If this doesn't make you rethink your own reloading procedures you're asking for the same trouble.
What Happens When You Load Pistol Powder in a Rifle Cartridge
Some observations. This is no one's fault but the reloader. Yes, the labels are similar, but that is no excuse. I do think that if the actual identifiers on the powders had numbers rather than names it might have more readily cued the reloader that he was grabbing the wrong stuff. The comment at the end is on point: "It’s not a bad idea to separate your pistol powders from your rifle powders, or perhaps even load for pistol in a separate part of your workshop." Or, since stick-on labels are very cheap and easily created on on a home printer, why not label each container when you acquire it with "PISTOL" or "RIFLE"? Or simply write the same information on the cap with a marker of appropriate contrasting color. We are also told: "Denny was not a novice reloader. His experience demonstrates that this kind of mistake can be made by any hand-loader, even one with decades of experience." Familiarity, they say, breeds contempt, and carelessness causes casualties. If the picture of this guy's shredded hand doesn't make you rethink your own reloading procedures you're asking for the same trouble.
12 comments:
Back when I was gainfully employed by a "large public futility" one of our directors told his assembled management team (in a heavy hispanic accent) "Thees ees not the time to lose your fucus!"
Just as in shooting, there is a Zen meditation-like element to reloading that you must maintain in order to do it well and safely. If you find your "fucus" drifting, stop reloading, go and do something else for a while. Your eyes and fingers will thank you.
My reloading routine is much like attending church service. Lots of sober ritual, memorized routine, and repetition. I've been doing this for almost four decades and still won't load anything without writing down all the details and comparing it to past notes.
ONE container of powder comes out of the cabinet at a time, and everything it goes into gets a 2" wide piece of yellow tape marked with the powder type and date written on it. ALL this powder gets sealed back up in the container when I'm done and the container gets locked back in the cabinet. I have even been putting the tape marking on the cap of powder containers so I can identify the powder from the top.
Little mistakes can leave deep scars. Ever wonder why old men tend to be set in their ways?
It's the scars of life that have made them wise.
The short story still did not say what caused the man's injury. Please explain, other that to say rifle powders should be separated from pistol powders.
The article states he wasn’t a novice reloader? We have a problem then. Titegroup is a fairly fine spherical powder while Varget is an extruded powder. Not only do the labels on the bottles look NOTHING alike, neither do the powders. If this is an example of his attention to detail he has no business owning firearms let alone reloading for them. I have no sympathy for him.
I've only recently gotten into reloading. Bought the gear five years ago, finally decided it was time to get off my @$$ and do it. Spent 3 months reading everything I could, before I touched *anything.*
Got to RESPECT the chemistry... As this guy sadly demonstrates, there's no room for stupid mistakes.
" Anonymous said...
The short story still did not say what caused the man's injury. Please explain, other that to say rifle powders should be separated from pistol powders.
January 10, 2015 at 2:00 PM"
Pistol powders tend to have a much faster burn rate than rifle powders. So if he used a fast burning pistol powder in a recipe that called for a slower burning rifle powder, it's not unlike setting off a small bomb in the chamber of the rifle. The pressure would rupture multiple parts of the firearm and basically turn them into shrapnel.
quote" Please explain, other that to say rifle powders should be separated from pistol powders."unquote
Yes, can someone explain what happened? The author said at first he thought something was defective in the rifle. That suggests he fired it and something happened. Vs something happening while reloading? I'm not a reloader,but I am interested in possibly learning in the future. Thanks
In asking the question "what happened?" I wrongly assumed that this happened during the reloading process. I do see how it could have happened upon firing a round loaded with the wrong powder. The written piece didn't say that, or if it did, I missed it.
- Old Greybeard
Varget is formulated for light to medium powered rifles while Titegroup is formulated for pistols and shotguns, in a nutshell.... Lets say he loaded a 42 grain charge of Varget into his .308 then topped it off with a 175 grain bullet. His chamber pressure would be in the neighborhood of 55,000 PSI which is perfectly safe. Now, instead our hero here grabs a bottle of Titegroup ignoring the label on the bottle, pours it into his dispenser ignoring the fact is a spherical powder and not an extruded powder then loads up that same 42 grain charge. Because of the different burn rate, his chamber pressure is now in the neighborhood of 266,000 PSI. No firearm can handle this pressure. In fact, 62,000 PSI is the very upper limit. He was over 10 times that.
LOL .....What "Liberty or Death" said!
Shades of "Project Eldest Son".
http://www.modernforces.com/uniform_italian_green.htm
If you own a 40 glock ,, beware , dont build hot reloads for it..
the breech is not fully supported and can create a magazine blow out and subsequently ruin the weapon and possibly your hand
look up kaboom or "glock kaboom" on youtube
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