Perils of the wrong powder

jethunter said:
I don't see any safety benefit, in fact I think having 4 powder measures - 1 for each powder - just adds complications and more opportunities to make a mistake. Please explain your rationale.
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4 powder measures, 4 powders.... all measures would be labelled with their powder.... Only one powder and measure on the bench at a time.... measure labelled varget only gets dumped back into the varget bottle... powder in the varget bottle is only used to fill the varget measure....

It's nothing that the "one powder at a time" rule can't fix.... But does add the label check to the process.....
 
I started using a flag of masking tape on the powder hopper as well a few months back. I just tack them back onto the lid of the bottle for next time.

Reloading components should be treated like "PROVE'ing" a firearm where we assume nothing and get a habit of checking each time we sit down even if it's sessions within the same day.

I reload enough handgun rounds that I almost always have the powder in the hopper for up to 3 or 4 days before the job is totally done. But with that one bottle out and the flag it sure does act as a good reminder. And it sure doesn't hurt to double check the powder labels.

Remember, assume nothing, observe everything freshly and attentively each time. never trust our memory and finally that if there is any doubt at all the garden can always use some extra fertilizing.
 
Superbrad said:
4 powder measures, 4 powders.... all measures would be labelled with their powder.... Only one powder and measure on the bench at a time.... measure labelled varget only gets dumped back into the varget bottle... powder in the varget bottle is only used to fill the varget measure....

It's nothing that the "one powder at a time" rule can't fix.... But does add the label check to the process.....
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Now you have 8 labels that can be misread instead of just 4. :) I look at my set up and see 20+ powders, 40+ different cartridges, and regularly use 3 different types of powder measure. For me keeping it as simple as possible is safer and having separate powder measures would add more ways that I could screw up. But we're all different and as long as it works for you then it's right for you.
 
jethunter said:
Now you have 8 labels that can be misread instead of just 4. :) I look at my set up and see 20+ powders, 40+ different cartridges, and regularly use 3 different types of powder measure. For me keeping it as simple as possible is safer and having separate powder measures would add more ways that I could screw up. But we're all different and as long as it works for you then it's right for you.
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Well..... You do have a point when taking into consideration how many powders you use...... And I am too novice to be able to say I will only ever use four..... Lol
 
You definitely should follow general guidelines and NOT mix brass. These guideline are specifically for reloaders with your type of knowledge. Also be sure to not shoot reloads as stated by many mfr. Laugh2


You forgot to facepalm all the other posts disputing your accusations.
Sqr said:
...
Cases:
Do not mix brands - case volume may be different affecting loading density and pressure.Inspect for cracks, splits, stretch marks, separations, etc. after firing and before reloading. Do not load damaged or defective cases. Do not ream or enlarge primer flash holes
Examine fired shotshells for head damage, tube splits, pinholes, and location of basewad before reloading. Discard defective cases. Discard cases that show leakage around the primer or battery cup.
Do not mix shells with high and low basewads.
Do not mix brands of cases - volumes may be different.
...
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burnaby said:
You definitely should follow general guidelines and NOT mix brass. These guideline are specifically for reloaders with your type of knowledge. Also be sure to not shoot reloads as stated by many mfr. Laugh2
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...in a Smith&Wesson 29-10. Everything else seems fine.:rockOn:And I sort my brass by head stamp too.
 
Sometimes honesty doesn't pay and in particular when you are dealing with questionable lawyer driven policies. <Ruger Redhawk :)>

Bought 1k 1F 44mag brass, no way I'm sorting the brass for book limit reloads.

Sort my precision rifle brass but that's for accuracy, not safety driven.
dirtybarry said:
...in a Smith&Wesson 29-10. Everything else seems fine.:rockOn:And I sort my brass by head stamp too.
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Superbrad said:
Well..... You do have a point when taking into consideration how many powders you use...... And I am too novice to be able to say I will only ever use four..... Lol
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One other thing that I do is ALWAYS write down the load and pin it on the board above my press. For example:
120 gr Sierra Pro Hunter - 25.9 gr IMR4064 - OAL = X.xx"
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It's easy to make a mistake if you rely on memory - maybe the powder measure accidentally gets set at 29.5 gr instead of 25.9, or some other silly transcribing error. Of course we still have to ensure we put the right information on the board to start with. :)
 
I like how it says "The labels are similar, so the mistake is understandable". Yeaaaah, no. I think that when we're talking about the difference between shooting a gun safely and blowing your hand off, you should probably be taking the rudimentary steps it takes to ensure that you're putting the correct explosive into your device that operates using controlled explosions. Especially if the labels are at all similar.
 
scopebite12 said:
I like how it says "The labels are similar, so the mistake is understandable". Yeaaaah, no. I think that when we're talking about the difference between shooting a gun safely and blowing your hand off, you should probably be taking the rudimentary steps it takes to ensure that you're putting the correct explosive into your device that operates using controlled explosions. Especially if the labels are at all similar.
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Actually smokeless powder is not an explosive. It is a propellant and is about as explosive as steam.

There will always be accidents as long as people are people. It's their right to hurt themselves and it's a good lesson for the rest of us.

Decades ago an old Swedish neighbour explained something to me that I have remembered to this day: He said that coyotes kept getting bolder and bolder until they were coming into the farmyard at night and fighting with the dog, chasing cattle and new calves. So, every 6 months or so he would have to shoot a coyote and hang it on the barbwire fence in the pasture behind the barn where all the other coyotes would see it - and there was no more coyote problem for the next six months.

That's what is happening here: some goof hurts himself (because he's a careless dumbass) and "warns" everyone so they don't make the same "mistake" he did. Some people are predisposed to end up being that coyote that hangs on the fence. Could have happened to anyone, but it didn't. :)
 
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jethunter said:
One other thing that I do is ALWAYS write down the load and pin it on the board above my press. For example:

It's easy to make a mistake if you rely on memory - maybe the powder measure accidentally gets set at 29.5 gr instead of 25.9, or some other silly transcribing error. Of course we still have to ensure we put the right information on the board to start with. :)
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I actually do that..... I have some laminated cards with magnet tape on the back that I made up with each rifle's load on it...... I stick them above each gun where they sit in the cabinet and pull them off and stick them on the back of the bench when I am loading......
 
Superbrad said:
I actually do that..... I have some laminated cards with magnet tape on the back that I made up with each rifle's load on it...... I stick them above each gun where they sit in the cabinet and pull them off and stick them on the back of the bench when I am loading......
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great minds think alike..?
 
Yup, meticulous is the only way to reload.

Varget vs Titegroup; 43grs vs 34 grs. Have to be meticulous and not make those mistakes.
 
Ganderite said:
I have found two common causes of wrong powder incidents;

After a break in loading of a few weeks, Fred returns to the bench and assumes the powder in the powder thrower is 4831. It is actually 4198 and blows up his 300Mag.

After a break in loading of a few weeks, Fred returns to the bench and assumes the powder in the powder thrower is 4831. It is actually 4198 and he dumps the powder into his can of 4831.

I have a roll of masking tape on my bench and label the thrower each time with what is in it.
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and my response is "Why are you leaving powder in the powder thrower at all, ever?"

One type of powder on the bench, double check the type, like H4831 says, 'know your charge weights and exactly what the powder looks like. I hand load and visually check every cartridge for the proper powder amount before going to the seating stage. Another one is the bullets themselves. 155gr BTHP looks identical to 178gr BTHP. The results of the correct load of the correct powder for a 155gr BTHP would probably not be conducive to launching a 178gr projectile. My bench is clean when I am done. It only takes once.

Titegroup and Varget are so dissimilar looking they might as well be totally different fluorescent colours. Anyone who has reloaded for 30 years has to know exactly what Varget looks like. Mixing up Varget and 4831SC visually is possible but unlikely if one is careful about watching what they are doing. Even H4895 and IMR4895 'look' different with the IMR being slightly greener in appearance than the Hodgdon.
 
Qball-16 said:
I agree with everything that's been said here, and I'm not making any excuses for this guy's mistake, but just want to point out that the manufacturers could EASILY help reloaders avoid this situation by NOT having all their products labeled so similarly. It would be SO easy to mistakenly grab the wrong container when the labels on different powders from the same manufacturer look almost identical.
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I think government regs have made it so that there is so much "boilerplate" crap printed on the container label that it is hard to fit in what it is called! Not really but it seems that way. In any case, the labels are dissimilar enough between "Titegroup" and "Varget", after all they each say that in great BIG letters, and the powder itself is so dissimilar that a mistake should be near to impossible. If feel sorry for this fellow, but it is a harsh lesson and should be heeded. Glad that no-one else was injured. It could have been worse for someone nearby or if things had gone just a little bit differently. Time for him to sell off his press and dies.
 
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