I thought everyone could use a laugh…
- Thread starter David.C
- Start date
Your not the first to do that, an surely will not be the last,...BTDT
Happens all the time... that’s why a collet bullet puller is a must-have.
Sirhr
Sirhr
Hence the importance of setting up a good process with QC before moving on to the next step. Good catch.
I had an awful day yesterday. I was going to go to the range with some friends. We had planned it for a few weeks now. Getting low on ammunition I decided I needed to get some reloading done.
I got everything set up and decided because I was almost out of one jug of powder that I would pour it into the other jug I had. I always buy the same lots so no big deal. After pouring on into the other I realized that I just poured ~1/2 a jug of RL16 into ~1/2 a jug of AR Comp. I pulled out my brand new jug of AR comp and set it down then forgot which jug was the mixed jug and which was the brand new one. Three jugs of powder ruined. They made a HUGE fireball.
So I drove to Bass Pro to get some more AR Comp, and hour and a half round trip. I get home and decide to shoot across a chronograph so the loads match the velocity of the ammunition I already had loaded. Second string in and I just did not notice that the bayonet of my Magnetospeed had slipped in front of the muzzle, killed it. A new one is $198.40 shipped.
This is the first major screw up for me since I started reloading. Good thing I caught it, could have ended badly. I have primers go in sideways pretty regularly, I pick them out and keep going. I have had one primer go off while seating it in probably 40K rounds. I've never had a squib, at least not accidentally.
I ruined $300 worth of stuff in a matter of two hours.
Worst part is my friends backed out.
I got everything set up and decided because I was almost out of one jug of powder that I would pour it into the other jug I had. I always buy the same lots so no big deal. After pouring on into the other I realized that I just poured ~1/2 a jug of RL16 into ~1/2 a jug of AR Comp. I pulled out my brand new jug of AR comp and set it down then forgot which jug was the mixed jug and which was the brand new one. Three jugs of powder ruined. They made a HUGE fireball.
So I drove to Bass Pro to get some more AR Comp, and hour and a half round trip. I get home and decide to shoot across a chronograph so the loads match the velocity of the ammunition I already had loaded. Second string in and I just did not notice that the bayonet of my Magnetospeed had slipped in front of the muzzle, killed it. A new one is $198.40 shipped.
This is the first major screw up for me since I started reloading. Good thing I caught it, could have ended badly. I have primers go in sideways pretty regularly, I pick them out and keep going. I have had one primer go off while seating it in probably 40K rounds. I've never had a squib, at least not accidentally.
I ruined $300 worth of stuff in a matter of two hours.
Worst part is my friends backed out.
I used to work for an ammunition manufacturer.
While running a Camdex machine, I had stepped away (like 8' away) to grab more primers for it. As I did, a primer rolled in the shuttle bar and ignited.
It blew the rest in the tube and the remaining primers in the feeder.
Let me tell you, it will scare the puddin outta you.
All in all, maybe 300 primers went off. They have enough energy to go into the insulation in a 30' high ceiling.
To top it off, two weeks later, it happened again on the same machine. This time there was nearly 1k primers in the system and I can tell you, even with hearing protection, it's fuggin loud.
At that point, the machine got a complete teardown and we found an excessively worn shuttle bar that was allowing the primer to get out of position.
While running a Camdex machine, I had stepped away (like 8' away) to grab more primers for it. As I did, a primer rolled in the shuttle bar and ignited.
It blew the rest in the tube and the remaining primers in the feeder.
Let me tell you, it will scare the puddin outta you.
All in all, maybe 300 primers went off. They have enough energy to go into the insulation in a 30' high ceiling.
To top it off, two weeks later, it happened again on the same machine. This time there was nearly 1k primers in the system and I can tell you, even with hearing protection, it's fuggin loud.
At that point, the machine got a complete teardown and we found an excessively worn shuttle bar that was allowing the primer to get out of position.
Had a buddy that had a Star machine set up for 45acp, that similar happened too. He said he had just refilled the tube w/ 200 primers an they all went off in the reloading room. When I seen the hole in the ceiling an ask when he was going to fix the hole in the roof? I guess the light was just perfect when I looked because it happened it a week before, an he never knew the roof had a hole in it. He said it got his attention real quick, but luckily his wife an kids were not at home that day,... an I was sworn to silence rather quickly. LOL
All you have to do is turn you're firing pin around when shooting those loads.
Oh wait this belongs in the stupidest things I've been told section, sorry
You might be on to something there...
you're not alone on the powder. That’s the reason I started writing the open date of each jug on the can with a Sharpie now....
I found an upside down primer in a 9mm round at the range Monday. I chalked it up to "shit happens".
Atleast you got a primer in there!
I've forgotten to seat primers before powdering more times than I'd like to admit.
I've forgotten to seat primers before powdering more times than I'd like to admit.
Yep... Nothing better than picking a round up out of the tray only to sling powder clear across the bench.
Primer mixture is no joke.
Read stories of how the big manufacturers implement strong safety measures to handle it.
Pretty sure Lake City had an incident not too long ago and pictures of the scene showed the side of a building blown out.
The quantities used are relatively small for the huge number of rounds a mixture will produce.
Blew a stack of 20 or so primers loading .223 in my S1050. The dent in the ceiling from the rod that keeps pressure on the stack reminds me that if the handle pull feels "weird" to stop and see whats fucked up.
Progressive is great if you go by feel.
Running a stupid machine that is just cruising at 4400 rph, there's no time to stop it.
It's just humming along and you hear that ruh-bump sound and wham! There it goes.
In your mind as you hear it, you're hoping it just crushed a case or seated a bullet incorrectly.
You're praying in that micro second that you don't hear the fireworks.
It's amazing how fast the mind can actually process information and form some type of reaction.
Similar thing happened to me using a shotshell reloader when I was about 15. My mom (dad was KIA Vietnam) banned me from reloading until the neighbor explained things to her, that he had similar happen to him once. Safety glasses are always on 45 years later! I keep a fire extinguisher near, as well.
