Awesome 1st day on the range!

[jawsman]

So after more than a year in the making I finally got out to the range with my own reloads.

I had 10 rounds of each of the following to shoot. I went out after work today. it was great!

9mm: 124gr Berry's Plated bullet (Worked great, with nice grouping using Titegroup)

45ACP: 230gr lead truncated nose (Again worked great using WST)

10mm: 200gr Frontier Plated bullet (Awesome feel and consistency using Longshot)

45 Colt+P: 250gr Hornady XTP (Awesome power and great grouping (best of the bunch) using Longshot)

454 Casull: 250gr Hornady XTP (Again great!!!!!!!)

This was my first experience with the mighty 454. I loved how it felt. The recoil was not all that bad, but when you pulled the trigger, YOU KNEW something powerful just went off.

Last up.....

454 Casull: 340gr Frontier Plated bullet (Loaded with H110) It was the best feel and recoil of the bunch. I loved it until the 4th shot, then a got a squib.

Not sure what to think about that. I had weighed the charges myself.

Is H110 temp sensitive? It was about -2C out at the time.

Charge was 22.5gr of H110, using small rifle magnum primers.

Any thoughts?

Heading out to Home Depot to get a dowel to gently pound out the bullet.

Now that I've got all my experimental loads done and am very happy with the results, I'll be spending the whole weekend loading up all my favorite calibers.

I guess I should get the wife some flowers and an apology tomorrow for the weekend to come...

 

[thestudent]

454 Casull: 340gr Frontier Plated bullet (Loaded with H110) It was the best feel and recoil of the bunch. I loved it until the 4th shot, then a got a squib.

Not sure what to think about that. I had weighed the charges myself.

Is H110 temp sensitive? It was about -2C out at the time.

Charge was 22.5gr of H110, using small rifle magnum primers.



There could be several reasons, but the most common reason that I experienced to cause a misfire was that the primer was not seated all the way to the bottom. All I had to do was reindex it and fire, the round went off the second time. I was reloading with a multi stage press, so I got about one in a 1000. Wait for a good 30 sec to ensure that it is not a hang fire, least you be very sorry. Much less common was that I got a bit of lube on the primer. I can only account for this one since reloading in 30 years.

 

[tigrr]

454 Casull: 340gr Frontier Plated bullet (Loaded with H110) It was the best feel and recoil of the bunch. I loved it until the 4th shot, then a got a squib.

Not sure what to think about that. I had weighed the charges myself.

Is H110 temp sensitive? It was about -2C out at the time.

Charge was 22.5gr of H110, using small rifle magnum primers.



There could be several reasons, but the most common reason that I experienced to cause a misfire was that the primer was not seated all the way to the bottom. All I had to do was reindex it To the same cartridge and remove all other cartridges and fire, the round went off the second time. I was reloading with a multi stage press, so I got about one in a 1000. Wait for a good 30 sec to ensure that it is not a hang fire, least you be very sorry. Much less common was that I got a bit of lube on the primer. I can only account for this one since reloading in 30 years.

I fixed it for you in bold

I like the way the original poster did it!! Thats the safe way and he didn't blow up his gun. A full house 454 casull and you risk setting off a second round with a bullet lodged 2 inches down the barrel. 1 in 6 chance of reindexing it to a potential blow up. Its good that jawsman was paying enough attention to catch the squib, the alternative is not so good.
I started out reloading much the same. Now there is 20 different powders in the rack and 60 different bullets in various calibers.
I now estimate I reload 20000 rounds a year, 15000 of which I cast myself. The accuracy you can achive with your own reloads is amazing.
Have fun!

 

[blacksmithden]

Congrats on your first roll your own rounds and welcome to the dark side. The side where we shoot 5 times as much to compensate for any savings we might have by reloading our own stuff. Just wait until you discover bullet casting and you have to shoot 15 times as much to blow the same money LOL !!!

 

[dead meat]

Are you sure you didn`t miss loading powder in one case, even a half load of H110 should push the bullet out of the barrel. It can be very easy to over look one step. It happens to everybody sooner or later, even factory loads have scerw ups. It will all come together as you gain experience, hope you have good luck with getting the slug out.

 

[thestudent]

oops didn't read that properly. I only reindex it and attempt to fire it again after ensuring that the bullet is still seated in the brass. My bad, sorry.

 

[jawsman]

Thats OK. I thought you meant that "thestudent".

As for your comments "dead meat". I know I did not miss a charge, since I hand measured everything, and double checked in the case of everyone.

I also noticed when I opened the revolver to see the problem (after waiting at leat 30 seconds), that there was gun powder all over the back of the bullet and in the end of the cylinder. Most of the gun powder had turned colour and some of it was yelloish in colour, so I think it just did not ignite properly. I have to do more reading about H110 being temp sensitive, that's the only thing that seems to make sense to me, but I'm still learning, and am just glad I checked before pulling the trigger on the next round. Things could have been much, much worse.

Keep the comments coming.....

 

[dead meat]

If you found powder looking like you describe then i`d be thinking some kind of contaminant, or a blocked primer hole. You a right about checking any time you feel or hear anything strange when shooting. Blocked barrels are not forgiving. I`ve never seen a pistol or revolver barrel blown up but have seen the results of rifle and shotgun barrels letting go. Can be exciting is an understatment.