Reloading BOO BOOs and incidents

[zakrow]

You all remember a few years ago when Brandon lee was killed?
A prior scene in the movie he wa shooting required to show a bullet being chambered into a pistol then fired. This bullet had no powder load but the primer fired the bullet a few inches into the chamber. Because the gun wasn't properly inspected when a later scene required blanks to be shot at Brandon the pressure fired the bullet and killed him. I think that's the most famous incident of handloading/safe handling gone wrong.

[Coiloil37]

I'll throw in my contribution. I load for several centerfire varmint rifles, including a couple of 6mm Remington's and a 220 swift, two cases that have almost the same dimensions, and from the side look identical. I was out coyote hunting one day with the 220 swift, it was on my shoulder and the slings I prefer hold four cartridges on them. So as I was walking I looked down and noticed the case said 6mm, I pulled it out and I had loaded a .22 cal bullet in it. Presumably when I was out shooting gophers with several guns the case got put in the wrong box. When I had reloaded it I had run it through the 220 die. I looked through all of my ammo and that was the only one that had been mixed up but I hate to think what would've happened if I had fired it.

[Elkhunt]

A few yrs back I was fairly new to reloading, having reloaded about 250 rounds total. I was all excited that I had got in last minute to a sniper course that was to start on the coming weekend. I was told I should have 400 to 500 rds on hand for the weekend. I bought all my supplies & had a new set of dies. This was Thursday night so I was on a reloading marathon. How hard could it be?

I started after I got home from work about 7:00 pm & worked until 4:30 am. Needless to say there were a few crushed shoulders, a casing stuck in the new die tool, and the worst was I had some how not set the OAL correctly for seating the bullets on the new bullet seating die. I discovered this at the end when I realized I had not checked my dummy round(no primer - no powder) in my gun and I couldn't close the bolt. I ended up not being able to use the rounds & having to pull every last one of them. Thankfully I was able to save everything but I didn't have time to reload again before the course.

I had to go out & buy factory rounds I needed for the weekend. The only great thing is now I have a lot of brass for my rifle. I was embarrassed & upset with myself for making all those errors. I guess it didn't help I was new to reloading, in a rush & by the end of the night, very tired. I was just so tired I didn't realize I was making mistake after mistake after mistake. I was lucky nothing serious happened.

Now I take everything very slow & methodical when reloading. I check & double check everything. I make sure I have enough time to complete the reloading step I want to do. I keep a log book. I check my dummy round in my gun before I go forward with the rest of my reloading. And I don't do reloading marathons anymore

[sheep]

My mentor taught me to always re'weigh shells when moving them from the reloading block to the ammo box. A grain or two don't matter but will confirm they all have powder and for handgun shells a grain or two could show a double load. For myself it makes me more confident they're correct than shaking them.

[lattery1]

I was lucky enough to only split a few necks and have a couple of hard bolt lifts before I was smart enough to understand that brass needs to be trimmed and measured. I had loaded a couple of times with my Uncle and thought I knew everything. Surprising how that happens when your 17. 30 years later I am very careful almost to the point of being anal when it comes to reloading.

[countrykid]

I managed to have a stealthy .45LC stow away amidst the .44Mag's I was running through my Pro 1000 a while back. Of course, I had a full head of steam and was merrily cranking away when the little bugger presented himself. Crunched right into the decapping die. Took me a good half hour to liberate him.

[KCL]

This is an awesome thread, I am never reloading. You guys have me scared poopless.

[HunterDave]

Not an incident or a big boo boo and probably just a rookie mistake but worth mentioning none the less.

I was testing loads on the range yesterday and for some reason I decided to only make 3 rounds at each load from minimum to maximum. I found 4 different loads where I had 2 holes pretty much right on top of each other and one hole was a bit of a flyer. I now have no idea if the flyer was from a bad shot or from the load. Now I have to reload again for the 4 different loads to find out which one is the best but this time I'll be loading 5 rounds at each load in case I mess up on a shot.

Your mileage may vary but from now on when working up loads I'll be loading 5 rounds for each and save myself the headache.

[gitrdun]

Common occurence Dave. You shoot a 3 shot group and one has to be a tiny bit off. Shoot a 5 shot string, 4 are atop each other and one is just enough out to screw up bragging rights. Happens to me more often than I care to discuss. The remedy seemingly is to shoot even numbers to avoid that "one" bastard.

[460 G&A]

I was working on an unfinished gun. An Enfield action on a custom 460 G&A. This is a .404 Jeffery necked up to .458. I was having ignition problems and was firing primed brass and working on the bolt mechanics and striker etc...I got the gun to ignite all 50 rounds at home so I loaded all with 90 grains of 4064 and took a drive to where I shoot(50 min away).I had 5 hangfires and two that fired as expected. Tired of this gun by now I drove home and figured I'd pull the bullets. The 4064 was like moisture had got to salt and set it up. I used a pencil to break it up and empty the cases. It was then I saw that I used standard primers when I shoulda used mag primers. The standards would fire but you couldn't hear it or feel it, just enough to crystalize the powder. One of those things that dam near made me cry I was so upset it wouldn't fire with all the work I had done.......Admitting it is the first step, Right?

[smjanzen]

no major boo boos just the usual crushed, stuck and otherwise buggered cases from poor setup. had a couple of interesting ones with factory loads though
1. had two husqvarna 270's. one had a very tight chamber and one was quite loose. had been shooting blue box federals cuz they were cheep. came across 3 in the box that wouldn't chamber in the tight gun. stuck them in my pocket. switched to the loose gun a while later and somehow managed to forget about the reason i had cartridges in my pocket. proceeded to stoke em up in the looser gun. BOOM. blast of hot gas and mangled case and primer. guess even the factory screws up. bad on me for feeding em thru.
2. traded the wifes h&r243 win for 7mmrem mag(she wanted more ballistic horsepower) and needed cases for reloading. went down to the local hardware store and bought a box of win. powerpoints in 165gr. proceed to shoot factory loads. notice recoil seems rather excessive. get home and go to size cases and proceed to throw over half of them away due to split necks.

[300backfire]

few years back i bought a brand new uberti saa 44-40 lovely gun it WAS. this was back in my drinking days and i assume my irresponsibility was due to that habit. i bought some 185gr and 240gr bullets and reloaded them. unaware that a 44-40 is .427 vrs .431 for other 44 cal bullets. you can see where im going with this. at any rate loaded to the max, to shooting i would go. they were very tight going into the cylinder, tight enouph i had to push as hard as i could to get them in. yhis would have been the first sign to any sensible person that something is wrong. so off goes the first round 185gr. holy crap for muzzel blast and recoil. this should be the second sign to stop. next round 240gr holy crap. now im beginning to think i should go home and check these loads.
i looked at my gun and alas one side of the cylinder was gone, frame was twisted to the point that the barrel was pointed up 45 degrease, front sight was gone.
although a was fine my gun was destroyed and i dont take reloading lightly anymore. i was lucky

[fletcher]

Originally Posted by 300backfire

few years back i bought a brand new uberti saa 44-40 lovely gun it WAS. this was back in my drinking days and i assume my irresponsibility was due to that habit. i bought some 185gr and 240gr bullets and reloaded them. unaware that a 44-40 is .427 vrs .431 for other 44 cal bullets. you can see where im going with this. at any rate loaded to the max, to shooting i would go. they were very tight going into the cylinder, tight enouph i had to push as hard as i could to get them in. yhis would have been the first sign to any sensible person that something is wrong. so off goes the first round 185gr. holy crap for muzzel blast and recoil. this should be the second sign to stop. next round 240gr holy crap. now im beginning to think i should go home and check these loads.
i looked at my gun and alas one side of the cylinder was gone, frame was twisted to the point that the barrel was pointed up 45 degrease, front sight was gone.
although a was fine my gun was destroyed and i dont take reloading lightly anymore. i was lucky

awesome! thanks backfire

[top predator]

I once loaded 12gauge as a kid. Loaded Daisy BB's (steel) not knowing any better...

Barrel go boom alright....old model 12 came apart...no injuries thankfully

[papirus]

20 Rounds,Remington Premier Scirocco - 30-06 springfield 150gr, cost only $44,so each round about $2.20... My question is when you make your own ammo how much it would cost? each? same caliber same amount of powder and same bullet....seems like making your ammo can be badly hurt result or blow up your rifle barrel.... i dont know man, i think its not worth to make your own ammo... accept if you shooting 200+ and living in really romote area... somebody pls let me know the cost... or you can send wht ever ammo you make and how much is it on the market pack of it...

[Rocky7]

Originally Posted by KCL

This is an awesome thread, I am never reloading. You guys have me scared poopless.

The idea was to learn from each other, not scare the beezeezus out of a novice. Rolling your own ammo is both fascinating and satisfying. I have only owned one rifle that would not shoot a handload better than a factory load. I think it may have been a commie.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by papirus

20 Rounds,Remington Premier Scirocco - 30-06 springfield 150gr, cost only $44,so each round about $2.20... My question is when you make your own ammo how much it would cost? each? same caliber same amount of powder and same bullet....seems like making your ammo can be badly hurt result or blow up your rifle barrel.... i dont know man, i think its not worth to make your own ammo... accept if you shooting 200+ and living in really romote area... somebody pls let me know the cost... or you can send wht ever ammo you make and how much is it on the market pack of it...

Well, rough cost?
100 Barnes bullets will be about $45
1lb of H414 will run soemwhere about $35
100 primers usually around $4
Your brass you already have
HOWEVER, you have to get set up, and unless you are using a lee hand loader , you are going to be spending several hundred dollars on equipment!!
Iincidents occur, but 99% of the time they can be eliminated.
Cat

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Pudelpointer

Perfect example of why reloading components should NOT be out on the floor in your local big-box store. Do you really think this happened at the Nosler factory?

I had a sealed box of .30 cal. 165 Game Kings once that had a 7mm 160 Game King in them!!
Cat

[fletcher]

i think 30 06 cost me 70 cents a round with repeat brass including shipping the supplies

[FallAirFever]

Originally Posted by papirus

20 Rounds,Remington Premier Scirocco - 30-06 springfield 150gr, cost only $44,so each round about $2.20... My question is when you make your own ammo how much it would cost? each? same caliber same amount of powder and same bullet....seems like making your ammo can be badly hurt result or blow up your rifle barrel.... i dont know man, i think its not worth to make your own ammo... accept if you shooting 200+ and living in really romote area... somebody pls let me know the cost... or you can send wht ever ammo you make and how much is it on the market pack of it...

Here is a quick calculations of my cost for 308 Win.

Brass if I had to buy new and got 5 loads, which is being conservative = .12
Bullets, Sierra Gamkings 1 box is about 30 buck for 100 = .30
Primers 4.50 for 100 = .05
Powder at 30 bucks a lb so .15 per load.

So looking at 62 cents per round, closer to 95 if I decide to go with "premium" bullet in the Barnes or Nosler line. So there is a savings but factoring in cost of equipment as well it would take a wihile to break even.

but like hunting if someone tells you are doing it for cheap meat, yeah right, same deal with reloading, you just end up shooting more lol
There is a satisfaction in building your own ammo and as far as safety goes as long as you have some common sence and can follow a basic recipe it it pretty straight forward. dont get me wrong the first time I pulled the trigger I was nervous, but I had a great mentor and did a lot of research before I started pulling the handle of my press.

And who knows maybe one day I will have been reloading long enough that I am ahead money wise

[10x]

Been reloading for year and years. Learned something new the other day.... Loading a wildcat... not a big deal anymore but I switched bullets to a heavier one. Powder I was using was on the slightly fast side for the bullets I was using so I switched to a slower powder. Long story short I loaded lots of test loads (like 20) and shot them over chronograph. Bullets were slower than expected pressures low so I kept putting more powder in. Case filled slight compression of powder was second last load. Slightly sticky lift and speed was more than acceptable but weather was warm. Tried the next load. 0.5gr more powder. Small neck case in .22 cal. Powder right to the top. Compress powder with bullet and pull trigger. No smoke, same noise and recoil. Very stiff bolt lift. Case separated and stuck in chamber. Primer pocket and case head .004" oversize. Head stamp on case nearly flat with brass flow into ejector slot. Swelled chamber but I have my eyes and no bolt in my head. Apparently powder burn rates get substantially faster when compressed.... I knew things would change but had NO idea that it would change that fast with such an extreme pressure rise! Measuring case head expansion I knew my brass would hold for 6-10 loads before primer would loosen on the load just .5 gr less powder.

Hope this helps someone someday.... My buddies think I'm a dumb*** and I should have known better many years ago I have never run into this before..

[Metalmike123]

One thing that has always scared me is accidentally mixing up large rifle and large rifle magnum primers. I use CCI, the boxes look similar and they are the same dimensions. I wish they would colour code them or something.

[tikka250]

so a few summers ago a friend and I wanted to do some plinking with the 22 but the neighbors down the road didn't like the noise.
of course being the bored idiots that we were we thought that seeing as 22 Lr bullets are so easy to pull apart we could just use vise grips to pull the bullet out of the case then "reload" it by dumping out some powder then pressing the bullet back in.
after some trial and error we managed to get some "semi" decent rounds that were quiet yet not slow enough to need to push them out with a cleaning rod yet with enough speed to knock down a can.
this part is where looking back i dont understand how we did not think this was a bad idea. yet for some reason "shorts" were just not good enough for us.
from what i remember the thought process was along the lines of "if shorts work i bet we could make stingers!!!"
long story short we made up a super long and went back into the woods to try out our revolutionary new ammo.
my buddy lined up the lakefeild at a nearby can and fired. there was a verry large BANG! and both me and my friend both looked at each other knowing that something terrible had just gone wrong.
the end result was the lakefeild clip was completely destroyed and had taken on the shape of a small black pear. the ejectors were quite bent and small powder burns on the shooters hand.
hopefully this never happens again. and the good part is it definately helps me remember to pay attention when using real reloading equipment nowadays.

[marxman]

Originally Posted by Metalmike123

One thing that has always scared me is accidentally mixing up large rifle and large rifle magnum primers. I use CCI, the boxes look similar and they are the same dimensions. I wish they would colour code them or something.

i doubt if you would notice the difference

[fretman57]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Okay, Rocky 7 suggested it , so here goes!

Quite a few years ago I did something I shall NEVER do again- I had two lots of powder going at once in two different measures.
After charging 100 cases of .308 with Varget ( what else?)
I went and dumped the powder into the 8lb. caddy that I had taken out
for it -I THOUGHT!
I proceeded to grab up a bunch of 300 mag cases I was loading for a buddy, set the scale, and dumped a bunch of H1000 in the measure.
I took a look at the caddy ( 8pounder as well), and freaked out, looked at the measure, yup sure looks like Varget ! Only thing was, the danged caddy says H1000!! CRAP!!!
See, the problem was, had both caddies out, and refilled them with some new powder I had bought- 4 lbs. each in 1 lb. bags.
H1000 looks very much like Varget, and I could not for the life of me discern which was which.

I ended up dumping BOTH caddies, and pulling the bullets on the 308's as well, a pile of time and money , but a VERY big lesson learned!!.
Now I label the measure with the powder that is in it, I only use one at a time, and NEVER break out two different types of powder !!
Cat

Thanks for the tip from a beginner reloader!

[fretman57]

Originally Posted by zakrow

You all remember a few years ago when Brandon lee was killed?
A prior scene in the movie he wa shooting required to show a bullet being chambered into a pistol then fired. This bullet had no powder load but the primer fired the bullet a few inches into the chamber. Because the gun wasn't properly inspected when a later scene required blanks to be shot at Brandon the pressure fired the bullet and killed him. I think that's the most famous incident of handloading/safe handling gone wrong.

My understanding was that he was being flippant with the handgun and put it directly to his temple faking suicide. He pulled the trigger not knowing the muzzle blast would blow a piece of his skull into his brain and kill him, maybe that was the cover story, who knows for sure.

[Blake]

Originally Posted by fretman57

My understanding was that he was being flippant with the handgun and put it directly to his temple faking suicide. He pulled the trigger not knowing the muzzle blast would blow a piece of his skull into his brain and kill him, maybe that was the cover story, who knows for sure.

You're thinking of an actor named Jon Eric Hexum. He did that on a set of a tv series in the eighties. Can't recall the name of the show.

So far my only (knock on wood) reloading mishap has been me walking away from the bench, coming back and seating 3 cartridges without adding any powder. Nothing bad happened (nothing at all happened besides a wee pop, the bullet never moved) but it's another reason for focused and methodical reloading.

[huntaway]

I have a .270 that is waiting for a trip to the gunsmith tomorrow. I loaded up some cartridges last week to try out. Well one of them got a bullet but no powder. Just enough oomph to lodge the bullet in the barrel.

I could of sworn that I checked the cases to see if they were powdered. Somehow I missed one.

Moral to the story, Always check to make sure there is powder in the case.

HA

[40creek]

This doesn't really belong here. But then, it doesn't really belong anywhere lol. I lost a really nice moose 3 yrs ago due to a misfire round. I was doing some practice trigger pull mid way through a reloading session. As a break so to speak. I then finished my reloads and packed up my equipment for a morning hunt.
Nice bull walks out on the road side and stands there. So I jumps out and throws one of my new reloads into the chamber, aims and pulls the trigger. Click. By the time I ejected that one and threw in another the bull was gone. Closer inspection of the failed round revealed that I had included my home made snap cap (brass and bullet with a cross cut from a large O-ring in pocket), with my newly reloaded cartridges. That cap is now painted green and has a couple holes drilled through the brass. Lesson: when reloading stay focused until the job is done. I did get a much smaller moose that yr.

[a little redneck]

Originally Posted by papirus

20 Rounds,Remington Premier Scirocco - 30-06 springfield 150gr, cost only $44,so each round about $2.20... My question is when you make your own ammo how much it would cost? each? same caliber same amount of powder and same bullet....seems like making your ammo can be badly hurt result or blow up your rifle barrel.... i dont know man, i think its not worth to make your own ammo... accept if you shooting 200+ and living in really romote area... somebody pls let me know the cost... or you can send wht ever ammo you make and how much is it on the market pack of it...

Bullet Nosler Accubond Nosler Ballistic tp Barnes TTSX
Grains (cartridge) 45 45 45 45
Powder Charge (grs.) 45.0 50.0 49.0 48.0
Purchase Costs 37 37 37 37
Primers $ $33 $50 $50 $50
1 or 5 (k) Primers 1 1 1 1
Powder $ $163 $37 $37 $37
1,4, or 8 (#) Powder 8 1 1 1
bullets per box 50 50 50 50
Bullet Price per box $35 $35 $30 $49

Loading Costs
Primer $0.033 $0.050 $0.050 $0.050
Powder $0.131 $0.264 $0.259 $0.254
Bullets 0.70 0.70 0.60 0.98
Total Per Shell $0.864 $1.014 $0.909 $1.284
Total Per Box (20) 17.28 20.28 18.18 25.67

Reloads per 1 lb 156 140 143 146
Reloads per 4 lb 622 560 571 583
Reloads per 8 lb 1244 1120 1143 1167

30.06 hunting rounds reloading cost excluding brass.
Total Per Box (20)
$17.28 Nosler Accubond (if buy bulk powder, primers)
$20.28 Nosler Accubond (if buy local, 1 lb powder, primers at $5/1000)
$18.18 Nosler Ballistic Tip (if buy local, 1 lb powder)
$25.67 Barnes Ttsx (if buy local, 1lb powder)

Take note buying 8lb produces allot of ammo., could be storing hunting ammo a long time for a "good deal". The Barnes Ttsx run about $45/box, and the Nosler ammo is in the $30-$35 range.... so about 35-43% less than factory, if you buy local powder in 1 lb quantities... even more savings if you buy bulk, but you need to add in shipping costs and hazmat fees.

It makes sense if you buy say 20+ lbs of powder at a time. 8lb jugs go for around $140 whereas they cost $200+ locally, but, add hazmat and shipping and the savings disappear at quantities of 16 lb or less. You'll also save around $10-$15 per 1000 primers.