Injury Caused by Powder Mistake -- 28.5 gr of Lever Evolution VS 28.5 gr LiL Gun

[JPB3]

Wow, DGP4, karma is a strange witch....
I'd be watching closely hoping she stays away!

 

[jelenko]

slow down and double check what I am doing

Doesn't depend on age.

 

[JMayo]

I'm glad you survived !

I would have loved a warning about the gore.

I love my notes of type & amount right in front of my scale. 1 Jug sitting there, lable looking at me.

 

[JFrank]

I cringe every time I hear guys talk about fire forming with fast burning pistol powders. It’s seems very easy to make a very costly mistake, leave the wrong powder in a hopper for example.

 

[SSL]

I blame this lightly on the manufacturer. Being old schooler I am an advocate for powders only being designated by numbers, H-110, VV160 H4350 etc which are much harder to confuse with others. Catchy names like Lever evolution, L'il gun etc etc should be names for cleaning solvents and not gunpowders. Oh and btw I hope you buy a pair of glasses cause it is hard to shoot when you are blind!

I sort of see your point, but I see far more people confused by powder numbers like H4350, IMR4350 and AA4350 or IMR4064 - AA4064 or IMR4381 - H4831 or ...well, you get the picture. We got along just fine for quite a few years with powders like Unique, Bullseye, Blue Dot, Green Dot and Red Dot, just to name a few, so naming powder without a number attached isn't at all new. It all boils down to paying attention to what you are doing - and we all are guilty of letting our attention wander now and then.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

I sure hope he replaces the rifle and gets right back after it, we’re all human and are not perfect.
Has anybody thought about what a blessing it was that a front rest of some kind was used and his off hand wasn’t up there under that forearm.

 

[DeerHunter82]

I thank the Lord you are ok. My dad told me he saw an action let loose at Williamsport many years ago. Not sure the details, be he said it was scary.

I have a solid case of OCD. Sometimes it’s annoying but other times it’s beneficial, especially with hand loading. I fill my uniflow then leave the bottle on the bench next to me. I know my mind will start to wander and question whether or not I paid attention when I filled it if I put it back on the shelf!

 

[Just Say Moe]

Thanks for posting. Glad you are ok. I have used examples such as yours to learn from. A change or modification of any process to improve safety is always welcome. Coming from the medical field, reducing chances of error are part of the system and should be encouraged.

 

[DirtySteve]

I nearly made a similar mistake about ten years ago. My current way of keeping me from doing this is as follows,

One can of powder on the bench at a time.

Read the label out loud before filling the powder measure.

Empty the powder measure when taking a break. Be it five minutes or an hour.

Glad you are ok relatively speaking.

Steve

 

[David Milisock]

I went through some health issues in 2021, bunch of surgeries, lots of medications.
It was 2023 before I did any shooting, just because I wasn't sure of myself. I did a good deal of shooting in 2024 (NO competition) and finally returned to shooting, loading and working with my firearms in 2025.

I post this as words of caution for those of you who are experiencing medical issues, I didn't realize how far I was off my game for over two years. In reality I'm finally back on track and it took four years.

God bless all of you and I give thanks for the result of this event. No permanent injury and a lesson learned.

 

[wedgy]

You look good for being 80 !
Were you wearing any type of glasses ?
Thanks for posting this, I think I will clean up my bench a bit.

 

[M-61]

Doesn't depend on age.

Depend? A factor yes. Same as eyesight. Everything is a contributing factor. Much younger may be more easily distracted.
Every step through life can change though getting older.

 

[M-61]

You look good for being 80 !
Were you wearing any type of glasses ?
Thanks for posting this, I think I will clean up my bench a bit.

Yes he does. This is me at 80 2 weeks ago.
Reverse full shoulder replacement. Hopefully shooting again in 3 weeks.

 

[DGP4]

Wow, DGP4, karma is a strange witch....
I'd be watching closely hoping she stays away!

Exactly! I hope that if I ever confuse pistol/shotgun powder with rifle powder, I am as lucky as the op was to survive the mistake and quit reloading! I am very glad he survived, and I wish him the best.

 

[jelenko]

Read the label out loud before filling the powder measure.

Yeah. We need to do something so we pay attention.
It's soooo easy to mis read a label and think it's what's is the hopper when you think you know what's inside.
I've been reading it to myself vs just looking at the label.

 

[Charlie-NY]

I hate to say it, but this is one of the reasons no one should load for anyone else - mistakes do happen. I've made a few mistakes at the bench, but none were serious and I detected them at some point.

Thanks for your post. It will just make me a bit more careful when I get back to my reloading bench.

 

[jelenko]

reasons no one should load for anyone else

++

 

[Fire Dog]

I blame this lightly on the manufacturer. Being old schooler I am an advocate for powders only being designated by numbers, H-110, VV160 H4350 etc which are much harder to confuse with others. Catchy names like Lever evolution, L'il gun etc etc should be names for cleaning solvents and not gunpowders. Oh and btw I hope you buy a pair of glasses cause it is hard to shoot when you are blind!

I totally agree with you and others that have said USE NUMBERS… Not “Cutesey” marketing names…
Brings to mind Hodgdon renaming AR2208 as Varget…. They are apparently now bring in the 4Kg jugs {the new 4.4lb ones} but still rebranding it as Varget

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

Having powder named as opposed to numbered I never thought was a good idea.
However that being the case, one should always have a clear head and no distractions when you reload.
I don’t reload more than about 40 rounds at a time. That’s because that’s all I’m taking to the range, but I’m strictly shooting 5 shot groups. And when I say reloading 40 I mean that brass has already been prepped.
Of course there’s only one powder on my bench, I never leave powder in the dispenser, and I never re- label anything.
That’s all great, the trick is not varying from that plan. Sure I’ve loaded more but that was years ago and what I do now works for me NOW.

I think one of the best things is to NOT leave powder in the dispenser.

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

I nearly made a similar mistake about ten years ago. My current way of keeping me from doing this is as follows,

One can of powder on the bench at a time.

Read the label out loud before filling the powder measure.

Empty the powder measure when taking a break. Be it five minutes or an hour.

Glad you are ok relatively speaking.

Steve

I like these rules Steve!