UPDATED-Bad day at the range...

Shouldn't this be in the Top Break section?

Seriously. glad you are basically alright. Lot of metal flew off that in a big hurry. Really would be great to figure out just what went wrong.

I wouldn't trust the weight the assembled rounds theory very much. Cases and bullets can have some variation. Unless you clean all your cases and sort by manufacture and lot they can vary several grains. Same with bullets, especially cast sized and lubed bullets. Most handgun ammo isn't loaded like match ammo. It wouldn't surprise me to find variations of 5 grs or more depending on a lot of variables.
 
Glad you're okay. I did the same thing to a 29-4 whitetail hunter. My mistake was not stopping to talk to my grandson and put a double charge of tite group in one case out of a couple hundred I made that day . The range was full and thank God no one was hurt just my pride and my most favorite 44 .
 
This is a great post to WARN people that reload their own ammo to use Extreme caution in the pursuit of their hobby!
A friend of mine blew up a Model 19 I had sold him. When I asked if I could buy it back, he told me there was no gun left to sell. It looked a lot like yours shocker. No one hurt but the cylinder blew and bent the back strap.
Glad you didn't suffer more sever injuries!

Be SAFE and Shoot Often!
 
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glenwolde said:
True, if you load slow powders to magnum levels you won't have a problem, but what if you want a mid-range load? Trail Boss is a solution but outside of that even medium burning powders suitable for lower-power loads are going to leave room for a double charge.

What do you do? Load .44 Russian brass? Give up on the caliber? What about the .45 Colt? Is Trail Boss the only real solution outside of "process improvement"? I just don't think that "load something that fills the case" is always a practical solution.
Click to expand...

I have done it, yes. But not on a progressive press. All cases with powder on the tray are inspected before seating the bullets. Better slow and safe than sorry.
 
Sevens said:
I'll double down on precisely this comment. If it were Alliant 2400, AA#9 or H-110, no possible way to double charge. As a matter of fact, you could go way over book and make an unsafe load with the right powder but there isn't enough space in the case to do this damage when using any of the three I listed.
Click to expand...

or Unique or Universal plus it'll load lots more different calibers. Yes, you'll have to clean your gun more often.....
 
Glad you weren't hurt.
Endoscopes an be had for less than $20. It is a camera on a cable, plugs into your phone or computer. I've thought about mounting mine on my Dillon, so I could see into the case before seating the bullet. I might just do that now. It wouldn't take much to do it.

ANY disruption of the loading sequence when using my Dillon causes me to check all cartridges in process at that moment. I will pull the next couple of cases off stage 3 and weigh the charge, for instance, if I have a primer mess up, or even if the case in stage one doesn't go up into the size die because I didn't have it aligned properly.
You can't be too careful.
 
Glad you still have your digits left. That is one of the main reason I prefer to load by stage on a single stage press, I can look at ever stage for safety. I was given a progressive loader for Christmas and used it once. After that I put it back in the box because I just wasn't comfortable with the lack of visual safeties I had with my single stage.
 
smoothshooter said:
That's why on my Dillon 550 I do not use it as intended.
I interrupt the process by removing them from the shell plate as they move toward the powder station, Put them in a 50 round block, throw the charges by hand using a separate measure, looking at the powder levels in all the cases for uniformity, then feeding the charged cases back into the loader for the remaining seating and crimping stations.
Some of my ammo is used in 1866 and 1873 Uberti replica's, and I don't want to take a chance on having the awkward situation of a firing pin rod being driven back into my eye socket.
Click to expand...

Sounds like an excellent approach to safety. I do the same thing, but with several single stage presses.

So, what's the sense of buying a megabucks Dillon, when a couple of Lee presses will do the same thing at a significantly reduced price.
 
Sevens said:
However... nope, sorry folks, you cannot reliably weigh a loaded round in hopes of catching a double charge of Titegroup. You would be looking to weigh a small amount and the variance in the weight of components will usually make for a pretty wide variance across a whole bunch of rounds.
Click to expand...

^^^ This

Is there -ANY- chance that it was more than just a double charge? In a progressive, it is possible that if one got a double that another got a light charge or no charge, leading to the possibility of an obstructed bore. At that point you not only have a double charge of Titegroup but you have effectively doubled the bullet weight. That wouldn't just add to the catastrophe, it would multiply it.
Click to expand...

It would have blown the barrel off, not the cylinder.
 
Are you positive it was in fact a handload?

This type of thing appears to be MUCH more common with factory ammo from what I'm told.

Either way, send the revolver in to Smith and I'll bet they respond back with a discounted current model of your choice. The new guns are every bit as good and in many ways better. Think of it as trading up.
 
Glad you did not get hurt worse.

I load on a Dillon 550 (4 stations), I size and prime alone. After everything is primed I run powder on station 1 and then station 2 always has a RCBS powder check die in it.

Simple little thing that shows me how much powder is in case by a free floating rod that the powder in the case raises it up, next to a stationary rod with a O Ring on it. Just give it a quick look at the bottom of the press stroke.

I do not care if I am using 296 or anything else that fills the case I still prime separate and run my check die. Just makes me feel better.

RCBS Powder Checker Die
 
It's truly a good thing that you didn't suffer any really bad injuries from this. There are three morals to your story: eye protection, eye protection and eye protection. That is the lesson we should all take away from this mishap.
 
A friend of mine gave me some reloaded 45 ACP ammo. this happened, it could of been worse I guess.

cuLo7RTiQ-G4HkIzadEx8A
 
[ame]https://www.amazon.com/photos/album/ZmE81osHQWqhusHTd4LWNw/gallery/cuLo7RTiQ-G4HkIzadEx8A[/ame]
 
Thank you for being brave enough to post this. I'm glad you're okay.

Even though I load on a single stage, and only 50 or 100 at a time (which are easily inspected), it's still a good reminder that nothing is more important than attention to detail.

And I'd pull those remaining rounds. Weighing a loaded round for a possible 8 grains over seems too iffy for me.
 
Funny thing is that I am more saddened by the loss of my nice revolver than by my swollen and painful face, plus rather significant blood loss. The picture of my shirt doesn't even come close to representing that part. Now I have to make do with my 6 other 44 magnums until I can get another one like this. Boo hoo wah wah....
 
I appreciate all of your kind words. I was never worried about being judged by you guys, so I have no reason to conceal what happened. I screwed up and lost a damn fine revolver. Anyone who would ridicule someone for a mistake isn't worth listening to anyway. The reason I posted this was to help others avoid the same thing, and get some helpful suggestions from you all. Thanks again!
 
Glad you were not more seriously injured. The last time I saw a revolver like that was in 1976 in the police academy. One of my fellow recruits got into reloading and brought some of his rounds to the range to try before we began training that day. Blew the cylinder and top strap off the department issued Model 10. Fortunately no one injured. He eventually retired after 25 years.

As the Sgt on Hill Street Blues used to say at the end of line up. "Hey-Be careful out there!"
 
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