A wise Man learns from his mistakes ...

[dogtag]

I once forgot the powder before ramming home the ball on my
Lyman Great Plains 50 Hawken. It was a real SOB getting the
thing out. It's a mistake you don't make twice, but it seems
just about everybody makes it - Once.
Another mistake I made once was with my Rolling Block. I had
loaded a bunch and was making sure they chambered as the cases
were "lathe turned" ( Oh, buying them was another mistake).
The rifle was in the cradle and on about the fifteenth fitting, it went
bang when I closed the breech. The bullet made a nice clean hole
in the door before burying itself in a hill. I hadn't realized the firing
pin was a free floater and if it got dirty, sticks out. I learned to keep it
nice and clean after that.
I went to my club way back when ready to have fun with my 71 Mauser
only to find I had forgotten to insert primers. While I was loading I got
a phone call which caused me to lose track. Won't do that again either.

[lyman]

local guy does a very nice long range percussion hunting rifle,

uses Smokeless,

he opened the action, put in a bullet,
got distracted, and then pushed in another bullet

the loaded and fired,

wrapped his hand up and ended up in the ER,
lost his index finger on his left hand,

had them sew it up so the scar was on the top of his hand, so he could go back to work ,,,,

[dryheat]

When I first started reloading I did a classic dumb thing. I missed putting powder in on case. When it came time to fire that one the primer had enough umph to push the bullet a couple of inches into the barrel. I always wondered if it had been a semi auto rifle if the case might have ejected and then somehow another rd. fired and blown the rifle up.

A buddy lost the tip of one finger a couple of weeks ago. He was messing around with a 1903 that was messed with. It had a unknown barrel. He test fired it and the case blew up and forced the blast out the hole on the side of the chamber. I don't know how his finger was there but it destroyed the tip. A lot of stitches and it's never going to be pretty again.

[barretcreek]

I still date redheads.

[dogtag]

Another mistake I made (Once) was full length sizing a case without lube.
If you've ever done that then you know what a pain in the arse it is getting the case out of the die.

[Merc]

I bought a pocket sized digital scale so that allows me to accurately measure the weight of each reloaded round. They should all be within a few grains of each other. It is my final QA procedure to make sure that I never accidentally double load or neglect to load the desired amount of powder in a case. Additionally, I never allow myself to be interrupted or distracted when reloading. It would be easy to lose track of what you are doing. It also helps to have written list of procedures taped to the wall.

I mentioned the following before, but it never hurts to bring this up again:

I recently saw what happened to a Remington 03-A3 that someone probably fired into an obstructed barrel. The chamber exploded and blew the right side out of the stock. The bolt and barrel were destroyed. This could have been the result of attempting to fire a powderless round where the primer had enough energy to propel the bullet a few inches into the barrel and was then followed by firing a fully loaded round.

Strangely, the rifle was totally destroyed but was for sale at an antique store in Gettysburg for $450.

[JOHN COOK]

Another mistake I made (Once) was full length sizing a case without lube.
If you've ever done that then you know what a pain in the arse it is getting the case out of the die

That?s pretty simple after you do it with a simple tool. Drill out primer pocket, tap with 1/4 x 20 tap. Place a piece of 1/2 inch pipe ,about 1 1/2 long, place over cartridge an Die, place a couple washers on a 1/4 -20 bolt and screw it in the cartridge, wrap die in leather pad place in vise , tighten up bolt and it will pull the cartridge out. You can buy this device but gunsmith showed me how. It woks ..

John in sc

[dogtag]

It was a long time ago, but I remember I used a propane torch.
Die turned a nice shade of black,

Don;t load or shoot any more.

[JOHN COOK]

It was a long time ago, but I remember I used a propane torch.
Die turned a nice shade of black,

Don;t load or shoot any more.

I had loaded hundreds of .38 specials and figured 25-06 would go as smooth as the 38s. I was loading for a custom built 25-06 built on Mauser action. Gunsmith purchased the die’s and sold me the powder and bullets. The very first case I ran through the FL die it stuck. Forgot to lubricate, and experienced my first stuck case. I had no idea what to do. Took it to gunsmith and he had a big laugh. He showed me tool you could purchase then he made one for me as I described. Even lubing I have stuck a few. You right, it ain’t a fun thing..

John in SC

[lyman]

I keep a small tin of Imperial Sizing die wax by the press,

keep a bit on my fingertips helps a lot,

[Mark in Ottawa]

I bought a pocket sized digital scale so that allows me to accurately measure the weight of each reloaded round. They should all be within a few grains of each other. It is my final QA procedure to make sure that I never accidentally double load or neglect to load the desired amount of powder in a case. Additionally, I never allow myself to be interrupted or distracted when reloading. It would be easy to lose track of what you are doing. It also helps to have written list of procedures taped to the wall.

I mentioned the following before, but it never hurts to bring this up again:

I recently saw what happened to a Remington 03-A3 that someone probably fired into an obstructed barrel. The chamber exploded and blew the right side out of the stock. The bolt and barrel were destroyed. This could have been the result of attempting to fire a powderless round where the primer had enough energy to propel the bullet a few inches into the barrel and was then followed by firing a fully loaded round.

Strangely, the rifle was totally destroyed but was for sale at an antique store in Gettysburg for $450.

I just learned something new. It had never occurred to me to weigh the finished reloaded round. I always look into the case before putting in the bullet to see if the powder is all at the same level but weighing the cartridge is probably a better solution

[dogtag]

I used to use Pam (Safeways version) to lube cases.
Messy but cheap. Clean the die and wash cases in hot water.

[Merc]

I just learned something new. It had never occurred to me to weigh the finished reloaded round. I always look into the case before putting in the bullet to see if the powder is all at the same level but weighing the cartridge is probably a better solution

Glad to help. A large part of my career was centered around QA and how to form procedures that insure 100% compliance. Something as potentiallly dangerous as the reloading process is an ideal candidate for a final safety inspection. As much attention as I try to pay to the reloading process, I just do not trust myself to be right 100% of the time. Since I have seen first hand what can happen to a rifle when a mistake is made, a cheap little digital scale that I bought many years ago on Amazon seems like the ideal solution to prevent a mistake from happening that will destroy an expensive rifle and put me in the hospital.

[barretcreek]

On progressive presses a 'lock out' die can be used to detect an improper low/high powder charge in a case. Batch loading set up protocols which may slow down the process but make improper charges less likely.

[Merc]

On progressive presses a 'lock out' die can be used to detect an improper low/high powder charge in a case. Batch loading set up protocols which may slow down the process but make improper charges less likely.

As long as it is a 100% safe guard, you are good to go. Anything less than 100% raises the possibility of an explosive hazard and should be safety checked.

[Merc]

50032

50033

One photo of my M1903 Greek return shows a repaired 03-A3 stock. The second photo shows the last 4 digits of two different serial numbers indicating the stock was used on two different rifles. The patch in the damaged area is in the exact same spot as the 03-A3 I saw in Gettysburg that was blown up. The Greeks salvaged the stock so it could be reused on another rifle and did a good job on the repair.