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Thread: You know you really screwed up when...

  1. #1
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    You know you really screwed up when...

    This almost sounds like the start of a redneck joke: You know you are a redneck when... Well bubba this is my bubba moment. Feel free to add your bubba moments since we can all learn from our own and each others mistakes.

    2 days ago I reloaded about 113 rounds, it's normally not a heck of a lot of rounds buttttttt.... Oh man did I really screw up.

    Specifics: 45acp, 230 gn FMJ round nose and 230 gn JHP, Using CFE powder, 2 types of primers (Winchester and Federal... I prefer the federal. I think the Winchester messed up my primer feed and I had to fix it). Using a Dillion SDB (square deal B progressive press). I have an electronic scale, caliper and a Lyman 45acp cartridge gauge.

    I decided to reload at max powder for my reloads. I goofed. I went to 6.9 gn's (max according to Hodgdon is 6.8 of the CFE). EHHH! not that far off but not what I wanted, especially for a 1911 and also a Shield 45. Second issue which is even a bigger issue with me and that is I did my JHP first and I did not reset my die to change me COL for my FMJ round nose. What that ended up doing was setting my depth on my round nose to about 1.285 which is above the saami spec of 1.275. I like to keep my round nose at about 1.245 to 1.25 and my JHP to around 1.225 to 1.235. I am so far off and with the charge in my rounds over the max I am upset with myself

    What to do, what to do. I start pacing and find the bottle of pepto. Now a half bottle of pepto. I wanted to trash my work, the work that I was so happy with a few minutes before. What to do...

    I decided to pull every single freaking one instead of shooting them. I honestly thought that my Frankford kinetic bullet extraction tool would break long before I removed 113 bullets. I am now very impressed with that tool. It took forever and my wife
    yelling at me for 2 days but it is done and all have been removed. It was so loud I had to wear my shooting muffs. Neighbors who came by asked what I was doing. I told them I was checking for duds. The look was priceless.

    My JHP's were proper COL but I wanted to reset the charge so I did pull them too.

    Moral of this stupid screw up is: STOP, THINK, CHECK, RECHECK, RECHECK again, ASK YOURSELF WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND RECHECK AGAIN, on each stage. Or you too may have to scare the hell out of your neighbor by letting them think you are testing your ammo for duds.

    Just 2 things. Not reseting my COL and goofing on my powder charge.

    Jim

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Ancient1 View Post
    What that ended up doing was setting my depth on my round nose to about 1.285 which is above the saami spec of 1.275. I like to keep my round nose at about 1.245 to 1.25 and my JHP to around 1.225 to 1.235. I am so far off and with the charge in my rounds over the max I am upset with myself
    The charge was a problem and you did the right thing to fix it. But if I'm reading this correctly, then the FMJ rounds are longer than you wanted. You should have been able to adjust the seating die to the shorter depth and run them all through it again.


    Okie John
    Last edited by okie john; 04-02-2019 at 02:43 PM.
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  3. #3
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    Unhappy

    Quote Originally Posted by okie john View Post
    The charge was a problem and you did the right thing to fix it. But if I'm reading this correctly, then the FMJ rounds are longer than you wanted. You should have been able to adjust the seating die to the shorter depth and run them all through it again.


    Okie John
    Hi Okie John,
    Yes they are longer. I will be resetting the die for a COL of about 1.25 on the FMJ on my reload of that brass. The goof on the size was because I was stupid and did not change the setting after I did my JHP reloads. I was not going to run them through with the extra powder in them, so I had to pull the bullets to make sure I had the correct powder level and not just reseat the bullet.

    Jim

  4. #4
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    You are using best practice technique. You may or may not know that you can tune take further steps to make certain that the Dillon measure is throwing your selected load. Throw 10 charges in the scale pan and weigh them and divide by 10. If the average hits your selected load, that's great. If not, adjust. There's nothing wrong with an electronic powder scale. However, you should have an older balance type to verify readings.

    As we all are aware, as the bullet is seated deeper, pressure increases. The longer oal in the first batch would have decreased pressure slightly. Yes, you followed correct procedure. Had you not in this instance, the extra .1 grain would not have been an issue. I'm talking shop but not saying you should have done differently. To some extent oal numbers are nominal meaning that small variations are insignificant. Adjust to accommodate pistol or pistols used.

    The biggest problem that you might have is insufficient grip or bullet pull. Desired case tension on the bullet prevents setback which can occur during round's trip from mag to chamber. Take one loaded round and chamber it. Measure and repeat. You may see setback. Four factors affect case's grab on the bullet. They are case wall thickness, bullet diameter, case expander diameter, and taper crimp die setting. A simple solution if you have issues is using cast bullets and specifying .452 diameter. Too, you will notice that some case brands and even some lots within brands vary.

    If I have said anything of value, perhaps the most significant is suggesting that you have and use a traditional balance type scale to verify the other's readings. Also there is a technique for using the electronic one. Unless you verify powder measure settings and their output, then you really do not know the exact charge being dumped in your cases. When using powders with faster burning rates like Bullseye, Win 231, Red Dot, and others, having this information is important.

  5. #5
    Member GuanoLoco's Avatar
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    For jacketed bullets I'd suggest investing in a collet bullet puller. These don't really work for polymer-coated bullets though.

    You think 113 bullets is bad? Try making a mistake with a Mark 7 / 1050 combination. Like, pulling off the failsafe rod to check powder drop, then forgetting to re-attach it, then loading a few hundred rounds without powder. Then dumping those squib loads into a container of good loads. Oh yea, polymer-coated bullets, so only an inertial puller will do.

    I bet I have THOUSANDS of rounds that need to be pulled that I've accumulated over the years - and zero motivation to pull them.
    Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Doodie Project?

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by GuanoLoco View Post
    You think 113 bullets is bad? Try making a mistake with a Mark 7 / 1050 combination. Like, pulling off the failsafe rod to check powder drop, then forgetting to re-attach it, then loading a few hundred rounds without powder. Then dumping those squib loads into a container of good loads.
    To err is human, to REALLY screw up requires a 1050 connected to a Mark 7!!

    My story is much more civilian, but way back before the earth cooled, all I had was a Rockchucker. I loaded a "huge" quantity of like 350 .357 rounds using some bullets that were apparently, based on the position of their crimp groove, 38 Special specific, and they were flat out too long to fit in my Security Six or my dad's Python. Fortunately they fit in a friend's L-Frame (I think...) and we just took turns blasting at cans on the backstop.

    Quote Originally Posted by GuanoLoco View Post
    I bet I have THOUSANDS of rounds that need to be pulled that I've accumulated over the years - and zero motivation to pull them.
    Maybe someday you will have a young protegee who might want to for a share of the components

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by GuanoLoco View Post
    For jacketed bullets I'd suggest investing in a collet bullet puller. These don't really work for polymer-coated bullets though.

    You think 113 bullets is bad? Try making a mistake with a Mark 7 / 1050 combination. Like, pulling off the failsafe rod to check powder drop, then forgetting to re-attach it, then loading a few hundred rounds without powder. Then dumping those squib loads into a container of good loads. Oh yea, polymer-coated bullets, so only an inertial puller will do.

    I bet I have THOUSANDS of rounds that need to be pulled that I've accumulated over the years - and zero motivation to pull them.
    Fuuuuck that. I've got a handful or two of bad loads that I keep meaning to pull...maybe next year.
    #RESIST

  8. #8
    Member GuanoLoco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mmc45414 View Post
    To err is human, to REALLY screw up requires a 1050 connected to a Mark 7!!

    My story is much more civilian, but way back before the earth cooled, all I had was a Rockchucker. I loaded a "huge" quantity of like 350 .357 rounds using some bullets that were apparently, based on the position of their crimp groove, 38 Special specific, and they were flat out too long to fit in my Security Six or my dad's Python. Fortunately they fit in a friend's L-Frame (I think...) and we just took turns blasting at cans on the backstop.


    Maybe someday you will have a young protegee who might want to for a share of the components
    I'd gladly GIVE them all to anyone willing to pull them. Shipping isn't really an option.
    Last edited by GuanoLoco; 04-03-2019 at 12:21 PM.
    Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Doodie Project?

  9. #9
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    Or hear a pop instead of a bang..forgot the WST in that case.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by deputyG23 View Post
    forgot the WST in that case.
    Would seem like that got at least a little in it, that woulda been an ambitious primer

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