Blew up my 629 today..embarrassed

[BE Mike]

Love to see the old wives tales surface when a gun goes kaboom. I've used Bullseye for the vast majority of my reloading over the more than 40 years that I've engaged in the hobby. That being said, most of it was for light target loads. For the past couple of decades most of my loading has been on Dillon Progressive presses. I usually use higher volume powders for higher velocity loads magnum pistol cases. Last night however, being that powder is so hard to find, I loaded up some mild magnum .357 mag. cartridges with Alliant Bullseye. I was using my single-stage press and measuring each powder drop with my Lyman DPS III. I was using a loading block with 50 cases. I always check my powder levels in each case, visually. I spotted a double charge! I emptied the case and put in the correct amount and visually inspected the cases again. If I hadn't done that, I would have ended up with a revolver that looks like the OP's! A charge of over 11.0 grains of Bullseye in a .357 case under a 158 grain bullet would have made a mess of my revolver and maybe me. There is a quote from the flying world that applies to reloading. "Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect." Maybe I'll print out that and post it above my reloading bench with "Reloading" in the place of "Aviation".

 

[rburg]

Our department had a man who started reloading on a Star Progressive reloader. It took him a while to get to know it.


the chief ordered me to go buy all that ammo back and destroy it!!

Have shot thousands of rounds and not one hot load!! Free ammo with a little risk.

I still have about 500 rounds left but working at destroying one round at a time.

I see you're not good at following orders either. As I was approaching retirement, they hired my replacement. They wanted both of us in the building, just in case. But I had a thing about him being allowed to succeed or fail on his own (he's pretty good). So they began assigning me random minor projects. I guess it was because they had a misguided trust in me. So I was assigned the job of supervising throwing away all the owners old stuff that he no longer wanted. OK. He had a bunch of stuff. And along about the second day we found a box of old, framed documents. And much of it was just junk. But then I came up with his fathers medical degree. Nope, that's a keeper. Along with his commission into the Air Force. Then the best of all, his "Mach Busters" certificate, the one they awarded in the 1950s when a pilot broke the sound barrier.

So I wandered his office (open door policy, kind of). And I handed him the MD degree. He kind of grunted and said just toss it all out. Even the good stuff. And how I was lousy at following orders. So I handed over his Commission, which really lit his eyes up. And he grunted at me. Not only can't I follow orders, sometimes I have "good" judgement. So he was kind of resigned to me winning another round. And he said "what else you got there?" You should have seen is face when he realized it was the Mach Buster. He said he'd been looking for that since he moved back 25 years earlier. Then he tossed me out of his office. Told me to just go ahead and do what I pleased, since I was going to anyway.

Something our military never understood. You don't hire people with good judgement and then prevent them from ever using it. Once you've got someone who makes good decisions, you assign them a project that requires the skill, and let them go. And the opposite is true also. When you hire a screwup who can't do anything right, don't trust them to suddenly begin doing things right.

I know, in the above quoted part, the decision wasn't for company or department benefit, it was for personal benefit. And I'd have done the same thing.

 

[rburg]

Our department had a man who started reloading on a Star Progressive reloader. It took him a while to get to know it.


the chief ordered me to go buy all that ammo back and destroy it!!

Have shot thousands of rounds and not one hot load!! Free ammo with a little risk.

I still have about 500 rounds left but working at destroying one round at a time.

I see you're not good at following orders either. As I was approaching retirement, they hired my replacement. They wanted both of us in the building, just in case. But I had a thing about him being allowed to succeed or fail on his own (he's pretty good). So they began assigning me random minor projects. I guess it was because they had a misguided trust in me. So I was assigned the job of supervising throwing away all the owners old stuff that he no longer wanted. OK. He had a bunch of stuff. And along about the second day we found a box of old, framed documents. And much of it was just junk. But then I came up with his fathers medical degree. Nope, that's a keeper. Along with his commission into the Air Force. Then the best of all, his "Mach Busters" certificate, the one they awarded in the 1950s when a pilot broke the sound barrier.

So I wandered into his office (open door policy, kind of). And I handed him the MD degree. He kind of grunted and said just toss it all out. Even the good stuff. And how I was lousy at following orders. So I handed over his Commission, which really lit his eyes up. And he grunted at me. Not only can't I follow orders, sometimes I have "good" judgement. So he was kind of resigned to me winning another round. And he said "what else you got there?" You should have seen is face when he realized it was the Mach Buster. He said he'd been looking for that since he moved back 25 years earlier. Then he tossed me out of his office. Told me to just go ahead and do what I pleased, since I was going to anyway.

Something our military never understood. You don't hire people with good judgement and then prevent them from ever using it. Once you've got someone who makes good decisions, you assign them a project that requires the skill, and let them go. And the opposite is true also. When you hire a screwup who can't do anything right, don't trust them to suddenly begin doing things right.

I know, in the above quoted part, the decision wasn't for company or department benefit, it was for personal benefit. And I'd have done the same thing.

 

[jt1]

I have my fingers, my hearing, and a little less pride. It's all good. And if I can pass along anything to help others even better.

Dutch-

Several years after this started, I'm glad to see you're still loading your ammo, and still shooting, despite a bad experience.

Good Job, Sir.

john

 

[Maximumbob54]

Short story time. I loaded up a smallish batch of .38 special and at the range discovered that somehow I had loaded up several squibs. (groan) I had been trying to develop a real powder puff mouse fart type load for someone and wanted to test them out. I knew I was heading in the direction of stuck bullet territory so I wanted to be sure they weren't that light. I fired off a cylinder full and thought I must have lost count on the last one as it was a click no bang. I ejected the empties and didn't think much of it. As I was swinging the refilled cylinder closed again I saw the backside of a bullet lodged in the forcing cone of the bore. Yowza. Had I pulled the trigger again there is the chance that mouse fart or no I could have done some serious damage. With the double hearing protection on I didn't even hear the primer pop. So going back in time a few years to the OP's first posting of the kaboom I'm wondering if this maybe is what happened to him???

 

[daniel lawecki]

I've loaded about 400 rounds with Tite Group on my progressive press. The load is near max with a cast bullet but I don't ever load with out a powder cop die. On single stage presses and using loading blocks you MUST inspect every case before seating a bullet. Under charge or no charge is just as dangerous as over charging or double charging. I like using slow burning powders but they are not always found.

 

[eliduc]

i've been reloading for only five or six months. I started using a Dillon 550 that my son bought. I've got to say I don't think it's a safe machine for a beginner. I kept having trouble with the primer feed for whatever reason. It would work good for awhile and then not. I got pretty good at clearing the primer bar. But any distraction in reloading or a break in sequence is dangerous. For me the only safe way to to resume was to clear the shell plate of all cartridges, dump the powder and start over. I became so paranoid, partly from reading reloading threads that I started weighing all my finished bullets. It gave me a little peace of mind but was hardly a fail safe method and defeated the purpose of a progressive press. Then my son moved and took his press. I replaced it with a Lee Classic Turret. At the same time I bought the RCBS Lock Out die and Cowboy Seat/Crimp die. It was the best thing I could have done. The lock out die won't prevent an over charge but it does lock up the press with a squib charge or double charge. I first started loading 9mm with Bullseye because that was what I could get. Even with a flashlight it wasn't visible in the case on the Dillon. I am presently loading for a 38 special with 4.2 grains of WSF with a 158 lrfn.It's a nice target load for my gun but I still can barely see the powder in the case if I tilt the case under a strong light and put on my glasses. Unique has a starting load of 3.5 gr but is coarser than the WSF. Accurate # 5 has a starting load of 5.1. None of these loads are going to be visible in the 38 cartridge in the press. When my lock out die keeps going swish, my powder die keeps throwing accurate charges when I weigh them and the oal is 1.44 it's a good feeling. The auto index makes it almost impossible to double pump a charge. I am perfectly satisfied to chug along on my turret press and turn out 100 bullets at a time which takes me about 40 minutes. We have a free range on BLM land behind my house and I can shoot every day if I want. I never shoot more than a hundred rounds at a time and enjoy hiding in my cave in the evening and reloading.

 

[Kframerbluvr]

To Dutch: Glad you were not hurt and congrats on jumping back on the reloading wagon!
Yes, mistakes do happen. We are human.
I loaded hundreds of .38 SWC practice rounds using 3 grains of Bullseye back in the early '80s when I started in LE. Had no problem rounds whatsoever. Stopped reloading when factory ammo was cheap. Started back up again about a year ago. Probably loaded fifteen hundred rounds of 9mm, 40, .38 special and .45 ACP. All on a single stage press. I had three "oops" rounds. All 9mm. Two with no powder that I had to drive the bullets out of the barrels of a Glock 17 and a SIG P228, and one my son found about a month ago on a shooting trip that had a reversed primer. It goes back to the operator. I remembered that I was pushing myself to load 400 rounds that particular evening despite the fact I was probably too tired to concentrate completely on the task. I would prepare cases in 50 round blocks and check the charged cases with a strong flashlight. I obviously missed two. Remedy; Check cases three times with the light to ensure charges are approximately the same and randomly weigh charges in the middle of the block in addition to the beginning and end of each block to reduce the error rate.

 

[shil]

Dutch, I am sorry that something went wrong and am glad you were not badly hurt. To err is human. I've been loading for 35+ years and have made occasional mistakes. Fortunately for me, I caught them in time, or, they resulted in in minor mishaps. When I was looking for a progressive press years ago, I was torn between the Dillon 550 and Hornady's Auto-progressive. I chose the Hornady because it just seemed more "idiot-proof", which, for me, is an important feature! I just "knew" that I would forget to index the Dillon and possibly overload! The Hornady indexes itself, but I still look at the level of powder in the case as it comes around into view. The potentially catastrophic overload possibility frightens the heck out of me. Hence, I've never used even that old favorite, Bullseye. I guess your horrible experience with Titegroup sounds the death knell for that powder for me, too. Mind you, I'm not knocking the powders or those who use them.

 

[ironhead7544]

The hollow base wadcutter 38 Special load with 2.7 grs BE blowup has never been duplicated in a lab, AFAIK.

The NRA did some tests years ago. Bullet depth was shown to increase pressure. A LOT!. I was surprised that seating the bullet 1/8 inch deeper went to almost proof load pressure, IIRC. They seated it deeper and got really high pressures.

Could be that is what happened in some of the blowups. If you had an oversized case and an undersized bullet, it might drop down in the case. Or something might get in the seating die causing the bullet to deep seat.