I screwed up and had an Oops.....

[divingin]

The V4 is pretty hard to hold old powder. Simplicity 2 round tubes. Tilt the unit back and they have cleared themselves. Changing tilt angle or level of scale without rezeroing will change things.

Actually, I've found that you need to tilt it back twice to completely empty it: Remove hopper, empty the remaining in-unit hopper area by lifting the rear door. drop the rear door, tilt unit to empty the main tube (the powder from this will refill the in-unit hopper enough to block the small tube.) Empty the in-unit hopper again, and tilt the unit to empty the small tube. Empty the in-unit hopper again, and you're good. I usually give the unit a smack or two with my palm to dislodge any stuck kernels while emptying tubes.

On the zero shift from repositioning, the unit won't start throwing if it's more than .02 or .04 grains off of zero. If it is off it auto-zeroes before starting. So that shouldn't cause a problem.

 

[D-4297]

For whatever reason ; Had a load that was over-loaded with powder last week , as I was loading for the State 600 . After having my loading block full , and ready to start seating bullets , my last step is to take a small flashlight and look at every load , to see if they are at a consistent level . ONE WAS NOT ! I got lucky and caught it , because of that "last look" . Probably powder that was hung up in the measure that had built up , but there is no such thing as being to careful . That ain't being paranoid , is it ?

 

[jackieschmidt]

I have no idea what you did wrong.

But You need to find out.

 

[rwj]

Have you checked the barrel for obstructions? Were you able to identify the bullet hole in the target? If yes, does it suggest the bullet was tumbling?

 

[K22]

What you described in the classic case of a severe pressure surge.

The ones I have read about normally involved either the incorrect powder being used or a overcharge / double charge or a barrel obstruction. It's fairly difficult to double charge a rifle case with most loads. Pistol reloads with fast burning powders are more susceptible to double charges.

Not familiar with the Auto Trickler but is it possible it malfunctioned enough to dispense more powder that specified to drive the pressure to that level? It sounds like you had the correct powder since the other rounds fired without issue or evidence of high pressure.

The only time I ever had a pressure surge was using H380 in a 22 250 in 90+ weather but it was not severe, just hard bold lift and ejector mark on the case head. The only firearm I ever saw "blow up" was during an NRA precision pistol match. The guy was shooting a 45 ACP and he discharged a round with a bullet lodged in the bore, i.e., barrel obstruction. It wrecked the pistol, but no one was hurt.

You should make every effort to determine the root cause to prevent this from ever happening again.

 

[jpjulian]

"Measurement of the case at home revealed the primer pocket enlarged by .015" and the case head had expanded by .011" just ahead of the extractor groove."
Got a picture. That has to be ugly.

I cannot get a photo to upload. Technically challenged in that regard.

 

[jpjulian]

What were you loading in the V4 before you started loading for the 6CM?

H335 was loaded prior to 555. The V4 was thoroughly cleaned prior to filling with the 555. Even if, big if, there were any 335 left in the V4, there wouldn't have been more than a couple kernels and certainly would not be a contributor to my mishap.

 

[Rocketvapor]

@jpjulian
3rd party service then link bbcode.
OR
email a member to post for you.
Suggest compressed if possible.

 

[jpjulian]

Glad you’re ok. Are there remaining rounds that will be disassembled to try and locate the root cause?

All taken care of. Post mortem of the remaining rounds revealed absolutely nothing. I screwed up precisely one round.

 

[jpjulian]

What's your fill ratio with that powder? How much more powder could you get in before you start getting a compressed load, which I'd assume you'd notice on seating?

Nothing was out of sort in any way during the loading. I'd say 90% fill give or take. A double could not have occurred without major spillage, and that didn't happen.

 

[jpjulian]

Makes me wonder if you and maybe others that have had a issue like this, miss the one step in reloading of checking/looking into the case to see powder and level, prior to seating a bullet ?
It is a very simple step in the stages of reloading and can sure show if a case is lower or higher than any of the others.

I do one case at a time, beginning with primed cases that have been annealed, sized, trimmed every time after sizing, and mandrel inside neck sized. V4 drops the charge, I pour into the primed case then seat the bullet. One at a time, every time. I don't use loading blocks.

 

[jpjulian]

How long was the case. I trim every reloading. It's as fast to run them in the trimmer as it is to measure them. One or the other should be done every reloading. A long case can skyrocket pressure.

Giraud trimmer every loading. No exceptions.

 

[jpjulian]

Do you also load for a 25 caliber? Maybe wrong bullet?

Nope. I haven't loaded anything but .223 or 6mm Creedmoor since 2017 and nothing but .223 and the very occasional .308 for something like 15 years prior to that.

 

[jpjulian]

This has saved me before. I had 50 cases in a loading block, charge case, move funnel, repeat. When I started seating, I inspected each one and noticed one had a double charge. Glad I looked.

Now, after I charge a case I immediately drop a bullet into the funnel. So when I move the funnel to the next case, the previous ones have a bullet sitting on the neck. This way, I can't accidentally double charge.

I don't use loading blocks. One round at a time, every time,.

 

[Webster]

Nothing was out of sort in any way during the loading. I'd say 90% fill give or take. A double could not have occurred without major spillage, and that didn't happen.

Is it possible a cleaning patch was in the bore? I had a situation 45 years go when I was a beginner. Had a no turn 6PPC. The necks were turned but apparently one wasn't turned enough. I had to hammer the bolt open. The case neck was elongated trying to push the bullet out.

 

[jpjulian]

Glad you’re ok, your rifle too. As mentioned above I always check the case length, it can be a little monotonous but it’s a good practice.

Any chance you pulled bullets and powder from those cases before loading them? I was doing that on some 6.5 PRC cases I was changing loads on just last week, after dumping the old powder I would do a quick check visually and if more was in there I’d bang against the garbage can and get the rest out. Once I pulled the rounds I thought I better take a flashlight and double check. I found four cases that still had a dozen kernels of 570 stuck in the case. Took and long Q tip and went back and rechecked every case. I’ve done some silly stuff reloading, more when I was starting out but I have learned to double or even triple check as I go through the steps of a loaded round. The link in reply #4 is worth a read for anyone, seasoned or beginner. Just reminders and Ideas on how to tune up the process to ensure the odds on in your favor.

Nope.

 

[jpjulian]

Is it possible a cleaning patch was in the bore? I had a situation 45 years go when I was a beginner. Had a no turn 6PPC. The necks were turned but apparently one wasn't turned enough. I had to hammer the bolt open. The case neck was elongated trying to push the bullet out.

Nope. If this was the first round, maybe. But this was around the 7-8th round fired and on my 2nd group with this rifle. Nothing was out of sorts in any way with the rifle.

 

[jpjulian]

On rare occasions I've seen a small amount of powder bridge in the funnel neck. That left one case light and the next overcharged. The first time this happened, the case filled the neck so it was immediately noticed. Subsequent events were hard to notice without constant inspection.

Occasionally, I'll see a velocity that doesn't make sense and I'll wonder if I missed a bridging event.

I am aware of bridging and watch and tap if needed every single round. My funnel is placed upside down on the bench after pouring each round and if there were any bridged powder it would likely end up on the bench top. But the case got overcharged somehow so your theory has merit. I doubt it happened that way but cannot say it definitely didn't happen that way.

 

[jpjulian]

Have you checked the barrel for obstructions? Were you able to identify the bullet hole in the target? If yes, does it suggest the bullet was tumbling?

There were no obstructions. The prior rounds landed in the group as expected.

 

[jpjulian]

I have no idea what you did wrong.

But You need to find out.

Yessir. Goes without saying. I screwed up and somehow overcharged one single case. There was a clue I missed somehow when it happened. I just need to be more vigilant.