Kaboom- Handloading Oops

hunter64

hunter64

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Father-in-law's neighbor decided to reload and watch TV at the same time, well you can see the results of this adventure. Thank goodness he was not hurt but as can be seen the revolver took a hit, bent up the top strap and cracked the cylinder. The real pitty is that it is first year blackhawk 3 screw 41 Mag. Anyone need parts, LOL.

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there is no Radio,TV or anything that will take mt mind of loading near my bench!!!He is luck he was not hurt,I don't feel sorry for this fool....time for him to take up knitting.....


Jamie
 
I have actually met him when I was up there last summer and he isn't the brightest bulb. The scary part is that he reloads for all his buddy's except the father-in-law who does his own. Now if they go shooting together, dad stays at least 10 feet from him just in case, man I don't think I would ever go shooting with him again.
 
Well that's what you get for shooting one of those cast frame Rugers. :p ;) They give you the impression that they are stronger because they use more metal.

A friend of mine screwed up when he was making up some light practice loads. He wanted 2.5 grains of 231 in a 38 special with a 158 grain bullet. He weighed the charge and adjusted his powder measure until he got 2.5 grains then after it was set loaded up a batch.

At the range he loaded the cylinder and took a shot. KABOOM! Gun was ok but it sure as hell was no 2.5 grains. It was too hot for him so he asks me to take a couple of shots. Yeah that sure as hell was no 2.5 grains I tell him. I then tried to extract the cases out of the cylinder. I had to pound the extractor on the bench a few times in order to get the cases out.

So what did he actually load in the case? Would you believe 12.5 grains of 231. :redface: He didn't check to see if the 10 grain weight was on zero. Didn't seem to have any negative effect on the Smith & Wesson revolver. :cool:

Ok so it was a old N frame 357. :)
 
All I can say is WOW!!!!!

All I can say is WOW!!!!!

If 108055 PSI didn't crack open that Smith and Wesson I don't know what would!


Cartridge : .38 Special (SAAMI)
Bullet : .357, 158, SPR TMJ 4207
Cartridge O.A.L. L6 : 1.550 inch or 39.37 mm
Barrel Length : 4.4 inch or 111.8 mm
Powder : Winchester 231

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 2.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt Btime
% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

-20.0 76 10.00 1373 661 66282 8337 100.0 0.355 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
-18.0 78 10.25 1395 682 69790 8514 100.0 0.347 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
-16.0 80 10.50 1416 704 73430 8689 100.0 0.339 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
-14.0 81 10.75 1438 725 77207 8862 100.0 0.332 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
-12.0 83 11.00 1459 747 81127 9034 100.0 0.325 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
-10.0 85 11.25 1480 768 85197 9205 100.0 0.318 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
-08.0 87 11.50 1501 790 89424 9374 100.0 0.312 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
-06.0 89 11.75 1522 812 93815 9542 100.0 0.306 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
-04.0 91 12.00 1543 835 98378 9707 100.0 0.300 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
-02.0 93 12.25 1563 857 103121 9872 100.0 0.294 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+00.0 95 12.50 1584 880 108055 10034 100.0 0.289 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+02.0 97 12.75 1605 903 113189 10195 100.0 0.283 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+04.0 98 13.00 1625 927 118533 10354 100.0 0.278 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+06.0 100 13.25 1646 950 124099 10511 100.0 0.273 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+08.0 102 13.50 1666 974 129901 10666 100.0 0.268 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+10.0 104 13.75 1687 998 135950 10819 100.0 0.263 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by ± 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:
+Ba 95 12.50 1593 890 116522 9962 100.0 0.282 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:
-Ba 95 12.50 1571 866 98338 10133 100.0 0.298 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!


Rudy H said:
Well that's what you get for shooting one of those cast frame Rugers. :p ;) They give you the impression that they are stronger because they use more metal.

A friend of mine screwed up when he was making up some light practice loads. He wanted 2.5 grains of 231 in a 38 special with a 158 grain bullet. He weighed the charge and adjusted his powder measure until he got 2.5 grains then after it was set loaded up a batch.

At the range he loaded the cylinder and took a shot. KABOOM! Gun was ok but it sure as hell was no 2.5 grains. It was too hot for him so he asks me to take a couple of shots. Yeah that sure as hell was no 2.5 grains I tell him. I then tried to extract the cases out of the cylinder. I had to pound the extractor on the bench a few times in order to get the cases out.

So what did he actually load in the case? Would you believe 12.5 grains of 231. :redface: He didn't check to see if the 10 grain weight was on zero. Didn't seem to have any negative effect on the Smith & Wesson revolver. :cool:

Ok so it was a old N frame 357. :)
Click to expand...
 
Rudy H said:
Well that's what you get for shooting one of those cast frame Rugers. :p ;) They give you the impression that they are stronger because they use more metal.

A friend of mine screwed up when he was making up some light practice loads. He wanted 2.5 grains of 231 in a 38 special with a 158 grain bullet. He weighed the charge and adjusted his powder measure until he got 2.5 grains then after it was set loaded up a batch.

At the range he loaded the cylinder and took a shot. KABOOM! Gun was ok but it sure as hell was no 2.5 grains. It was too hot for him so he asks me to take a couple of shots. Yeah that sure as hell was no 2.5 grains I tell him. I then tried to extract the cases out of the cylinder. I had to pound the extractor on the bench a few times in order to get the cases out.

So what did he actually load in the case? Would you believe 12.5 grains of 231. :redface: He didn't check to see if the 10 grain weight was on zero. Didn't seem to have any negative effect on the Smith & Wesson revolver. :cool:

Ok so it was a old N frame 357. :)
Click to expand...

Pay attention. 2.5grains of anything is a tiny blob in the bottom of a 38spl case. 12.5 grains of anything is very noticable in a 38spl case.

Loading 12.5 grains when you think you are loading 2.5, means you were not paying attention. Or you are stupid. Take your choice.
 
He put in 19 grn of Unique in stead of 9 grn which is a bit under from the web site that says 9.3 grn max. He had the 10's on the beam scale on the 10 position instead of the 0 position so when he measured it up he thought he was fine but was more than double charging. You would think that he would have noticed the amount of powder especially when he opened up the rest of his reloads and all of them were very compressed.
 
Did it kick? when I'm reloading every time the wife comes in the basement she scares the #### out of me,I really like to concentrate on what I'm doing,oh and always double check the book and the weights,my scales are digital so I don't have a problem with where the balance weight is
 
joe-nwt said:
Pay attention. 2.5grains of anything is a tiny blob in the bottom of a 38spl case. 12.5 grains of anything is very noticable in a 38spl case.

Loading 12.5 grains when you think you are loading 2.5, means you were not paying attention. Or you are stupid. Take your choice.
Click to expand...


Not fair. :mad: If for instance, you have been a long time rifle cartridge reloader and recently switched to reloading for revolvers, such volume may seem normal. Ask me how I know? Well, yes, way back too many years ago, I bumped-up the large weight (only five grains so, instead of 2.7 it was 7.7 of Bulseye in .38 spl.) Stupid, maybe, but looked normal when I was use to rifle case volumes and new to it. No damage to my big N-frame, but case separation was present :redface: .
 
joe-nwt said:
Pay attention. 2.5grains of anything is a tiny blob in the bottom of a 38spl case. 12.5 grains of anything is very noticable in a 38spl case.

Loading 12.5 grains when you think you are loading 2.5, means you were not paying attention. Or you are stupid. Take your choice.
Click to expand...

You would think when he weighed the charge he would have though that it looked like more powder than you would expect for 2.5 grains.

It's not the first time I have called him an idiot.
 
I always recommend that people new to reloading (or those who are easily distracted) use a either a slow burning powder or a high bulk powder like Trail Boss. That way it is much easier to see a double charge.
 
Rudy H said:
You would think when he weighed the charge he would have though that it looked like more powder than you would expect for 2.5 grains.

It's not the first time I have called him an idiot.
Click to expand...

My point exactly.
 
SandRoad: Absolutely, always start with a powder that is easily seen and always on a single stage press. I always check the latest powder manufactures web site for up to the date loading cautions and for the maximum loads. It is very frustrating to the new loader to realize that powders change and that reloading manual from 20 years ago will have loads that might be unsafe. I have 8 reloading manuals and for a 240 grn lead GC , 44 Mag. using Alliant 2400, no two manuals agree on the max load. They range from 19.5 to 23.5 and yet the web site says 20.6 . So you can see the hazardous encounters that might happen if someone uses a 25 year old manual and extends the 23.5 that it recommended to say 24 or 25, now we have a huge problem.
 
I'm new to reloading (as of last week) and as I really have no idea what I'm doing, I weighed the powder in the case, then weighed 5 cases' powder, and then 10 cases' powder to make sure I had the correct load.

It seems to me that even experienced re-loaders should measure the case's powder charge, and then do 5 or 10 and divide to get the average. This step took me an extra 5 minutes, but the piece of mind is worth it!!
 
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