Les Jones

I was at CCA a few months back when some guy brought his fancy 1911 to the counter that had exploded. I look at JP and say ‘that’s why I don’t reload’

And I hope that’s not your gun in the pic.

SayUncle´s last blog post..Knee Deep

Nope, not mine. Never reloaded.

Which isn’t to say I never will, but my life would have to be very different to have the time.

Yep. I give all my brass to range buddies. A pain these days to find enough ammo at a decent price without shooting through the stockpile.

See, I can get the time. The wife takes care of the girls while I sit in the garage and pack bullets. My worst ‘oops’ has luckily been a squib - I probably dumped the powder out of the case to measure it to ensure I was staying within the limits and forgot to put it back. Did you know a primer will shove a 10mm bullet about an inch down the barrel? It’s true.

I only reload rifle rounds after the girls are in bed because I do it inside. I find the same ‘Zen’ in measuring each powder charge on a scale that I do when I’m shooting. The nice thing about single stage and rifle rounds is that I can do the case prep at different times than charging and seating.

Often, I’ll get home, toss the brass in the cleaner, then deprime and resize the cases, reprime then, then toss ‘em in a sealed Tupperware box until I’m ready to charge and seat. That’s something I can do with the girls playing piggy-back.

Come time to put the boom-dust in the cases though, and they’ve got to be asleep. Too dangerous otherwise.

Robb Allen´s last blog post..Ow

Yup, total focus required. I even go so far as to turn off the ceiling fan in the room to avoid any little gusts that could cause a paper to tip or powder to scatter. No TV, no radio, and I debated with myself for a long time whether or not to put an old laptop on the loading bench to display load data on, before figuring it’s another distraction and that I can write what I need down off the office computer before staging.

Why I don’t drive…

http://www.rogerwendell.com/images/silkroad/silkroad_car_wreck_06-01.jpg

Yeah walking takes longer, but I get more time to think to myself “I am safe, I am safe, I am safe”.

Safety Nazis… venture out of the bubble, there is a whole world out there, it’s even fun sometimes.

My fears exactly. Also why I’m such a bad conversationalist while driving. Total focus and talking are incompatible.

Ride Fast´s last blog post..Latest Case Of Immigrant Mass Murder Syndrome

If you don’t reload because something like this will happen then you also need to stay far, far away from any of the “Little Guy” manufactured ammo Companies because all they are is a reloader selling their extras! They likely don’t have two nickels to rub together and they certainly don’t have enough Insurance to take care of damages that their “product” causes. Also, they are most likely an Corporation so you don’t really have anyone to suit if you get a bad round. Stick with the Big Boys who have been around longer than you have and you’re likely to be alright. Or “Take” the time to reload and give yourself more time to shoot and more money to do it with.

A friend of mine (long since retired) ran a gun shop in Carson City. He sold a 10″ Super Blackhawk to a customer back when that barrel length was introduced.

The guy went home with his new prize and either threw a double charge of Unique or failed to properly empty his powder measure when switching to 2400. Either way, the load was something in excess of 20 grains, if memory serves.

The top strap and upper half of the cylinder went suborbital. You could hold the barrel in one hand and the grip in the other and easily flex the remains because of the damage to the frame. The shooter wasn’t hurt but was a bit surprised when the piece recoiled downward.

My friend bought the ruin back from his customer and kept it on the counter where it served as a conversation piece and object lesson until he closed his shop.

Sorry about your luck. Were you using a progressive reloader?

That’s why I use only powders that fill up available case capacity over 50%. Can’t do a double charge if the bullet doesn’t seat. Quickload is an invaluable tool for this.

For example, I don’t use Winchester 231 for .38 Special, because it only fills up the usable case capacity to 25-35%

I use a RCBS chargemaster combo to dump my powder, because I get better accuracy than I could with any volumetric powder dispenser, and it’s faster than a conventional scale. Yes, the RCBS and Quickload are expensive, but I’m a 26 year old bachelor.

Last but not least, I avoid progressive reloaders like the plague. Jack of all trades is the master of none, and doing all actions in one step is an invitation to disaster. I always forget the bullet, or run out of primers, or something doesn’t align, or the powder didn’t dispense properly. In reloading as in politics, progressives are EVIL. I owned two multi-stage progressives before I gave up on them, now I’m single stage all the way. You can’t mess up an activity you repeat a hundred times in a row, and my consistency is better than any match ammo I’ve shot.

I don’t know how you guys reload such minuscule powder quantities in those teeny-tiny handgun cartridges.
I feel OK reloading for rifles only because the strength of the actions and the spread of charge differences between “good” and “accurate” are generous and much greater than for a handgun, even in a little cartridge like .223 - with a 150-grain MatchKing and H4895 in .30-06 I can go from 44.5 grains all the way to 51.7 — but for a 140gr. bullet in a .357Magnum, the available variation (of Bullseye) is only is 7.5 grains to 7.8!
My electronic dispenser will go to tenths but what really kills me is all the brass prep for Matches - esp. removing the mil-crimp, primer-pocket reaming, flash-hole uniforming, re-sizing and trimming to length, all before you even get to powder and bullet - and that’s just for some 60-rounds. I got totally slow doing it one-at-a-time on my RCBS single-stage, and with the little .223 cartridge my big stupid fingers just get in the way of everything. Now I want a Dillon.

DirtCrashr´s last blog post..April 1st - a day late

I hope that’s the one that got stolen from me along with some reloads.

Like Robb, I prep the brass on one day, then add the powder and bullet on another. One thing I learned designing industrial assembly machines is that every other step is an inspection to be sure the previous one was successful.
I load powder into brass, then put the filled brass in a cartridge holder. When I have 50, I have an eraserless pencil with marks on it to indicate a correct load, and an empty cartridge. I put the pencil into every case to verify fill levels before putting the lead on.

Billll´s last blog post..Gun Control

There’s a very easy way to avoid double charges with handgun ammo. If you get interrupted while reloading, just shine a flashlight into the cartridge under the powder dispenser. It’s very easy to tell whether it has been charged or not.

The other solution is to spend the big bucks and get a progressive with auto-indexing.

i reload many Cal’s and have never had a problem Why? Because i do one step at a time and I take my time and don’t get any distractions. If you have many distractions then DON”T reload. It is better to be safe than sorry. I really love the total zen type concentration required to do this most relaxing of pleasures. I actually love reloading for my many Cal’s. and use it for relaxing after a hard day. best stress relief yet.

IdahoG,

“Yeah walking takes longer, but I get more time to think to myself “I am safe, I am safe, I am safe”.”

How do you keep from starving by forgetting which end of the spoon goes in your mouth?

Tam´s last blog post..Sword control now!

PS: Your gun is ready. We knocked the squib out, but the bore is jugged. A new barrel will be another $179.55.

Tam´s last blog post..Sword control now!

I see you don’t have photos of the millions of firearms that are fired with reloads each year. Most reloaders that I know have rifles and handguns that have never fired a round of factory ammo.
Those who have never tried it always have some excuse.
I get to shoot more than anyone that does not reload.
I shoot more calibers and more rifles in obscure calibers that you can’t even buy ammo for, from 100+ year old relics to modern wildcats.
I also ride a bike without a helmet.

Sure, lots of people reload without any problems. But those people aren’t me in my busy domestic situation. To each his own.

Les Jones´s last blog post..“Land of the Lost” Memorial Day marathon on Sci-Fi channel