Reloading mistakes and lessons learned

[60723]

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.

 

[Rocketvapor]

+1 for admitting your mistakes
#1- BTDT
#2- Sounds like a rookie mistake, easy to prevent.
#3- I cull my upside down primers before going to the range

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

At my Age, I've Learned to NOT Reload from, Memory,.. anymore,..
I Tripple check, each Can of Powder ( Brand Name / Burn Rate ) vs, my Notes, on Each, Load / Bullet and,. Cartridge !
NO, 231 Win. Pistol Powder,.. in my 65 Creedmoor reloads for,.. Me !

 

[K22]

I have made my fair share of mistakes, fortunately, none were catastrophic.

Nothing is 100% fool proof, but I have developed a number of "fail safe" practices in reloading to minimize the chance of a mistake. Here are a few:

1. Only the components I need to the reload on the top of the bench.

2. Verify load data.

3. For pistols, all cases upside down in the loading block and turned over as I charge to prevent a double charge.

4. Verify correct balance setting before dispensing charges.

5. Visually inspect powder level in each case before seating bullets.

6. Reverify balance setting before seating bullets, then check balance return to zero.

7. Empty powder measure and return all components to their respective shelves.

MOST IMPORTANT: Never attempt to reload when you are focused on something else or dealing with significant problem of the day and never rush the reloading process.

 

[sacre]

Don't trust internet loads without positive vetting.

 

[hogpatrol]

I'm with Idaho-Lefty, triple check everything. Other than that, an interesting lesson learned was finding out vacuum cleaners and primers don't mix.

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

At 77 years Old, I Now, have to, PINCH myself,. ( to make SURE that, I'm Awake ! ) ,.. Before, pouring Gun Powder into, my Powder Measures !
In my Life Time, I have seen, 7 Rifles and Shotguns,.. Explode ( Think,.. Bomb ! ).
Dupont 700 X and Hercules BullsEye,.. Accounted for,.. MOST of,. Them,.. IN Rifles and,..
Double Charges, FORCED into 12 gauge Trap Loads, the Rest !

 

[Bill Norris]

SAFETY FIRST. Check, re-check and re-check again for good measure. Age will eat our memory's lunch. Don't trust it.

 

[Forum Boss]

When loading pistol or light-loaded rifle, check for double powder charges.

Before loading check to make sure a primer is in place.

Check bullet weight and diameters -- it's not unknown for a 6.5 mm to get into a 6mm pile.

Turn off the phone when using a progressive press -- halting in the middle of a cycle can cause many problems.

Leave powder in the original container when not loading -- never put in a generic bottle or container.

If using a powder thrower, always test the true thrown weight with each session.

Keep written records of all your loads and shooting temps. You may need to reduce loads in summer.

With brass that has been shot a few times, check for faults before loading.

 

[Iowa Fox]

At my age now I'm extra double cautious. A friend years ago drove to a match only to discover the hard way when he was setting up to load everything for that match he got his power scale 5 grain weight one click to the positive side. First round fired locked his action up while I watched. Funny thing after he got the action open and the torn case out he chambered another round and touched it off. This one really locked him up. Everytime I set the scale up I have my wife double check me. He passed away several years ago so I guess I can talk about him.

 

[Rick H.]

I have also been reloading for many years and have made some mistakes, but never ones that caused major problems. I keep the powder jug I am using out on the bench until I am finished and I return any unused powder to the jug. Once in a blue moon I will not have a primer come out of the tube and I end up with an unprimed case. Only once have I experienced a low powder charge and ended up with a stuck 9mm bullet in a barrel on an AR. It was easily removed, but could have had a bad outcome if I hadn't noticed the lack of recoil and subsequent FTE. Almost immediately after that happened I bought an RCBS powder Lock-Out die to prevent things like that from happening. That RCBS Lock-Out die is a real slick idea and works very well in my progressive press.

I actually have 2 presses now, one is a progressive for pistol calibers and a turret press for rifle calibers. I use what some call is a "scientific" powder dispenser for my rifle cartridges and that scale and dispenser are extremely accurate. I don't really need to measure my charges to .001 grains, but it is really nice to have and makes for very accurate charging. All my rifles charges go thru the scientific dispenser. I follow my old school ways though and charge all my rifle cases in a loading block and check them all with a flashlight before seating any bullets. It slows me down a little, but is well worth it for peace of mind.

When I started out reloading I used a single stage press for everything, but that was just too darn slow to use. I bought a progressive press, but that was almost too fast at first. You have to really keep an eye on what is going on with a progressive press. Distractions MUST be avoided at all times! I also started with a balance beam scale and that was very slow to use too. I switched to a digital scale and that really helped speed things up.

Rick H.

 

[Rocketvapor]

"scientific powder dispenser" ?
"I don't really need to measure my charges to .001 grains, but it is really nice to have and makes for very accurate charging."
Rick, did you mean .001grams? instead of .001 grains?
(0.001grain = 0.0000648grams)
Little granules of a fine ball powder are about 0.005 grains.
A kernel of Varget is a lot heavier

One Kernel of IMR4350 is heavier yet.


Mixing up grains and grams at the reloading bench would be terrible.

 

[joshb]

Yup! I wear my readers. Triple check the book data and transfer to my loading sheet. Check it again! I swear those lines on the scale are getting smaller! I check that three times too!
I was loading some 44 Magnum for a new gun, yesterday. I wanted to test two bullet weights and two different powders. Finished the 180 loads, cleared the decks, EMPTIED the thrower (twice), rezeroed the scale and started on the 240 loads.
It’s been a while, so I was being extra careful!

 

[mike a]

ouch

 

[mac86951]

I like to prep brass separately from loading. Start of winter, brass prep. I process 500-1000 for each cartridge if I can. Then when I take a break, or are done #1 brass goes into a labeled ziplock.

#2 don't assume the idiot at the last station did what he said; double check when I open a bag to process again.

#3 I keep trimming and the case is still too short! Oh, wait, I'm trimming 222 and using 223 set-up... +1 only the components for the current load on the bench.

#4 +1 don't get distracted mid-progressive. Round isn't firing? Maybe it's all the powder falling out the flash hole cause there's no primer!

#5 Sample QA more often. Fixing 10 rounds sucks; beats fixing 100. 100 is like 15 mins on the progressive.

-Mac

 

[CJ6]

ouch

That'll leave a mark.

 

[dgeesaman]

I shot a couple of rounds without powder in the case. The primer alone stuck the bullet into the lands.

Now I have an adjustable overhead light that I place to show the powder in the cases before I seat a bullet. Minimizes the chance of a no-charge or worse yet, a double-charge.

 

[RabbitSlayer]

My very first mistake was I forgot to flip the jaws in the coax and I stuck a case or two.

Had 1 remaining primer in the tube from the previous cartridge I was loading for. Shot the same and I happened to notice it first, but if I had a max load and accidentally got a magnum primer it could have been bad.

I was distracted from a text about family drama while setting shoulder bump. Got dyslexic or something and ruined a couple cases before I noticed it was more force than normal to pull the press.

One thing I do now is take a minute just before I begin to throw charges and seat. I review everything, even if I loaded yesterday and have not touched anything on the bench since then.

I sure like something that really fills the case. Im not sure enough N133 could fit in my 223 load for a catastrophic kaboom.

 

[rabradshaw]

Distracted by grandkid in reloading room, failed to charge 2 cases. Primer only, stuck bullet in the lands, had to push bullet out with a rod on the range. Embarrassed. Then to my horror the next round did it again. Embarrassed X 2.

Got my brass mixed up and thought I had bumped the shoulders .002”. Got to a 2 day tournament away from home and had rounds that wouldn’t chamber. When I say rounds, I mean like 40 of them. I had exactly enough ammo to shoot the 2nd day with only 2 sighters for each match.

 

[209jones]

If you own more than one press, before you use a die on a press, make sure which one you used it on last time, or which op you did on what press, with which brass, in the case of having two or more guns with the same cartridge. Amazing the difference getting that wrong can make. I record all those details now. You can never record too much info. I took a sort of a hiatus from reloading for 10-15 yrs, amazing what good notes can tell you, long after you've forgotten things you'll never forget, some may seem insignificant now, but, in 5-10yrs , may save you a whole bunch of irritation.