Lee loadmasters thrower ran dry

[Doug.38PR]

last Night I was reloading 38 special using unique power. I'll loaded about 120 rounds dropped into an ammo bucket then I decided to load six nickel plated cases just to shoot right away for a little quick fun. I noticed on one of them is the sixth round primer was loaded in backward so I dumped the powder back into the thrower and noticed that very little powder was poured in and look at the thrower and the thrower was empty. Oh shoot says I. I load the five nickel plated rounds to see if any of them have actual powder. Shot each onechecking after each shot. Two of them the primer just sounded off in launch the bullet just inside the fourth cone. Two of them when about halfway down the barrel. The fifth one fired successfully but was very low powered. Now I'm wondering whether or not there's one or two bad rounds in the 120 that I just loaded. I'm inclined todo you think the 120 you're okay just because there was one round out of that six final that did successfully fire even though it was low powered.

I do know that each shell did have some degree of powder in it because I checked it each and everyone of them as I loaded them

 

[venomballistics]

guy ... with all else equal, powder is the heart and soul of the reloading process.
We keep an eye on that like a mistress.

 

[05CarbonDRZ]

Get the Bullet Puller out!

 

[SMSgt]

Three cheers for progressive presses!

You really need to pay closer attention. Now you have a bucket full of squib-possible rounds.

 

[Rule3]

Shoot them one at a time and check the barrel every time.
Bring your bullet pusher dowel.

I loaded some semi auto rounds once that would not cycle the gun but shot OK'ish So that's what I did. Made for a nice long day at the range.

 

[Rule3]

Three cheers for progressive presses!

You really need to pay closer attention. Now you have a bucket full of squib-possible rounds.

And Unique in combo!

 

[gwpercle]

You have no idea when the powder ran out. You know good and well the bullets have to be pulled, and all have to be reloaded.
Whenever powder hopper gets low, it starts dropping inconsistent charges.
No powder and low powder charges are not good.
This is a reason I load on a single station press and drop powder into each case while I'm lookig at each one and then do the flashlight double check.
No if's and's or but's....break them down and start over.
Nothing wrong with Unique...it wasn't the cause of the empty hopper.
Gary

 

[gwpercle]

guy ... with all else equal, powder is the heart and soul of the reloading process.
We keep an eye on that like a mistress.

Or our teenage daughter's.

 

[Rule3]

You have no idea when the powder ran out. You know good and well the bullets have to be pulled, and all have to be reloaded.
Whenever powder hopper gets low, it starts dropping inconsistent charges.
No powder and low powder charges are not good.
This is a reason I load on a single station press and drop powder into each case while I'm lookig at each one and then do the flashlight double check.
No if's and's or but's....break them down and start over.
Nothing wrong with Unique...it wasn't the cause of the empty hopper.
Gary

True, my bad It's LEES fault

 

[dave_g]

I did this same thing once loading 45 acp. I thought I had figured out when the powder stopped and set those rounds aside. Then at the range I found that I hadn't gone back far enough and ended removing a squib.

Back in the shop I tried weighing each cartridge to see if I could find the ones that were 5 grains lighter. That produced very inconsistent results as 5 grains just isn't enough to ensure there was no powder. Some cases are lighter and my cast bullets vary by a couple of grains too. I finally gave up and pulled them all. About 200 rounds.

It's a pain, but you'll get good at pulling bullets. And you'll have some primed brass to start with next time.

 

[venomballistics]

Or our teenage daughter's.

one could make a hilarious connection between the analogies ...
I will, however, leave it an unsaid implication so as to retain some plausible deniability

 

[SMSgt]

If my powder dropper gets down to 1/3 full, I refill it. Beats the heck out of worrying about inconsistent drops.

 

[MasterTech1960]

This is why I use a RCBS powder check die on my Lee classic turret press. I look at it every time plus the powder hopper is right in front of my big head.

 

[Doug.38PR]

Banging bullets out and dumping them and powder into a bowl. Got 60 unloaded so far.

So many things to pay attention to on a progressive. Thing if it is, I was checking each cartridge as I loaded and all had powder in the bottom. I even caught one double loaded. So far all the shells I've taken apart have had good powder in them. All it takes is a few bad apples to ruin the barrel. Live and learn

 

[Snowshooter]

Banging bullets out and dumping them and powder into a bowl. Got 60 unloaded so far.

So many things to pay attention to on a progressive. Thing if it is, I was checking each cartridge as I loaded and all had powder in the bottom. I even caught one double loaded. So far all the shells I've taken apart have had good powder in them. All it takes is a few bad apples to ruin the barrel. Live and learn

This is the right move. I bet you will look at that hopper every other round now.

 

[venomballistics]

Banging bullets out and dumping them and powder into a bowl. Got 60 unloaded so far.

So many things to pay attention to on a progressive. Thing if it is, I was checking each cartridge as I loaded and all had powder in the bottom. I even caught one double loaded. So far all the shells I've taken apart have had good powder in them. All it takes is a few bad apples to ruin the barrel. Live and learn

Yes, this is exactly why I never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever recommend a progressive press.
The way I see it, if they have to ask, they are not ready for one.
If the hand loader is out of questions, then they are ready, but have no need to ask.

I would sooner misplace my scale than let the measure drop below 1/3rd.

 

[Doug.38PR]

Well the do crank out rounds a lot faster than a single stage.

 

[rwsmith]

Yeah, besides....

If my powder dropper gets down to 1/3 full, I refill it. Beats the heck out of worrying about inconsistent drops.

Powder hoppers throw more consistently when they are at least 1/3 full. In other words, getting even close to empty isn't a good idea. I find that even using Lee scoops that if I keep plenty of powder in my 'hopper' (butter dish) I get more consistent loads. Don't be stingy, you can always dump it back into the canister.

 

[venomballistics]

Well the do crank out rounds a lot faster than a single stage.

That only counts if you can use them with absolute confidence.

 

[wheelgun1958]

Weigh them.

 

[David R]

Now that you have pulled some which is easier to pull them out of the case or get one out of the barrel?

I have had no luck weighing pistol for a light or heavy charge. Too many variables in the case and bullet to compare a small charge.

I think once you can feel and know every step going on in a progressive, its a good way to go. I doubt you will do that again.

David

 

[Doug.38PR]

This is why I use a RCBS powder check die on my Lee classic turret press. I look at it every time plus the powder hopper is right in front of my big head.

This I would be very interested in as currently I have to physically take every case off the press and visually look down it to make sure it has powder in it before I move on. Very time consuming

 

[David R]

I have a light rigged to shine in the charged case.

 

[at_liberty]

last Night I was reloading 38 special using unique power. I'll loaded about 120 rounds dropped into an ammo bucket then I decided to load six nickel plated cases just to shoot right away for a little quick fun. I noticed on one of them is the sixth round primer was loaded in backward so I dumped the powder back into the thrower and noticed that very little powder was poured in and look at the thrower and the thrower was empty. Oh shoot says I. I load the five nickel plated rounds to see if any of them have actual powder. Shot each onechecking after each shot. Two of them the primer just sounded off in launch the bullet just inside the fourth cone. Two of them when about halfway down the barrel. The fifth one fired successfully but was very low powered. Now I'm wondering whether or not there's one or two bad rounds in the 120 that I just loaded. I'm inclined todo you think the 120 you're okay just because there was one round out of that six final that did successfully fire even though it was low powered.

I do know that each shell did have some degree of powder in it because I checked it each and everyone of them as I loaded them

If they dumped into a common pile, no control of the sequence of rounds, I think you are stuck with pulling bullets on the whole batch.

I also think playing around with intentional squibs is a bad idea.

 

[venomballistics]

You could also look at it another way....

If you where to design and build an engine, you would need to calculate the redline of said product before you could set specifications for a range of use.
Even then, the only way you will know if the calculations are correct, is to bolt some into a dyno and make some shrapnel.
In that exercise, you pay attention to the real world points of failure.

Well ... now you have something similar on your hands.
You at least know where to look for at least one problem, which is a good inroad to use to prevent it.

Unmentioned by others, is the backwards primer that got your attention in the first place.
yeah ... you might want to look into that too.

 

[Doug.38PR]

If they dumped into a common pile, no control of the sequence of rounds, I think you are stuck with pulling bullets on the whole batch.

I also think playing around with intentional squibs is a bad idea.

I didn't play around with intentional squibs. I carefully shot unintended squibs once I realized what they possibly were to see if I could determine when the thrower stopped throwing adequately.

What is the worst that can happen from shooting a potential squib? You get a bullet stuck in your barrel and have to bang it back out (wasn't really that hard. Just took the smooth end of a big long drill bid, slid it down the barrel and bumped the bullet until it backed out of the gun out from the force cone.) Each round was fired after checking the barrel between rounds.

 

[Doug.38PR]

Unmentioned by others, is the backwards primer that got your attention in the first place.
yeah ... you might want to look into that too.

Yeah, it only did that for that one shell, after that it was fine. My primer on that thing has to be watched closely. I find myself checking each shell before it lifts up into the thrower to make sure it has a primer. 8 times out of 10 it does...but sometimes it will, for whatever reason, stop feeding primers and I have to take the case holder plate off and check the primer device.

If course it's not a big deal if a few are missing the primer, you can catch that and the gun won't go off without a primer. BUT, you can waste a lot of time finding out that your shells aren't being primed and having to stop everything and take the plate off and fool with the primer device

 

[venomballistics]

Yeah, it only did that for that one shell, after that it was fine. My primer on that thing has to be watched closely. I find myself checking each shell before it lifts up into the thrower to make sure it has a primer. 8 times out of 10 it does...but sometimes it will, for whatever reason, stop feeding primers and I have to take the case holder plate off and check the primer device.

If course it's not a big deal if a few are missing the primer, you can catch that and the gun won't go off without a primer. BUT, you can waste a lot of time finding out that your shells aren't being primed and having to stop everything and take the plate off and fool with the primer device

that can be a big deal if your running with a fine ball powder.
End result is a primerless round pooping powder all around under the shell plate causing a grand pile of drama.

I broke down and got a lee progressive to deal with my monstrous appetite for 45ACP, and "enjoyed" similar primer station noodelieness (is that a word? ...well it is now)
So I deprime and flare in one pass then remand the brass to the custody of the tumbler for imaculatization ( I'm just on a word inventing roll)
I hand prime, which gives me a good chance to give the brass a forced lookieloo, then I swap out the die head and rain ammo like a brass god of precipitation.

 

[MyDads38]

No matter how many rounds you can crank out on a progressive press, when something like this happens, they should all come apart for safety's sake. :-(

I've never owned a progressive, though I've thought about it a few times. My Lee Classic Turret does just fine and I have complete control of the round that is being loaded. Yeah, I know, 4 operations for 1 loaded round; but that loaded round will feed/function/fire when I pull the trigger. I only load 100 rounds at a time and my powder measure never gets below half empty before I re-fill.

I never load ammo if I feel I have to be in a hurry to do so. That's when you make mistakes! And that can be the difference between a "bang" and a "ka-boom"! Reloading ammunition is a lot of little steps; each one is just as important as the others. Miss a step, and something is gonna go wrong! :-(

 

[Twoboxer]

Banging bullets out and dumping them and powder into a bowl. Got 60 unloaded so far.

So many things to pay attention to on a progressive. Thing if it is, I was checking each cartridge as I loaded and all had powder in the bottom. I even caught one double loaded. So far all the shells I've taken apart have had good powder in them. All it takes is a few bad apples to ruin the barrel. Live and learn

See the powder AT THE RIGHT LEVEL - seat a bullet.

Otherwise, don't. Same as a single stage.

Only one important thing to watch, eh?

More seriously, the thing I learned about progressives is yes, there are a lot of things to watch all at once. But don't let that make you forget there's only ONE important thing to watch.

The rest of the things watched can slow you down, cause less than perfect ammo . . . but only one of those can hurt you and your firearm.