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I just switched from unique to bullseye. Very hard to overcharge with unique, but in checking my powder measure wouldn't meter it very accurately. It would vary a little bit, say a tenth of a grain or so. Bullseye is spot on, I still check every so often and visually check the cases in the loading block. It kinda freaks me out that a 3grain powder charge looks so lonely in my 38 special case ( loading 148 grain fully seated wadcutters ). I am a very careful single station press reloader. I try and be very careful because I don't want to sacrifice a gun, or a hand, or an eye to the reloading gods.
3.5 grs BullsEye > 148gr. Keith HP = many a dead Jackrabbit with my S&W 4 3/4" Combat Masterpiece. 😉
 
Sometimes this site gets a bit carried away with political stuff, and I understand that. I've participated in a few of those threads myself.

But for me the real value of NWFA is exampled here on this thread as well as other threads. I brought up an issue I experienced and I ended up

with a pile of well intended, experienced people offering insights. Thank you all. Many offerings were things I had not considered and were welcomed.

I've enclosed a few pics. They really don't illustrate the shock and pain ( my hand has recovered, I can do a pop top ).

20230115_113431.jpg DSCN0265.JPG
 
Sometimes this site gets a bit carried away with political stuff, and I understand that. I've participated in a few of those threads myself.

But for me the real value of NWFA is exampled here on this thread as well as other threads. I brought up an issue I experienced and I ended up

with a pile of well intended, experienced people offering insights. Thank you all. Many offerings were things I had not considered and were welcomed.

I've enclosed a few pics. They really don't illustrate the shock and pain ( my hand has recovered, I can do a pop top ).

View attachment 1352817 View attachment 1352818
Damn man. That really looks like out of battery. You can even see where the brass got mashed between the bolt face and the head of the chamber. Those pictures make me think it's more of a fit issue than an overcharge. Holy crap I'm glad you're okay. That's ugly.
 
Sometimes this site gets a bit carried away with political stuff, and I understand that. I've participated in a few of those threads myself.

But for me the real value of NWFA is exampled here on this thread as well as other threads. I brought up an issue I experienced and I ended up

with a pile of well intended, experienced people offering insights. Thank you all. Many offerings were things I had not considered and were welcomed.

I've enclosed a few pics. They really don't illustrate the shock and pain ( my hand has recovered, I can do a pop top ).

View attachment 1352817 View attachment 1352818
Your brass explosion looks very similar to mine. I suspected mine to be (but no way able to prove) simple brass case failure at primer pocket area and/or case rim/head.
 
I use to buy reloads at the local gun shows and from people who sold them on the local gun forums for years .
I bought a bunch of reloaded ammo from a guy who bought boxed of reloaded ammo from an estate sale.
He kept what he wanted and I bought the rest.
I was shooting some 357mag from this ammo lot and got a way over charged cartridge.
About knocked the revolver out of my hand.
Super load and very powerful.

That was the last reload I ever shot from someone else. NEVER AGAIN.

-----------------------


A guy on a local forum was giving away three hundred rounds of 222 Remington and a set of RCBS 222 Remington dies .
The stipulation that they be torn down and used as components.
His father inlaw died
And he obtained all of his guns and reloading stuff with a bunch of reloaded ammo..
He was shooting up some reloaded 46acp and got two over charged rounds. He stopped shooting and when he got home he took the rest of the 45 acp apart and there were several more over charged rounds in that lot.

I haven't tore those 222 rounds down yet. Reading this I need to dig them out and see what they have to tell.

----------------------
 
I use to buy reloads at the local gun shows and from people who sold them on the local gun forums for years .
I bought a bunch of reloaded ammo from a guy who bought boxed of reloaded ammo from an estate sale.
He kept what he wanted and I bought the rest.
I was shooting some 357mag from this ammo lot and got a way over charged cartridge.
About knocked the revolver out of my hand.
Super load and very powerful.

That was the last reload I ever shot from someone else. NEVER AGAIN.

-----------------------


A guy on a local forum was giving away three hundred rounds of 222 Remington and a set of RCBS 222 Remington dies .
The stipulation that they be torn down and used as components.
His father inlaw died
And he obtained all of his guns and reloading stuff with a bunch of reloaded ammo..
He was shooting up some reloaded 46acp and got two over charged rounds. He stopped shooting and when he got home he took the rest of the 45 acp apart and there were several more over charged rounds in that lot.

I haven't tore those 222 rounds down yet. Reading this I need to dig them out and see what they have to tell.

----------------------
As long as the person you got the reloads from is the person that loaded them, than it should in theory be fine, but I can't say that I'd trust 3rd hand reloads with unknown info.
 
I have a good friend who got into reloading a few years ago and I will never trust his ammunition.
He knows how to reload, but his work table is in wheels and stores it in an extra bedroom.
He wheels it out to the living room and watches TV while reloading.
I lost track of all of hissquids.
He also charges cases with no primers in yet.
Some times he forgets to trim his rifle cases and the list goes on & on.
So personally I don't want any of his ammunition.
One of these days he will blow up a gun and when he does I hope no one gets hurt or killed in the process.
Some people just don't get it.
-------------
My brother is another one I don't trust.
Just look at these.

He crushed twenty of these 243 cases, screwed them up and kept going and screwed up twenty more.

When reloading just load with no distractions and pay attention to what you are doing.

20211023_165033.jpg
 
I have a good friend who got into reloading a few years ago and I will never trust his ammunition.
He knows how to reload, but his work table is in wheels and stores it in an extra bedroom.
He wheels it out to the living room and watches TV while reloading.
I lost track of all of hissquids.
He also charges cases with no primers in yet.
Some times he forgets to trim his rifle cases and the list goes on & on.
So personally I don't want any of his ammunition.
One of these days he will blow up a gun and when he does I hope no one gets hurt or killed in the process.
Some people just don't get it.
-------------
My brother is another one I don't trust.
Just look at these.

He crushed twenty of these 243 cases, screwed them up and kept going and screwed up twenty more.

When reloading just load with no distractions and pay attention to what you are doing.

View attachment 1353984
Looks like someone's missing their fore skin. Poor guy.
 
Things To Remember...
Above all, this is not a time to be visiting, or socializing.

1. Do not tumble mixed caliber cases together.
2. Do not remove primers before tumbling.(material gets caught in primer holes)
3. Do not try to size cases before lubing.
4. Plunk test sized rifle cases in a chamber die.
5. Check cases for proper length and champher case mouth.
6. Only have one container of powder on the bench at a time.
7. Weigh and verify powder dispenser setting.
8. Dump powder into case and seat the bullet.
9. Plunk test again into chamber die.

This is my process. I'm not in a hurry and I'm not a competition shooter. Casting
bullets and reloading ammunition is an extension of my collecting firearms. It allows
me the ability to affordably use many of them.
 
Last Edited:
I'm relatively new to Reloading - about 5 years now. I have three gurus who are teaching me each of which have been reloading for over 50 years. One of the very first things each one of them taught me was: Never ever shoot someone else's hand loads, especially if you don't know them very, very well. One of the second things each one of them taught me was for handgun reloading develop a system of your own that includes a Fail Safe method of powder charging handgun loads as, if you don't, you can easily double or triple load a pistol load whereas its almost impossible to double load a rifle load.

Here's what I do for both pistols and rifles: I use a Case Loading Block. I insert the cases into the block after I prime them. I then move them to my powder charge station and remove them from the Case Loading Block. Once I charge a case I then put it into the Case Loading Block. I follow this procedure every single time so that I DO NOT load a double or triple (or greater) load.

You've received very good feedback from the others. You are very very lucky to be alive.

Good luck reloading your 9mm. They are great fun to shoot.

I'm reloading my 9mm with 4.7 gn of Win 231 or HP-38. I stick with the minimum as I just use them for practice (trigger time).
 
I have a good friend who got into reloading a few years ago and I will never trust his ammunition.
He knows how to reload, but his work table is in wheels and stores it in an extra bedroom.
He wheels it out to the living room and watches TV while reloading.
I lost track of all of hissquids.
He also charges cases with no primers in yet.
Some times he forgets to trim his rifle cases and the list goes on & on.
So personally I don't want any of his ammunition.
One of these days he will blow up a gun and when he does I hope no one gets hurt or killed in the process.
Some people just don't get it.
-------------
My brother is another one I don't trust.
Just look at these.

He crushed twenty of these 243 cases, screwed them up and kept going and screwed up twenty more.

When reloading just load with no distractions and pay attention to what you are doing.

View attachment 1353984
I wonder if sometimes he tosses his loaded but primerless reloads in the tumbler to clean them up a bit more prior to priming them.

🤪
 
I have a good friend who got into reloading a few years ago and I will never trust his ammunition.
He knows how to reload, but his work table is in wheels and stores it in an extra bedroom.
He wheels it out to the living room and watches TV while reloading.
I lost track of all of hissquids.
He also charges cases with no primers in yet.
Some times he forgets to trim his rifle cases and the list goes on & on.
So personally I don't want any of his ammunition.
One of these days he will blow up a gun and when he does I hope no one gets hurt or killed in the process.
Some people just don't get it.
-------------
My brother is another one I don't trust.
Just look at these.

He crushed twenty of these 243 cases, screwed them up and kept going and screwed up twenty more.

When reloading just load with no distractions and pay attention to what you are doing.

View attachment 1353984
Yes. Yes. Yes. "When reloading just load with NO distractions and pay attention to what you are doing." Excellent advice.
 
I've loaded a lot of 45ACP with WW231. Great results; being a spherical powder it meters through a powder measure very well if you're consistent. Got to say if I were to try my hand at 9mm, I'd be very tempted to start there.
 
Things To Remember...
Above all, this is not a time to be visiting, or socializing.

1. Do not tumble mixed caliber cases together.
2. Do not remove primers before tumbling.(material gets caught in primer holes)
3. Do not try to size cases before lubing.
4. Plunk test sized rifle cases in a chamber die.
5. Check cases for proper length and champher case mouth.
6. Only have one container of powder on the bench at a time.
7. Weigh and verify powder dispenser setting.
8. Dump powder into case and seat the bullet.
9. Plunk test again into chamber die.

This is my process. I'm not in a hurry and I'm not a competition shooter. Casting
bullets and reloading ammunition is an extension of my collecting firearms. It allows
me the ability to affordably use many of them.
#1 - So, you don't enjoy spending the time to pry the smaller cases out of the larger cases? Me either! I tumbled some .40 S&W brass with 9mm once. Never again!
#2 - Not only is it annoying, it's messy.
#3 - Unless you have carbide dies for your pistol rounds. Man, those things are life changing. :) Otherwise, for rifle rounds, those stuck case extractor kits are available from RCBS. Don't ask me how I know. (You would think a .222 Remington case wouldn't be that difficult.) :(

Great list Capn!
 
Some thoughts (I've been reloading since I was twelve):

1. If a Re-loader does not have the load data at the range with the ammo, don't trust the ammo because that re-loader is not interested in his own reloads.

2. Purchase and use powder based on the gun and it's lock and unlock idiosyncrasies. The way that the barrel locks and unlocks creates a recoil pulse, you can tailor the powder to the recoil impulse to get the best results. For example, for 10MM I use Accurate #9 because of the slow recoil impulse in my S&W 1006, never a problem with 200 grain TMJ at 1200 fps.

3. Reload for a purpose. Is the reload intended for TRAINING? Training with younger adults? Match use? Defensive purposes? Each category should entail different load parameters.
 

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