Sort your brass by manufacturer and weight.

[joken]

I have always used a single stage press. Last winter I bought a used Lee Pro 1000 in Arizona for $100. I sold some of the extra stuff and was in it for about $40. I got it all set up here at home with the .45 acp stuff that came with it. Long story short, somewhere in the reloading process, I dumped a double charge. Don't ask how, but I did, and I caught it. At that time I had loaded several hundred rounds and had a number of issues, mostly with primer feeding which would cause me to remove the case etc. Anyway after catching the double charge I kept thinking what if I had done it before and missed it. A double charge does not fill the case. The brass was all range pick up and several flavors. That was a couple months ago and I haven't shot any of it. What to do? I sorted all the cartridges by manufacturer and weighed them individually. Any round that was 2-3 grains above average for that manufacturer, I discarded. Given some of the brass was from different lots and years, I expected slight variations in weight. So, when you read about folks that weigh their brass and are seemingly absolutely anal, pay attention because they speak from experience. I keep thinking that I still should chuck it all? BTW I wasn't loading near max. Opinions welcome

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[v0lcom13sn0w]

i no charged 50 out of 200 rounds. i pulled all 200. i tried sorting and weighing. it doesnt work. better safe than missing a body part(s)


invest in a puller collet die or an inertia hammer.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I hear the really anal guys give it an eyeball before seating a bullet on there.
lol

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

I hear the really anal guys give it an eyeball before seating a bullet on there.
lol

yeah i check my whole tray to see if the powder takes up about the same amount of case capacity before seating.

 

[ageingstudent]

I can see inside the case enough with short cases on the turret press so it's easy to see a double charge.

Weighing loaded cartridges is iffy. Too much variance between brass and projectile to really know for sure with small charges. . I've had same brand pistol cases be as much 4 grains +/- in weight. That alone is enough to hide a missed charge of hp-38 or tightgroup, or a double charge going the other way. That's a bummer when doubt creeps in. If you can examine your process objectively and be sure you didn't have a double charge maybe you're good to go. If you have any doubts pull them and start over. It's not worth a busted gun or a serious injury.

My opinion of course, be safe as you can.

 

[joken]

I shoot my own cast truncated cone bullets and can't pull them with my collett puller. I do always look before seating a bullet, that's exactly how I caught the double. I'm just saying that the little man on my shoulder kept saying "what if." The doubt is there because the progressive was new to me. I have been hand loading for many years.

 

[PaulB47]

I've had same brand pistol cases be as much 4 grains +/- in weight. That alone is enough to hide a missed charge of hp-38 or tightgroup, or a double charge going the other way.

Sounds like a good argument for weighing your cases before loading them, and getting rid of those outliers. That way subsequent weighing will let you find a double charged case.

Don't some progressive loaders have a charge checker that will buzz you if the charge is too low or high, before the bullet is seated?

 

[The Courier]

I sort all brass by headstamp and seat them in the same manner. I have found this technique to give me very consistent seating depths. I have had some concerns when loading titegroup in 380 and 9mm because of the low amount of powder but eyeball each case has been working good, another method I use for powders like that is to double charge a case and keep it in hand until I've visually checked it against other cases (Not recommending these methods it's just what I do). 700x/800x and Bullseye are becoming my go to powders because it's extremely difficult to double charge the case.

 

[Member 5605]

I'm guessing you used a spring actuated powder drop not one operated by a lever return? Sounds like a time will be had pulling cases. Sorry buddy. I had to do it once with 200 .223 cases.

 

[ageingstudent]

Somebody needs to invent a way to see through a brass case. There you go free idea for some entrepreneur.

 

[ageingstudent]

Sounds like a good argument for weighing your cases before loading them, and getting rid of those outliers. That way subsequent weighing will let you find a double charged case.

Don't some progressive loaders have a charge checker that will buzz you if the charge is too low or high, before the bullet is seated?

Handgun brass can vary quite a lot even within brands with the same headstamp. Add a couple grain difference between projectiles (handgun especially) and there's no reasonable way to sort all that out. I already sort by headstamp I can't imagine what a cluster it would be to sort handgun cases and bullets by weight.

Precision rifle is a whole different story, but far less to sort there.

 

[ChiefStealth]

Regardless of how the error happened, you gotta have trust in what you load. When in doubt... pull 'em out. Change your process so it can't happen again.

 

[Member 5605]

oh and Joken, if you need a bullet pulling party... I'm down when I have time.

 

[joken]

I'm guessing you used a spring actuated powder drop not one operated by a lever return? Sounds like a time will be had pulling cases. Sorry buddy. I had to do it once with 200 .223 cases.

Yes sir, you got it, but I doubt it was a guess

 

[Member 5605]

Yes sir, you got it, but I doubt it was a guess

It was a guess...

If it's a lee powder drop I have the chain setup for one of those so you don't get the double charges. I could drop it off next time I head by there if you need one.

I think it's the arm, chain and something else that makes it so.

 

[joken]

oh and Joken, if you need a bullet pulling party... I'm down when I have time.
Ok, I'm in business. Thanks for the offer, but a pair of dikes will make this easy

How to pull soft lead truncated cone 45 ACP (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?284257-How-to-pull-soft-lead-truncated-cone-45-ACP)

 

[joken]

It was a guess...

If it's a lee powder drop I have the chain setup for one of those so you don't get the double charges. I could drop it off next time I head by there if you need one.

I think it's the arm, chain and something else that makes it so.

Give me a call sometime 541-753-3536 No rush and thanks Ken.

 

[Member 5605]

Give me a call sometime [redacted] No rush and thanks Ken.

You can delete that, I checked my address book. I've got it.

 

[Papercidal]

I have had pistol brass from the same manufacturer have twice the charge weight difference from case to case so if I have a doubt it gets pulled.