What have you done while reloading that was a fluke, we all do it at one point. Hopefully we can share and save someone else the headache.
What have you done while reloading that was a fluke, we all do it at one point. Hopefully we can share and save someone else the headache.
Always double check you have primers in before pouring powder in
Move fingers before moving press ram
Yes I’ve done both decapping pins go right through a finger
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Rub some dirt on it and get back in the fight
I once managed to cross thread the collet nut on my 223 die, which left the pin off center just enough to shave thin stripes into the cases.
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Going broke one caliber at a time.
I've charged cases with no primer - and installed primers upside-down.
I've core-sectioned a finger that was in the wrong place - wrong time.
I've drilled my finger with the decapping pin.
I've failed to lube a rifle case b4 resizing. (Stuck case remover practise.)
I've seated bullets in uncharged cases - ("Check the BORE!" practise.)
I've used powder that stunk - ("Check the BORE!" practise.)
I've run the charged case up into the LEE Factory Crimp die before seating the bullet. (LEE Turret press makes this easy.)
Dam, where do I start!!!
All of the above I have done. Part of learning I think, but hearing it here may prevent people from doing it themselves (I hope)
Shit in the 51 years I've been loading I've made every mistake but over charging. That's one thing I never want to do. I've seen the results. Live and learn. And we didn't have internet back in 1967 to disseminate information. I did a lot of reading.
Face it - we are all human - prone to having brain farts - or in my case brief moments of lucidity surrounded by "why am I in this room?" and "What am I supposed to be doing now?" At least we normally dont say "Hey - Hold my beer and watch this shit"
Mine always revolve around spilling powder somehow. Once while pouring it into the hopper, again while pouring back into the container. A couple times bumping the tray of freshly charged cases and knocking powder from some, leading me to have to restart the measuring and charging process. That’s the most frustrating mistake so far.
Are you consciously seeking a cure for spillage? I think I spilled for years before focusing on a cure. Wide mouth pwdr containers are fine to pour INTO, but difficult to pour FROM into an RCBS thrower. (for example)Originally Posted by Travis21
I found cheap plastic funnels at auto parts stores that helped me hit the holes when pouring. (And learned how to prevent them from accumulating a static charge.)
I don't bump the charged cases tray if I feed them from the opposite side of the press from the bullets.
Obviously an uncluttered bench reduces trip hazards and I had to quit accumulating tools, trays and such.
I used to lay my calipers on the edge of the bench within easy reach but realized when a third of it is hanging off the edge I bump it and it becomes a lever.
It would flip and land on the floor, in my container of completed rounds or ON the tray of charged cases.
Another item I bumped was my Ohaus balance. I built a simple plywood box in "shed" style (3 sides, flat roof) that sits at the back of the bench. Truly only spent 4 minutes making it!
It's a 'garage' and my balance sits on a piece of cardboard with the front edge bent up into a lip I can grasp to slide the balance in and out of the garage's open front. Stuff that used to sit
on the bench now sits on the garage's flat roof. Nothing falling (horrors!) from the shelves on the wall ever lands ON my balance.
2018-08-01 06.01.40.jpg
LEE_LOADER.JPGI started reloading with a Lee Loader (see pic) many years ago hammering rounds together before getting a press. Back then there was no internet and my biggest mistake was thinking the OAL for each load in the manuals was gospel before I learned to measure MAX distance to lands and then develop the longest working OAL for each gun\bullet. I've made many mistakes through the years but thank goodness haven't blown anything up (except on purpose) The biggest thing that re-loaders need to do is to slow down and not get distracted while re-loading, after all I consider it me-time.
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