Stupid mistake

Ganderite

Ganderite

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Farm south of North Bay
I conducted an extensive load development with several 40 S&W pistols to find a load to shoot DRG 200gr lead bullets.

I found that 4.1 gr worked best in the 2 that mattered and good enough in the others.

So I went to Mr. DRG in Guelph and bought 1000 bullets and loaded them up.

As I was cleaning up my loading room, I discovered that the boxes were for 180 gr bullets.

4.1 is a very light load for the 180 and a load I never tested. The lightest I shot was 4.5, and they shot poorly.

I might have just made 1000 rounds only suitable for practising my draw at 5 yards.

Could have been worse. I could have loaded 200 gr bullets in a max load intended for 180 gr. and be faced with scrapping the lot.
 
LOL, on the plus side maybe after you're done shooting them you can take a few step forward and pick up both your brass and bullets.
 
Ganderite....you just proved you are human. :) We all have made mistakes like that from
time to time. I remember breaking down 40 rounds of 308 Norma Magnum ammo, because
I seated 200 partitions over a max load of MRP designed for 180 grainers. Dave.
 
I just tested the ammo. Tried some of the correct ammo, loaded with 200 gr bullets and the bad ammo, loaded with 180 gr bullets.

The good news is that the light ammo still cycled the actions, although the brass fell at my feet.

Accuracy was not good, but I can use it for my draw drills and such.

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So that's what all that noise was about at that farm south of north bay....

Thanks for sharing! It's a good reminder to check and double check what we are doing when we reload - not only can mistakes cost us time and money they can be dangerous too.
 
Ganderite:
Your experience here brings to mind a variation of something I've heard (I think) about motorcyclists: "there are two types of reloaders: those who have made a mistake in reloading, and thoses who will."

Glad to hear it wasn't entirely painful.
Oh yeah: lighter loads on a black badge course might not be such a bad idea. My BB course was more rounds over two days than several matches combined.
 
Ganderite said:
I conducted an extensive load development with several 40 S&W pistols to find a load to shoot DRG 200gr lead bullets.

I found that 4.1 gr worked best in the 2 that mattered and good enough in the others.

So I went to Mr. DRG in Guelph and bought 1000 bullets and loaded them up.

As I was cleaning up my loading room, I discovered that the boxes were for 180 gr bullets.

4.1 is a very light load for the 180 and a load I never tested. The lightest I shot was 4.5, and they shot poorly.

I might have just made 1000 rounds only suitable for practising my draw at 5 yards.

Could have been worse. I could have loaded 200 gr bullets in a max load intended for 180 gr. and be faced with scrapping the lot.
Click to expand...

I'm interested in what powder you were using? PM if you want.
One of my favorite loads for 180gr 40S&W at the range is 4.2gr of WST. Wish that powder was easier to find around here.
I've found the two other powders closest to that are W231, N320. Both required 4.4gr before reliability and accuracy were acceptable. Everything else is up in the 5's, 6's and 7's.
 
Ganderite said:
Do you believe everything you read?

If so, I have Pancho Villa's revolver for sale.
Click to expand...

and here it is:
61744d1376049162-ugliest-handguns-th.jpg
 
OldDude said:
lighter loads on a black badge course might not be such a bad idea. My BB course was more rounds over two days than several matches combined.
Click to expand...

Agree and if one fails to cycle it is great training under time pressure. I haven't done the BB course yet but did our club holster course to participate in club matches only. The course was more fun than the club matches because we got to shoot 10 times more.
 
Northernfly said:
I'm interested in what powder you were using? PM if you want.
One of my favorite loads for 180gr 40S&W at the range is 4.2gr of WST. Wish that powder was easier to find around here.
I've found the two other powders closest to that are W231, N320. Both required 4.4gr before reliability and accuracy were acceptable. Everything else is up in the 5's, 6's and 7's.
Click to expand...

It is a non-canister powder in the N340 range. Max is 7.0gn, so 4.1 is slow.
 
Eagleye said:
Ganderite....you just proved you are human. :) We all have made mistakes like that from
time to time. I remember breaking down 40 rounds of 308 Norma Magnum ammo, because
I seated 200 partitions over a max load of MRP designed for 180 grainers. Dave.
Click to expand...

Ugh one time after annealing (first time annealing lol), I didn't full length resize. Ended up pulling, depriming and FL sizing, and re doing everything...

100 175 smk's in Lapua brass, with match primers and varget lol!! This was all done using an impact bullet puller.... I was wearing ear plugs hammering away in the garage for hours lol

No way was I gonna scrap like 150$+ in components
 
Most of what we do is so routine we can easily overlook a detail.

Yes, I would have pulled all those match loads too, but my pistol ammo either gets used or tossed.

Since it will cycle the actions and the bullets don't bounce off the paper, all 1000 will get shot at something.

I hear a BB course uses a lot of ammo.
 
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