Share your hand loading mistakes!

[2ndtimer]

Well, my most recent reloading oops was a couple days ago. Had not used the Dillon 550 for a few months and decided to crank out 300 rounds of 9 mm plinking ammo. Nothing special, 115 gr RMR FMJ, Win. Brass, 4.5 gr of ancient W-231 ( the price on the steel can was $4.39 ), and some S&B primers. Finished them up and took some out to the range to test in my 100% reliable Gen 1 Glock 19. About 1 out of every 3 had light firing pin strikes and didn't fire. So I had 12 duds in the box, along with 20 unfired leftovers. My son came over that evening and we cleaned the Glock, assuming the striker channel was clogged and took it out later that evening in the dark, just to see if it fixed it. Nope, still was failing to fire. Tried the 12 duds in my CZ P-09 and it fired all of them! So, I figured I needed to order a new firing pin spring. After I got home, I did some more thinking and double checked my primer supply and realized I had primed those cases with S&B small rifle primers. . The hammer of the CZ apparently has enough power to set off the harder primers, where the striker fired Glock doesn't. A good reminder to double check all your components before you start. Especially when loading on a progressive press. You can make a lot more mistakes faster on a Dillon!

 

[zenbreath]

At saw that happen at a range once. One of our members had a new girlfriend after his wife died. She wasn't a gun person but I guess he wanted her to be. His thing was shotgun. So he left this woman on the pistol range while he went over to blast clay birds. He left her with his prized K38 six inch. He was also a buyer of abandoned storage lockers and this is where he got some of his ammo. Including what he gave this lady to use that day. She had the same experience, fired six rounds at a 7 yard target, couldn't see any holes. I was an RSO that day, was called over to her firing point to find six jacketed bullets stacked in the barrel nuts to butts. I never followed through to find out how that was rectified.



What method did you use to remove the stacked bullets?

I've seen people stick one bullet in a barrel. At this same range, I've seen people remove the bullet from a like live round, carefully chamber it so as not to spill any powder, then blow out the stuck bullet with the charge. I don't know if the sudden engagement of a bullet already seated in rifling does any harm but it worked when I've seen it done. Can't do it with six bullets.

The removal was equally 'Unpretty'. I put a long screw into a cleaning rod. Screwed into each one and pulled it out. It left noticable gouges on the rifling, but no change in accuracy.

 

[gmerkt]

The removal was equally 'Unpretty'. I put a long screw into a cleaning rod. Screwed into each one and pulled it out. It left noticable gouges on the rifling, but no change in accuracy.

I figured it might be like removing a lead musket ball or whatever from BP. I suppose with a bullet having full wall exposure, it would be a more difficult. But I still wonder if the same technique might be used for removing multiple jacketed bullets.

Years ago, I had a Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector in .32-20. It had a worn barrel and a huge cylinder gap. I had successfully fired jacketed bullets in .32-20 revolvers before. But they present a good deal more friction when fired down a rifled barrel. This old revolver had a six inch barrel. What with the very large cylinder gap, there just wasn't enough steam to propel the jacketed bullet out the long barrel. First shot fired, it sounded strange. I stopped shooting and of course there was the bullet stuck in the barrel. It was an old beater anyway so I wasn't too worried about any damage incurred by way of bullet removal. So I tapped the stuck bullet out with a steel rod and it left no marks. Don't know how this would work out with six stuck bullets stacked up against each other.

I've read in at least one reloading manual that caution should be used in shooting jacketed bullets in older revolvers with long barrels. For the reason I've stated above. "Back in the day," the only ammo available for these revolvers had lead bullets. They weren't designed for jacketed bullets with light or even medium charges. Not to say that it's never done now.

 

[pinne65]

This

Will cause this if you don't watch out

I don't tumble different brass together any more

 

[Cosimel]

I've only been loading/reloading for a little over a year, so I suspect I still have plenty of fail to look forward to, but to date this is still my worst (and scariest) reloading mistake. It was actually a combination of fails starting with using some of my grandfather's reloaded brass which not only could have been up to 100 years old, but I really had no idea how many times it been reloaded before I got my hands on it. Secondly, I loaded to the max load data for +P. Finally I shot it in my G30S with the factory (unsupported) barrel. This was the result . . .



Fortunately the only thing to come of it was some first degree burns on my trigger finger where the powder burning out of that breech passed through the trigger well.

 

[Member 5605]

I've made my fair share of mistakes.

• I've put pistol powder in a rifle case. Just grabbed the wrong bottle by mistake. I had about 30 loaded before I caught the mistake.
• Did not bump the shoulder on 250 rounds and they were .005" too long to chamber on an AR. This required disassembly and resizing. Main problem was I had a kinetic bullet puller. That took forever.
• Did not check the new powder weight when I changed bottles of powder. My new drop weight was 1.5gr over the maximum weight. I dropped by volume not weight so it needed to be backed down. New bottle was denser.
• Reloaded some older .300 Savage. Case separation happened that should have been caught.
• I loaded two ammo boxes (50 rounds each) of ladders for a buddy with different powders. He opened the case upside down and dumped all the rounds out. I didn't mark the brass. Hours down the drain.

I wonder if @leadcounsel will admit to reloading goofs.

 

[Greshamreloadr]

View attachment 647961View attachment 647962
Share the dumb things you have seen or done so that others may learn and laugh.

Lee factory crimp die will take that right out.

 

[awshoot]

...
I loaded two ammo boxes (50 rounds each) of ladders for a buddy with different powders. He opened the case upside down and dumped all the rounds out. I didn't mark the brass. Hours down the drain.
...

I worked up a set of test loads for a friend -- he just pulled them at random from the box for a while before I noticed what he was doing. They were marked. Didn't make a difference because by the time I did notice, everything was all mixed up on the targets.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

I got excited and, "Dry Balled" my .50 cal muzzle loader.

Have a pancake compressor or air can handy. We take one to every event.
Since the 70s, Ive never had a stuck ball, but our compressor sure gets used a lot.

Been reloading since 1961, Either I have forgotten, or not sure, but I dont think Ive ever messed up a round.
The advantages of being old

 

[Capn Jack]

No pictures, but the rattle from some of my .458 SoCom cases reminded me not to tumble 9mm cases with them.

 

[Capn Jack]

The first / last time I tumbled brass without primers, I spent the next hour cleaning
tumbling material out of flash holes with a dental pick.

 

[Cosimel]

Lee factory crimp die will take that right out.

Actually that may require the Lee Bulge Buster

 

[CLT65]

Fortunately I've had very few reloading mistakes over the last 30+ years. I attribute that to being very detail oriented by nature. I've been called "persnickety".

The worst was the aforementioned incident with the wrong powder. I learned that lesson well: be DANG sure you're using the correct components.

I learned about focus and always paying close attention when I loaded a few without powder, and had a squib early in my loading career. I've had my share of crushed cases and things like cut fingers from getting between a case and a die at the wrong time. I've had misfired from improperly seated primers. I've had screw-ups that could have been dangerous had I not caught them, so I've developed habits when reloading, things I check and recheck, do a certain way to make sure any mistakes will be caught every time. I will NEVER seat a bullet without a clear visual on powder in the case first. I check and recheck my recipe, from more than one source, when working up a new load. I check my brass carefully and have gotten a lot more picky with what I'll use.

I used to experiment and push the limits a bit. I've fiddled with reloading steel cases, aluminum cases, berdan primed, dented and tarnished cases. Ive never pushed the limits of what I thought was dangerous, but I've tinkered with a lot of stuff that some say you "can't do". Most of it's just a waste of time. I've never had a kaboom or damaged gun from reloading.

It could happen to anyone though, if you let your guard down. Whether it's a negligent discharge, reloading mistake, or traffic accident; even the most experienced can have a bad day if they get distracted and don't catch themself.

 

[DLS]

For the viewing pleasure of those discussing stuck bullets:











I especially like the third photo … there was a reload in that there scenario!

 

[HighlandLofts]

Ouch, that hurts! In more ways than one...

RCBS is a great company. It's clearly not a warranty issue, but it might be worth a call to them anyhow. I broke an RCBS tool once, more than once actually, and have called their customer service number to ask about parts. I was honest with them, told them it was my fault and not a defective product. On a cheap part they just sent me a replacement piece at no charge. On a bigger item (priming tool), they asked me to return the broken item (again, my own fault), and they replaced it at no charge. I was embarrassed to accept it since it was not their fault at all, but they wouldn't accept payment.

Becsuse of the great customer service at RCBS is why i mainly buy RCBS products.

They have a no BS customer service like some of the other compainies I have delt with.

 

[ageingstudent]

For the viewing pleasure of those discussing stuck bullets:

View attachment 650625

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I especially like the third photo … there was a reload in that there scenario!

That 3rd photo...i've got a m27 just like that one (minus the jammed barrel). Just looking at that pic breaks my heart.

 

[elitejake]

I've had a few more in the past 30 years but these are the ones I keep on my bench. Just as reminders.
Bottom up:
300blk - powder cop die fail
7-08 - minor setting tension issue
308 - neck size only and it too was a bit tight.
7mm RM - yup Same problem.

 

[CLT65]

Oops...

 

[Knebel]

needless to say it's a live round. After just reading the hacksaw blowup story... I soaked it with oil and chucked it.

 

[elitejake]

I had a case head rip off a .40 a few years back. I used a small drill and drilled the case beside the primer. Then filled the case with water let it sit for a couple days. Then drilled the primer with the small bit. Put water in it then pried the cap and anvil out. Used a bolt and cup to extract the shell.
I wish I had pics now.