Don't make this mistake!!

[dcmdon]

I recently finished a complete tear down and refurbishment of my 15 year old Dillon RL 650. I was very careful putting te press together and on my first batch of ammo confirmed powder, primer and COAL.

All was good.
But a couple of days later something minor came up and I needed to remove teh powder measure. So I did what I had to do and put it back together and started making ammo.

I had pulled the handle a few times and noticed that I had forgotten to install the failsafe. So I dumped the 2 cases on the tool shellplate that had just been filled but didn't have a bullet.
One was 0.3 gr, the other was 4.1 gr. Out of a desired 4.6 gr. Hmm.

I had just made some squibs. Not a good thing.
Double check your COAL and powder after any change to the machine. Even minor changes. Don't be me. Although I did catch myself.

Also interesting. I brought the 4 made rounds to the range to see how quiet a squib would sound. I've had primers go off in my loading room and its LOUD. Really loud.

At HSC the other morning I squeezed off the first round. With plugs and muffs it sounded like a misfire. Racking the slide confirmed the bullet had left the case. A couple of taps with a brass rod popped the bullet out the breach end. The other 3 rounds were clearly lower pressure, but sent the rounds downrange.

The real lesson here was that a primer only squib, when shot with hearing protection on is VERY quiet. It really seems like just a misfire.

Unless you are in a firefight, fighting for your life, if you get a "misfire" ALWAYS ALWAYS. Stop and check the bbl for obstructions.

This includes in the middle of an IDPA or similar match. Its just not worth it.

 

[rep308]

And after you make your first reloading mistake you really start to pay attention. Ask me how I know....

 

[EddieA]

And after you make your first reloading mistake you really start to pay attention. Ask me how I know....

I'll bet I know how you know!

 

[rep308]

My dumbest mistake was trying to share one powder measure between my .357 and .45 die sets. After removing all the Blue Dot ( so I thought) from loading .357 I filled the measure with 321 for .45.

I shot the 200 gn SWC .45 loads through my chrony and the first one was at 1250 FPS (my Red dot target was 900). I swore at the "crappy" chrony and then shot two more 1200+ FPS shots until my brain kicked in.

 

[76Too]

I loaded a .45acp squib once. It took more than a couple of taps to dislodge the bullet from the lands in my 1911. Could have certainly ended very badly had I not noticed the lack of felt recoil.

I won’t have any more than a single beer now when I reload...it’s just not worth losing these fingers I‘be grown accustomed to using.

 

[Andy in NH]

Double check your COAL and powder after any change to the machine. Even minor changes. Don't be me. Although I did catch myself.

I do most of my reloading in the winter, so the press might lay idle for months at a time.
Even if its been just sitting there (and covered) for any extended time, I'll re check the amount of powder it drops.

 

[EddieA]

After loading 200 or so rounds of .45, I noticed that the powder measure drive arm had loosened and was not throwing a charge.
I habitually check my charges every 20 rounds or so, so not that many could have escaped unnoticed, but which ones were they in the overflowing "done" bin?
I tried weighing them, but didn't want to chance it.
Pulled them all, start again. I promise you, that mistake won't be made again!

 

[peterk123]

I always measure a few powder drops everytime i start. I also use a powder cop and i still measure a load after 20 or 30 rounds. Last thing i want is a squib... or a double charge.

 

[nutsym16]

I tell my wife that when she's reloading, she can't be texting on the phone with her sister.

 

[hv55maxx]

i don't have the powder check, but i put a small flashlight in the center hole to be able to see into cases. once measured, i eyeball what the powder level looks like in a case. has worked so far for me with no squibs or over/under charges. (obviously eyeballing wont tell me exact charge, but you'll know right away when something is off)

 

[WanMan99]

I started a routine after I had a squib on my 650. Whenever I am prepping for a batch run I always run 10 - 20 powder charges and weigh each one making sure the variation is never more than .1gr. After 50 cartridges I run 5x more just powder checks and then I go for volume if everything is checking out okay.
I always assume that the press is just waiting to screw me over....