Share your hand loading mistakes!

[Mikej]

I've loaded thousands before and thousands since, with no misfires. What are the odds of randomly getting the only 4 cases without powder, in a row? Phenomenal I would think. It'll (probably) never happen again!

That was my only serious mistake in my 12 years of hand loading. Though in MY case, another round in the box got that drop, along with it's designated drop of powder.

But I presume with .223 if you'd done that you'd have had an overflow? Mine was .38 special W/231.

 

[Bobbygun]

Me neither CD, that's why I got the biggest/baddest primer installer with the most leverage any man ever seen.

View attachment 1403123

I don't know what to think. I'm not sure I agree with you and @Certaindeaf at all. Between my (long since passed) dad and I, we have had two incidences of reloaded ammo not going "bang". We had always used the RCBS single stage press to seat primers on the downstroke, but in the late 70's he bought a handheld primer seater (also RCBS I believe) and we used that for a short time. It seemed to seat the primers pretty deep when you pushed the arm up fully. After many years of reloading, Dad had his first and eventually second non-firing reloads shortly after acquiring that tool. (I believe they were .270 shells.) We quit using the handheld device and went back to using the press and never had another such occurrence. These days I do use a handheld one sometimes, because my Hollywood Gun Shop press doesn't like the Lee shell holders. However, the RCBS handheld one I have now is a newer model and I haven't had any troubles with it. I still have the old one in a drawer somewhere, but never use it. The newer one has a place to just slide in your standard shell holders, while the old model you had to buy a separate threaded shell holder to screw into the device.

I suppose it's entirely possible that there were two bad primers involved, or maybe they got oil or lube in them, or... My money is on that funky primer installation tool though.

 

[Mikej]

I don't know what to think. I'm not sure I agree with you and @Certaindeaf at all. Between my (long since passed) dad and I, we have had two incidences of reloaded ammo not going "bang". We had always used the RCBS single stage press to seat primers on the downstroke, but in the late 70's he bought a handheld primer seater (also RCBS I believe) and we used that for a short time. It seemed to seat the primers pretty deep when you pushed the arm up fully. After many years of reloading, Dad had his first and eventually second non-firing reloads shortly after acquiring that tool. (I believe they were .270 shells.) We quit using the handheld device and went back to using the press and never had another such occurrence. These days I do use a handheld one sometimes, because my Hollywood Gun Shop press doesn't like the Lee shell holders. However, the RCBS handheld one I have now is a newer model and I haven't had any troubles with it. I still have the old one in a drawer somewhere, but never use it. The newer one has a place to just slide in your standard shell holders, while the old model you had to buy a separate threaded shell holder to screw into the device.

I suppose it's entirely possible that there were two bad primers involved, or maybe they got oil or lube in them, or... My money is on that funky primer installation tool though.

Granted I/we have only shot 2-3 thousand of my loaded ammo in the last 12 years, but I haven't had a FTF. I feel every single primer pressed into the bottom of the cup with an RCBS hand held primer tool.
I could not imagine using the press for priming. You have to set each primer, by hand, in the little cup don't you? Ish!

 

[Bobbygun]

Granted I/we have only shot 2-3 thousand of my loaded ammo in the last 12 years, but I haven't had a FTF. I feel every single primer pressed into the bottom of the cup with an RCBS hand held primer tool.
I could not imagine using the press for priming. You have to set each primer, by hand, in the little cup don't you? Ish!

With the Hollywood press I do. I can only use the press primer if I have a Hollywood Gun Shop shell holder for the cartridge I'm loading. Otherwise I use my newer model RCBS handheld.

My dad's RCBS single stage press had a primer feeder tube. I passed that press along to my nephew when Dad passed away.

I'm curious. Do you have the newer handheld or the old model? The newer one has a thin curved bar connecting the arm to the body with the shell holder. The old model doesn't. I've had no problems with the newer model, other than the Lee shell holders are a slightly different size than RCBS, so I have to put just a little piece of paper under the floating priming rod to get the primers seated deep enough. The old one would probably be okay if I didn't pull the arm completely up against the main body. But that seems to be what comes naturally. (I could take a picture of them side by side if that would be helpful.)

 

[Mikej]

My dad's RCBS single stage press had a primer feeder tube. I passed that press along to my nephew when Dad passed away.

Ah, I didn't realize that. A quick search did not show me a feed tube. Still though, you've got to fill that tube. TO ME, sounds like a pain. I don't know about older or newer? Curved bar, yes. Can't imagine it without I'm a "Newer" reloader compared to many here. 12 years. My primer tool has the round tray. And the tool, if you lose the hand hold when the bar is out of it the primer ram comes out and you have to fiddle with it. Dexterity HELPS man! It works fine for me though.

Is this the Hollywood press? It's says "Senior Tool" on it! Hey, whatever seats your bullets!

 

[Certaindeaf]

.I could not imagine using the press for priming. You have to set each primer, by hand, in the little cup don't you? Ish!

I use the Lee safety prime on my auto-advance turret press.
Oh and edit to add, it seems this fellow might be having a slight problem with his after market loaded round shell kicker. I've never used one.
Also, I go a bit slower than he, likely attributable to me putting my left hand on an upright on the press while my right lowers the ram, seating the primer like a single minded ape. My press is very rigidly mounted but this method allows me to apply more controlled force in that process.

 

[Mikej]

I use the Lee safety prime on my auto-advance turret press.

I should have figured that they didn't make a person need to handle those little buggers one by one.
That's pretty slick. Totally affordable too for those running Lee presses.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I don't know what to think. I'm not sure I agree with you and @Certaindeaf at all. Between my (long since passed) dad and I, we have had two incidences of reloaded ammo not going "bang". We had always used the RCBS single stage press to seat primers on the downstroke, but in the late 70's he bought a handheld primer seater (also RCBS I believe) and we used that for a short time. It seemed to seat the primers pretty deep when you pushed the arm up fully. After many years of reloading, Dad had his first and eventually second non-firing reloads shortly after acquiring that tool. (I believe they were .270 shells.) We quit using the handheld device and went back to using the press and never had another such occurrence. These days I do use a handheld one sometimes, because my Hollywood Gun Shop press doesn't like the Lee shell holders. However, the RCBS handheld one I have now is a newer model and I haven't had any troubles with it. I still have the old one in a drawer somewhere, but never use it. The newer one has a place to just slide in your standard shell holders, while the old model you had to buy a separate threaded shell holder to screw into the device.

I suppose it's entirely possible that there were two bad primers involved, or maybe they got oil or lube in them, or... My money is on that funky primer installation tool though.

You obviously missed the satire in our conversation.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Ah, I didn't realize that. A quick search did not show me a feed tube. Still though, you've got to fill that tube. TO ME, sounds like a pain. I don't know about older or newer? Curved bar, yes. Can't imagine it without I'm a "Newer" reloader compared to many here. 12 years. My primer tool has the round tray. And the tool, if you lose the hand hold when the bar is out of it the primer ram comes out and you have to fiddle with it. Dexterity HELPS man! It works fine for me though.

Is this the Hollywood press? It's says "Senior Tool" on it! Hey, whatever seats your bullets!

I have an RCBS RS that has the primer tube and at times it can be a PITA, that's why I don't use it anymore except for resizing or decapping.

 

[Bobbygun]

You obviously missed the satire in our conversation.

IMPOSSIBLE! I have a highly tuned satire detector. The only one who can escape it is @Certaindeaf . I rarely know what the heck he is talking about. Oh snap! That's who you were satireing with.

Dang it man. Well, I'm still gonna share this photo with @Mikej , just to show him the old primer tools on the left (one for small, the other for large primers) that I believe crushed some primers, versus the new priming tool that I haven't had any troubles with. Those old ones, it wasn't that tough to close the arm all the way, and if you did that, it seated the primer plenty DEEP.

 

[Bobbygun]

Still though, you've got to fill that tube.

Correct. It wasn't so bad though. You punch 20 primers into the tube in less than 30 seconds, plus you didn't have to handle them with your fingers. You just used the primer tray to turn them right side up, then pushed down with the tube like picking them up with a straw that didn't let them fall out once they were in.

With the Hollywood press I have to handle each primer with fingers, so keeping the oil and lube out is a concern. Haven't ever had a single non-fire from a primer inserted with the Hollywood press though.

 

[Mikej]

Dang it man. Well, I'm still gonna share this photo with @Mikej , just to show him the old primer tools on the left (one for small, the other for large primers) that I believe crushed some primers, versus the new priming tool that I haven't had any troubles with. Those old ones, it wasn't that tough to close the arm all the way, and if you did that, it seated the primer plenty DEEP.

Yeah, pretty sure I remember seeing those. In a "museum"!

I think I should be able to get away with that, being as I'm alllmost 68.

 

[Bobbygun]

Yeah, pretty sure I remember seeing those. In a "museum"!

I think I should be able to get away with that, being as I'm alllmost 68.

Hey! They were my dads! I'm not as old as you. You're old enough to be my ... older brother. I can't even draw full social security yet.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Yeah, pretty sure I remember seeing those. In a "museum"!

I think I should be able to get away with that, being as I'm alllmost 68.

And many here think I'm an old fart, you're an older fart than I am.

 

[MymuttBear]

First centerfire I ever owned and reloaded for was a BRNO .22 Hornet which has a .223" bore. I reloaded .224" bullets and torn the necks off several rounds when I shot it.

 

[Stomper]

Never flip your reloading gear the middle-finger….

 

[nammac]

Never flip your reloading gear the middle-finger….

View attachment 1410131

Well, I guess you could call him….


Wait for it…..









Stumper…..

 

[Stomper]

Well, I guess you could call him….


Wait for it…..









Stumper…..

Whoa, whoa, WHOA!! I never said that was MY hand, I prefer to learn from others' mistakes.

 

[MymuttBear]

Well, I guess you could call him….


Wait for it…..









Stumper…..

I knew a guy who's nickname was stampy on account he left wet marks wherever he sat down after getting drunk and pooping his pants. He didn't much appreciate his moniker because when you're in the military those sorts of names tend to follow you around for a long time

 

[Longwalkhome]

My latest mistake I made was I didn't look hard enough inside the 10mm case before I put it in the press. Somehow I had a 380 case in a 10mm case so things kinda went to hell. When I first felt too much resistance I pulled the case out for inspection. Honestly it was hard to see that 380 case and I had to use a RCBS bullet puller to get it out.