Learned a new lesson

[wallenba]

A few weeks ago I decided to mount my Uniflow on a Lyman charge thru expander die and use them on my Lee turret press to load some 38 wadcutters. Yesterday I shot them. I had one FTF, that did not alarm me too much. I had the range officer dispose of it as I have no collet that could pull out the slug and I did not want to use an inertia puller on it. When I loaded and shot the last of them I pulled the trigger on the last one, and nothing, all the brass was empty so I dumped the brass into a tub and left, thinking I had just lost count. I got home late and decided to clean the gun in the morning. That's when I spotted the wadcutter slug stuck in the throat even with the end of the chamber. No large blowback was evident in the cylinder so I concluded that I must have missed my rythmn and not thrown the charge, probably on the other too!!

I will only use an auto dispenser on my turret from now on, even if it does'nt throw the most accurate charge.

[ghh3rd]

Glad it didn't turn out worse for you. Thanks for sharing your story, although it may be embarrasing. It's easy to get in trouble rolling your own, and it's not bad to read thing like this to remind us.

[wallenba]

Glad it didn't turn out worse for you. Thanks for sharing your story, although it may be embarrasing. It's easy to get in trouble rolling your own, and it's not bad to read thing like this to remind us.

That was the intent of my post, thanks. I think God was looking after me, as I can't get over that it was one of the last seven I loaded in the gun (686+).

[beagle]

I've been criticized for my practice of weighing every powder charge before seating the bullet. I'm an old bullet caster and cautious. One year about this time, I grabbed a Lil Dandy powder measure with a known rotor in it and started to load. No powder came out. Further checking found a spider who had settled in for the winter.

Like pilots, there are no old, bold reloaders. Reloading is fun. Take your time and enjoy it and check often./beagle

[lwknight]

Its hard to beat a loading block and manual powder charging measure.
At least you can look into all of the cases before setting a boolit.

It happens and you are not the first nor will you be the last.

[docone31]

I have never used anything but the Lee Scoops for measuring. Even though a scale and adjustable powder measure will get the load more precise, perhaps, I use the scoops.
This way, I have only had 1 Squib in perhaps 30yrs. I visually check each brass before I seat the boolitt.
I have always been a sceptic when I cannot see the powder being thrown.

[dominicfortune00]

I've been criticized for my practice of weighing every powder charge before seating the bullet.

I weigh each charge as above after throwing from my powder measure also.

I don't care what anybody says about doing this as my safety is my own responsibility and no one elses.

[Beekeeper]

+1 on what docone31 says.
I use lee dippers exclusively and weigh every 10th charge just to satisfy my mind it is still right.
I am anal about reloading as I have seen the results of mistakes.
I prime them all
I place powder in them one at a time and seat the boolits at once.
That way I know each one is completed with no mistakes.

It is the way I was taught and I have never changed the procedure.

wallenba I am glad you are safe with all parts intact.



Jim

[ph4570]

I weigh every loaded round.

[geargnasher]

I use mostly progressives and install lights, mirrors, or whatever it takes to see the powder in the case before seating the boolits. If it's a bottleneck I take it off the shellholder, check it under a bright light, put it back on and continue. I have had two squib loads since going to progressives (due to my learning curve with the machine), but I caught each one by weighing the finished ammo. That's why I rig visual aids now, not because the machine has ever thrown a faulty power charge (it hasn't), but because I'm not a perfect operator.

Gear

[x101airborne]

i aint hating on Dillon, I named my son after Dillon Aero. BUT, have you ever noticed all the powder around the base of a Dillon 650 progressive and wondered where it came from when loading Unique in 45 ACP?

[noylj]

I know that I went found out real quick back in the late '70s when I got my Hornady progressive that it was very easy to forget to throw the charge. Thankfully, Hornady places the bullet seating station right under your eye so you have to work hard NOT to look at the case and see no powder. I don't remember what measure I went to, but I know that I got a Lee Auto-Disk and PTEs as soon as they came out.
I also don't like chain or rod returns on my measures...springs for me.

[x101airborne]

Gear, i could use some advice / criticism when setting up any of my Dillon's. i have never had a squib, but I have had some that made me go HMMMM...

[gray wolf]

There are two kinds of loads--good loads, and great loads.
Good loads let you hit the target and have a little fun.
great loads let you use the gun again.

[geargnasher]

101, I'm too poor to afford a Dillon, I use Lee progressives, and I doubt I'll ever need anything else. I have used a 550B, but it was already set up. If you can't visually verify the level of powder in the case, sooner or later you'll have problems.

Gear

[gwilliams2]

I instruct everyone that I take to the range to always clear the barrel anytime it don't go bang, feels like a weak load or doesn't fully eject the shell (on a semi auto) after pulling the trigger... It's a good habit to go ahead and clear the barrel any time you have a malfunction... I visually verify the powder in every shell before covering it up with a boolit; I know it's not a perfect science, but I do periodically weight the load and it does insure that every boolit will exit the barrel...

[HangFireW8]

I know that I went found out real quick back in the late '70s when I got my Hornady progressive that it was very easy to forget to throw the charge. Thankfully, Hornady places the bullet seating station right under your eye so you have to work hard NOT to look at the case and see no powder.

Same here, as long as the lighting is good. So, I make sure the lighting is good.

I crank my swivel desk fluorescent lamp beside my Hornady so it shines right down into the case, and then make checking the powder level part of my routine.

No problems since I started doing that.

-HF

[lwknight]

I set up 2 5X10 case cards with 38s and powder charged one of them then set bullets on both. After I seated, crimped the bullets and dumped both cards in a box of a few hundred more , I started thinking " I don't remember charging the 2nd card".

You CANNOT reliably segregate charged from non charge brass with a scale when the charge is 5 grains and you use mixed brass.

A small hammer and rod were part of my range gear for several sessions.

Lesson learned: Never reload when you are tired or fatigued.

[wallenba]

If I can ever afford a progressive press with enough stations, a powder cop die WILL be used for sure. I'm going to use the Lee turret with an auto-disk dispenser for my autoloaders only from now on. I'm going to stick with batch loading and use the loading block for my revolvers. I demand more accuracy from them than the autos anyway.

[Centaur 1]

I have never used anything but the Lee Scoops for measuring. Even though a scale and adjustable powder measure will get the load more precise, perhaps, I use the scoops.
This way, I have only had 1 Squib in perhaps 30yrs. I visually check each brass before I seat the boolitt.
I have always been a sceptic when I cannot see the powder being thrown.

I like my scoops too. I have a piece of black granite tile and I place five primed cases on the right side of the tile. I grab a case with my funnel, slide them to the center of the tile, dump my scoop of powder in the funnel and slide the case to my left. When all five are charged I look into each case then seat a bullet. I only have a single stage press so this works for me. The trick is to find a technique that works for you, and stick with it.