Yup. Having my gun tool box saved a range trip when I had a squib 9mm reload in a Glock 17.Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's
Second squib in thirty-five years of reloading was a lead bullet reduced load .44 mag in a M29. No tool box that day. Had to switch out to save the range trip.
Note to self. Don't reload when tired...
A squib or overcharge was my biggest fear getting back into reloading. I run a Hornady Powder Cop die between my powder measure/PTX and bullet feed die and find I can spot discrepancies >.1 grain pretty easily. It requires visual confirmation of the powder level indicator on each stroke however. I also run an Inline Fabrication Skylight LED light, so I can visually check the charges right before the case goes into the bullet feed die (in case I suddenly can't remember if I checked the Powder Cop on that case).
RCBS makes a similar powder charge check die, but I don't like it as well as the Hornady. However, RCBS also makes a lock-out die that will stop the press stroke if the powder charge in a case is off far enough. Since it's passive (no need to visually verify powder level on each stroke) I've been toying with the idea of trying it out. Unfortunately it is said to only work with straight wall pistol cartridges, whereas the Powder Cop can be used with almost any cartridge. The lock-out die is considerably pricier too at around $50. Cheaper than a barrel or trip to the E.R. I guess.
If your press setup allows for adding one, I highly recommend a powder check die. Puts my mind somewhat at ease, anyway.
ETA Dillon makes some fancy contraption that buzzes if your charge is off, but it only fits the 650/1050 presses.
Last edited by Rick_ICT; 03-13-2016 at 06:15 PM.
I use a Powder Cop too, and my experience has been similar to what you describe. I find it pretty easy to give it a quick glance to make sure it's telling me everything is ok with every downstroke of the handle. I bought it with my initial setup because I knew that moving to a progressive press meant that it'd be easier to screw stuff up and I wanted all the safety I could get. Having gotten some experience with the system under my belt, I don't feel like I get slowed down by having it there, so I see no real reason to remove it from the press. It does what it does quite nicely, and as you've said, it can enable you to detect some pretty small variations in charge weight, depending on what powder you're using. It's well worth the $30 or so it sells for.
When I qualified with my 340pd I would load some light loads. Like the guys could see the bullets go down range. Just as long as the bullets didn't bounce off the target kind of load. Anyway I had loaded 50 rounds of my light loads and had a bunch of squibs. I figured out that my power measure has a quirk in it that if it wasn't full of powder it won't throw the correct loads. I keep it full now.
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Until you get a bad primer. You can see the unburned powder granules- lots of em- behind that bullet base.
My money, in this incident, is on a poof primer.
Not trying to be confrontational here. But the fact remains that even the most conscientious reloader is very likely going to have something like this occur at some point. BB1's issue is just another of a long line of similar ones I know about and/or have experienced. Not often, mind you; but I've been reloading (with a few breaks), and been around other folks shooting reloads, since 1967.
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And as Jeep pointed out, running factory isn't foolproof.
Ignore Alien Orders
I don't know that it's powder. It's a plated bullet and I thought it was the plating.
I'm leaning strongly on it being a bad primer, though. This lot has been very inconsistent. The primers had gotten hot and the box had a bit of red in it. I think they may have gotten too hot, the primer compound melted, and some were tipped or tilted and didn't have as much primer compound left.
Heh....I've got a picture of my 442 in the exact same condition floating around the 'net somewhere.I took a brass piece to one of my cleaning rods and gently hammered the bullet back out. Lots of fun. Like you I could tell immediately that something didn't feel right. I was just about to break the next shot when I pulled off of the trigger.
I've never had so much as a hiccup with 9mm but .38 is a little tricky. It's a long casing for such a lightly loaded cartridge. It would be easy to both squib and double-charge a round. In your particular case it looks like there's a significant amount of unburned powder behind the bullet so I wonder if you simply didn't get full ignition for that round...
I don't see anything that could be construed as confrontational, and considering you have more experience reloading than I've got breathing, I'll defer to your experience.
My mind went to the powder charge because BBI mentioned his suspicion of his powder measure, I'm not really experienced enough to try to diagnose the issue from a photo. And I hope my first post didn't give the impression I was questioning anyone's conscientiousness. That wasn't the case at all.
In any event I think if a guy has an open station on his press, a powder check die is a worthwhile investment. As I said, it puts me a little more at ease, and I can sit back a little more to operate the press since I don't have to be hunched over it where I can see the the powder in each case.
In order to run all of the operations I want on my five stage though, I'm having to run a PTX die on my powder measure and a combo seating/taper crimp die. So there are definitely trade offs that have to be weighed if you don't have an open station. Not only do you have to buy the powder check die, you may have to replace other dies to free up a station.
I didn't think it looked like powder either, my first thought was "Why are there brass shavings around the base of the bullet?" Plating makes more sense.
How many more of those primers have you got? I think if not a whole lot, in your shoes I'd be thinking pretty hard about whether it's worth the risk to use them up or just destroy them and buy some fresh primers. I sure wouldn't be doing any rapid shooting with them if they were mine!
Last edited by Rick_ICT; 03-13-2016 at 10:44 PM.
None. They were a partial box that was left over from a run of .357 I made for a class last year, and they were old primers then. I've got maybe 50 loaded cartridges left in the box, and some are the old primers and some are new. I'm going to finish shooting them and then start refilling the box with new primer ones.
The only thing I'm shooting them in is my LCR. I made these with a tight crimp specifically for it, due to my standard medium load .357s jumping crimp, an issue they've never had in my larger revolvers. I'll be careful with them, and take my dowel with me, just in case.
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