Share your hand loading mistakes!

[samthedog73]

I used 2400, I don't remember how much, but it wasn't a heavy load.

I think I like my model 325 TR a bit to much to try this.

 

[orygun]

Was there any blood on the case?

No. But it was scattered about with nearly a box full of Remington 45-70 cases! That part was awesome, as I was a 45-70 loader/shooter then. Whoever was shooting there was obviously not well informed.

 

[Capn Jack]

I think I like my model 325 TR a bit to much to try this.

At the time I tried this there was an article in a popular gun magazine about this conversion some were even putting a small choke tube onto the end of the barrel. Because the rifling in the pistol is so shallow it was almost like shooting a smooth bore.

 

[samthedog73]

At the time I tried this there was an article in a popular gun magazine about this conversion some were even putting a small choke tube onto the end of the barrel. Because the rifling in the pistol is so shallow it was almost like shooting a smooth bore.

And shortly after the magazines got lawyers aka fun police...LOL

 

[Capn Jack]

And shortly after the magazines got lawyers aka fun police...LOL

No difference than shooting snake loads out of my .38Spl.

 

[CLT65]

Different, but on the same vein, when hunting one year I came out of the brush and found a bunch of brass on the ground where someone had been shooting. I picked up one really cool case. A 300 Winchester Magnum that had a super short neck and a Weatherby radius to the shoulder. I really wonder how that worked out? The belt held it in place and it was the proper diameter bullet. The throat was pretty long....

It's amazing what you can get away with in regards to the wrong ammo. We've been conditioned to think that using the wrong ammo will guarantee a blown-up gun and missing fingers and eyes.

Reality is that it can (hence the dire warnings), but many foolish combinations of wrong ammo in the wrong gun actually shoot without damage, for one reason or another. I was once given a bunch of random range brass, and it contained a handful of pieces of .303 Savage brass. It looked really odd, bulged with a short neck. Yep, someone had obviously fired it in a .303 British rifle.

 

[MymuttBear]

Years ago when shooting handgun metallic silhouette I loaded a bunch of 330gn cast for a Ruger Super Redhawk. Even though the crimp was tight (so I thought) by the third round the remaining two were backing out under recoil so much they tied up the gun so the cylinder wouldn't rotate.
Why I thought it was a good idea to use an untried load in a state title shoot I do not know...

 

[tac]

Years ago when shooting handgun metallic silhouette I loaded a bunch of 330gn cast for a Ruger Super Redhawk. Even though the crimp was tight (so I thought) by the third round the remaining two were backing out under recoil so much they tied up the gun so the cylinder wouldn't rotate.
Why I thought it was a good idea to use an untried load in a state title shoot I do not know...

I used to do long-range handgun, too, here in UK. It was originally an experiment in lunacy, undertaken by an ex-Royal Marine named Gilly Howe, and used nothing more than the service Browning GP35, out to 300m. It was such a hoot AND success that it rapidly grew up into a proper facet of shooting sports, and despite the problems involved these days, is still practiced. Just that the handguns, of any calibre you can dream up, must be 24" long and with a barrel at least 12" long.

With the 14" barrel Thompson contender like mine, this was not a problem, so I had one in .45-70 Govt. Just for kicks.

It came from the factory with a JSK multi-hole 'pepper-pot' muzzle brake, which was as useless as t*ts on a frog. Letting loose with this thing with a combination of HUGE loads behind the 300gr solids, and all those holes just spread the misery around in all directions. I took it off, and my shooting improved a a few points - and the recoil? Meh, what's a bit of recoil when the guy beside you is shooting a Paramount pistol in 8x57 - the German Mauser rifle cartridge......

Here we never shot IMHSA, but kept the standard Figure 11 'charging hun' target beloved of the British Armed forces forever. I had originally bought a nice Burris 2-7 LER scope for it, but it ran out of clicks before I could get a good view at 300m with that heavy bullet and rainbow trajectory cartridge. Trying 405gr bullets was just painful, so I reverted to a set of Williams-style sights on an extension and stuck with the lighter 300gr. With that, I'm happy to note that I was able to hit the 300m target with notable infrequency, yet enough to make me happy whenever I registered a hit. Paul, often beside me, had a long-suffering and oft-replaced LER scope on his Paramount, and did a whole lot better because of it. In the end, having lost the the use of the long range facilities, I sold the Contender and put the scope I had originally intended for it on my Super Redhawk, and the rest is history...

 

[Caveman Jim]

I may have created a new caliber for a triangle shaped boolit. I forgot to check the dies when I switched from the Lee Pro1000 back to the Lee turret. Oppsss.



I loaded up a ladder test for 300BLK since I'm using the same powder/bullets and this time with CCI 450 primers instead of 400's, will see how it goes.

 

[ageingstudent]

I may have created a new caliber for a triangle shaped boolit. I forgot to check the dies when I switched from the Lee Pro1000 back to the Lee turret. Oppsss.
View attachment 1328703


I loaded up a ladder test for 300BLK since I'm using the same powder/bullets and this time with CCI 450 primers instead of 400's, will see how it goes.

View attachment 1328697 View attachment 1328698

It almost looks heart-shaped. Valentine's Day is coming give it to your sweetie

 

[jkor]

loaded a new cast bullet to a OAL standard to 45acp. tried to chamber it in my 1911, stuck.

 

[Mikej]

loaded a new cast bullet to a OAL standard to 45apc. tried to chamber it in my 1911, stuck.

No plunk test, yeah?

 

[jkor]

No plunk test, yeah?

nope, last time I made that mistake. Ive only been reloading a year or two. that was a while ago. getting the cartridge out was also quite scary. just kept my thumb under the hammer and rammed it out with a shotgun rod.

 

[Tilos]

nope, last time I made that mistake. Ive only been reloading a year or two. that was a while ago. getting the cartridge out was also quite scary. just kept my thumb under the hammer and rammed it out with a shotgun rod.

um, you need to take the barrel out of the gun for the plunk-test...

.

 

[jkor]

um, you need to take the barrel out of the gun for the plunk-test...

.

yes, I know. I didn't do a plunk test on that one, which is why it got stuck.

 

[drstrangelove]

I admit to using clear fingernail polish to glue in 209's on worn out 20ga primer pockets; some of these have shot 7-8 pheasants, so as long as I'm using them in my SxS, I don't care until the petals start falling off. Breech face is not eroding. I don't know if y'all have looked but there are no more new or once fired 20ga 2.75' hulls available online anywhere. I may have to resort to cutting down 3" hulls.

 

[orygun]

loaded a new cast bullet to a OAL standard to 45acp. tried to chamber it in my 1911, stuck.

I had so much trouble with .452" cast bullets in 45ACP that I just gave up. My old Colt would eat them, but they were a reai PIA in every other 45 I have/had. Besides, I HATE scrapping lead.
I just switched to plated or jacketed bullets. The increase in cost was offset by the lack of frustration and the shortening of cleaning time.

 

[jkor]

I had so much trouble with .452" cast bullets in 45ACP that I just gave up. My old Colt would eat them, but they were a reai PIA in every other 45 I have/had. Besides, I HATE scrapping lead.
I just switched to plated or jacketed bullets. The increase in cost was offset by the lack of frustration and the shortening of cleaning time.

 

[Mikej]

I had so much trouble with .452" cast bullets in 45ACP that I just gave up. My old Colt would eat them, but they were a reai PIA in every other 45 I have/had. Besides, I HATE scrapping lead.
I just switched to plated or jacketed bullets. The increase in cost was offset by the lack of frustration and the shortening of cleaning time.

I'm with you. I'm happy as hell for those folks that use lead and have been happy with it for many years. My one experience was with a S&W 629 that leaded like crazy. I can still see those little threads of lead coming out of the barrel/rifling's. And I'm sure I could have tweaked loads to stop the leading, decided not to dick with it at all! I've recently tried coated lead and I think that worked pretty good in a .30-30 Win 94 and a .45 Colt lever gun. No cleaning issues!

 

[CLT65]

I remember back in the day, buying a big box of commercially cast .452" 230gr RN bullets for 45 acp. I loaded a bunch up and ended up with nasty lead fouling in my barrel. It was really discouraging. I went the jacketed-only route for a while too. I eventually learned to cast, lube, and size my own properly so they didn't lead, and went back to using cast.

Cast lead bullets can be really bad if not done right. When done right, though, they're great. I had plain-base cast leads for full-load .44 Magnum that didn't leave a trace of lead in my revolvers, 1400fps. People who repeat the old myth that you can't use lead bullets faster than 1000fps don't know what they're talking about.

Powder coating is even better. I don't even use regular lead bullets anymore at all. If I didn't cast and powder coat, I'd probably just buy plated or powder coated bullets. I've actually been thinking about doing just that, actually. I don't enjoy casting like i used to, and don't have the time to spend at it. If I didn't already have all the tools and gear, I doubt that I'd start.