Adventures in reloading

[Chief 101]

I know this was way off topic in the "Goto Powder in the 38..." thread so I started another. My best buddy wanted his son to load some ammo for his Weatherby a couple of years ago so I ran him thru the process in my shop with his dad present. I have loading data for his rifle that shot well for him but it is near max. Peter and I stood at the bench chatting whilst Ross was powdering the cases and I wasn't paying attention very close. Peter was and noticed that the Lad was adding granules of IMR 4350 by hand to the cases, fortunately he stopped the process and asked the Lad what was going on. The Lad said that it didn't look like there was enough powder in the case so he was adding more. What he was doing wasn't going to hurt the rifle but that sort of carelessness is very dangerous and will start some bad habits. Ross has been too embarrassed to ask for shop time since, I hope he has his own loading setup now. Just an indicator of what some are capable of. Chief aka Maxx Load

 

[RugerSP101]

Holy Crap!

Id be messing my shorts if someone was just adding powder like that an loaded one up while I was around.

We had an incident with my cousin, a 12 gauge shell and a blow torch back in 1980 or so. His stupidity gave me a whole new respect for gun powder. I dont mess around with things that can blow off a hand.

Unless the kid is brain dead, Id simply use the incident to teach him, personally. Ive been working with a nephew since last fall about guns, hunting and reloading and he's made a couple errors in judgment that were straightened up very easily. No reason for anyone to be embarassed at all.

Now that cousin I mentioned above...hes cause for concern.
6-7 years ago he bought a muzzle loading 6 shooter when I bought another 357 revolver.
Well, he apparently jammed way too much powder into the thing and the "explosion" was enough that he doesnt like guns anymore.
The gun didnt come apart, thank God, but there was clearly something wrong with it afterward and my cousin had a religious experience, I think.

I definitely would get ahold of this guy and put his mind at ease.
If Ross is new to reloading its just a beginners mistake and to be learned from, not be embarassed about.

 

[Chief 101]

It is just a beginners mistake. 18 years old at the time, has spent half his life in the outdoors with knowledgeable outdoorsmen a hunting and a fishing so just something a smart guy can do first time out. He shot a Wapiti with these salvaged reloads. He has shot Wapiti with a compound bow, caught any fish that have been tossed at him...he is no Pilgrim, reloading ammo is a learned thing and a good thing I was there at the time. Chief aka Maxx Load

 

[powder smoke]

That young man needs to do some reading. Gotta get him some books so he can get educated on the effects of powder charges and the results of careless reloading practices. Sounds like a good young man he just don't know. ps

 

[Bucks Owin]

In my experience, cap & ball revolvers don't have the powder capacity to overload with black powder. I've fired all the FFG I can get into an 1851 .44 replica and still seat the ball with no concerns. And the big Walker Colt with it's wayyy big powder capacity was the "magnum" of sixguns for many decades...
Maybe something other than BP made it's way into those chambers? :shock:

 

[Chief 101]

In my experience, cap & ball revolvers don't have the powder capacity to overload with black powder. I've fired all the FFG I can get into an 1851 .44 replica and still seat the ball with no concerns. And the big Walker Colt with it's wayyy big powder capacity was the "magnum" of sixguns for many decades...
Maybe something other than BP made it's way into those chambers? :shock:

first mention of black powder on this thread...explain please?

 

[RugerSP101]

It is just a beginners mistake. 18 years old at the time, has spent half his life in the outdoors with knowledgeable outdoorsmen a hunting and a fishing so just something a smart guy can do first time out. He shot a Wapiti with these salvaged reloads. He has shot Wapiti with a compound bow, caught any fish that have been tossed at him...he is no Pilgrim, reloading ammo is a learned thing and a good thing I was there at the time. Chief aka Maxx Load

I had a friend who had some guy he knew with a press who was reloading ammo for his 44 Desert Eagle he bought way back when they were new and popular....Beverly Hills Cop comes to mind.

So any way we're at the range...bear in mind this guy is a gun nut who I assumed knew what the hell he was doing.
So he fires a few rounds. Ive heard his gun before with factory ammo and these reloads sound horrible. So Im listening to his shots while Im trying to fire my own 357 Smith revolver when he drops the hammer on one that sounded like it fizzled.
I ask him what happened and he says it sounded funny when he shot it.
hmmm.
So before I can even get to him he racks another round in the chamber and pulls the gun up to aim down range.
I DOVE into the dirt while yelling DOOONT SHOOOOT!...
So he doesnt fire. I get up, a bit embarassed, take the gun, open the slide and sure enough about half way down the barrel is a lodged bullet.

We went to the local Dept store and in the craft section got a wooden dowel and tapped it out.

want to talk about seeing God

 

[RugerSP101]

In my experience, cap & ball revolvers don't have the powder capacity to overload with black powder. I've fired all the FFG I can get into an 1851 .44 replica and still seat the ball with no concerns. And the big Walker Colt with it's wayyy big powder capacity was the "magnum" of sixguns for many decades...
Maybe something other than BP made it's way into those chambers? :shock:

Knowing my cousin I wouldnt put it past him to have tried smokeless powder just to get a bigger blast.
Hes actually intelligent enough, he just likes to push the limits and seems to like the rush of danger sometimes.
The things he did when we were growing up...Im amazed he lived.
He did spend half a year with a halo on his shoulders holding his head in place when he broke his neck doing a swan dive off a cliff into about 3 feet of water. Thankfully the bottom of the creek was so soft he only broke his neck like he did instead of dying.
Just not a safety conscious sort.