A Bad Day at the Range -- KaBooooom!

christos...i totally agree...i wanted to start reloading but read too many stories of guys blowing up their guns with accidentally over charged reloads...granted it may happen 1 out of every 10,000 rounds...id rather not take that chance...plus if factory ammo blows up at least you can get some heavy compensation...provided you live through it
 
blood hound said:
christos...i totally agree...i wanted to start reloading but read too many stories of guys blowing up their guns with accidentally over charged reloads...granted it may happen 1 out of every 10,000 rounds...id rather not take that chance...plus if factory ammo blows up at least you can get some heavy compensation...provided you live through it

The stories you've read stand out because it's things going wrong. It's like when you have a kid that goes and shoots up a school. You hear about that, but do you hear about how many kids go to school and dont kill anyone everyday?
No.

Accidentally overcharged reloads? Not possible if you use a progressive press and complete the entire cycle of the machine everytime, just as you're supposed to.
It's also impossible to do if you're paying attention to reloading on a nonprogressive press such as the 550 mentioned in that blown up gun post. You can see the powder in the shell and can visually confirm the amount of powder in the shell before you turn the wheel.
Explosions happen generally because people are morons.
In the link to this, the guy just assumed the powder that was left in the machine was the powder he uses at home.
You can't do that!
you need to know what you're using.

Reloading isn't the problem. It's not paying attention, or using bad materials, like 40 cal brass that's really worn out and then you want to go and shoot it in a gun with a nonsupported chamber.

As for getting "heavy compensation"
Good luck.
You should live through a gun exploding due to bad reloading, chances are great that if it blows up, you'll be shaken up, but that's about it. Of the 4 guns I've seen blown up, (2 glock 40s, 1 hk45 with factory ammo, 1 revolver) no one was hurt.
Remember, everything is happening in front of you, and the direction the majority of the pressure is moving is where the gun was pointed. As that is the direction of least resistance. Pressure is lost forwards, or right around the rim of the brass, which usually causes the grip/frame to crack, blows the mag out of the gun, and may blow the top of the chamber straight up.

dont let the few people who manage to blow up their guns discourage you from reloading unless you don't have enough confidence in your own ability to pay attention to what you're doing.
 
Im all set with reloading for now...Ill stick with the commercial stuff for now...but i will sooner or later start reloading...its just like everything, you have to pay attention and not get lax and nothing will go wrong.


richie
 
I shoot .22, 9mm, .40S&W, and .223. I can buy all of these cheaper than I can reload. Sure, I might be able to bake up a smoother or softer round, maybe something more accurate, but for the shooting I do, about 200-250 rounds a week, factory ammo is for me.

Chris
 
ChristosX said:
I shoot .22, 9mm, .40S&W, and .223. I can buy all of these cheaper than I can reload. Sure, I might be able to bake up a smoother or softer round, maybe something more accurate, but for the shooting I do, about 200-250 rounds a week, factory ammo is for me.

Chris


How you gonna game IDPA if you don't cook up some homebrew no recoil peashooting reloads? [rofl]
 
ChristosX said:
I shoot .22, 9mm, .40S&W, and .223.

Well, 9mm is probably cheaper to buy, but I think that once you're past the initial outlay, you'll find that the .40S&W is cheaper to reload. I did the numbers some time ago on .45 and found something like 50% savings on jacketed ammo if I reloaded.
 
dwarven1 said:
Well, 9mm is probably cheaper to buy, but I think that once you're past the initial outlay, you'll find that the .40S&W is cheaper to reload. I did the numbers some time ago on .45 and found something like 50% savings on jacketed ammo if I reloaded.

I've only been reloading for what, 2 weeks now? I don't know where you guys are buying your 9mm rounds, but I'm reloading for cheaper than I've found a place to get them. Let me know where you buy your ammo.

A box of 9mm (50 rounds) costs me about $4.30 to reload (if I've done my math right), depending on how long the brass lasts.

Speaking of which, how do you tell when the brass is no longer good? When it defects or just looks bad?
 
Martlet said:
I've only been reloading for what, 2 weeks now? I don't know where you guys are buying your 9mm rounds, but I'm reloading for cheaper than I've found a place to get them. Let me know where you buy your ammo.

A box of 9mm (50 rounds) costs me about $4.30 to reload (if I've done my math right), depending on how long the brass lasts.

Speaking of which, how do you tell when the brass is no longer good? When it defects or just looks bad?

I think I pay around $12.00 for WWB value pack of 9mm, thats $6.00 per 50. Not all that much more than $4.30. Martlet, you also have to amortize the cost of your reloading equipment over time so that $4.30 is acutally higher. I'm not trying to criticize here, just saying reloading is not for me. Time is also a consideration, especially this time of year, my two boys with two different Little League schedules, work, and stuff to do around the house, I just have no time to sit at a reloading bench...

Chris
 
ChristosX said:
Not all that much more than $4.30. Martlet, you also have to amortize the cost of your reloading equipment over time so that $4.30 is acutally higher.


Oh, I realize that. I didn't take it as criticism at all. In reality right now I'm paying about $45.37 per box of 50. [grin]

I know what you mean when you talk about "time". I'm exactly the same way. The difference is, I enjoy reloading so far. I'll pay someone to do the things I don't like doing.

I've had a saying since high school:

"I don't want to make enough money to do the things I've always wanted to do, I want to make enough money to pay someone else to do the things I don't."
 
Reminds me of the picture at Four Seasons a while ago I saw that said "Watch your loads" and had the top half of a revolver blown away.
 
The factory ammo for my Match AR is $25 for 50. I can reload it for about half that and also get better performance with handloads. Not to mention there is no factory 80gr .223.
 
derek said:
Reloading is safe.

Reloading is only as safe as the person performing the act.

I reload several calibers. I feel reloading is part of shooting. It requires the same attention putting the bullet into the case as it does making it exit.
 
Round Gun Shooter said:
Reloading is only as safe as the person performing the act.

I reload several calibers. I feel reloading is part of shooting. It requires the same attention putting the bullet into the case as it does making it exit.

That kinda goes with out saying. Just like Sex, Drinking, shooting are all safe as the person performing them.
 
derek said:
That kinda goes with out saying. Just like Sex, Drinking, shooting are all safe as the person performing them.

I don't remember
grinning-smiley-026.gif
 
OMG that is incredible... thank god nobody was hurt either firing it or just at the range within distance.
 
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