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Two guns blown up in five weeks...suggestions?


PapaBonez

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You will never know if it was a double charge or bullet setback. Load up your mag and cycle the rounds through about 3 or 4 times. Check the OAL before & after. I hope this helps before someone gets hurt. When I set up I always check for setback before I run a bunch of ammo.

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Did no one realize that this thread was started in 2013? It's good for others to see but OP probably either got his loading right or quit loading by now.

Old threads usually get revived by newbies who are trying to get post count up or who haven't figured out hot to tell how old a thread is. I think the record is 6 or 7 years?
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Sorry to hear about your gun loss. But happy your daughter and yourself did not get hurt. Gun can be replaced.

I have a super 1050 and run it on a PW auto drive. I load about 950 rounds per hour. The brass with powder is at the back side of the machine, so I have a micro video camera and light mounted right over the top. The while its running I can see very clear that each and every piece of brass has powder.... "No Sqib" and a double charge will show up like a sore thumb.

Ok, video and TV might be excessive to some but for me a very cheap investment to save a 5,000 gun from going boom. It all starts with you, and the effort you put into the loading pays you back with a no boom gun. JMHO

:cheers:

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With an Auto-index Turret and a Progressive Press, you can do a double stroke by not pulling the lever from top of the stroke to the bottom. Loaded casing will not move to the next die. Powder like Bullseye, 231, TG used on a 9mm @ 3.2 gr to 3.6 gr will fill the case almost completely that you will have to force the slug to seat (also a dangerous situation). There is no substitute in paying a very close attention while reloading. If you feel that you are being distracted, stop reloading. If you feel your equipment is malfunctioning, stop reloading and check your equipment. Replace only with manufacturers components and stay safe. Mods from an untrained DIYs if not done correctly is a disaster about to happen.

Stay Safe!

Ok, I might have missed something here. I must ask the question again; how do you know that it was a double charge? Did you pull down all the ammo and find a double charge. Even with a 550, if you two stroke it, your going to have an idea that something is wrong as when you size a sized case, it will be easier then normal to do. 6.2g would fill the case way up, and you might notice that.

I say all this because with out looking at the cases its hard to know if it was a double charge or a case failure and these are two different things. If...you picked up someones well worn 9mm major brass and reloaded it, you could have a case failure. If it was really hot 9mm major brass thins might could do it.

Is the primer real-real flat? What does "blown up" mean? Are we talking pieces or are we talking blown out magazine and broken plastic glock frame?

I say all this because I "blew up a 2011", well actually, I had a case failure. The case split at the bottom of the case, the grip blew apart and the magazine blew out. IF it had been a steel 1911, it would have just blown out the magazine and magazine catch. There was no other damage to the pistol.

Its just a theory. After that incident, and just to be safe, I replaced a bunch of the parts in the pistol as it was used and checked a few things over. Soon after I also bought a 650 and put in a powder check die.

I use SOLO 1000 and a double charge would spill over. In 9mm Minor with a 147 im almost filling the case as it is.

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I have a 550 and a 650. The point of the post was two fold: One, depending on what happened to the guns it might not have been a double charge bust could have been a case failure. Two; even with the powder its hard but not impossible to double charge a case and bulkier powders help but don't prevent this.

Actually blowing up guns with a double charge is "easy" with some of the older .38 special (not .38/.357) target revolvers and bull's-eye. This is a catastrophic failure with a blown apart cylinder and strap.

A double charge of bull's-eye in a 1911 target load will "usually" not destroy the pistol, the case will fail and blow the grips off and magazine out.

Even though the post is old it is still interesting. I am also Deployed at the moment and cant shoot or reload so this is as close as I can get.....

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I have a 550 and a 650. The point of the post was two fold: One, depending on what happened to the guns it might not have been a double charge bust could have been a case failure. Two; even with the powder its hard but not impossible to double charge a case and bulkier powders help but don't prevent this.

I own a 650XL. My take-away from this thread was the likelihood that the kabooms were caused by the frequent powder checks made by OP. This has been the only way I have managed to double-charge or no-charge a case. knock wood......

Edited by amada8
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I use the same press and for 9mm use about the same carge and bullet wts.

You would see a double charge in the case if you can see in the case. For that reason I always stand when reloading so I can see in the case. And I look in every single one. This would help solve the first suggested reason for failure.

Check the crimp with calipers and I also do a "Channel-lock" test. By squeezing a DUMMY round after it's been seated and crimped to make sure it doesn't set back. Probably one of the worst things that can happen and a possible cause of your situation.

Also I read here that if you are called away for any reason or fatigue sets in, bring the press up into the dies and leave it there. You'll always know where you left off when you come back.

Finally, go slow, get in a routine and forget about loading 500 rounds an hour. If you need 1000 rounds load them over a period of days.....SAFELY.

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