 9MM case but watch carefully when I load 45acp and 45Colt when loading light loads.

Take Care

Bob

[Scrounge]

There are 2 possible solutions to this problem.
1. Buy an electronic dispenser if you can afford one.
2. The cheapest, weigh every load.

Being a cheap bastrich, my preference is to weigh every load. I'll never get the kind of production my brother does, but I should avoid overcharges, if I don't get stupid.

Bill

[robg]

if you use a loading tray its easy to check the level in all cases before you put boolits on them.by the way i use 18 grains of 2400 in my 308 and get good accuracy.

[W.R.Buchanan]

when doing my rifle rounds I have this neato Drop tube that RCBS makes that has a trickler in it. You drop the charge short directly into the pan on the scale and then trickle it to final size. Dump into case and then seat boolit. There is no way to screw this up. This is the fastest way to do Measured Charges I have found.

Having a press like a C&H 444 with multiple stations, or several Lee C Presses lined up in a row so you can charge the case, seat the boolit, and then crimp it in place in one handling is another way to insure there is no Screw up's.

With my C&H 444 and the RCBS PM with Drop Tube I can do 50 rounds of rifle ammo in 30+ minutes. This is starting with Processed and Primed Cases, as case prep always takes some time.

With 40+ years in a machine shop mostly running production I have found that making any quantity of the same part you need to have a Idiot Proof process,,, Which you repeat as many times as needed to make the order.

This same idea applies to loading ammunition even more so, as I have seldom blown myself up running a lathe. However the distinct possibility looms with loading ammunition. And adding the fact that few can concentrate 100% on anything for very long makes establishing a fool proof process for loading what you need to be looking at.

All that matters is that it is actually Fool Proof, and it works for you!

Randy

[KCSO]

To remove a stuck case... #1 do NOT hammer on the bolt with anything! Find a bore size brass rod long enought to reach from the breech to 2 inches or more out the muzzle. Soak the breech and stuck case in Kroil and wait 24 hours, then insert the brass rod and tap out the case. If it still won't move reoil wait and tap some more, eventually it will come out even if the chamber is slightly bulged.

[robertbank]

Randy I agree. The #1 Rule then becomes to treat your Idiot Proof method like it is not idiot proof and treat it as if it isn't. Best way I know of to ensure your digits remain where they are meant to be.

Take Care

Bob

[mjwcaster]

For me it was June bugs. After several low power shots (.40 S&W) but no boolits left in the barrel, I finally saw one of the beetles stuck in a case when I emptied the case feeder. I had the press set up in the shop where insects could come and go. June bugs were crawling into the cases in the case feeder. Best guess was that they were suppressing the primer explosion but some powder was still burning.




Congrats! You were very fortunate. Glad nothing worse happened.

Mine were spider nests mixed with wet walnut media in 45acp cases.
I thought I had cleaned them all out but missed a couple.
Squib loads but still exited barrel.
I wasn’t inspecting cleaned cases as well back then as I do now.
And although the nests were from brass sitting on the range I now keep all cleaned/inspected brass in sealed containers to prevent contamination.