beetle in case

[cracker57]

while loading up some 9MM for the cz today my powder checker went off. When I looked in the case i was sure my dillon 650 had thrown a double charge for the first time as the case was full. I poured the powder in the scale pan and it was spot on at 4.7 grains. there was a good size beetle in the case first time for me that has happened.

 

[Funflyer]

An organic wad you say

 

[lihpster]

Paul or Ringo?

 

[Doug M.]

The good news is that the system worked and you checked the cartridge.

 

[BC38]

I wonder how much difference it would make.

I know it would reduce space in the case, which would increase pressure.

BUT being organic matter - as opposed to metal - it seems like the bug would be pretty easily compressible and wouldn't raise the pressure that much.

Kinda like using polyfiber batting as a filler.

 

[MG-70]

While helping a friend move a few years back, we discovered a dried up rat inside a potato gun he had built for his kids. Of course, we took a little break, found some propellent, something to seal the PVC pipe with, and lit her up. I've never seen a rat fly so high!

 

[lihpster]

While helping a friend move a few years back, we discovered a dried up rat inside a potato gun he had built for his kids. Of course, we took a little break, found some propellent, something to seal the PVC pipe with, and lit her up. I've never seen a rat fly so high!

"Honey! Where'd you pack the hairspray?"

 

[MG-70]

"Honey! Where'd you pack the hairspray?"

Don't remember exactly what it was; but I think it was brake cleaner. His wife still complained, of course, but her heavy Chinese accent just made me laugh even harder. He's a 300LB+ good 'ole boy from Georgia.

 

[stansdds]

You found a beatle in a case? Must have been a pretty large case to contain one of the Beatles.


Just in case we have some youngsters here who do not understand the reference... I get that a lot these days.

 

[glowe]

You are lucky it was dead. Might have come out and bit you!! You might have turned into Beetle-Man as Peter Parker turned into Spider-Man!

 

[HorizontalMike]

Mee Too!

while loading up some 9MM for the cz today my powder checker went off. When I looked in the case i was sure my dillon 650 had thrown a double charge for the first time as the case was full. I poured the powder in the scale pan and it was spot on at 4.7 grains. there was a good size beetle in the case first time for me that has happened.

Funny that you just said this, as I also found a critter in one of my .223 primed brass yesterday. I was lucky because I was loading new brass and that made it easy to see down in the case as I was manually adding powder with a funnel. I ended up having to take a toothpick and pull out a very tiny and dead spider, that had taken up residence just prior to dying.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

In Ohio we have a wasp called a Mud Dauber, they normally build mud tunnels to lay their eggs and some spiders in. I had stored several hundred sized and cleaned 30-06 brass in my barn, inside zip-lock bags and forgot about the for years, the bags deteriorated and allowed the wasps to do their thing. I "RECLAIMED" the brass by wet tumbling. The mess and mud were amazing! The dead larva were purple and stained the brass and stainless pins. I took over a year of regular use to get the pins clean. I trashed that brass. Same thing happened to a few hundred 303 British, I used a narrow screw driver to grind out the mud and larva first, helped a lot!

Ivan

 

[max]

I had a similar instance last month with some tumbling media in the bottom of a 9mm case.

 

[JohnHL]

I wonder how much difference it would make.

I know it would reduce space in the case, which would increase pressure.

BUT being organic matter - as opposed to metal - it seems like the bug would be pretty easily compressible and wouldn't raise the pressure that much.

Kinda like using polyfiber batting as a filler.

Not to start a disagreement about bug guts. . .

But I would think that bugs (much like most other living creatures) are mostly water, and fluids are generally NOT compressible.

That beetles final act of defiance could have been blowing up the gun!

John

 

[mikerjf]

He was a Slug Bug!

 

[Spajohn]

A guy took his pocket watch to a local watch repair service, since it had suddenly stopped working.
When the watchmaker opened up the watch, a dead beetle fell out, and the watchmaker remarked, "Hm, no wonder it no work--- engineer dead."

 

[pasote]

neck brush

while loading up some 9MM for the cz today my powder checker went off. When I looked in the case i was sure my dillon 650 had thrown a double charge for the first time as the case was full. I poured the powder in the scale pan and it was spot on at 4.7 grains. there was a good size beetle in the case first time for me that has happened.

i bought some once fired brass from a brass company and I have found that several times. I have also found that in range pickup brass. That is why i run a brush full length into each case during my brass prep. Tedious but necessary

 

[gwpercle]

Inspect outdoor range brass pick ups carefully , over the years I have found a spider and some kind of ditr dauber / wasp that had holed up in a case left lying on the outdoor range !
And if your reloading bench is accessible to critters , keep all brass in containes with tight fitting lids , zip lock bags and tool boxes/ ammo cans with tight fitting lids ...creepy crawlers love to get into holes and places they don't belong .
Gary