I think I loaded a double charge.

[AzShooter]

Yesterday while reloading I had a jam on my 650.  Case got stuck and was hard to advance.  Turned out to be a high primer.  Problem is I think I double charged one of the bullets.  Unfortunately I just loaded 400 rounds and don't know which one it could be. 

I was thinking of scraping off the top layer of perhaps 100 bullets and thinking I'd be safe to shoot the rest.

My other option, and what I believe I should to, is to just throw away all 400 and start over again.

I'd hate to blow up my gun.

Any thoughts?

[Chris777]

Assume you were loading a pistol round....  You could weigh each round to find any that would have a double charge.  I think you would be able to see this weight difference on a scale in spite of any differences in brass case weight.  Start with a good known round.  Weigh all 400 rounds and toss or pull any rounds that you suspect maybe high....

[Cotys]

I agree, I would weight them on a digital scale.  I weight all my long range 556 rounds and set aside any that vary.  To speed things up, weigh 5 known good rounds and get the total weight.  You can use that baseline to weigh 5 at a time.  If you find a variance, you can weigh each one and find the offender. 

If you find a heavy one, I would use a bullet puller and save the components.  You might loose a couple of flakes of powder with a puller, but you could weigh the powder and confirm your suspicions.

[GrumpyOne]

Weighing a complete round is not advisable. There may be enough variation in brass weight to make a double charged round look like it wasn't double charged. Now, if you weigh a sample (say 20-30 empty pieces of brass), and they are all within the same weight ( I would say 5 grains of each other), then you may be able to find the double charge that way, IF your powder charge weight is significant (like 20-25 grains or so).

[Youngeyes]

You don't need to throw anything away. Pull the bullets and start over. Not only should you be worried about losing a gun, but seriously hurting yourself or someone near you at a range. Pulling the bullets is a small price to pay. After that much bullet pulling, you are way less likely to make the same error again. Been there, done that. 

[Foxbat]

Weighing is EXTREMELY unreliable, I have done it and the natural spread is much wider, than the powder weight.  I disassembled all "overweight" rounds and found no double charges there. 

400 rounds is a LOT to disassemble... but a blown gun can spoil your day.  I would not throw them out, but just pull the bullets - do it in batches, 400 rounds is a bitch. 

[SpaceMan]

I dread when I have to pull like 10 bullets, I can only imagine pulling 400.

[9x45]

What you will learn is that when there is a jam, pull all the stations, put the rounds in the junk box, and start again from empty stations. Your only shot at weighing would be if you have all the same head stamp, you know the case weight variance and the bullet weight variance, and the sum of those two is at least half of the charge weight.

Edited October 4, 2016 by 9x45

[lppd4]

I agree on the weighing. I had the opposite problem, I thought I had a squib or 2 in the batch. Weighed them all on a digital scale and pulled out the light ones. No squibs found. There is just too much variance on case weights and bullet weights especially in pistol rounds to detect a 3-6 grain difference reliably. I now pull my completed rounds every 100 rounds or so that way if I have a problem its confined to that 100 round batch.

[AzShooter]

I weight 100 rounds.  Most were 216 to 218.0 grains.   One came out 222 grains.  I think that's the bad one but, I have enough brass to be able to lose 400 rnds. So I'm not going to take a chance.  I'll put these in a box and pull them at my leisure.

 

Edited October 5, 2016 by AzShooter
typo

[outerlimits]

Don't bother weighing-get a collet bullet puller and be done with it.

[MemphisMechanic]

43 minutes ago, 9x45 said:

What you will learn is that when there is a jam, pull all the stations, put the rounds in the junk box, and start again from empty stations. Your only shot at weighing would be if you have all the same head stamp, you know the case weight variance and the bullet weight variance, and the sum of those two is at least half of the charge weight.

Why?

 

What you should learn is that when there is a jam, be superbly deliberate about visually checking the charge level in the next half-dozen  rounds afterward.

When loading, I give each case a lazy partial glance most of the time. As long as they aren't empty or overflowing (depends on powder you use, obviously) then I know the Dillon measure is ticking away properly.

After a jam occurs, I get hyper vigilant for about 30 seconds.

So far I've loaded 50k or so on a 650 without ever loading a squib or a double charge.

Edited October 4, 2016 by MemphisMechanic

[peterthefish]

Why?

 

What you should learn is that when there is a jam, be superbly deliberate about visually checking the charge level in the next half-dozen  rounds afterward.

When loading, I give each case a lazy partial glance most of the time. As long as they aren't empty or overflowing (depends on powder you use, obviously) then I know the Dillon measure is ticking away properly.

After a jam occurs, I get hyper vigilant for about 30 seconds.

So far I've loaded 50k or so on a 650 without ever loading a squib or a double charge.

This. When I have a jam I pull the case under the powder measure and make sure the one under the bullet feeder is not double charged. Throw all the cases? Just don't make sense.

[safeactionjackson]

I'd agree that weight alone won't be enough to identify a double charge. Chalk it up as a lesson learned, instead of writing I won't swear in class, you get to pull 400 bullets.

When I first started reloading I had a powder dispenser issue, wasn't visually inspecting each charge.... had to pull 200 bullets.

Could be worse, a good friend of mine was running an automated s1050 and his sizing die had worn out, 4K worth of 9mm with no tension on the bullet


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[GunBugBit]

When I thought I might have loaded a double in a batch of 100, I weighed dozens of rounds before I realized the variations in bullet, brass and powder weights could account for the variations I saw in the weight of the loaded rounds.  I pulled a few bullets and got mighty sick of that, then went out and shot the rest with one of my non-match 1911s.  I lucked out, there was no double charge.

[StealthyBlagga]

The ~$100 you have in the components is simply not worth the risk of damage and injury.

1) Get a collet-type pulling die and pull them all. If you can't face pulling them, see if someone local is willing to take them off your hands and pull them for the component value, or simply hand them in at your local PD/FD/hazardous waste facility (according to local regulations).

2) Call Dillon and order a Powder Check system for your 650 - money well spent.

 

 

Edited October 4, 2016 by StealthyBlagga

[dillon]

If you are using the powder measure linkage as designed, the lock-link blocks the powder bar from picking up another charge until the failsafe rod pulls the locking link down and out of the way, which then allows the powder bar to pick up another powder charge. The shellplate has rotated to the next position before this happens. This makes it far less likely to drop  a double charge. Study how your failsafe rod is set up, cycle some cases through and try to recreate what you were doing while watching. See how your adjustments affect the cycle of the powder measure.

 However, if you have modified the measure so as to bypass the locking link, then I recommend pulling the ammunition.

[Hi-Power Jack]

What caliber are you loading?

I'd first try Dillon's advice   ^^^^^, but I 2ndly like your own advice - box them and pull them at leisure.    

[Husker95]

Get one of the cheap hammer-type pullers and make yourself do 20 a night.  Your done in a couple weeks or so.  No big deal.

 

[AzShooter]

Well I have the hammer type puller.  Luckily there were two different types of bullets in the mix.  Both 9mm 147 grains but the colors were just a little bit different.  I was able to separate them into the two groups.  I know nothing was wrong with the first group so now I only have 200 to pull.   I'll take my time and pull them all for the components.

Another important lesson learned.

[RDA]

4 hours ago, AzShooter said:

I weight 100 rounds.  Most were 216 to 218.0 grains.   One came out 122 grains.  I think that's the bad one but, I have enough brass to be able to lose 400 rnds. So I'm not going to take a chance.  I'll put these in a box and pull them at my leisure.

So pull apart the one weighing "122 grains" (I assume you meant that one has 222 grains) and see if it has a double charge.

[benos]

7 hours ago, Foxbat said:

Weighing is EXTREMELY unreliable, I have done it and the natural spread is much wider, than the powder weight.  I disassembled all "overweight" rounds and found no double charges there. 

That. One time at the Nationals Henning Walgren had a round without powder in it. That night I watched him weigh all his rounds on a digital scale, and we were both convinced that he did not have another n/c powder round in his match ammo. Next day - another round without powder. He lost big-time. 

Lesson: The weight variables involved with the brass and the bullets are greater than the typical amount of powder in a pistol charge.

[benos]

Due to my last post, I never let more that about 200 rounds accumulate in the loaded round bin before emptying it.

[rustybayonet]

8 hours ago, AzShooter said:

I weight 100 rounds.  Most were 216 to 218.0 grains.   One came out 122 grains.  I think that's the bad one but, I have enough brass to be able to lose 400 rnds. So I'm not going to take a chance.  I'll put these in a box and pull them at my leisure.

 

+1 that would be the best thing to do.

[MemphisMechanic]

1 hour ago, benos said:

Due to my last post, I never let more that about 200 rounds accumulate in the loaded round bin before emptying it.

Never thought of that, but it does make sense. Perhaps I'll replace my "holds 1k" plastic bucket with the small blue bin it came with.