Dumb question

[44magsam]

been reloading today and might have messed up. not sure but in the possess of checking my powder weight with my scales i think i left the power out of one load and wondered what would happen if i did. will the primer lodge the boolit in the barrel and i will have a hard time getting it out or what?
as you can tell i am knew at this
thanks

 

[Skip Sackett]

How many do you have loaded?

For me, I say pull them all and try to save the components. The danger is NOT in sticking a bullet, lots of us have done that. The problem comes in when you chase a stuck one with another that isn't a squib!

Since you are new, you can chalk it up as a learning experience, pull them. You don't want to have this learning experience turn into a disaster.

FWIW

 

[wheelgun28]

In a word, YES.

The primes will push the bullet into the forcing cone, barrel etc. Some times it will lock up the gun, sometimes not. It can be a pain to get the bullet unstuck.

The danger is that the bullet get stuck in the barrel and you fire another bullet behind it. You will more than likely damage the gun or worse.

Sometimes you can find the empty round by putting it next to your ear and shake each round. Often you can hear the powder inside the case.

Be safe and good luck!

 

[44magsam]

guys wouldn't it be less trouble if one of the hundred i reloaded wasn't loaded wouldn't i know it by the sound and recoil if it was powder-less? and then check things out and go from there? i know i would still have to get the boolit out of the barrel but wouldn't that be better than pulling the boolits of all the rounds?
thank you wonderful guys for the replies and help

 

[s&wchad]

Sometimes you can find the empty round by putting it next to your ear and shake each round. Often you can hear the powder inside the case.

My thoughts exactly. Go to a quiet part of the house (if there is such a thing), shake each cartridge and listen. If you can't hear it, you can usually feel the powder moving.
You might also try weighing each cartridge.

 

[john traveler]

It's strictly up to you. If your time and effort to pull 100 cartridges is worth more that the risk of a bullet-stuck-in-bore incident then so be it.

You can certainly test fire, slowly and cautiously your 100 rounds. But can you with absolute certainty know that you will do the firing without interruption, or distractions? Or that your friend might fire that one defective round and ruin his gun or eyesight? As mentioned before, firing a defective round can happen to anyone, and what happens in the next second or two will determine if an expensive gun is ruined, or worse, someone is injured from firing another shot without checking for the gun.

We life-long gunsmiths and hobbyists have seen many, many guns damaged from firing bore obstructions. We have also know shooters and friends that have been injured in gun accidents. It comes down to how willing you are to let that happen.

 

[Mule88]

Why dont you just weigh each cartridge, the light one will be your dud. Pull the bullet on that one and see if its the one.

 

[bigmoose]

Do not attempt to fire this batch of ammo. You are tempting fate. Are you sure it was one bullet...or maybe four or five? It is much less hassle and worry to pull 100 bullets than it is to dislodge a bullet stuck in the barrel. Your gun could get damaged if you do it improperly or at the very least you risk scratching the finish if gun is not secured properly or wrong tools are used. Don't create a bigger problem than you already have.

I don't know what caliber you are reloading, but 100 rounds of .38's cost me about $10. Easy choice...salvage what you can...chalk it up to a learning experience.

I had to pull a bunch of bullets for the same reason. Now I always verify each load with a flashlight prior to seating a bullet. Good luck.

 

[venomballistics]

depends on the caliber ... if your loading a full rifle round like 30-06 the 40+ grain powder charge will show up really quick.
FWIW I just did a similar thing with 45 auto .. with the light charge weights of less than 8 grains, brass and bullet can account for that and then some and I just cant trust the scale method here.
my methods made it possible to cull a group of 10 round that captured the charge-less round(s) with certainty ... which beats a 100 round bullet pulling marathon any day

 

[arjay]

Shake em and listen for the powder.You have to be paying attention to "hear" a squib load when you are shooting.Don't ask how I know that ;-)

 

[Alk8944]

Why dont you just weight each cartridge, the light one will be your dud. Pull the bullet on that one and see if its the one.

Not being critical, I "liked" the original post, but there are other considerations that only the OP knows about.

Of course this depends on the cartridge and charge being loaded, whether you are loading cast or jacketed bullets, and whether your brass is all same manufacturer or mixed.

If cast bullets a variation of 1-2 grains is not uncommon with commercial bullets. Mixed brass can vary several grains. If you are loading a .38 with only 2.5-3 gr Bullseye or 231 there wouldn't be enough variation to know for sure.

If you are loading 9-10 grain loads you should be able to tell easily. Weigh them all and if there is more than 2 grains or so variation cull out both the heavy and light ones and pull them down. The real fear is you may have double-charged one case!!!!!

 

[LouisianaJoe]

Load one more round and weigh it. Use that to compare the weight of the others.

Be sure to put powder in this one.

 

[Steve in Vermont]

If you're that unsure about one load, are you absolutely sure about the others? Is there any concern whatsoever that in failing to load one you double loaded another? What works for me, I start with an empty block and, after charging a cartridge, place it into the block. When the block is full I double check with a pen light, going over each one twice. I double charged a load of BE once, caught it with an inspection, then started this system. Kind of un-nerving when you catch a double charge, more so I imagine when you discover it on the range.

 

[62bowtie]

Its so simple

Just weigh the ammo you loaded ( weigh them all to be safe there is no double charge also). One should be light by the amount of powder grains you were loading. No need to pull them apart, just weigh them. If you have a digital its much easier , anything in question discard or take apart your choice.

 

[Skip Sackett]

I am going to burst you all's bubble. If you have used mixed brass, or your charge is light, or you used cast bullets, or you used jacketed bullets, or you used plated bullets, if you cases weren't trimmed to start with, weighing them is a waste of time.

The web thickness of brass can vary and cause probably a 10gr difference in the same lots brass.

Try to weigh your bullets. Even your expensive jacketed ones. What is the difference between each of them?

Pulling them will be a good lesson to a new loader to pay more attention in the future. Stop trying to short cut the teaching process.

 

[dg101win]

I would be against weighing each round. I am in the process of loading 45acp with 5 grs of 231 using 200 gr. cast swc. and mixed commercial brass.
A quick weighing showed a difference of 4 grs between a sample of empty brass and a 3 grain difference between some of the bullets.
So a difference of 7 grs. would be possible. Which is more than my charge of 5 grains of powder.

 

[Kelly Green]

Better to ask a dumb question then suffer the consequences of a dumb action. Empty the cartridges and reload. Little effort involved and you may save a gun and yourself.

 

[sophie]

If you are new at reloading and can't tell for sure which one is without powder I would pull them.

 

[blujax01]

Hello, my name is Blujax (*Hi Blujax*)

I am a load-a-holic and I have had to pull several dozen bullets more than once because I wasn't paying attention during the process.

Next ...

 

[Skip Sackett]

Hello, my name is Blujax (*Hi Blujax*)

I am a load-a-holic and I have had to pull several dozen bullets more than once because I wasn't paying attention during the process.

Next ...

Well, they say that confession is good for the soul, I KNEW you had done that! hahahahahaha


No, honestly, I have a 3lb coffee can that is full of rounds that need pulled. Well, it isn't full, but it has a bunch in there. I will say this though, I have been loading for quite a while now and, most of those were done when I loaded on a Lyman Spar -T as I was learning the basics.

So, learn the lesson, pay attention as Blue has said, and NEVER shoot one of your mistakes, um, never.