OP
I bet you could see the mushroom cloud too.
UPDATED-Bad day at the range...
- Thread starter Shark Bait
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I bet you could see the mushroom cloud too.
Yep, I'd have left it exactly like the first picture of it, and mounted it in a glass case on my wall.
If you disassemble the remaining rounds, I'd keep an eye out for a no-charge in another round.
I've been thinking about getting a 5lb jug of AA2 for 9mm instead of my usual slow burning powders. Might be re-thinking that plan.
In the end, it could have happened to any of us. I'm glad you escaped reasonably unscathed.
I've been thinking about getting a 5lb jug of AA2 for 9mm instead of my usual slow burning powders. Might be re-thinking that plan.
In the end, it could have happened to any of us. I'm glad you escaped reasonably unscathed.
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Which also puts to rest the question of a squib, unless it had been the last round fired from the previous cylinder.
Wow, glad you kept all your external parts after that.
Cory
Cory
OP
Certainly no squib. The previous round was factory and on target.
I echo all the previous comments with condolences and appreciation for posting. Thinking back to the earlier comments about the wisdom of weighing remaining cartridges vs. pulling the bullets, it seems like this presents a great opportunity to do both, compare results, and let us know what you find.
I use to reload shotgun shells but if the stroke of my progressive reloader wasn't fully completed..from a jammed wad or flipped primer, the ensuing mess was too much for me to handle.I just didn't enjoy it enough to continue doing it.
I then decided to support ammo companies exclusively.Yes..a bad round can happen even from the factory,but it is far and few between.
So glad this mishap wasn't worse. Lessons learned.
I then decided to support ammo companies exclusively.Yes..a bad round can happen even from the factory,but it is far and few between.
So glad this mishap wasn't worse. Lessons learned.
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StrawHat
Member
Glad you are okay.
Weighing the rest of the rounds, while a good idea will probably not give you peace of mind. Get an inertia puller and break them down if you feel at all uncomfortable with them.
Accidents happen. I have used a Dillon 450 since they came out and got a couple of squibs. Never got an over charge but a couple with zero powder. Consider a bulkier powder and get back into it.
Kevin
Weighing the rest of the rounds, while a good idea will probably not give you peace of mind. Get an inertia puller and break them down if you feel at all uncomfortable with them.
Accidents happen. I have used a Dillon 450 since they came out and got a couple of squibs. Never got an over charge but a couple with zero powder. Consider a bulkier powder and get back into it.
Kevin
OP
I'm going to break them all down and go with a bulkier powder, as many of you suggested. My poor wife first asked me not to go to the range anymore, but she knew the answer already. Then she asked me not to hand load anymore. I explained that with the right powder this should never happen again. Hope I'm right.
OP
I did weigh empty brass, then bullets, then loaded cartridges. I found that the variances can be enough to make detecting an overcharge of 8 grains difficult. It just isn't worth the risk, so I'll break em all down and start over.
stevebarracuda
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A couple of comments . I stopped shooting full house 44 mags in my prized 29/629´s years ago , still shoot a lot of 240,300,320 grain heavy loads but only in my Super Blackhawk and Redhawk revolvers. I too have a hornady progressive with powder checker but only light .38 and .45acp cartridges are done on it. All my heavy loads are done on a single stage hornady . I can eyeball all 50 rounds after charging and before bullet seating , also I only use h110,296,2400 so as others have said virtually imposible to over charge a case .
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Yes, there is such thing as a bad day at the range. My beautiful 629-4 was blown up by a hand load today. I figure I must have got a double charge somehow. I use a Hornady progressive press and can't understand how I could get a double charge.
I caught a piece of shell casing in my left cheek and it bled A LOT! Docs are just going to leave it in there. A souvenir I guess.
The stress shown in the metal in the following pictures illustrates the extreme pressure causing the failure. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. My two companions and I were extremely lucky. This easily could have killed someone. Be safe my friends!
Fortunate? Extremely!
Thanks for posting and this sort of thing should be a sticky in the ammo and reloading section. A double or triple charge of any powder is an extremely dangerous thing and it is so easy to do with large capacity cases and fast burning rate powders. I am glad that no one was seriously injured and I think you are very wise to disassemble all of the remaining reloaded ammo.
Thanks For Sharing
I sincerely appreciate your post. After four kids, pursuing two careers, combat deployments and a recent divorce, I have started to get back into the hobby. Last year I got on the forum after going through my safe and starting to clean everything out. Anyway, I've broken out the old reloading gear and I'm about to get started again after many years of focusing on others. This post came at the right time for me and I'll make sure to go slow and steady. Thanking God that you, or anyone else, didn't get seriously hurt. I'm really looking forward to reloading for my M29 and Anaconda.
I sincerely appreciate your post. After four kids, pursuing two careers, combat deployments and a recent divorce, I have started to get back into the hobby. Last year I got on the forum after going through my safe and starting to clean everything out. Anyway, I've broken out the old reloading gear and I'm about to get started again after many years of focusing on others. This post came at the right time for me and I'll make sure to go slow and steady. Thanking God that you, or anyone else, didn't get seriously hurt. I'm really looking forward to reloading for my M29 and Anaconda.
DaveNC
Member
Glad you weren't hurt more seriously, just shared this post with my reloading friends that are in to progressives. Sorry to hear about the pistol.
While it is true many people use progressive loaders like a Dillion with good results, because so many things are going on simultaneously it is sometimes hard to spot when something goes wrong. I still use an old slow single stage but it does give you the chance to have better quality control and see or feel when something goes wrong.
I have thankfully only witnessed a few catastrophic failures in guns shooting reloads over the 40 or so years I have been shooting, but they all had one thing in common- ammo loaded on a progressive press.
I have thankfully only witnessed a few catastrophic failures in guns shooting reloads over the 40 or so years I have been shooting, but they all had one thing in common- ammo loaded on a progressive press.
Holy moley. You were lucky in a way, that could have been much worse. Glad to hear you weren't seriously injured.
My routine is to visually check every case for correct powder amount, but then I don't use a progressive loader. Not sure how to do that with a progressive. I used to use a progressive loader for shotgun shells as most people do. I've seen some double charges on the trap line but no hand grenades like that.
I had a squib once due to my carelessness. Loaded a case without powder or very little powder, not sure which. Bullet was lodged just enough to keep the next round from going into battery. Scared the carp out of me because I didn't know it when I pulled the trigger on the out-of-battery round. No ignition so no kaboom. Bullet was jammed in that barrel pretty tight. Had to hammer it out with a long bolt. So you aren't the only one who's screwed up.
Be safe.
My routine is to visually check every case for correct powder amount, but then I don't use a progressive loader. Not sure how to do that with a progressive. I used to use a progressive loader for shotgun shells as most people do. I've seen some double charges on the trap line but no hand grenades like that.
I had a squib once due to my carelessness. Loaded a case without powder or very little powder, not sure which. Bullet was lodged just enough to keep the next round from going into battery. Scared the carp out of me because I didn't know it when I pulled the trigger on the out-of-battery round. No ignition so no kaboom. Bullet was jammed in that barrel pretty tight. Had to hammer it out with a long bolt. So you aren't the only one who's screwed up.
Be safe.
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