Here's a new one... for me anyway. Reloading disaster

[The Heretic]

I've seen ring crimps more often than point crimps.

 

[pinne65]

These stories got me thinking. I've given a lot of my friends free reloads. I've been lucky so far, but It'd really suck if someone blew themselves up on one of mine. I think I'll stop.

 

[Member 5605]

I've sold reloads, with the caveat of "I'm meticulous when I reload and these get the attention they get like I was reloading for the most expensive rifle. Mistakes can happen so I encourage you to use these as components."

My biggest "damn you!" Was when I did loads for a buddy to his specs with a ladder build up. He opened the box the wrong way and dropped all the rounds out losing their order. Still killed a deer and said it went right where he wanted it to go.

I've given up on that now. Nowadays I tell the friends they can come use my equipment otherwise they pay me for my time at $30/hour when they supply components either way. Most come and reload their own so they can learn the process.

The liability is in their hands now.

 

[Crohnos01]

Liability is definitely worth thinking about if supplying rounds to friends. I've done it, and still do for a select few, but they are family and we have traded reloads back and fourth for 25 years or so..
I am also meticulous in my process, and loading a single stage, it's a wee bit harder to screw up... not impossible, but a little harder. I still am baffled by how the one case could have gotten a second bullet inside the case with the powder without the operator noticing... I assume that the guy was using a progressive and that allowed it to happen....somehow....still seems like you'd have to be half asleep to screw up that badly though.

 

[mrblond]

Instead of buck and ball, you gots ball and ball.

I am happy I never got into reloading as that Is something I would manage to do.

 

[MikeO1948]

It appears a very unscrupulous person decided to make a little money with junk components; cracked brass, and high volume, pay no attention, reloading. My long standing rule is to never shoot reloaded ammunition unless it comes from my bench, or the bench of someone I know and trust. I am glad the ammunition did not hurt anyone. I would really like to see the jerk who produced the ammunition be called to task for his/her misdeed.

 

[skeezix]

A good reminder to all.

 

[techie2u]

I could see how it could happen. If you use a progressive die, like a Dillon you put the round in place in the third position and seat it. If the casing is spread too far the bullet can drop inside. If you don't pay attention or if you are called away you may come back, see there is no bullet and then put in a second. I almost did this with a 9MM round but then realized the mistake and corrected it before continuing. The problem started with an oversized case and then, of course, not paying attention.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

Can't sleep clowns will eat me can't sleep clowns will eat me can't sleep clowns will eat me
Can't sleep clowns will eat me
Dude,, flipping creepy.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Some people spike trees, some people just like to hurt others. never know.
I'd only shoot commercial reloads.. that I bought from a reputable dealer.. that was of course in its original packaging.
I don't think that you can even sell lead slugs that you've cast without a license.

 

[TM-Salem]

I don't think that you can even sell lead slugs that you've cast without a license.

You need a 06 FFL licence to sell any component that you manufacture along with all the other related paperwork....

 

[Certaindeaf]

You need a 06 FFL licence to sell any component that you manufacture along with all the other related paperwork....

Yea I wonder how the OP's ammo was packaged to reflect this.

 

[Capn Jack]

Started my reloading in the '50's with Mil-Spec -06 range brass I picked up and a Lyman "Nut Cracker".
All of my brass had the primers sealed like that.
It's tough on your primer punch and I used a pocket reamer to clean them up.

 

[Crohnos01]

Creepy Clown!!!

Thanks for the explanation on the Dillon press. As I said, I am pretty much a single stage guy (except I do use a progressive for shot-shells) I am still a little bewildered on how you could over expand the neck of the case such that the round would simply fall through and not notice it... Seems like if that was the case, you would start stacking bullets tip to tail all the way through the depth of the case! In any event, whoever loaded these rounds should have to shoot the same said rounds in my opinion!

 

[Crohnos01]

Yea I wonder how the OP's ammo was packaged to reflect this.

Well, I found one of the boxes in the trash that my son had brought the shells home in...just a recycled factory federal box...nothing other than that.
He and I were talking about the rounds,n his friend, how he acquired them etc. It seems that the guy who bought them originally probably got them at the small gun show at the Clark County Square Dance center. I know that a lot of the stuff sold there is out of estates for widows and such. I wonder if that's what happened here.. some Ole boy cooked up rounds half drunk when he did it, died and they got sold off with his reloading equipment.

 

[Steve M]

I've got two pieces of Federal .223 brass with factory new primer and a bullet rattling around loose in the case. They came that way in a lot of 1000 pieces of range brass, though how they got that way is a mystery to me. A high volume low quality reloader could easily put those cases in a progressive press case feeder and the decapping pin just might slide past the bullet without hanging up.

 

[Norwester]

I've got two pieces of Federal .223 brass with factory new primer and a bullet rattling around loose in the case. They came that way in a lot of 1000 pieces of range brass, though how they got that way is a mystery to me. A high volume low quality reloader could easily put those cases in a progressive press vase feeder and the decapping pin just might slide past the bullet without hanging up.

I've loaded for 40 years, and claiming no expertise in the subject except the years, and must say that when we "assume" I always think of the spelling of that word, bubblegum u me. Usually the way it works out. With that said (for the billionth time world wide, sorry) I believe a round didn't chamber, driving the bullet into the case. Round tossed to the fired pile and as brass was picked up "and sold"? it was probably sorted as "Already primed" and dumped in a hopper, said because a decap pin couldn't bypass the bullet and go through the flash hole. Pin would have to be longer than the bullet. How to keep this from happening? Every case MUST be "candled" in other words, with a bright light looked into to make sure Nothing is in the case. Many times I have bought brass that has been tumbled, many times with car wax to make them pretty. The wax can build up along with the medium dust to coat the inside of the case leaving enough room for a powder load, but Now NO room for normal ballistics even with the proper powder charge, and worse a petroleum based wax "could" create a Diesel type explosion on top of the powder charge pressure.(could explain a few blowups the experts can't explain because the evidence burned up). years past taking apart older mil surplus I've found powder hardened in the case same way and a guy forced the decap assembly through the powder to decap. leaving powder in that shiny new looking case.(double charge danger? YUP) Cure, tumble, blow out with compressed air and LOOK in every case! There is a difference in looking and Seeing. See the case wall, top to bottom, the interior head, See there is No corrosion, splits or internal cracks or starting case head separation. It's harder to See in small caliber cases, but it Can and Must be done. Anyone out there pick up a rifle they've never shot and Not check for anything IN the bore? As we are forced to buy used brass for many calibers that we have No History of we must be ever more diligent. Happy (safe) Loading and Shooting guys, Dan

 

[Crohnos01]

Yikes... I haven't bought much used brass... seems like I either buy unprimed factory brass, or as I have found in the case of my latest acquisition, a 22-250, it worked out to be just as cheap to buy factory rounds, shoot em, then reload what I want. Thanks for the tip about the wax.... if I ever do buy once fired brass somewhere, I will remember that story.

 

[Capn Jack]

.223/5.56 is the only case I've had the problem of Bullet Set Back. I found it was a combination of case wall thickness and/or case length preventing a proper crimp.
Since I've stared trimming every case and switched to a LEE Factory (Tapered) Crimp Die, I haven't had any more problems.

 

[Khanburikhan]

Wow... I have been reloading for in the neighborhood of 40 years and never seen this before... Maybe some one can explain this one for me.

My son was given several hundred rounds of . 223 ammo which had been purchased apparently by a friend of his at a gun show . The friend tried to chamber a few rounds and they wouldn't feed. So rather than throw them out, he asked if my son wanted them and he said sure, he'd take them.
So, my son brings them home and asks me about them and I advise him to not trust unknown reloads, but rather use my collet puller to salvage the components and burn off the powder since we don't know what it is. So, he starts pulling rounds apart and just for fun, we weigh the charges for 3 random shells and find the charge weight varies by as much as 5 grains on what seems to be a target of 24 grain loads. I am thinking "ok, good call pulling these apart because whoever loaded these up obviously didn't watch what they were doing very closely "
As the operation proceeds he finds some of the case necks are cracked, others are missing part of the neck entirely. Here's where the part comes in that I am really scratching my head over though...
One of the rounds he pulls the bullet from, turns the shell upside down the powder won't come out. I told him that likely the guy had gotten lube in the case.. sure enough the powder comes out in clumps like you would expect if there was lube in the case... while trying to tap the case and remove the powder, A SECOND BULLET APPEARS THAT WAS INSIDE THE CASE WITH THE POWDER!

In all my years of experience, which granted has been on single stage presses, I have never seen anything like that before. How on earth can someone punch a bullet all the way into the case with the powder and then seat another bullet in the neck on top of the whole mess?!
I shudder to think what might have happened if someone had actually fired this round!
How can someone screw up a reload this badly accidentally ? Is this an inept progressive press operator at work? I can think of no way to make such a mistake with a single stage press.