Be CAREFUL out there, my reloading friends!!

Eagleye

Eagleye

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Just a reminder all....check everything at least twice before you seat those bullets. [and once after, too]

Here's my "close call." Those who know me also know I have been at this a long time, and have
safely loaded tens of thousands of rounds of centerfire rifle ammo.

I was starting to do load development for my newly rebarrelled 1910 Ross. I have a decent supply of good 1-F
brass, and plenty of Sierra's excellent Game King, 180 grain spitzer SP bullets.

I started with 41.0 grains of IMR 4320, and loaded 42.0, 43.0 & 44.0 [5 of each].....then I seated all the bullets.
Then I moved to Norma 202, starting at 40.0. When I was weighing the 41.0 grain load of N202, I noticed it.

My balance beam scale is a RCBS 304, with one beam graduated in 100 grain increments, from 0 - 1000 grains.
The second beam is graduated in 10 grain increments, from 0-100 grains. Each beam has it's own poise with a little
notch at each increment. The scale also has a Dial, that is marked out in 10ths of a grain.

What I saw was the poise on the 10 grain beam was not seated in the 40 grain notch properly, and was at an angle,
instead of being settled squarely on the beam.

I had a 41 grain [or so I thought] charge in the pan, trickled up to exact balance beam position. When I moved the poise
so it dropped into the notch properly, imagine my reaction when I saw the balance beam hit the upper stop and stay there.

I rotated the dial to see how much over the charge had been....would you believe 3.8 grains!! [My 41 grain load was really 44.8gn]

So out came the Collet puller, and I pulled down all 25 rounds, and reweighed them all to the correct weight.
This was a dicey scenario. If I had not noticed in time, I could have been feeding my Ross loads that were plenty stiff, right
off the bat....not the way I like to do load development.

As I said at the outset...be careful! Murphy is present at all times, seeking to mess with our hobby to our detriment.

Dave.
 
I recently had a similar experience with my RCBS 5-0-5. I was reloading pistol rounds at 5.0 grains of powder or so. I use the scale to set up and fine-tune my thrower, then I weigh about every 10th thrown charge or so while loading to verify consistency. Every other reloading session up until my most recent one, I was starting to feel like it was a very 'belt-and-suspenders' thing to do, as I'd only ever seen very small variations depending on the powder. But during my most recent session, upon weighing one charge in particular, I noticed the needle wasn't anywhere near the normal range of 'variation' and I questioned it instantly. Turns out I must've brushed against the 0.1 poise accidentally when taking or replacing the powder pan from the scale, and it found itself in an adjacent groove. Not dangerous given the small amount and since I don't really toy with max loads, but it was a good wake-up call about being careful. I never noticed, felt, heard, or otherwise suspected that the poise had moved at all until I saw it while investigating the odd reading. After moving it back, my charges weighed in perfectly exactly where I had initially set them.
 
When i first started reloading i never set my scales right. Didnt balance them out properly and essentialy didnt have the right powder amounts in my 300wm. Luckily im still here in one piece without any issues. Now im super careful and check every 3rd round for powder weight!!
Can never be too careful with these things
 
Great tip for reloaders. I've accidentally bumped the weight adjustment slider thingy on my RCBS 505 scale notch or two on a couple occasions. Fortunately I've caught the problem early enough that I've only had to pull 3 or 4 bullets for safety sakes and now I do a visual check on each weigh.

One of the reasons I kinda like a digital scale but then I got to deal with possible drifting.
 
This is partly the reason I went with a RCBS chargemaster. As long as you calibrate it before every use (like you are supposed to!), its pretty dead on. I had too many close calls using the Lee balance beam.
 
I have and use my Chargemaster for most loading endeavors. However, when developing loads and changing powders
several times in an hour, I use the balance beam. Dave.
 
Hi Eagle eye
I ment to do this many times,just got the time to do it now.Remember you from Burns Lake shoots been there 4 times,been there with Jim all the time was there last summer with our,Grandson,He did real good better than meFolkie Johnson.
 
Well posted! It can be that familiarity breeds contempt, or at least complacency. I know in my case, I did much the same thing. I was reloading some .308 and I had about 18 rnds. completed when I noticed that I hadn't set the 1/10th. weight correctly. After calling myself 50 different kinds of dumbass, I pulled all the bullets, dumped the powder back into the container and started anew. I had thrown too little, not too heavy a charge, so they'd have fired off OK and exited the barrel, but it would have been a waste of time for accuracy. My brother, god bless him, gave me a digital scale which I calibrate before every reloading session, so now the balance beam scale is pretty much just kept as a back-up. I've been at this game a fair while and the same principles that governed my carpentry career should apply to reloading, slightly modified. Where we used to say, "measure twice, cut once", for reloading it should be check and double check. Don't reload if you're tired or distracted or hung-over. Precision requires a clear head, a good eye, and concentration.
 
bsand said:
This is partly the reason I went with a RCBS chargemaster. As long as you calibrate it before every use (like you are supposed to!), its pretty dead on. I had too many close calls using the Lee balance beam.
Click to expand...

Same here it gives me some confidence when loading rifle but I still do a visual check before setting.
 
I"ll check probably every so many rounds, so if there is a problem I don't have to pull them all, so far that hasn't happened to me yet.
 
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