question..... Look here 500 SW MAG reloaders

jdman

jdman

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Hey guys,

I have an odd thing happening to me. I am loading for .500 SW, with 350 grain bullets, as well as h110 powder, large rifle primers.

Now the first 60-80 i loaded up were messed up. I loaded up the cylinder, and fired the gun, it went poof..... it was a squib round.

After breaking it down, and thinking of what i may have done wrong, i decided to break all the rest down, to be sure it wouldnt happen again. I tried to dismantle the gun at the range, since the cylinder would not open from the bullet stuck half in/out of the cylinder, but i ended up removing a s**ton of parts, and had no idea where they went after. :redface:

Off she went to gunnar at armco, he had it fixed up, and back in my hands within a week. Great guy BTW, great to deal with....

Made myself a brass rod to unstuck the case if it happened again, so...

yesterday at the range, i brought another whack of ammo i made, as i patently went though each step, to be sure i was not forgetting to do something. I had until yesterday assumed that the resizing lube, had gotten into the case, and deactivated the primer....

This is not the case, i re-tumbled the brass after resizing, to eliminate that thought. So i get to the range, pull the trigger, and poof......Again, it happened.
I racked my brain, and have came up with a bad batch of primers as the culprit. I load nothing else with LR primers, so i have no way to test them. However this seems to be it.
Anyone else have a bad batch of primers before? They are CCI LR primers.

Thanks.
 
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I would say if the primer has enough power to start the bullet in the the barrel it is lighting and doing its job - could the powder be bad?

I'm guessing you are using cases designed for rifle primers?

Dan
 
I would prime a cartridge, no powder or bullet and fire the primer, you will know if they are bad shortly after!! Sidenote, do this in a safe to fire place!!
 
Dan B said:
I would say if the primer has enough power to start the bullet in the the barrel it is lighting and doing its job - could the powder be bad?

I'm guessing you are using cases designed for rifle primers?

Dan
Click to expand...

yeah they say LR on the bottom of the cases, and the powder i use for 50AE as well, so it is not the powder. I was also able to light the powder from the squib yesterday with a lighter after too. Thanks Dan.
 
jdman said:
Hey guys,

I have an odd thing happening to me. I am loading for .500 SW, with 350 grain bullets, as well as h110 powder, large rifle primers.

Now the first 60-80 i loaded up were messed up. I loaded up the cylinder, and fired the gun, it went poof..... it was a squib round.
I load nothing else with LR primers, so i have no way to test them.

Anyone else have a bad batch of primers before? They are CCI LR primers.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
part Quote

You have a problem and have only listed part of your load data

I do not use H110 and I do not have a 500

Are you using a cast or jacketed bullet
What /how much powder are you using
how much crimp are you putting on them

When you pulled your loads that you thought were bad, did you use a hammer puller ? how many wacks did you have to give them ?

H110 is one of those powders that you do not reduce
Max minus 3% per Hodgdon reloading data and work up
 
just having some fun said:
part Quote

You have a problem and have only listed part of your load data

I do not use H110 and I do not have a 500

Are you using a cast or jacketed bullet-plated 350gr berrys
What /how much powder are you using-h110, 39.5gr
how much crimp are you putting on them enough to hold the bullet in the brass

When you pulled your loads that you thought were bad, did you use a hammer puller ? how many wacks did you have to give them ? one or 2 maybe?

H110 is one of those powders that you do not reduce
Max minus 3% per Hodgdon reloading data and work up
Click to expand...

I use the Lyman 49th ed. There is maybe 1 grain difference between max, min. I go half way.
 
One other thing you might consider: I know of squib loads caused by damp powder. In this case, the powder was left sitting in the powder measure in an unheated room. The powder picked up enough moisture to cause uneven iginition between loads as well as squib loads. Any chance this may be a factor?
 
40-82 said:
One other thing you might consider: I know of squib loads caused by damp powder. In this case, the powder was left sitting in the powder measure in an unheated room. The powder picked up enough moisture to cause uneven iginition between loads as well as squib loads. Any chance this may be a factor?
Click to expand...

No, i keep all my powder in the containers, until i load anything. I know i am having a hard time with it being the primers. And CCI i have never had anything go wrong with.

:(
 
I have had the same issue with the same gun. You need to put a pile of crimp on them. By any chance are you using berrys bullets? If so I had to seat them deeper and crimp on the ogive rather than where you would normally crimp them.
 
Ishodu said:
I have had the same issue with the same gun. You need to put a pile of crimp on them. By any chance are you using berrys bullets? If so I had to seat them deeper and crimp on the ogive rather than where you would normally crimp them.
Click to expand...

Yes, me too. I ended up crimping on the cannelure, and having crimp isses with others, i figured i would go light on the crimp. So can i just crimp them more, instead of breaking them down again? Berrys 350gr.
This is hope. :)
tell me more. :D
 
I just push mine in farther till I am able to put a nice tight crimp on the tapered portion (ogive). After I started doing this I got less ES over the chrony and never had the squib issue again.
Compare the cannelure to another bullet there is hardly 1/4" inside the case. This is not the normal. Its a design issue with the Berry's bullets IMO
When mine made the squibs it would leave the powder mostly unburnt and in chunks. This powder burnt easy when touched with a flame afterward. It was a bit of head scratcher to figure out.
As a test load it up with 5 and shoot 4 then remove the 5th you will be able to move that bullet around with your fingers with out any issue.
 
Ishodu said:
I just push mine in farther till I am able to put a nice tight crimp on the tapered portion (ogive). After I started doing this I got less ES over the chrony and never had the squib issue again.
Compare the cannelure to another bullet there is hardly 1/4" inside the case. This is not the normal. Its a design issue with the Berry's bullets IMO
When mine made the squibs it would leave the powder mostly unburnt and in chunks. This powder burnt easy when touched with a flame afterward. It was a bit of head scratcher to figure out.
As a test load it up with 5 and shoot 4 then remove the 5th you will be able to move that bullet around with your fingers with out any issue.
Click to expand...

Thanks,
Never heard of the ogive before. It is a word i have not heard at all. What does the ES mean as well? :redface:

I do not have nay other 350gr to compare to, so i cant see the cannelure difference. I do know where it tells you to crimp, is way below the cannelure even, so you are saying go past the cannelure, to where it starts to taper?
I was already uneasy going as far past as i did, with the cannelure, as i was worried about pressure issues arising from it.

You are saying to shoot 4 out of the cylinder, and the shock will loosen the crimp, so much that you can move the 5th with your fingers in and out of the case? :eek:

I am lost, big time. :p
Joe, thanks, that makes sense. :)the powder was all chunky after. It did light though. :p
 
Here is a pic of a Hornady 350g XTP against a 350g Berry's Bullet. A rule of thumb with rifle bullets is to have at least the bullet Dia of a seating depth not sure if it applies to the hand gun or not but it very well could in this case.
IMG_20120416_180012.jpg

This is what my loaded rounds look like. Might be a bit funny but the only cheap way to make powerful loads that I found with out issues.
IMG_20120416_180044.jpg


ES is extreme spread. I was shooting one day at 100 yards and used the chrony one round would be at 1300 the next would be at 1700fps. And so on. I couldn't hit anything at that distance and that would be why.

And yes the 5th round will be very loose you may or may not be able to pull it out with your fingers. But you will surely be able to rotate it freely. This is when they are crimped on the cannelure.

Make sure to work up your load again. I didn't see any diff in pressure but I am not saying you wont with them loaded like mine.
 
Thanks, and when i went downstairs i found a XTP, so tyeah i see what you are saying. Sorry i was backwards before, it says to crimp way above the cannalure. I asked this before, and i was told just to crimp on the Cannalure. :rolleyes:

LOL. I cant even get 4 rounds to fire!!!!:bangHead:
Well maybe, but with 2 out of 2, i figured i better ask, as i must be missing something. :redface:
It is a round i am already nervous in loading as it is, so....

Thanks for the help. SO you are going way past the OAL recommendation???
 
jdman said:
Thanks,
Never heard of the ogive before. It is a word i have not heard at all. What does the ES mean as well? :redface:

I do not have nay other 350gr to compare to, so i cant see the cannelure difference. I do know where it tells you to crimp, is way below the cannelure even, so you are saying go past the cannelure, to where it starts to taper?
I was already uneasy going as far past as i did, with the cannelure, as i was worried about pressure issues arising from it.

You are saying to shoot 4 out of the cylinder, and the shock will loosen the crimp, so much that you can move the 5th with your fingers in and out of the case? :eek:

I am lost, big time. :p
Joe, thanks, that makes sense. :)the powder was all chunky after. It did light though. :p
Click to expand...

Tsk, tsk. Of all people I thought I WOULDN'T have to tell to read your reloading manual........;):p
 
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