Eating humble pie

[OIF/OEF]

I posted a while back I was popping primers and couldn't figure out why....well I pinned it down. I broke out the old Ohaus 10-10 scale and my Chargemaster 1500 was throwing heavy. I didn't calibrate it before I used it because I was in a hurry and it had never let me down before. I not only popped a primer but split the base of a 6BR case. I am extremely disappointed in myself. Not only could I have damaged my equipment but my ugly face and others around me if it got really crazy. These rounds were loaded the night before my first match, what a way to shoot your first one ever. On a side note even with the HOT loads the CCI BR primers held together lol. When I finally pulled my head out of my anus and checked with the brass weights it was 5.0 GRAINS off. Im sharing my story maybe it'll make another beginner like myself double check everything before you start reloading.....Thanks again for a great site....

 

[savage10shooter]

Thanks for sharing. I think most shooters who have reloaded for a length of time will have a story of doing something not so smart. I did something a couple months back that could have resulted in a bad day. I came home on a Friday after being gone all week traveling for work. I had plans to work up loads for a new rifle for an upcoming match. So I stayed up late Friday night to load my ammo for the next day. I have for 20 plus years kept only one powder on my bench at a time. Well, this time I violated my own safety protocol in an effort to "save time" and had 3 different powders at one time on my bench. At some point I realized I had possibly made an error and used the wrong powder for that particular load. I got very nervous and ended up pulling all the 50 rounds I had loaded and started over. It cost me some powder and time because I just couldn't trust the loads. I also could not identify each powder and decided to fertilize the lawn. What a lesson to learn.

 

[Old Navy]

Your Charge Master has a problem. Later! Frank

 

[Lapua40X]

Thanks for sharing the story. I too have fertilized my lawn with my mistakes.
Your story remind me of a day at the range when we found a .38 revolver load with twice as much Alliant Bullseye than it should have had.
Although the actual picture isn't in this group (as far as I know) they all look like sisters when the top of the cylinder disappears.

https://www.google.com/search?q=blown+revolver+cylinder&client=ubuntu&hs=tAL&channel=fs&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=eB7XU6SYKabL8AGXvICAAg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1372&bih=1024&dpr=0.9

The one at top center is closest to the one we took home. Never did find the top strap and pieces of the cylinder.

 

[rockdoc]

Timely warning. Thank you.

Sometimes we turn these things on and think they will be good to go without checking!

 

[dickn52]

I posted a while back I was popping primers and couldn't figure out why....well I pinned it down. I broke out the old Ohaus 10-10 scale and my Chargemaster 1500 was throwing heavy. I didn't calibrate it before I used it because I was in a hurry and it had never let me down before. I not only popped a primer but split the base of a 6BR case. I am extremely disappointed in myself. Not only could I have damaged my equipment but my ugly face and others around me if it got really crazy. These rounds were loaded the night before my first match, what a way to shoot your first one ever. On a side note even with the HOT loads the CCI BR primers held together lol. When I finally pulled my head out of my anus and checked with the brass weights it was 5.0 GRAINS off. Im sharing my story maybe it'll make another beginner like myself double check everything before you start reloading.....Thanks again for a great site....

Glad that got straight. And THANK YOU for your service sir.

 

[22BRGUY]

Thanks for sharing and glad to hear neither you nor your firearm were damaged. I think sooner or later we all have to eat some "humble pie" in this sport as well as in life.......the trick is to take the smallest bite.

 

[Syncrowave]

Another reason not to rely on an electronic scale.


kBOOM!


Flinch much?

 

[jlow]

No... This is completely wrong....

The obvious problem here is the OP did not do the necessary QA. You always should calibrate and check REGARDLESS of whether you are using a balance beam or electronic scale when your safety is on the line - this is the lesson here.

 

[BoydAllen]

I admire you candor. One suggestion: I usually know what a common load will look like as I peer down into cases necks. I guess it is a habit that I picked up to check my thrown loads, but I always look. When I am charging a group of cases before seating, I always look at the powder levels of all the cases in the loading block, using a light if needed. In your case, this may not have been of any help, but if you load with that bullet weight, powder and caliber, you should know how far up in the case the powder should be. Again, thanks for sharing.

 

[DennisH]

I use a Chargemaster. I always "double" check the weight with other scales just to make sure. I do this because I am usually at max. I use digital and a beam scale, but the chargemaster gets the final job done for me.

 

[bowfisher]

I keep 3 bullets that I know the exact weight of right next to my scale. A quick check tells me if it needs calibrated or not. I make it a habit to weigh one of these before throwing my first charge. Glad you figured it out.

 

[DennisH]

I keep 3 bullets that I know the exact weight of right next to my scale. A quick check tells me if it needs calibrated or not. I make it a habit to weigh one of these before throwing my first charge. Glad you figured it out.

Good Idea