Speeddmn
Active member
I do this way more often than I should!
Stupidest thing you've done reloading
- Thread starter Buckbrush
- Start date
I do this way more often than I should!
buffybr
Well-known member
Back in the '80s and '90s when I was competing in Trap and Skeet shooting I was shooting and reloading about 10,000 shotshells every year.
I no longer compete, but I still to the range almost every week and shoot at least two magazines/cylinders through each of 4 pistols, 10 rounds through each of 2 rifles, and 3 or 4 lines of Skeet. That adds up to around 7,000 rounds per year.
Except for my rifle hunting loads I load everything else on Hornady 366 progressive shotgun presses and a Dillon progressive rifle and pistol press.
Sometimes just the slightest distraction can result in no powder, no shotshell wad, no primer or an upside down rifle or pistol primer.
By themselves those errors are not dangerous but are an embaressment on the Skeet field when you pull the trigger and there is just a weak pop and the shot pellets just barely clear the barrel. But it could be dangerous if the wad didn't clear the barrel and you shoot a good shell behind it.
With rifles and pistols many times no powder can result in the primer forcing the bullet just into the barrel. Shooting a rifle or pistol with the previous round's bullet stuck in the barrel will most likely cause the barrel to rupture and a ruined gun and possibly a serous injury to the shooter. This is more apt to happen when rapidly firing a semi-auto rifle or pistol.
On one of my hunts in Africa I wanted to shoot a couple of their small cats, a civet and a caracal. It was legal to shoot these predators at night over bait and the outfitter had a blind overlooking the spot where they disposed of the enedible parts of the animals that their hunters shoot.
To prevent an expanding hunting bullet from making a big hole in the hide of these small preditors, I had loaded a box of 150 grain FMJ bullets for my .300 Weatherby.
The first animal to come in that night was a Civet and my shot instantly killed it. My PH chose not to immediately go get it and to wait to see what else would come in. Later a Caracal came in and when I squeeged the trigger there was just a click of the fireing pin hitting the primer.
My first thought was that I hadn't chambered a new round after shooting the Civet but when I tried to chamber a new round, it wouldn't go in. I then discovered that the primer had forced the bullet of the previous round into the barrel. I also discovered that the misfired shell had a full load of powder. The primer did not ignite the powder but it had pushed the bullet into the barrel.
Luckily, the other PH in camp had left his .22 rimfire rifle in the truck that we had and I was able to use it to shoot the Caracal. The Caracal was over 100 yards from our blind and my first shot didn't kill it. That's when we discovered that the rifle had only had 2 shells in it. My PH said that if we went down to the wounded Caracal it might run off and asked if I was confident of a second shot from the blind. My second shot from the blind killed the cat.
When I got back home I shot all of the other 150 grain FMJ shells and they all performed as they should.
Not for me I just spent another 225 dollars on 2lbs of H 4350 and 2 lbs of H 4831 sc.
I can't help it. It's an addiction.
If I just bought factory ammo I only shoot at game the whole season maybe 5 rounds. But with reloading your always trying different bullets primers and powder even when I have a perfect load already. And I can't ever choose what I should hunt with. It's crazy!
I bought all my stuff before the prices got crazy. I’m about half price of a box of factory loaded ammo and that was before the price increase of factory ammo. And mine is always in stock. I don’t mess with a bunch of different loads just to try something different. I work up a load for what I want to shoot and that’s my load. It has worked great for me.
220yotekiller
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2017
- Messages
- 750
until you have the bad judgement to buy a 257 weatherby, then you really do save money...
Doublecluck
Well-known member
I’ve never done anything notably stupid, well at least more so than I realized and it cost me a case or bullet or two.
I was however standing in a duck blind next to a guy who “reloads” when one of his shells went puff, that one wasn’t a big deal, but the next one turned the barrel in to a pipe bomb.
I was however standing in a duck blind next to a guy who “reloads” when one of his shells went puff, that one wasn’t a big deal, but the next one turned the barrel in to a pipe bomb.
I mean I could probably make it cheaper if I didn’t shoot everything I reloaded right away
Farmerj
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2021
- Messages
- 1,072
It’s not saving me any money.
I shoot more.
I tinker more.
I spend more when I learn new things..
Just like shampoo…
Rinse and repeat
I shoot more.
I tinker more.
I spend more when I learn new things..
Just like shampoo…
Rinse and repeat
Hunter4Life78
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2022
- Messages
- 1,154
I started reloading....
It is cheaper for me to reload. This is first year I had to buy factory in three years+ When you shoot oddball caliber you do what you do.
It is cheaper for me to reload. This is first year I had to buy factory in three years+ When you shoot oddball caliber you do what you do.
RealMuddyboots
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2021
- Messages
- 417
We all have mixed up powders at one time or another. You cannot combine powders so they stay completely homogenized during loading, storage, or even after round is loaded. Mixing is not creating a "solution" that is a fully homogenized. The risks are all over the map depending on how the mixture ends in a case.
Lesson learned, have marshmellows with the fire with it. I prefer garden ferilizer and I did notice when certain flowers budded out and "popped" into flowers, swore I heard something.....
Lesson learned, have marshmellows with the fire with it. I prefer garden ferilizer and I did notice when certain flowers budded out and "popped" into flowers, swore I heard something.....
Bigjay73
Well-known member
Why does this sound dirty?
LuketheDog
Well-known member
Bad judgement or good taste?
Oddball aficionado here. It is cheaper, right up until you start cratering cases due to poor alignment headed into the sizing die. Or you over-crimp a 405 basic case to the point where you can only toss it. Or you rip the rim off thanks to the shellholder being .003 off...
BackofBeyond
Well-known member
I wish I had a pound of H1000 for every time I dumped powder into my chargemaster without checking to be sure the dump spout was closed.
If you didn’t shoot it right away you’d be selling more rifles with ammo along with them…. Best that you shoot it right away!
Last edited:
I find it to be exponential. The more you shoot, the cheaper it is.
I shoot a lot because I reload. If I had to buy ammo I’d probably not shoot as much. So it actually does cost me more to reload
MThuntr
Well-known member
You forgot to lather
Bigjay73
Well-known member
No matter how much you spend on components, compared to buying factory ammo, reloading will always give you more bang for your buck......get it? "Bang".... for your "buck". A rare double entendre shooting pun, can't believe I give this stuff away for free.
HSi-ESi
Well-known member
The only big mistake I've made was when I was 17 or so. The first load I settled on for my .308 was 44.6 gr of IMR 3031. After a few years of loading that, Dad and I switched over to using Win 760 - and 50.1 gr was the powder charge.
One night I was loading and we were out of Win 760 - so I grabbed the IMR 3031. I thought about grabbing the reloading notebook - but didn't because I knew I was right. Loaded 50.1 gr of IMR 3031.
Went out the next day plinking prairie dogs - and the first shot separated the base of the case, blew the primer out and ruined the ejector on my rifle. I had it all fixed by a gunsmith - but it was pretty stupid mistake. Everything has been written down and verified since then.
One night I was loading and we were out of Win 760 - so I grabbed the IMR 3031. I thought about grabbing the reloading notebook - but didn't because I knew I was right. Loaded 50.1 gr of IMR 3031.
Went out the next day plinking prairie dogs - and the first shot separated the base of the case, blew the primer out and ruined the ejector on my rifle. I had it all fixed by a gunsmith - but it was pretty stupid mistake. Everything has been written down and verified since then.
