Safe Reloading Practices

[kbm6893]

I've been reloading for only 2 years and only load .38 Special and 9MM. I am super cautious, weighing every charge. On another forum, a guy literally blew up his revolver. He said he weighed every charge and he loads on a single stage press. As I understand it, only way to do that is either over-charge the case, or have too much pressure. Here's my routine:

I load on a single stage press. I have brass primed and ready for powder in a bin under my bench. I do not load more than 50 rounds a time. Here's my routine:

50 primed cases in red loading block, primers facing up. Green loading block standing by for charged cases.

Drop powder. Weigh every charge on beam scale. As scale is settling, remove one case and inspect for cracks (already inspected before sizing and priming, but as I said I triple check everything).

Place case upside down in funnel (to double check there is no powder in there), and once weight is confirmed, drop powder into case and place in the green loading block.

Inspect with flashlight all 50 cases with powder. Once confirmed, seat bullets. Check every 3 with calipers to be sure they are proper OAL (with 9MM only. Revolver ammo I just seat to the cannelure).

Crimp cartridges and dump into completed rounds bucket.

I know I will never load too light or too heavy cause I check every round. I load middle of the road, too. 9MM calls for a max charge of 4.9 grains of 7625, I load 4.6 grains. COAL is never off by more than 3/1000's of an inch (recipe called for OAL of 1.150 and my rounds falls between 1.147 and 1.150.

Can't be more careful than I am.

So sticking to this routine (and I always will. I'm not looking to load in quantities. happy with 100 rounds a weekend), I should be good, correct?

I've fired probably 1000 rounds of my reloads since I started. other than a few rounds that required another strike to fire, probably because I didn't seat the primer deep enough in my early loads, I've never had an issue.

 

[glenwolde]

Sounds good to me. In those cases where a gun was blown and the detailed reloading procedures were listed they quite often skip the inspection of all the loaded cases in the block. I remember specifically one where he was using an expensive automated scale and would charge the case and immediately hand seat a bullet. Somehow he got distracted and double charged a case.

Using a powder that more than half fills the case is good too, but while that's easy in 9mm it's a lot harder to do with most revolver cartridges.

I think your procedure is good. All you have to guard against is complacency. I use a progressive now, but I used to keep a little timer on my reloading bench. I'd set it for a minute and would inspect my cases in the loading block until it went off. It's surprising how long a minute is.

 

[Road_Clam]

I've gotten myself into a routine to wear a LED head lamp and verify each powder drop. I've read a few obscure cases of "my gun blew up" and i often wonder exactly how and why this could be a result of a "double" charge. I load .40 s&w and 9mm and your average 5.5 grain charge almost filles the case. I like to visually look inside the case and verify the correct charge. By design it's impossible for my LEE Pro Auto Disc to throw a double unless the user for some reason cycles the powder drop stage twice. So if I see the powder level about 1/8" below the top of the casing, i'm all good to seat the bullet. This is one of the reasons I like my LEE classic turret. I'm still in a learning curve with handgun loading and with a turret I can stay focused on each individual operation and easily spot an issue.

 

[AveragEd]

It would be great if every handloader followed a procedure like yours. Thank you! After listening to some of the things others do at their reloading benches (rely on bushing charts instead of a scale, mix powders and interpolate data when the powder they want to use is not listed for their cartridge), I often have wished they would wear a sign while shooting reading, "Ballistics experiment in progress - stand clear!"

Ed

 

[sarg1c]

An under charge is far more dangerous than an overcharge . Wrong or mixed charge is far more dangerous than an undercharge. Alway, as others have stated, check all cartridges in the loading block with a light before seating the bullets....It is hard to overcharge a 9 mm case. .38 special yes it can happen.

 

[sarg1c]

Safety when loading is very important. I always load off by myself away from kids, tv, and distractions when loading rifle cartridges after loading pistol ammo,be sure dropper is emptied..

 

[johnnyflake]

All those different steps to prevent a bad/double powder charge are good, however, the single most important step, a critical step, is to visually check every casing, just before seating the bullet. I also only load 50 rounds at a time. Back in the day, I use to weigh the powder for every round, which is IMHO, a huge waste of time! Any quality powder dispenser, once set, will continue to drop the same charge over & over.

The most important thing you can do, without question, is to visually inspect each casing with a flashlight. It takes less than a minute, to carefully inspect a 50 round block of loaded casing. If you have a double or even a missed charge, that's is where you'll spot it!

 

[Clovishound]

I would agree with a previous poster, weighing every charge for target ammo is overkill. Without a doubt checking every charge is a must. Either visually, or using a powder check die, which is only convenient on a turret or progressive press.

Having said that, if it gives you peace of mind, have at it. It certainly won't hurt anything. I might suggest that if you insist on weighing every charge, but want to speed things up, get an electronic scale. Use your beam scale to insure your electronic is accurate. I use an electronic scale. I tare out the primed empty case, throw the powder, then put the case back on the scale. It will read out the charge. Very quick.

 

[venomballistics]

Stick with slow burn rate powders until you have ironed out all the quirks of your gear.
These will forgive a little runout while you address issues with scales and powder measures.

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

I always check the case, even though I seat the bullet right after charging. Last Summer I replaced several of the shop lights, including the one over my reloading bench, with LED lights. Using 4.gr's of W231 in my 38's can leave too much room for a mistake in my book. I just have an aversion to having open cases of powder in the block. I am never in a hurry and for the most part do my reloading in the Winter thus plenty of time to shoot in the Spring, Summer, & Fall. I clean my brass after every couple of shooting session and put it up for the next Winter. This has worked for the last several years so no reason to change. I simply NEVER take anything for granted.
Also, while weighing every charge may be overkill, with my RCBS charge Master, the next charge is already been done while I have seated the bullet for the last round. JMHO

 

[twodog max]

For the most part you have good procedure. For most ball or smaller flake pistol powder I only weigh to set the powder measure and then check the throw every 20-25 throws. I do CAREFULLY visually inspect each charged case in the block before bullet seating.
I used to have a progressive machine but sold it. I never could get used to not being able to easily visually inspect the charged case. I shot thousands of rounds loaded on it but just never got comfortable.
I only weigh each charge for extruded rifle powder.

My 2 cents worth.

 

[otisrush]

IMHO you have a very well thought out process. I like the multiple loading block scenario. I do something similar. Have the difference between where primed cases are picked up from be entirely different than where charged cases are placed.

I'd be a little cautious with a statement "Can't be more careful than I am." One never knows where Murphy will arrive.

Three things I do I thought I'd share:
* I once mis-set my balance beam scale. Weighing stuff (whether every charge or a periodic sampling) does no good if the scale is set wrong. Fortunately when I mis-set mine I went low - setting it for 2.8gr rather than 3.8gr. (I use a single stage press and after my powder measure is throwing correctly I check every 10 cases to be sure things aren't moving. As I went through my process I was confirming what I thought was 3.8gr; but in reality I was confirming 2.8gr.) I caught it before I'd seated bullets. As a result I made a set of tables shown in the pic. I printed them out and I hung them by my scale. So when I set my scale and I think the powder measure is right I'll dial the scale up for 2x or 3x charges then I'll throw the appropriate number of charges in the pan and see if it comes out right.
* I try to do a semi-continuous scan through the whole charging/seating process. Is the scale right? Am I using the right powder? Etc. (This is how I caught the mis-set scale described above.)
* I *LOOK* into the cartridge before placing powder in. I confirm I can see the primer from the inside. Once I had tumbling media caked in the bottom of the case and when I turned the case over nothing came out. But when I charged the case (.223 - so >50% case fill) powder spilled all over the place. But it would be easy to get a squib if there was some residue of something in front of the primer but behind the powder.

OR

 

[federali]

Can't be Too Safe

Your reloading procedure is a very wise one. When using my single stage RCBS Rockchucker, I too verify each charged case before seating bullets. On my Dillon progressive, I verify each charged case as it leaves the charging station.

One word of caution: I used to put my charged cases into a loading block, front to back. I was nearly finished with charging when I jostled my own arm against something and spilled a charged case over a block full of charged cases. Needless to say, I had to dump all the charges and start over again. Since then, I place charged cases in the loading block, back to front.

 

[AveragEd]

I used to have a progressive machine but sold it. I never could get used to not being able to easily visually inspect the charged case.

I have Dillon's Powder Check System on my XL650. While it won't tell you a charge is a grain light or heavy, it will sound an alarm in the presence of a no-charge or double-charge.

I also saw a photo on the Internet of a 650 with a mirror installed in place of the Powder Check System that was angled so the operator could see down into each case. I don't know that I would want to reload without one of those safety nets, not so much for double-charges for I don't see how that could happen unless the operator removed and replaced cases in the wrong order but for no-charges and the risk of a bullet stuck in a bore.

Ed

 

[Clovishound]

My powder check die will show over/under charges of far less than 1 grain. It's not automatic. You have to set the die so that it "zeroes" out at the proper charge. You then have to look at the die on the top of the stroke each and every case after charging. If you are running mixed headstamps, you will get some false positives as case capacity may differ some with a few headstamps. I've not had to spend a lot of time checking false positives with this. From experimentation I have concluded that I can identify an over/under much more accurately and precisely with a powder check die, than by eyeballing them in a block.

Again, they work well on turrets and progressives, not really appropriate for SS.

 

[Twoboxer]

. . . I know I will never load too light or too heavy cause I check every round. . . .

So sticking to this routine (and I always will. I'm not looking to load in quantities. happy with 100 rounds a weekend), I should be good, correct? . . .

And as long as you actually do that . . . almost no matter how you do that . . . you will be fine.

Many folks think they have checked every round appropriately . . . right up until the time some distraction, malfunction, brain fart, or other begins the chain of events leading to a problem.

To me, the best element to add is to choose a powder that makes it impossible to dangerously over- or double-charge . . . or at least extremely difficult not to notice when trying to seat a bullet.

 

[kbm6893]

I forgot to mention that before every session I make sure the scale is accurate with a 5 grain check weight, then take that off and put the empty pan on there, and make sure it is zeroed at zero.

As for electronic scale, I had one and it wasn't consistent enough. And the 7625 I am using drops dead on at 4.6 every time. Still, I'm in no rush so I weight every charge. The weights are already set to 4.6 so when I drop the powder into the pan and put it on the scale, it goes right to dead center. Yes, I know I am probably wasting time weighing every one, but it gives me peace of mind and I am in no rush.

Also, my loading bench is actually 2 right next to each other, so the green one is on the bench right next to the main one(they touch so it's only about 2 feet from the scale to the green block. Just a simple turn of the body. Never dropped one yet, but if I do, I'll just drop more powder.

As for double filling, until the powder is about to go into the case, they are primer side up, either in the block or the funnel. No chance of them having powder in them. When I go to dump I look into the case anyway to make sure it's empty.

As for Murphy's Law, those are rules I live by, and my last name IS Murphy!

 

[elpac3]

Load with a single stage press.

When loading pistol I will generally check powder weight every 5th load.

Once I pick up a primed case, I powder charge then immediately seat the bullet. That way there is no possible way to throw a double charge.

Once all the rounds in the block have been seated I go back and crimp the rounds.

 

[arjay]

I batch loaded for years using a powder measure and weighing every tenth charge,then I'd inspect the block of cases before seating bullets.That was until I made a pair of squibs.Those two empty cases obviously didn't register and I saw what I expected to see. Now I dump the powder in the case,look in there to make sure and seat a bullet.

 

[Rule3]

If you do not need mass quantities of ammo then your stated method is about as good as it gets, I load 308 rifle pretty much the same way but have faith in my RCBS powder measure that once set it delivers the same charge every time. I do random checks by weighing a charge every so often.

The two loading block method is the same

For handgun I have faith in my Turret press and the powder measure and use medium to slow powder so a double charge would readily be noticed, but I am still checking while it is on the press before seating the bullet.

You are doing well Grasshopper