Valuable lesson and lived to tell the tale.

Ian, be careful with that legend crap. They may find out that I'm really just an old retired cop who now needs a bench to shoot from. Will phone you soon on that bench thing.

Regards

Aubrey
 
Good post. I didn't even know you were on the board Aubrey. good to see you.
 
Holy sh1t!! :eek:

Thanks for the honest wake up call Aubry.


One little brain fart and it could happen to anyone.
 
Wow, just found this! Glad nothing worse happened!

I try my best to check the powder I grab from the cabinet 5, 6, 7 times to make sure it's the right one.....but a very eye-opening bit of info here for sure.
 
Glad that the gentleman made it safely to the other side of the event.

The possibility of doing the same thing is the main reason why I only have one type of powder for all my centre-fire rifles. Since I live in UK most of the time, it's kind of self-limiting anyhow, but as I only have two each .308Win, 7x75 and 7.5x55 rifles I can happily use IMR4064 in all of them without the risk of accidentally mixing it up with some high-stepping stuff.

Like I said, I've never done it, but I know a man who has - 46gr of 2400 in a .308Win case.....a hundred of them, loaded right after loading up his .44Mag ammo for an underlever. Even had to refill the powder measure twice to do it, too.

He noticed, thankfully, while he was tidying up his bench, and pulled every last one.

...and hopefully learned the lesson without dying. He told me that he had to have a very quiet sit-down after that.

tac
 
Banished said:
Ian, be careful with that legend crap. They may find out that I'm really just an old retired cop who now needs a bench to shoot from. Will phone you soon on that bench thing.

Regards

Aubrey
Click to expand...

Nice to see you were very honest Banished, and I'm glad you weren't hurt. I use a single stage press and only ever have one powder at a time on my bench. Accidents can certainly happen, knock on wood, even to the most experianced reloaders. I'd say you have popped your cherry, you should be good to go from here on.;)
 
Another shooter we know in this neighbourhood had a similar incident but more damaging results.
After loading a set of pistol rounds the hopper was emptied to be filled with rifle powder for a very pricy .308 win. unfortunately the tube that the powder dispences from still had a fair amout of pistol powder so the first round that was put together had a mixture of pistol (tight group) and i believe Varget in it.

The results were an extremely damaged bolt/ extractor / case and chamber issues from what I hear. I think the shooter was lucky not to look like a unicorn.

After the expensive repairs to the bolt / rifle I think he's learned an expensive lesson to get ALL the powder out of the dispenser.

M.
 
glad to here your ok lost a good barrel to almost the same thing. i bought a 7mm stw used and it cam with 75 loaded hand loads sitting at the bench for a day of shootin and the 6th round i grab didn't sound right when i touched it off, same thing happened hammer open bolt to find lots of trouble. i keep the wrecked barrel over my work bench as a reminder not to shoot other people's reloads
 
Thank you for sharing this with a new reloader.

At present I have only 3 rifles, 2 Win mod 70 30-06's and a Browning BLR lever .308. I am using the same powder for both (IMR 4350), but will imprint this information in my head should I ever decide to change powder or get another calibre which might use different powder. I am always thinking safety first, which will prevent any screw ups for me.
 
I personally [touch wood!] have managed to stay out of this type of trouble for the past 45 years, but I had an acquaintance who managed to total not 1, but 3?!!! firearms when he charged some 30-06 rounds with what he thought was 4320 and was actually 4227.
Thanks for the "head's up" Reminds us what a moment of inattention can do. Eagleye.
 
Hello Aubrey

Glad to hear you wern't hurt !
Also glad to see you're still active.It has been a long time since we've talked.
My Sako trg that was rechamberd to 338 IMP.Mag is still shootin' strong some 20+ years ! Cept now I have to make my brass from 300 RUM.
Thanks for a great cartridge ! Take care & God Bless.
 
I am also just getting into reloading. I believe this incident is just what I needed to fully grasp the ''power behind the powder''. I am posting a picture of your cases on my bench now.
Safe reloading to all!
 
A useful post that shows that even the most experienced handloader can make a rookie mistake. I would say that the more experienced you are, the more prone you might become as thought and care evolve into instinct and routine.

One thing I will never do is try to make my setup foolproof, such as limiting myself to one powder - until I become a fool anyways. I do however keep an uncluttered loading bench, with only one powder out at a time, and double check.
 
Re accidents

Being a carfull reloader since 1965 i"ve had a few close calls.
The worst one was when I went to sight in my 2 moose hunting rifles.
One was 30-06 the other was a .308 Win.
I test fired the 308: perfect 3" high @ 100 yds. put the gun away.
[ALL MY SHELLS WERE IN GREEN BOXES PROPERLY MARKED]
BUT I DID NOT NOTICE.]
Proceeded to test fire the 30-06.
The shot sounded funny & felt funny.
When I opened the bolt out came a .308 shell.
I had mistakenly put a 308 shell inthe 30-06.
The front part of the cartridge had blow off.
What I finnally did is sell the 30-06.
No matter how diligent and careful you areit could happen to you.
I'm relating this incident so that nobody else makes this mistake.
 
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