Want to get into reloading?

[UR2X3M4ME]

Here is what happens when one starts reloading without educating himself first. It happened to a member of my shooting club, during his Black Badge course.

So Buddy decided to shoot IPSC with a Glock in .45. A few months before his Black Badge course, to make shooting cheaper, he got himself a fully equiped Dillon XL650, with books, and started reloading.

Did not thoroughly read at least 2 good reloading manuals. Did not take any reloading course. Did not seek/found mentors to properly share do's and don'ts. A knowledgeable peer did show up to help him set up the press and buddy was told he was good to go. The hell he was...

On the practical portion of the course, while strong hand shooting (he is right handed), the gun exploded in his hand. A portion of the chamber and slide (front of ejection port) went ballistic; the mag flew downward just missing his knee by not much; fragments scratched is right hand and cheek. He his OK, luckily. I did not personally witness the incident and all kinds of theory were said to explain the cause. One observation is agreed by all present, remaining rounds from his stash all appeared over-crimped. By the bulging look of the base of unfired rounds, OOB firing is another likely cause.

To me, ROOT CAUSE for this incident is ignorance, meaning inexperience. I say Buddy unknowingly manufactured potential hand grenades. That is what he now understand and is still shocked by the incident. Many including him said a 2 hand grip would have not be as "lucky". He became so apprehensive of reloads that he just sold all of his reloading equipment for a song to another member.

To new reloaders, do thoroughly read and understand good reloading manuals. Same with equipment user guides. I feel you simply cannot accept (safely shoot) the end product of something you do not understand. Get coached by experienced reloaders and take courses - the later are often setup by equipment suppliers. Be extra-cautious. Don't rush, shoot factory rounds until you are satisfied with your reloads. Read, measure, adjust, test, retest.

For your, your family and shooting community sake, Reload & shoot safely.

 

[egmonster]

As a prospective new loader, I take this advice seriously. I really don't know anyone here that does it. So I am reading a lot of manuals and reading online here as many tid bits of wisdom that I can. I may make it into town one of these months for the CGN meet and greet.

I understand that reloading is simple but has certain rules. Like SCUBA diving. Only a few rules that are pretty easy to follow, but if you violate them the potential consequences can be very severe, even fatal.

I'm going to start with a simple press and learn the basics. Then go from there.

Thank you for posting this warning.

 

[Trinimon]

Ditto egmonster's comments.

 

[garybusey]

reloading has a lot to do with common sense which is something that cannot be taught. He should have started off single stage like the rest of us

 

[haha49]

I bought a Dillion XL 650 but I did it after researching other press and I figured screw it go big or go home wish I looked at the 1050 more for all the add ons it's actually cheaper. I did how ever get the powder checker so if it beeps at me I know something is wrong. I don't see how an over crimp can really be a problem it's not a huge deal I think he had a squib round then fired the next one. I had that almost happen it went puff I went that's not right so I stopped the next round chambered and pushed the bullet in more. So it would of went boom if I fired it..

 

[dirtytwo]

By curiosity, did he pull apart any of his reloads to check the amount/consistency of his powder drops? I ask because of all the things that would make a [badly] reloaded cartridge end up in a dramatic failure/explosion of an action, over-crimping doesn't seem to be a very common culprit. With a progressive reloader, especially a new one, it’s always wise to check your powder drops with an accurate scale several times during each batch of reloading. Apart from that, could have been an OOB if it was an older Glock with lots of wear (still rare, though). Barrel obstruction, maybe?

 

[supernova]

Over crimping can cause the incident here. Roll crimping can be very decieving to a new reloader as it was to me. It doesn't take much so it looks like it could use a little more. Soon enough your case is bulged a tiny bit and the rounds won't quite chamber. I did this with my very first batch of .223 and if I hadn't checked to see if the bolt went into battery I'd have the same story to tell. Luckily it was the only mistake I made and I caught it right away. I also chose to stop at 20 rds and fire them before loading more. A bullet puller and some dummy rds quickly taught me about judging a roll crimp.

 

[UR2X3M4ME]

By curiosity, did he pull apart any of his reloads to check the amount/consistency of his powder drops? I ask because of all the things that would make a [badly] reloaded cartridge end up in a dramatic failure/explosion of an action, over-crimping doesn't seem to be a very common culprit. With a progressive reloader, especially a new one, it’s always wise to check your powder drops with an accurate scale several times during each batch of reloading. Apart from that, could have been an OOB if it was an older Glock with lots of wear (still rare, though). Barrel obstruction, maybe?

At this time, I am unaware of what he did with remaining reloaded rounds. Something I will ask next time I see him along with a few pics if available.

Over-crimping does allow pressure to spike up dramatically but again, the said over-crimping is only an observation by Black Badge trainee & instructors present at the time of the incident. Combine that with a bullet touching the lands (not saying it was the case), you have an almost certain hand grenade. I too would be curious to pull apart a few rounds to see the depth of the crimp mark on the bullets, as well as comparing measured loads to expected load.

Another thing to know is the history on the used brass. We all have seen range brass bulged to an extent that it won't fully chamber when reloaded. An OOB is a very likely if such condition was present.

Whatever the actual cause, this should have not happened with proper inspection, verification and check of finished rounds, operations which evidently were deficient in this case. Hence my call for carefulness to new reloaders.

 

[graydog]

I know a lot of people will disagree with me but I think everyone should learn to reload on a single stage prees as others have also stated. You should learn to make one good round at a time rather then lots of bad ones quickly. It sure seems to me that when I read stories about people blowing up guns that have reloaded for them it is almost always with a prgressive press of some kind or another. Jusy my two cents here.

Graydog

 

[Spawn-Inc]

I know a lot of people will disagree with me but I think everyone should learn to reload on a single stage prees as others have also stated. You should learn to make one good round at a time rather then lots of bad ones quickly. It sure seems to me that when I read stories about people blowing up guns that have reloaded for them it is almost always with a prgressive press of some kind or another. Jusy my two cents here.

Graydog

Or buy a progressive presses and use it 1 round at a time...

However single stage press are always useful so it's not a big deal starting single stage.



And I strongly doubt an over crimped round would do that. If he was at max charge, bullet too deep and a strong crimp maybe plus a stuck round I could see they described damage happening

 

[Wired leader]

Sounds like a squib to me as well, but I was not there and did not inspect the gun or remaining rounds.

 

[Tinman204]

OP, thank you for posting this. As a new reloaded (Started last year) it is always good to be reminded of the dangers of handloading. I check and double check everything and most importantly I never rush! It seems to me that too many people treat reloading like a race or start building ammo before even understand the basics.

I read several handloading books over several months before I even decided wether handloading was for me or not. Then after getting all of the gear I spend a couple weeks re reading my books. I think because I took my time it made me a better and safer handloader.

EDIT:

I think I'll add to any new or potential reloaders that it is very important to read and understand the basics of how a cartridge works and what can go wrong.

Last weekend I was testing some 7.5x53.5 for my brothers '89 schmit Ruben. I was using Norma brass that was already primed. When I pulled the trigger on one round and heard an abnormal pop then I noticed some smoke rising out of the chamber. I pointed the gun down range and waited for a minute or so. I slowly ejected the round and examined it. The primer failed to ignite all of the powder but it pushed the bullet into the bore about 3".

I'm glad I knew enough to know what had happened. My brother looked at me and couldn't figure out why I wasn't chambering the next round and continuing our testing. When I showed him the bullet stuck in the bore he said "this is why you keep telling me not to reload until I understand the basics?". I said "yep if I didn't read and study the next round would have blown up me, you or the gun, or all 3!!".

 

[Bluedevil25]

Here is a good read!

 

[Tactical Trunk Monkey]

Here is a good read!

Very good book, im new to reloading so I wanted to educate myself. Learned alot from that book!

 

[egmonster]

That book is even available in Kindle Edition so you can take it on the road with you easier.

Tactical Trunk Monkey! I love that name!

 

[UR2X3M4ME]

UPDATE.

Based on discussions with the fellow that helped him setup his press (a seasoned/experienced) reloader and who was present at the time of the incident, over crimping and deep seating are to be ruled out, as per "visual inspection" of remaining rounds.

The same fellow suspects a double charge. In my mind, that is possible due to lack of experience but unlikely on the Dillon XL650 press: unless the guy was farting around by changing cases from their original station, how could that happen?

The faulty case was found and reported ruptured close to the base. I still think an OOB is the likely caused, supported with a failure to thoroughly dimension inspect the finished rounds. Again, many rounds displayed a visible bulge at the lower portion. I would bet good money a few of those rounds would not fit my EGW case gauge...

 

[UR2X3M4ME]

A bit of irony here: The guy took his brand-new-now-exploded glock to the dealer for... yes you guessed right: warranty repair or replacement.
First words from the dealer soon as he saw the gun (a good reputable dealer): you were shooting reloads.
I guess he saw a few of those before...

Reload safely, inspect thoroughly, have fun shooting.

 

[tjhaile]

I know a lot of people will disagree with me but I think everyone should learn to reload on a single stage prees as others have also stated. You should learn to make one good round at a time rather then lots of bad ones quickly. It sure seems to me that when I read stories about people blowing up guns that have reloaded for them it is almost always with a prgressive press of some kind or another. Jusy my two cents here.

Graydog

A single stage press is woefully inadequate if you actually want to shoot handguns in quantity, such as in IPSC. The best way to learn is to buy the press that fits your volume needs and run one case at a time through it until you are familiar with the process. Unless you only want to shoot a box a month or so, you will need to learn to run the progressive eventually anyway.

 

[bandit86]

Sounds like a squib to me as well, but I was not there and did not inspect the gun or remaining rounds.

I purposely downloaded some rounds to see how little it takes to get stuck in the barrel, 1/3 charge did it in my mare's leg. It made so little noise (alone at private range) had I been shooting a handgun I would have ejected the round (the empty case in this example) and shot the next one- right into the bullet jammed in the barrel.

My vote is for no powder in the case, the primer would have just dislodged the bullet I to the frame. He thought it was a dud and shot again without checking the barrel

I have a hornady progressive, so far reloading 50 of 450 marlin and maybe a hundred 357 magnum. I still do not use the powder dispenser, I ran dozens of checks of the individual stages to understand them.

The WORST advice I ever got was somebody telling me they don't case trim. I have seen such a variance in case lengths in the 223 and 9mm (checked them but didn't reload them) that I think I will trim every case every reload for the forseeableable future until I notice a pattern when to trim. The last stage, the bullet seater and crimped actually accordioned one of my 450 marlin cases that was longer than the rest (different box, different batch?) and after checking the crimps they were not consistent enough for me to be happy.

 

[canthitathing]

Here is a good read!

That press looks just like mine. I haven't reloaded for many years, did mostly shotshells back then, but did do a few .444 Marlin. Now that I'm looking to get back into the shooting sports (just got a couple of the CanAm 1911A1's), I'll blow the dust off the reloading equipment and start studying up again. However, with the ammo from the combo deal, I won't need to be in any rush. In fact, with such good CanAm deals on certain ammo, it makes reloading an economic question as to why bother. My reasons come down to use of cleaner burning propellants, my particular calibers (all very common but not usually commie-produced), a future supply in components to cover any short-term disruption of normal ammo supply availability (like the Yanks are causing recently by hoarding), and finally just as a hobby aspect to enhance overall firearms involvement. Lots to brush up on before moving forward.