BAD SCREW-UP

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OLDNAVYMCPO

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I've been reloading ammo since I was sixteen, I'm now 70+. Never had a squib, never had an over charge, only mistake I can remember is using too much sizing lube on rifle cases when I first started. However, yesterday I really screwed-up. Don't normally use Blue Dot, but nothing else was available at the LGS. Anyway, I'm loading .40 S&W with 180 RNFP copper plated bullets over 8 grs of Blue Dot except I misread the scale and I'm actually charging the cases with 6 grs. I don't notice the mistake until I've loaded 150 rounds. Got to pull 150 cases, feel like an idiot. Blame it on failing eyesight, senility, whatever, it really pi**es me off. It really hurts having to write this but maybe it will remind someone to double check, no triple check.
 
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The data I have lists a starting load of 6.4 gr. Blue Dot (850FPS) and a MAX. charge of 8.3 gr. Blue Dot (1,050FPS), for a similar 180-gr. projectile.

I would shoot one or two of those, before I pulled them.
They might work just fine from the 7-yard line. :)
 
SOONER OR LATER

An error is bound to happen, HOWEVER, according to hornady #8 manual a 180 gr fmj-fp starting load of blue dot is 6.4 gr's. SO if you are using a kinetic bullet puller I think I'd just use them for target. I wish an "error" like that was my worst mistake. I need to be careful with getting primers mixed up. Having ALL my primers in one drawer less than a foot from my press, many boxes look almost identical, fading eyesight, it's easy to get them mixed up. I had a bad primer in 9mm the other day, it might have been the first time ever. Adding powder to a dispenser that already has another brand in it, was a bad one & a shame to just chuck it. As I say all the time, the older we get the more expensive the mistakes/lessons become.
 
I would take a squib rod with me and head to the range for testing.
load one at a time for about 10 and make sure they are clearing the barrel each time
Then go have fun
worst case - you will have to rack the slide
Might even turn out to be a nice soft shootin' load
 
This is part of the reason I've started to use both a digital electronic scale and the beam scale. That little aluminum widget on the beam scale can get bumped and it's hard to see sometimes without your face being right up to it. But that LCD display on the electronic scale just tells you. And it helps to double check these things anyways.
 
Several years ago,I loaded up 100 rounds of 45 colt with .452 bullets only to learn my saa was chambered for 454.....I started dismantling them a couple of months ago with a kinetic puller..only 20 more to go [emoji29]
 
You caught it.............

That is the main thing, good for you and sorry about having to take that many apart but you might as well have "Correct loads" going down range than a "Almost" that might cause you problems.

I have gone down to 84% loads with that powder in a .357 but
the case shape and style may not work out in your caliber.

Always better safe than sorry.
 
It's not your fault it's Blue Dots. Stuff is evil Flaming Dirt!:D

Better in a semi auto than a revolver. It may not have cycled the gun so therefore the squib (if any) would probably have been noticed.

We have all messed up at some time. Even the guys that say they haven't;)
 
Why do you feel like an idiot? We all make mistakes, you are a member of a very large club, humanity! I love when someone else tells of their mistakes, I feel like I'm not alone then. You caught it before anything happened. That makes you a genius.
 
I too, had loaded for many years with nary a mistake. A couple years ago I picked up a 5" 629 and loaded up some Unique loads with a 250 SWC. I planned on 10.5 grains of the Unique, but mis-set my scales and loaded 15 grains! To say the load was rather stout would be quite the understatement. The first shot stung my hands a little bit but went dead center, I finished the cylinder thinking that this kicks harder than I remember my other 44's kicking. When I went to eject the empties I had to pound them out one at a time.

Needless to say there was no more shooting that day. Went home pulled a bullet and found my mistake.

Been reloading for 40 years and that was my first significant error so I guess I've done pretty good.
Oh, the 629 was no worse for the wear. I guess now its been proof tested.
 
You've been reloading for 54+ years and this has been your only real "screw up"?

Man... I'd gladly give up a testicle to be able to say that I've only made ONE real mistake in my 41 years of reloading.

Let's see, while at the range there's the discovered I seated a few primers backwards... I seated bullets on a couple of uncharged (primed only) cases... and my personal best, once while at a Cowboy Action Shooting match, discovered that I put .41 magnum hand loads in a .45 Colt marked plastic ammo box, and came up short for ammo for the match :eek::mad::mad:. I now color code my ammo by using different colored ammo boxes for the similar looking calibers that I load (.41 Magnum, .44 Magnum & .45 Colt).

And like others have said.... at least you caught it while at the bench.
 
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That's no thing. There's way too many "my gun blew up, my gun is faulty, it's not my reloads" threads lately.
 
I misread my scale once but caught it before seating any bullets. Only had to dump the powder in about 25 cases and start over. It happens sooner or later. Catching a mistake is always better than not catching it.
 
Like everyone else says, give them a try and see how they work,
you might be suprised and have a very nice shooting target load.
 
OP: Honestly, I might go ahead and try to shoot them . . . especially if all I had was a kinetic puller.

Or . . . because I misused, mis-set, and did not test my powder checking die, I wound up with 30 x .223 rounds with no powder at all. Having only a kinetic puller, I decided to use my press and a pair of pliers to pull the bullets. At $0.09 per bullet, the $2.70 cost wasn't worth spending the money on a collet puller.

Maximumbob54 said:
This is part of the reason I've started to use both a digital electronic scale and the beam scale. That little aluminum widget on the beam scale can get bumped and it's hard to see sometimes without your face being right up to it. But that LCD display on the electronic scale just tells you. And it helps to double check these things anyways.
Click to expand...
Personally, at my age, with my eyes, and my short-term memory, I came to feel very strongly about this. It took a few tries until I finally purchased a Chargemaster and an A&D digital scale that performed acceptably to me.

But the 5-0-5 is always right there and freshly calibrated as the final arbiter when the other two scales decide to disagree.
 
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I'd agree with the others and would just try shooting them, they might be fine for practice rounds.
 
If 8 grains can push a 150 grain slug out of a 30-06 , 6 will clear a 40 with near certainty.
Shoot close range, every bang must account for a hole.
It'll be far less painful to break them down this way, than any other means
 
You guys deserve an update. You bailed me out with your advice to test fire before I start pulling bullets. Just got back from the range, took 50 rnds, my MP40fs and a MP40c. The misloads fed thru the MP40fs without a hitch, the MP40c was a different matter. About 1/3 of the time it suffered a failure to fully return to battery. So I'll just shoot these other 100 rnds up in the MP40fs and be done with it, beats heck out of pulling 150 bullets. That's what I love about this forum, expertise and experience and special thanks to the member who sent the additional info via PM.
 
OLDNAVYMCPO said:
You guys deserve an update. You bailed me out with your advice to test fire before I start pulling bullets. Just got back from the range, took 50 rnds, my MP40fs and a MP40c. The misloads fed thru the MP40fs without a hitch, the MP40c was a different matter. About 1/3 of the time it suffered a failure to fully return to battery. So I'll just shoot these other 100 rnds up in the MP40fs and be done with it, beats heck out of pulling 150 bullets. That's what I love about this forum, expertise and experience> and special thanks to the member who sent the additional info via PM.
Click to expand...

Now ya gotta edit the thread title, it wasn't a "bad" screwup
 
Issues like this are why I believe that everyone should have a cheap digital scale. Mine is the 30 dollar Franklin Armory and it will start losing it's zero in less than a minute if the illumination is turned on. However if I turn it on and turn off the illumination it will hold zero long enough to pour a charge of powder into the tray to confirm I've set my Ohaus scale up correctly. It's also handy to confirm the bullet weight I'm loading matches what is on the box and what I believe I'm using. Basically this cheap digital isn't trustworthy enough to use for loading but it is good enough to provide confirmation that I haven't goofed in a big way. IMO there aren't ever too many Checks and Balances when it comes to reloading and a cheap digital can serve quite well to provide a quick secondary check.
 
When it comes to powder charging, double checking is the min. Read the data, read it again, then check the charge & check it again. Always make sure you have the right powder too. A ton of horror stories of guys KB guns with the right charge but the wrong powder.
 
I undercharged some 9mm once but not by much. So like you I gave 'em a run and they worked fine. It was only one box before I caught it and sure beats pulling! The fact that you discovered it at the bench and not at the range says you have pretty good habits. It can happen to any of us.:o
 
rwsmith said:
The best reloaders admit their mistakes so that others can be aware that things change over time, and that we need to be on our toes to prevent a serious error.
Click to expand...

Yes, such as the case mouth being a lot sharper than you think, when brought to bear against one's finger under the influence of the press.
Get your booger hooks off those things and let the shell holder do its job.
That one hurt like a Beyonce Knowles single. :eek:
 
scooter123 said:
Issues like this are why I believe that everyone should have a cheap digital scale. Mine is the 30 dollar Franklin Armory and it will start losing it's zero in less than a minute if the illumination is turned on. However if I turn it on and turn off the illumination it will hold zero long enough to pour a charge of powder into the tray to confirm I've set my Ohaus scale up correctly. It's also handy to confirm the bullet weight I'm loading matches what is on the box and what I believe I'm using. Basically this cheap digital isn't trustworthy enough to use for loading but it is good enough to provide confirmation that I haven't goofed in a big way. IMO there aren't ever too many Checks and Balances when it comes to reloading and a cheap digital can serve quite well to provide a quick secondary check.
Click to expand...

If you think a cheap one is handy, try one of the higher priced scales and use it as the primary. ;) I check my digital scale with check weights before and after loading. Always spot on, to the tenth of a grain. Use it for 10 minutes or 10 hours, no drift, no problems. I've been using the RCBS Chargemaster 1500 combo now for a number of years and can't find any fault with it.
 
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