Getting smarter every day

[carlsbad]

Best way to get smarter is to learn from other people's mistakes. So I read this forum religiously and have learned a lot here. Unfortunately, we all learn too often from our own mistakes. Lately, I've done pretty well in this area but today I found my 6xc die had somehow become inappropriately adjusted about .011 too short.

No idea how this happened but it explains some of the anomalies I've seen the last couple of months. No misfires but poor case neck sealing every though I anneal every time. Other subtle inconsistencies that made me scratch my head but are hard to explain.

So my tip-of-the-day is to recheck your shoulder bump.

--Jerry

 

[4xforfun]

LOL.....I was prepping some Dasher brass before the 2011 IBS 1000 yard nationals. In the process of trimming I had set the cutter at 1.50 instead of 1.550 (the brass had been fired a few times). . That one I got away with!!

Tod

 

[joshb]

Ditto! I think I have my process nailed and then I get screwed by not checking the basics. Simple things, like a die I have used a hundred times and I "assume" is set, is off. Just because I understand how to load doesn't exclude me from making simple mistakes.

 

[K22]

I have process that I use every time I reload rifle cartridges. I check the shoulder bump, the case length, inspect the cases for defects, examine the flash hole for clogs from tumbler media.

 

[seymour fish]

After 20 years of BR I've learned there are three basically (3) major categories of problems that will derail even the best of us. Note: this is not an exhaustive list and "assumes" all else is working.

1.Doing something dumb . . . i.e., leave something loose, leave out a primer, or put it in back-ass-wards, no powder in the case, use the wrong seating stem, or die, push or bump the rifle, blunder into the trigger, push the rear bag, miss a flag change, etc., etc., etc.

2. Something gives up . . . i.e., scope or trigger goes south, the rest jams, gets the "clunks," or the "wobbles," rifle's bedding comes unglued, bolt handle comes off, etc., etc.

3. Something untoward happens . . . i.e., a fly wing gets stuck in the chamber, a chamber brush bristle gets stuck on the bolt face, a piece of grit or powder kernels get into a bolt recess, a weak primer fires, but with just enough force to stick a bullet in the bore, somehow on the way to the firing line the bolt gets un-cocked, etc., etc.

Now, I've had (more than) my share of all and then some, but #3 is the one that drives me the most nuts! A fly wing in the chamber? What's the chances?! Numbers 1 & 2 can be reduced by paying more attention to detail, but #3 is a cosmic crapshoot! As such it just depends on whether you have good or bad luck. Good, and it's smooth sailing, bad - you're on the rocks!


Chris Mitchell

Under number 3, watch out for dirt daubers. They can obstruct a bbl in 30 min

 

[Texas10]

I'll have to admit that I've done the following three times now, and I swear I don't know how I'm doing this. I set the charged case ON TOP of the shell holder to seat the bullet instead of into the shell holder. Sometimes this error only seats the bullet realllllly deep, sometime it swells the case at the shoulder/body junction and I realize it when I try to chamber the round and it jams half way in.

 

[wiuprof]

Yep . . . up here (Maine) we call 'em Mud Dobbers. So far they haven't dobbed-up one of my BR barrels, but they did do a job on a pellet rifle I kept in the shed. I had to soak the muzzle in a bucket of water overnight to loosen the mud-plug enough to get it out of the barrel.

Chris Mitchell

Yes, this is my post from a while back about "Dauber Damage" to one of my favorite rifles!
I was lucky that I saw the "mud" at the muzzle!!
Joe

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/mud-dauber-damage….3896575/

 

[K22]

Here's my dumb list relative to hunting:

1. Forgetting to chamber a round as the animal is in a perfect broadside view.

2. Becoming over confident and impatient (ghog hunting) believing I can make the shot with a less than ideal profile instead of waiting for a better shot.

3. Leaving some essential piece of equipment in the truck after I've walked a considerable distance in the field.

4. Falling asleep in my shooting chair during ghog hunting and waking to see the sun setting.

5. Leaving my rain gear behind believing the 'beautiful' forecast I saw on the Weather Channel and getting soaking wet.

6. Failure to adhere to the fundamentals of marksmanship resulting in making a poor shot.

7. Not replacing the battery in my range finder or predator caller and it going dead when I need it in the field.

Yes, I've done all of those.

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

Also had a barrel "die" on me because a seater decided to do its own thing. Last thing I checked before looking for a new barrel was the seater Die and what do you know...thing seats 5 bullets at diffetent lengths

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

What I could figure out was the seaters sleave/stem sort of flared open and I think it was "dragging" somewhere. Drove me crazy trying to figure out what was going on, I actually measured a freshly loaded round at one point but the luck of the draw was that the loaded round I measured was one that was actually the correct measurement when I started to check the entire batch as I loaded them the measurements looked like the stock market over a weekend but that is how you learn

 

[Darrel Martin]

Under number 3, watch out for dirt daubers. They can obstruct a bbl in 30 min

Happened to look and could not see through the barrel.
Had been watching as a friend worked up a load.
Don't know why I decided to look, but I am glad I did.
I have a photo of the dirt dauber on the barrel , but I can't seem to post it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/42892927@N05/38164671016/

 

[joshb]

I just fubarred big time. Setting up my 308 dies to size my new Peterson Palma brass. It was going great until I realized the large decap pin was still in the die. Just ruined 30 once fired brass!

 

[Jackal2016]

I just fubarred big time. Setting up my 308 dies to size my new Peterson Palma brass. It was going great until I realized the large decap pin was still in the die. Just ruined 30 once fired brass!

Ouch