Could Have Turned Out Worse

[Headhog]

I've been reloading for 40 plus years and in that time I've made a lot of mistakes. Most of them just careless mistakes and not serious. These resulted in damaged cases, bullets seated crooked and crumpling a case wall, but only once before did I over charge a case.

Back in the mid 80's I was reloading a lot of 38 spl. target loads with 2.7 gr. of Bullseye and 148 gr. wadcutters. Someplace along the line I accidentally double charged a case and when I fired that round I knew it immediately. Well that happened again today, but not in 38 spl., but 357 Mag. for my Big Boy Steel.

I was at the range today firing both my BBS in 357 Mag. and my Marlin 1894 in 45 Colt. I was finishing up my last reloaded 10 rounds of 357 Mag., when I squeezed the trigger on the third of these last rounds. The report and feel was entirely wrong and I knew something was amiss. i went to operate the lever to load the next round and the lever was firmly stuck in battery. I immediately unloaded the 7 remaining rounds from the magazine tube. I would not have been able to do this if it had been the Marlin that malfunctioned like this. (One of the pluses of not having a loading gate.)

After letting the BBS cool for about 15 minutes, with great difficulty, I was able to operate the lever and eject to fired case. The primer was completely blown out of the case and it was very obvious the case head was severely flattened. Afterward at home I took some measurements and the case rim measured 0.450" (max 0.440') and the primer pocket is 0.188" (should be 0.175").

The BBS appears to have sustained no real damage. I did test fire a few other 357 Mag. factory rounds I had and they functioned properly. I saved the remaining 7 rounds to disassemble and see if any of these are over charged. All of these rounds are loaded on my RCBS progressive press. At the time, I was having an issue with inconsistent overall cartridge length, and may have been distracted trying to fix this.

Range Picture

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Work bench bolt face imprint

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These are a few pictures of the fired case. The first picture was taken at the range immediately after I ejected the case. The second and third picture owe shot on my work bench. Note the enlarged size of the cartridge rim, primer pocket and flash hole.

[CT_Shooter]

Glad your story has a happy ending. Thanks for sharing it with us. There are several new reloaders here that will benefit from your experience and many more experienced reloaders who have just been reminded again of the importance of working without distractions.

I use a single stage press and now visually check each case after adding powder and before placing the bullet in the flare. It's a necessary step in my routine. I started doing this only after I once failed to add powder to a round, which resulted in a squib, another potentially life threatening event. Luckily, I could tell by the sound that something was wrong and didn't attempt another shot.

We need to be careful...very, very careful.

[Team Roper]

That's why I got rid of my Dillon 650.Now I have better hands and eyes on with each loaded round. BTY, I unload my Marlins by simply pushing in on the loading gate and each round pops out, one at a time. I don't lever the rounds out ever. Sometimes there are two of us hunting in my tower blind so it's safer that way. A lot of people think you have to cycle the lever to unload. I don't get it. Have they not even tried this simple procedure ? I hope you came out of that without leaving a mark. Like you, I have been handloading since 1970. I try not to get careless but lets face it, our old minds seem to wonder.

[Headhog]

That's why I got rid of my Dillon 650.Now I have better hands and eyes on with each loaded round. BTY, I unload my Marlins by simply pushing in on the loading gate and each round pops out, one at a time. I don't lever the rounds out ever. Sometimes there are two of us hunting in my tower blind so it's safer that way. A lot of people think you have to cycle the lever to unload. I don't get it. Have they not even tried this simple procedure ? I hope you came out of that without leaving a mark. Like you, I have been handloading since 1970. I try not to get careless but lets face it, our old minds seem to wonder.

Thanks for the insight. I'm and old shooter but very new to lever action rifles. On my next range trip, with my Marlin, I will try out you suggestion using the loading gate. I may be old but not too old to learn a new trick or two and always willing to listen to someone wiser than me.

Paul

[Cofisher]

Thanks for the story. I have never double loaded, but I have overloaded. Those rounds are waiting for disassembly. I miss read a loading page and went too strong. I have not attempted to fire any of those rounds , I’m not interested in that kind of failure. Glad you made it out of that one with no real damage.

[JEBar]

good to hear all's well and the fact that there was no damage to your Henry speaks well for it .... don't know if you are familiar with a Hornady Powder Cop die ====> https://www.amazon.com/Hornady-050063-P ... 137&sr=8-1 .... we ordered one to use with our multi stage press out of concern about being able to monitor individual case loads .... bottom line, if you keep an eye on it, it works as advertised .... it has notified us of more undercharges than overcharges ....

[Grunt67]

Another example of how things can go bad ( wasn't me ).

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[Headhog]

i don't know how you do something like that and I don't want to find out.

AMEN ....

[fortyshooter]

Another example of how things can go bad ( wasn't me ).

10422427_10152705376684091_3665239229202699174_n.jpg

What the heck happened there? Primer looks like it hasn't fired??

[Headhog]

good to hear all's well and the fact that there was no damage to your Henry speaks well for it .... don't know if you are familiar with a Hornady Powder Cop die ====> https://www.amazon.com/Hornady-050063-P ... 137&sr=8-1 .... we ordered one to use with our multi stage press out of concern about being able to monitor individual case loads .... bottom line, if you keep an eye on it, it works as advertised .... it has notified us of more undercharges than overcharges ....

I am familiar with the Powder Cop and In fact I have one in my die draw. I removed it from my progressive press when I needed to add the Lee Factory Crimp die for my 9mm reloads. I have been very lazy about returning that die to my press and now I see the results of not having it in place. It will be back where it belongs when I start the next batch of 357 Mag.

Paul

[fortyshooter]

Headhog...glad you survived that incident and that the Henry had a good strong bolt in it!

I use the Dillon 550 and have had no issues yet but you have to be careful if stop in the middle of a load sequence and make sure to recheck the powder load in the powder dump station. What load were you using in the .357 Magnum?

[Team Roper]

Another example of how things can go bad ( wasn't me ).

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Looks like somebody shot you with the wrong end of the cartridge or was that something from one of them VC booby traps.

[Grunt67]

Another example of how things can go bad ( wasn't me ).

10422427_10152705376684091_3665239229202699174_n.jpg

What the heck happened there? Primer looks like it hasn't fired??

Have no idea, Forty. Saw that on another forum a few yrs. ago & saved it. This topic made me think of it. Had to get caught in a press looks like.

[Rifletom]

Subjects like these always remind us to be diligent in our handloading. Glad everything worked out for the positive. Wow!

[BigAl52]

Im like Forty. Never had an issue with my Dillon Square Deals. But I stand up while loading and always am able to look down in that 3rd station where I can see if there is a double powder charge. Glad you and the gun are ok.

[Grunt67]

Another example of how things can go bad ( wasn't me ).

10422427_10152705376684091_3665239229202699174_n.jpg

Looks like somebody shot you with the wrong end of the cartridge or was that something from one of them VC booby traps.

Yep! The VC had some nasty booby traps. We ran across one now & then. Kept you on your toes, 24/7.

[Team Roper]

Another example of how things can go bad ( wasn't me ).

10422427_10152705376684091_3665239229202699174_n.jpg

Just curious, were you trying to center up the bullet on the mouth of the case and then inadvertently pulled on the handle with the slip? Because I have done that and each time it was a close call. I have since learned to slow waaaay dooown.
BTW, one of my primary jobs over there on my first tour was Point Man. Right off the bat, they put a machete and compass in my hands and told me to drive on. I was replacing the old PM who was just days short. He tried to tell me all about the booby traps. Those little black pajamas were a crafty bunch.

[BruniX]

Well, glad you stay safe out of that !
This is one of the major risks of reloading, it can happen even to experienced and skilled reloader.
This is also why I chose to work with a single stage press, at least for a few years...
This reassures me, with a systematic visual check of the 50 brass loaded, with a led lamp, before sitting on the bullet.
your story is very important, for newbies.
Lucky you don't use a handgun ...

BruniX

[Headhog]

Headhog...glad you survived that incident and that the Henry had a good strong bolt in it!

I use the Dillon 550 and have had no issues yet but you have to be careful if stop in the middle of a load sequence and make sure to recheck the powder load in the powder dump station. What load were you using in the .357 Magnum?

Forty - The load I was using was a 158 gr. Nosler jacketed hollow point bullet over 6.0 gr of TiteGroup. From the results there was something more than 6.0 gr. in that case. Last night I pulled apart the remaining 7 rounds from that batch and all were up to spec. So it appears that only the one round was over charged. Again my best guess was i did this when I was trying to resolve the inconsistent overall length issue. At the point I did this I already had the press full with cartridges in each station and there in is the problem. In hindsight I should have cleared the press of all but the one cartridge and proceeded to troubleshoot the problem. I've done that many time before, but was just too lazy and almost paid a very big price.

I have now resurrected my Hornady Powder Cop die, which has been in my die draw. This will be in the press and working for my future loads especially for the deep 357 Mag cases.

Paul

[runnin n gunnin]

Powder cop - Yup !, Low and Slow - Yup! Easy to get distracted - Yup !

I use the Hornady LNL progressive with case feeder, etc. I never liked the primer system, so I prime separately, load the primed cases in the feeder and it allows me to re-arrange my dies to include the powder cop.

I also have had to stop mid stroke and learned after double charging a case (that I fortunately caught at the time). From that point forward, if I have to stop to adjust, check, etc, I always remove the case under the powder drop and the case that was just charged, deal with whatever the distraction was, then proceed on.

Its easy to just pump out rounds without paying attention with a progressive press, so slower is faster. I always watch the powder drop and powder cop with each stroke and take my time. For me its therapy so I am in no hurry.