KABOOM!!!

[andyo5]

No, what was probably happening was people loading in a 550 were not advancing the shell plate. Add in the huge 45colt case & a tiny amount of powder that can't be seen inside the case, you get a KB.

I agree. I have a Dillon 550. There is a reason why I don't watch TV while I am reloading. Too many times, if you have to stop for some reason and then come back to the reloader you are not sure of what the last thing you did was. Nowadays if I have to stop, when starting again the first thing I will do is dump a case that doesn't already have a bullet in it and recharge. Takes little time and guarantees no double charge.
The machine is not capable of double charging all by itself. If it was, nobody would buy it.
It needs an accomplice.

 

[25elk]

If your friend is correct and the container had something other than what was labeled he might be able to get another 629 easily. Probably be best to have an attorney make the deal. Could work out great, especially if the attorney is working on a contingency basis.

 

[blujax01]

I'm glad you were "there" when these incidents occurred and that "you" actually viewed and examined each individual situation.

....

I always have and always will contend that if a reloader isn't paying attention to his craft, whether he is using a single stage, a turret or a progressive, it makes absolutely no difference. Progressive presses cause no more Kabooms than single stage presses. Bad press operators cause Kabooms.

Perhaps I misunderstand your meaning. If that be the situation, I apologize.

Alan Slocum

 

[semperfi71]

blujax01,

Thank you and I apologize as I realize my original post was misleading. I am also guilty of speaking from "memory"...a sometimes bad thing as I am finding out these days. I am also guilty of not remembering that the original poster had stated he was using a single-stage press.

You are correct, almost always a blown firearm with handloads ends up back "upon" the reloader "person" and not the equipment. As such as what happened with the reports of light charges in large cases in CAS. It was ultimately, probably, the reloader person who somehow double-charged.

As posted here by others reloading is easy, and not too technical but it requires attention to detail at all times.

When I stated reloading in 1973 the manuals then stated that only one powder on the bench at a time. I have always adhered to that.

Also of importance is maintaining a quality and safe series of "practices/habits" and never deviating from them.

I use an RCBS Junior since 1973 and after powdering a case I always check the powder level of each case before I seat the bullet. Except those times that I forget to do so!!

However, if I forget on too many cases and have already seated the bullets I weigh the final cartridge against a known properly checked one.

I loaned a .45 Colt to a fellow CAS shooter one time and after he shot his first "scenario" I noticed he was having a hard time ejecting HIS ammo from MY gun. I figured I'd better investigate. So I assisted him in the unloading process and we found 3 very stuck cases. When I got home and was cleaning my sixgun (a Uberti) I noticed a very short, thin "line" on one of the chamber walls outside the cylinder. Further inspection and measuring showed all three chambers, of the assumed stuck cases, have been bulged. And the one with the "little" line...that was a line indicating that the cylinder wall was stretched to the point of almost bursting. I was lucky in that all I had to replace was the cylinder. I called the shooter immediately and told him to pull all of those loads.

 

[semperfi71]

Gottsta pay attention. Personally, I would have made these two packages look a bit more different.

I too have noticed the recent change to the 2400 canister labels and think it is a bad mistake. Even so much that I thought of contacting the company and suggesting it was a bad mistake. However I have all the 2400 I'll ever need and I am accustomed to most companies not really caring what customers think.

 

[GLV]

Two 550s

on the bench, one SP and one LP. 10 powder measures set up with dies above the bench, some with powder in them, but all marked with powder, weight, date, etc. Even the completely empty measures are marked with the name and amount of last powder used in them.

No cans of powder are ever left on the reloading benches. No radio, tv, or people are in the room when I reload. By the Grace of God, in my 50+ years of loading, no events as above have happened to me, and I thank God no one was injured.

I would love to have my big magnifier to look at these powders--however I think only a lab could properly analyze what was shown.

Was the initial poster able to get a sample from the can from which the powder was taken?

As far as returns--as owner of a full time gun store in a small town mall for 16 years, I did not take returns on ammo, powder, primers, at all.

I hope investigation yields an answer.

 

[kd5exp]

First of all thank God nobody was hurt. This is a great post and will make me double think about all of this when reloading. Like many have said I don't think it's a mislabeled container or we would see alot more of this. I have had to put things in order here to make sure all is in the right place. Not just powder but dies also. I mixed my 223 die with my 38 sp and ruined alot of brass. It can be done. Now it's one at a time only, keep it all together. I will be ordering another set of dies so I can keep 38 sp and 357 mags separate. I have seated several 357's way too deep using the setup from 38 sp. Shows you must think and think again and back up and take a good look at things. Great info here and it will help me think more about what i'm doing. A great loss of a fine gun but at least no flesh damage.

 

[w0lfattack]

This might sound awful but was anyone else thinking flesh grows back - a gun doesn't? Lol

 

[imnobody]

Dear wOlfattack,
I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Admiringly yours,
imnobody

 

[trigtechr]

andyo5 wrote:
Years ago, Jeff Cooper wrote an article called "The 2.7 Bullseye surprise" to describe some kabooms that occurred amongst target shooters who were loading 38 specials with the lightest load that was published for their bullets ...

Thirty-five years ago, when I was in charge of firearms training for a small sheriff's department, we obtained a progressive press to use for our training/practice ammo. We loaded 2.7 Bullseye / 148 gr cast lead. Shot hundreds of them. Then we had a KABOOM. Usual results, top gone from cylinder, frame broken, on a Model 28 S&W.
My personal experience discounted double charge as a possibility – my young wife, trying to be helpful, double-charged a whole box of the same 2.7/148 for me in my home workshop, using a single stage press. I fired most of them with no problem in my S&W .357. Pulled and weighed a few to verify the mistake.
My conclusion – admittedly speculative, but based on observation – was that static electricity caused a buildup in the powder measure, of the fine powder created by the shearing effect of the powder measure cylinder rotation. The accumulated deposit would drop of its own weight into ONE case, and the additional volume was too small to be noticed. But the faster burning rate of the pulverized Bullseye added to the normal charge would create excessive pressure.

trigtechr

 

[trigtechr]

KABOOM

andyo5 wrote:
Years ago, Jeff Cooper wrote an article called "The 2.7 Bullseye surprise" to describe some kabooms that occurred amongst target shooters who were loading 38 specials with the lightest load that was published for their bullets ...

Thirty-five years ago, when I was in charge of firearms training for a small sheriff's department, we obtained a progressive press to use for our training/practice ammo. We loaded 2.7 Bullseye / 148 gr cast lead. Shot hundreds of them. Then we had a KABOOM. Usual results, top gone from cylinder, frame broken, on a Model 28 S&W.
My personal experience discounted double charge as a possibility – my young wife, trying to be helpful, double-charged a whole box of the same 2.7/148 for me in my home workshop, using a single stage press. I fired most of them with no problem in my S&W .357. Pulled and weighed a few to verify the mistake.
My conclusion – admittedly speculative, but based on observation – was that static electricity caused a buildup in the powder measure, of the fine powder created by the shearing effect of the powder measure cylinder rotation. The accumulated deposit would drop of its own weight into ONE case, and the additional volume was too small to be noticed. But the faster burning rate of the pulverized Bullseye added to the normal charge would create excessive pressure.

trigtechr

 

[71firebird400]

That's awful; glad the shooter is OK. I actually heard about this incident at Dave's (in Lynden) and thought to myself that I had read something eerily similar on the S&W Forum.

 

[fredj338]

If your friend is correct and the container had something other than what was labeled he might be able to get another 629 easily. Probably be best to have an attorney make the deal. Could work out great, especially if the attorney is working on a contingency basis.

I would bet you a M629 the powder was NOT mislabeled at the factory, just not possible for a single unit. The entire lot would have to be compromised. Thre woulde be dozens of reports of guns going KB or at the least, reports would have gone out. Please, lets' leave the bottom dwellers to do other usless things, like pass OBamacare. This was operator error or the powder was tampered with at some other point along the way.

 

[ddixie884]

gun parts

I wonder if the subject of this thread is for sale. I bought a box of 629 parts that includes a frame, but is missing some parts.

 

[cal50]

Reloading is not for the non-detail oriented person and why most firearm manufacturers only cover issues using factory loaded ammo that is quality controlled far better than lesser conditions.
It looks like a classic powder mix up.
This is one reason to buy your powder in factory sealed packaging. Many stores will not accept returns on unopened powder to help prevent a mix up or tampering possibility.
A gun can be replaced but eyes & fingers are more expensive and harder to swap.

 

[rebel0994]

very sobering, glad your friend is OK, and for the record, a super redhawk would look the same with those handloads!

 

[Maximumbob54]

Gottsta pay attention. Personally, I would have made these two packages look a bit more different.

That label on 2400 didn't last long and has already been changed again:

Alliant Powder - 2400

 

[Rule3]

That label on 2400 didn't last long and has already been changed again:

Alliant Powder - 2400

Heck I am color blind and the old ones do not look the same to me

What really bothers me is ACCURATE 2,5,7,9. Now they need new labels!

Handgun « Accurate Powders