• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Reloading mistakes and lessons learned

Here's a tip! If you want to load several hundred rounds of competition ammo for rifle competition, seat them with the cartridge OAL .020" long and the day or night before the match put the rounds in a press and reseat to proper length. Cartridge brass can take a 'set' if left over an extended period of time and cause erratic neck tension! Or....you can 'soft seat' and let the closing of the bolt seat the bullet. However...if in the event the match is halted and rounds have to be removed for safety purposes....the soft seated bullet might lodge in the lands and powder would be dumped when the case was extracted!
 
Last edited:
U name it I done it pretty much, but I kinda agonize over loading anymore, getting older and things aren't the same as they use to be, lotsa 5x checking bullets, primers, brass, charge, powder, measuring, I do like the Speedy style of finding lands with new barrel with case and bullet and drop in chamber kinda spin bullet look for land mark then back off as needed...
 
Once upon a time I had a squib load in a MAC10 .45ACP and since it's an open bolt weapon the next round fired/exploded out of battery. Luckily nothing was harmed and after tapping the squib bullet out everything was fine.
 
In 30 years of reloading, one primer ignition in a progressive press, one failure to charge in progressive press loading pistol ammo. One primer ignition in trying to anneal in an AMP with a live primer in the pocket (yes, this is pretty dumb I know...).

I have always triple checked charge weight against references and always worked up from low pressure loads. I always look for high primers but, not always at the best time.

As I've aged, I check myself and my memory all the time!
 
I've had a couple, but were actual accidents. Primer ignited while priming with a hand tool due to pocket crimp not fully removed in 5.56 LC brass. The dog didn't want to hang out in the loading room after that! Thankfully I always wear safety glasses over my regular glasses, even though it was pointed away from me.

Sideways primer into a case. Had to crush it in there to get it out of the shell holder so I could press it out.

Got lucky that it was 3, 17cal bullets mixed into a brand new red box of 20 cal bullets, they dropped right into the case. Never even noticed a different feel in hand.

Destroyed 3 cases in a row due to sticking in the sizing die and ripping out of the shell holder. After triple checking found the shell holder was out of spec. Yes, it was a Lee shell holder. It now lives in the decapping press parts box.
 
These are the two steps that allowed me to manage down my OCD and cope with the interruptions of life that may cause periodic and unexpected interruptions in my reloading schedule for weeks, months or years... works, kids, life.

1) Organization - I reload several different cartridges and keeping track of their cases & components can become a hassle over time. I shifted away from ZipLock bags to clear Tupperware-style containers. They are easy to stack / store, ability to label on the ends or across the top, and have long useful lige (+10 years).

2) Tracking Progress - I created a summary card that tracks each specific tub of cases from dirty to loaded (ready to shoot). This "memory" card captures all the activities of brass prep and final loading (including the date each step was completed). Inside every tub there is one of the summary cards, which allows me to pick up wherever I left off with a specific lot of brass with no guesswork.

Oh Yeah - Always check that the manual drain port is "CLOSED" before filling a ChargeMaster or similar device :)
 
WileyG said:
I hope you and everything around is OK.
Click to expand...
Well it kicked like a mule. I thought, what the heck! Went to clean it between shots. Wet a patch and looked for ramrod. I knew I put in on the bench. Not there?? So I looked everywhere.
I'm not 100% that's what happened but about 99.9%. I was texting my wife while loading it. No ramrod to be found, it kicked me like crazy, missed the target, so it's the only thing that i can figure happened .
No damage to muzzle loader or me.

Note to self... leave phone alone while doing anything with firearms...
 
I figured out the only sure fire way to stop pouring powder out the Chargemaster drain hole.
Quit using it!!
I bought a small table lamp with a flex arm that is perfect for passing my reloading block under to check if each cased is filled and to the same level. And there are times it has saved me the headache of an empty case causing a bullet stuck in the barrel.
 
Buttstock-TX said:
In 30 years of reloading, one primer ignition in a progressive press, one failure to charge in progressive press loading pistol ammo. One primer ignition in trying to anneal in an AMP with a live primer in the pocket (yes, this is pretty dumb I know...).

I have always triple checked charge weight against references and always worked up from low pressure loads. I always look for high primers but, not always at the best time.

As I've aged, I check myself and my memory all the time!
Click to expand...
I was working in the reload room had a migraine headache so I just quit, any distraction is a mistake waiting to happen!
 
cheek9075 said:
Related to reloading I guess... REMOVE RAMROD FROM MUZZLE LOADER BEFORE SHOOTING IT! Learned that lesson today....
Click to expand...

I've seen and heard of a surprisingly large number of shooters who have fired a round behind those in-the-muzzle laser boresighters. Large number is greater than a dozen over the past couple of years.
 
Doc Jones said:
I have been reloading almost 50 years. Not sure how many mistakes I’ve made. A few that come to mind are 1. Not closing the powder dump hole in my Chargemaster
2. Got powders mixed up. Was supposed to be using Varget in my Dasher. Grabbed H4895 instead. Realized after seating bullets. Looked up load data for 4895 and decided safe to shoot. Rifle shot the best ever! Then duplicated that speed with Varget.
3. Way back I was shooting handgun silhouette with a Contender. Not paying enough attention to my cartridges. Loaded a round and when I fired I thought I had a hangfire. Everyone on the line stopped firing and looked at me. I waited a good while before opening and found a fired primer turned upside down.
Click to expand...
When I was a kid, a friends father went hunting with a borrowed Win model 94 .32 Special. Prob was he bought 30-30 ammo. Loaded up and fired at a close by deer, he killed it but the saving grace for him and not the deer was the close range!
 
Usually my issues are, left the bolt for the rifle at home. After I setup the bench and hung targets. Uncase rifle and NO bolt. Usually I pull a handgun from the truck, shoot a few plates. Not quite so mad than when I load up a drive home. Or forgot brass catcher for AR, and I have a 17 rem and 20p that I don't want to search for among the "house brass" on the ground. I now have 3 catchers one stays in the truck. I use post it's at the reloading bench.
 
Once went to the gun room to handload. Started drinking beer. I forgot to Size, Clean, Prime, Charge and Seat the bullets. Forgot why I even went out there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Classified Ads

Forum statistics

Threads
166,238
Messages
2,214,197
Members
79,464
Latest member
Big Fred

Share This Page

Back
Top