Glad no one was hurt bad. Can't have too much light in a reloading room. I've been putting up LED's in the basement and this story cinches it for me to put them in my reloading room this week end.
I saw a Nighthawk Custom blow up in shooters hand
- Thread starter Biginge
- Start date
Collo Rosso
Member
Good to know your never to old to learn from your or others mistakes. Like you sir, I do not intend to go quietly into the night!
Anybody have an explanation how the second round fired with its primer intact? Heat? Pressure?
fredj338
Member
It would be extremely diff to double charge with unique & not see it. Its a very bulky powder & 10-12gr would pretty much fil a case. Unless the charge was max to start with, a doubt a double would take the gun apart, maybe. I wonder if another powder were in play here?
Wow, 11 gr of Unique in a 45 acp would be incredible, especially considering the compression after cramming in a bullet. With a 240 gr jacketed bullet the Speer manual maxes out at 10.3 gr of Unique in 44 magnum.Double charge 11g Unique. Amazed that someone would miss that.
I'm seeing more and more where metal framed guns will survive kabooms better than plastic guns. Rarely do the shooters get seriously injured in either case but plastic guns almost always break the frames while metal guns typically blow out mags and crack grips.
I run some unorthodox but pressure limit compliant loads, like using very fast powders to get moderate magnum loads in 44, but I always inspect for double charges because the consequences of a mistake are potentially catastrophic.
nicky4968
Member
I do have a turret press. However, my step-by-step process is a little out of order from the norm.
I clean and trim the brass. Then I prime it. Then I put powder in the cases. Like MRRICK I then use a flashlight and carefully check each and every case.
Then the rhythm on the turret press follows: Size the cleaned and powdered case; then the M die; then place bullet in case and seat; then LEE FCD die.
Obviously, this is for straight-walled (or nearly) .38/.357, .45 (all kinds), and 9 mm.
It is slower than priming and powdering on the press by a long shot, but I feel the extra time is worth it.
I clean and trim the brass. Then I prime it. Then I put powder in the cases. Like MRRICK I then use a flashlight and carefully check each and every case.
Then the rhythm on the turret press follows: Size the cleaned and powdered case; then the M die; then place bullet in case and seat; then LEE FCD die.
Obviously, this is for straight-walled (or nearly) .38/.357, .45 (all kinds), and 9 mm.
It is slower than priming and powdering on the press by a long shot, but I feel the extra time is worth it.
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Magload
US Veteran
I have a LED light mounted on my turret from Inlinefabrication that shines right into the cartridge so I look at the powder when a place the bullet on the the case to be seated. If the powder level is to low to see I stand up to load where I can see it. I am getting on in the years too and I reload very slow even on this 550. Don
Clovishound
Member
I say this often, but here goes again. I ALWAYS use a powder check die on my turret press when using deep cases like .38 and .357. It is very quick, and IME very accurate. I have tested double charges with very small volume powders. I can much more easily spot an overcharge with the powder check die, than I can in a block with a flashlight.
Maybe gas pressure from the burst case pushed the bullet in the next round back and let hot gas slip past?
I saw this happen once when an M14 fired out of battery.
-Mark
Mark
This is the conclusion we settled upon too. The first case wedged/ruptured in Bbl and remained there. Extractor jumped rim of case; slide tried to grab round from mag. It was misaligned and probably "seated" bullet further into brass and allowed the rather significant heat,pressure,etc. To ignite powder in that case thus blowing magazine/grips. I dug about 11 pieces of brass out of Joes forehead and cheeks and nose. No shortage of brass fragments at this little dust up.
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Elmosdad
Member
Joe needs to buy a lottery ticket......
MyDads38
Member
At 58 years old and 35+ years at reloading, I'm not too far behind your "group". When I started my venture into reloading, I had no one to ask questions or to mentor me. I was on my own and scared to death! Guess being "overly cautious" has been a good thing, since I've never had an issue with anything I've ever loaded. I don't load max loads, just range/plinking loads. Even so, one missed step, or one glance away or distraction; can result in just this scenario.
I'm glad everyone involved is fine, sans a few brass fragments. A few years ago, I was shooting with a guy from work, who reloads his own ammo. He's always saying how "OCD" he is. He was shooting his Sig 9mm. He had a Fail to Feed (round wouldn't fully chamber), dropped mag, cleared round, tried again-another FTF as before. Good thing the round wouldn't chamber-the previous round was a squib and the bullet was lodged in the barrel, just past the chamber! Had he been able to chamber another round, he would've had a kaboom, and I would've been close enough to know first hand! Needless to say, we don't shoot together any more and I would never trust his reloads-even in his own pistol. I don't shoot anyone else's reloads and don't buy Re-Man ammo either (bad experience with 45 acp Re-Man in my Ruger SR1911 FS).
Threads like these and threads with pics of blown up guns, keep me on my toes! Thanks for sharing, and hope you still have fun at the range
I'm glad everyone involved is fine, sans a few brass fragments. A few years ago, I was shooting with a guy from work, who reloads his own ammo. He's always saying how "OCD" he is. He was shooting his Sig 9mm. He had a Fail to Feed (round wouldn't fully chamber), dropped mag, cleared round, tried again-another FTF as before. Good thing the round wouldn't chamber-the previous round was a squib and the bullet was lodged in the barrel, just past the chamber! Had he been able to chamber another round, he would've had a kaboom, and I would've been close enough to know first hand! Needless to say, we don't shoot together any more and I would never trust his reloads-even in his own pistol. I don't shoot anyone else's reloads and don't buy Re-Man ammo either (bad experience with 45 acp Re-Man in my Ruger SR1911 FS).
Threads like these and threads with pics of blown up guns, keep me on my toes! Thanks for sharing, and hope you still have fun at the range
Safety glasses are a must, I even wear safety glasses when hunting.
shotgun693
Member
A bit of ruptured case in the chamber would not let the round load into the chamber. I have doubts about a double charge. I'm betting the case was a bit short and didn't take a good crimp. When the round fed into the chamber the bullet was shoved deeper into the case. This would easily cause a spike in pressure and blowout the case as was described.
Groo01
Member
Groo here
I have seen this before.
This kind of thing was why packmyre grips were recommended
when hot loading 45acp [like 451D/45-08 etc]
The packs have a steel insert that would cover the opening in
the frame.
All that is needed is a well used case,a higher pressure loading
[powder or bullet set back] and a bit to much smoothing of the
feed ramp [ unsupport the case]
The case lets go, the extractor jumps the rim [ because the case has not yet released from the chamber] the hot gass blows down into the grip removing the mag base plate, damaging the top shell, dumping the rest on the floor.
If the grips do not have a steel backing or insert, they will shatter.
My relative had this happen with a commander.
The cases were so used that the head stamp was unreadable.
I have seen this before.
This kind of thing was why packmyre grips were recommended
when hot loading 45acp [like 451D/45-08 etc]
The packs have a steel insert that would cover the opening in
the frame.
All that is needed is a well used case,a higher pressure loading
[powder or bullet set back] and a bit to much smoothing of the
feed ramp [ unsupport the case]
The case lets go, the extractor jumps the rim [ because the case has not yet released from the chamber] the hot gass blows down into the grip removing the mag base plate, damaging the top shell, dumping the rest on the floor.
If the grips do not have a steel backing or insert, they will shatter.
My relative had this happen with a commander.
The cases were so used that the head stamp was unreadable.
venomballistics
Member
This description points more to faulty brass than a reloading error (inspecting brass not withstanding)
When you said Unique and double charge in a 45 auto. it's usually impossible. the charge and bullet just won't fit.
Gentlemen, that is exactly why I am a proponent of an auto-indexing press if one is loading progressive. It is almost impossible to double-charge a case if one is paying attention IF the press auto-indexes with every stroke.
And I also believe you can take 11 grains of Unique and compress it enough to seat a 45 projectile to length. Unique compresses pretty well, in my experience.
I am just very thankful no one was injured!
And I also believe you can take 11 grains of Unique and compress it enough to seat a 45 projectile to length. Unique compresses pretty well, in my experience.
I am just very thankful no one was injured!
silentflyer
Member
I never load with any powder that will permit a double charge, any powder I use will flow out of the case if its a double charge. Also I ALWAYS check the cases with a flashlight before I insert the bullet in the case. 2400,4227,296/H110 and Unique are large volume powders by nature, no Bullseye or 230 etc. near my reload bench.
shotgun693
Member
Rather than 'believing' so, try it. Let us know if it's possible.
kbm6893
Member
My case is upside down in the funnel as I weight every charge. I check to make sure the case is empty and then seat the bullet. Do that 50 times and then crimp them all. No chance of double charging because once the powder is dropped the case gets a bullet immediately.
I am working on the road and all my handloading gear is about 550 miles away. But I will try it as soon as I get back home.
However: if you are close to your toys and have some Unique, I welcome you to prove me wrong...
I just know that Freedom Arms put enough Bullseye in a 45 Auto case to get a chronographed 2000 fps out of one of their revolvers, and they were shooting a 230-grain hardball projectile. So there! No less than the late Marty Smith told me that to my face back in the late 90s.
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