It was going so well...

[Crohnos01]

You know, I should really thank you guys for posting these photos.... I feel like such a clutz when it happens to me..... it's nice to know I am in good company...

My last fiasco involved not making sure the hopper drain was closed on my Chargemaster before dumping half a pound of powder in... That was three months ago and I am still finding powder in nooks and crevasses on the bench

 

[nammac]

Some things one never forgets. Like Andy, my most memorable reloading bench mishap involved lead shot, mine was 10 lbs of #8 shot.

It's amazing how far that stuff can travel... Two years later and I'm still finding it hidden between the shelves and their support frames... What a racket it made vacuuming it up

I remember when it happened, my wife came running to check on me... Her response was "are you, oh, I'll just go back upstairs..." The look on my face was enough for her to know, it's not a happy time...

So don't feel bad, anyone who has done any amount of reloading has had their share of mishaps

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I once dropped a old bag of 7 1/2 shot in my shop ... Boy wasn't that fun!
Andy

Wow! Did you use your lead magnet?

 

[Member 5605]

or that time I forgot to close the drain cap on the Hornady electronic powder dispenser. yeah that was a frigging mess.

I'm not above making a mess.

 

[B3dlam]

I need to become a millionaire by developing a "lead magnet" to keep handy at reloading benches...hmmm... Maybe that crystal skull on the last Indiana Jones movie... it was able to attract everything from ferrous metals to gold!

If you want to go from millionaire to multi millionaire develop a brass magnet for picking up brass at the range. Ideally, one that doesn't attract steel.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Wow! Did you use your lead magnet?

I thought my floor , the dark hard to get places under the work bench and under the safe were "lead magnets" ... sure seemed so at the time!
Andy

 

[Crohnos01]

I thought my floor , the dark hard to get places under the work bench and under the safe were "lead magnets" ... sure seemed so at the time!
Andy

Eureka! You've figured it out! Ok folks, I will be selling lead/brass magnets shortly... I just need to go cut up some flooring from under my bench!

 

[ageingstudent]

Like this? I wanted to try using a baffle in my powder measure. Pouring the excess powder back in the bottle I forgot it was in there.
View attachment 336253

Yeah it's pretty much like that. My bench is 2 4x12 planks and I spilled a hopper full of HP-38 right on the joint. It went through the joint into an open 40s&w brass container underneath. Big mess.

 

[Ura-Ki]

LOL! Fun thread, Yup, any one that has been reloading any lenght of time is bound to do a few OOOOP's
Mine was a bucket full of .308 brass in the vibrating tumbler with all the media and liquid!!! Thankfully it was on the bench behind the loading bench, but man, when that hit the floor...................Magnets for the media, and shop vac for the liquid, and Pick um Up for an hour and a half!

 

[Lilhigbee]

Got tired of picking up #8 shot 1 1/8 oz. at a time so I mounted my shotshell loader on top of a large cookie sheet. A hole drilled in the corner of the cookie sheet with a plastic plug in it and that corner hanging over the edge of the bench. Now WHEN I spill the shot I just push it to the corner, put a cup under the cookie sheet, pull the plug and sweep the shot into the cup. And DON"T SPILL THE CUP!!

 

[Crohnos01]

And DON"T SPILL THE CUP!!

Nice plan...Apparently you are not as familiar with Murphy as I am... it would probably be a case for me where not only would I spill the cup, in the process it would knock over my bullets which in turn spill my powder bottle....

 

[Lilhigbee]

Oh yes, Mr. Murphy is a live-in at our house.

 

[CHLChris]

With an eye toward my future (I just started reloading this week!!), I am asking this question: Do you always load in multiples of 100 so you don't have to remove live primers and risk spilling them all over?

 

[nammac]

With an eye toward my future (I just started reloading this week!!), I am asking this question: Do you always load in multiples of 100 so you don't have to remove live primers and risk spilling them all over?

I reload until I run out of brass or bullets or powder or primers... But I usually run out of brass first

 

[CHLChris]

I reload until I run out of brass or bullets or powder or primers... But I usually run out of brass first

And then pour the leftover primers back out, and put them back into the sleeves? That seems like a pain, and a risk.

 

[Lilhigbee]

It depends. Once you have a load figured out that is theoretically the way to do it. However, once you crush a primer, or try to seat a bullet sideways or tear a case with the powder measure you WILL wind up with non-standard counts of something. I keep partial primer packages in a drawer under the bench. When you need to replace one you get it from the partial.

Other times, especially for large rifle calibers most people only load twenty or so at a time because they won't shoot it that often. A hundred rounds of hunting ammo might last ten or fifteen years if only used for sight-in and walking around in the woods.

Putting primers back into the tray is a PITA. Just take out what you intend to load.

 

[Crohnos01]

Most folks I know keep an empty bullet box or something along those lines to pour leftover primers into until the next loading session.... just be sure to mark them properly .... That way you know what you just knocked off the bench and onto the floor

 

[nammac]

And then pour the leftover primers back out, and put them back into the sleeves? That seems like a pain, and a risk.

I prime with a hand primer, the few remaining go back into their tray...

So my process is tumble, deprime/resize, tumble again, then hand prime... So when I begin the actual reloading process, I'm using previously primed brass...

I'm special, I use a single stage press... Helps with my OCD issues...

I run two 50 round reloading blocks, so typically powder 100 rounds at a time, then sit down and seat the bullets... If I apply a factory crimp, that's another trip through the press...

Believe it or not, I can reload a couple of hundred rounds an hour, with a factory crimp...

Repatition creates speed, at least for me...

 

[ageingstudent]

It depends. Once you have a load figured out that is theoretically the way to do it. However, once you crush a primer, or try to seat a bullet sideways or tear a case with the powder measure you WILL wind up with non-standard counts of something. I keep partial primer packages in a drawer under the bench. When you need to replace one you get it from the partial.

Other times, especially for large rifle calibers most people only load twenty or so at a time because they won't shoot it that often. A hundred rounds of hunting ammo might last ten or fifteen years if only used for sight-in and walking around in the woods.

Putting primers back into the tray is a PITA. Just take out what you intend to load.

I can have leftover brass or bullets but for some reason leftover primers just irritate the heck out of me. I usually run out the primers and just deal with having a few extra rounds.

 

[P7M13]

Seriously, to the n00bs, that's the classic thing most all reloading manuals tell you not to do.. so don't unsleeve live primers and decant them into a jar.

Not so funny, but I've dropped dozens of trays of primers over the years. About a year ago, I started putting 5-6 trays of primers together in plastic spice jars before starting loading, rice kernels at the bottom as a desiccant. The ones I put in the bottle, if I haven't used them all, I leave them there. Except for fumbling my RCBS primer tray the other night, I haven't spilled one single primer since. I just don't shake the plastic bottles.

My wife was sitting across the bench reading and she just got up and left. Ridiculous.

Dang. And i was expecting (hoping) to read she was doing something for you which caused you to spill them...