David Sinko Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Once in a match I expected a bang and got the dreadful click. I thought the round misfired, but apparently everybody else heard the primer pop. In an instant before anybody could say or do anything or stop me I was on the trigger again and finished the stage. When they told me what happened I didn't believe it. Further examination revealed that the Berry 185 gr. HBRN had been loaded without powder. The primer drove the bullet hard enough to clear the cylinder gap and allow the cylinder to rotate for the next shot. The next shot drove both bullets out the barrel resulting in a perfect head shot, which was where I was aiming. The gun was not damaged at all. I was using a very light charge of Viht N320 for about 130 PF. Looking back, I believe the problem was caused when loading that batch of ammo on a Dillon 550. As I lowered the handle of the press, one of the springs that is wrapped around the powder measure broke and the spring flew off and hit me in the face. This distraction caused me to not realize that the case hadn't been charged with powder. That could've been a very expensive lesson but fortunately it was not. Dave Sinko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajarrel Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 You are very fortunate. I have a friend that was shooting some light loads he had bought early in his shooting experience. To make a long story short, he stacked six rounds in the barrel and there was no removing them. I was standing behind him about 20 feet and didn't notice anything unusual about the sound, just light like the rest of the rounds had been. The barrel looked like a snake that had eaten six mice. He was so embarrassed about it, he removed the barrel before sending it to S&W for a barrel replacement. Glad everything worked out for you. dj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Bell Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 You are very fortunate. I have a friend that was shooting some light loads he had bought early in his shooting experience. To make a long story short, he stacked six rounds in the barrel and there was no removing them. I was standing behind him about 20 feet and didn't notice anything unusual about the sound, just light like the rest of the rounds had been. The barrel looked like a snake that had eaten six mice. He was so embarrassed about it, he removed the barrel before sending it to S&W for a barrel replacement.Glad everything worked out for you. dj Everybody in these stories was lucky. With a revolver, the excess pressure is able to escape through the gap between the cylinder and the barrel, sometimes making the difference between a damaged gun and a damaged shooter. With an autoloader, there's no such escape channel. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemo Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Don't worry David. Yesterday I blew up the cylinder of my new (to me) 25-2 with what I think was a double charge. It was the first time out with this revo and I only brought with me 10 loaded clips. The first round of the last moon, BOOM! felt like shooting a 357. The cylinder cracked only a that chamber and wouldn't rotate. When I finally got it open it took some convincing with a hammer and a brass rod to get the moon out of the cylinder. Yesterday I managed to kill my first firearm after eleven years shooting and about 5 reloading. It may be easy to intentionally get a double charge on a 550, but I never thought it would happen to me. When you have to interrupt your 550 session leave the handle on the down-stroke position, that way when you come back to it there's no doubt of where you were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
festus1 Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 When you have to interrupt your 550 session leave the handle on the down-stroke position, that way when you come back to it there's no doubt of where you were. +1 Amen. That works pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 When you have to interrupt your 550 session leave the handle on the down-stroke position, that way when you come back to it there's no doubt of where you were. I do this with both my 550 and 650. If anything weird happens, I'll stop what I'm doing and examine every station- especially with the 550. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Everybody wants to argue, argue, argue with me when I say this, but this is why you want a press with auto-indexing. Glad you guys are OK. Nemo, sorry to hear about your gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinMike Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 If the press kinks up or something goofy happens, I pull everything out of the stations until I've figured out the problem. If my reloading session must be interrupted to take a call or whatever, I run through the shells in the stations to clear the press. That way when I return, there is absolutely no question about anything. I've also got a "reject" box that I keep near the press. If I happen to get interrupted and end up being unsure about something, I pull the cartridges in the seat and crimp stations and throw them in the box to pull later. Better safe than sorry. The box is also handy in case I do something dumb like not get the bullet on straight and mash a case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mainus Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Welcome to the club Nemo . Don't feel bad, you aren't the first. Just glad you are OK. Blew up my 627 .357 a while back with a double charge. Chrono read roughly 1500 FPS. Cracked the cylinder etc, etc. Send it in and get it fixed, It is a hard lesson to learn but one that you will probably never forget. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
41mag Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Glad to hear every one survived. Sorry to hear about your new 25-2 Nemo. I just recently got a new 25-2 and a 550. I was already being cautious with the 550 and will be even more so now. When ever I stop cycleing the 550 I have been leaving it ready to pull the handle down (handle up and shell plate indexed, bullet sitting on case, ect.). I NEVER leave the press sit with powder in the case under the powder drop station. Any time theres a glitch of any sort I regroup and check for powder drop. I have given a little thought to designing a powder drop monitor electronic circuit. My first idea would involve a micro controller and some limit or prox switches. The program basics would sound an alarm if you cycled the handle more than once without indexing. I would design it to draw power from the house ac supply so batteries wouldnt be a worry. It would stay on constantly and have a reset button. I am very much an amateur at the electronics thing and there are people here who could do this better/faster than me I'm sure. Let me know if you think this is a good idea or not and any suggestions for how it should be done. Might make a good winter project. Not sure of the cost...under a 100.00 if I use a Basic Stamp controller....under 50.00 if I could do it with a PIC or just with IC's. The smarter one is, the cheaper it can be made . So there may be some cheap ideas out there. What powder charge was you using Nemo? Is there a good load that won't fit twice in one case that we should consider using on the 550? When I load 45acp I am able to look into the case mouth while loading but on other cartridges like 357 and 44 I can't see down in there far enough to see the light target loads (the ones that would easily fit twice!). I thought I had researched the reloaders well when I made my 550 purchase but I must admit I was unaware or had'nt thought of this issue. The 650 lets you run the powder check die AND has auto indexing (right?). That sure would be something to consider if I could start over. I agree with you Mike, no argument here. 41mag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopalong Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 (edited) Nemo my friend. I'm glad you are OK. I shot a year using a RCBS Rockchucker, then I got a XL650(only loadong .40 S&W at the time. Then I got a 625, went to my buddies house and used his 550, thought I was very carefull, but still managed a double charge of Universal Clays.....with the same results of Nemo I might add. S&W put on a new barrell and I have managed to not blow it up again (bought .45 dies for the 650). Glad all are OK. HOP As far as using the 550..........It is likely the most popular press out there. Edited January 21, 2007 by hopalong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooney Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Yeah, I did it with my 625 making major. First one sounded off, but I didn't think anything of it- mixed batch of ammo. Second round's forcing cone blast was like that of a snubby .357 defense load- Stopped myself, RO "Why did you stop?" I replied that something wasn't right...looked at the end of the bbl... like an ice cream cone, a bullet sticking out of the end of the barrel. Got home, took it out, went to check for damage...another bullet lodged behind! The wierdest thing I've seen yet! No damage though, gun still shoots 100%. It's me that's behind the ball on that one I had an issue with my first batch of ammo, the rod that operates the powder measure became inoperable when the rod popped out of the little plastic piece. I didn't realize that it had stopped working before it fell out. Took 300 rounds apart to make sure that it wouldn't happen again, only found 3 more without powder. Now that I know what the press feels like, it's easy to know when something ain't right. I hope that the attachments went through, a couple of the other guys said they hadn't seen anything like it either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougCarden Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Jesus guys............. Wow, I knew that there was a problem with the 550, and I realize that it is an operator error, but I am glad everyone is ok..... I have never understood the 550 not indexing, and after story after story like this I dont understand why people still use them. Believe me, I have made my reloading boo boos as well, but that press is so unforgiving when life rears its ugly head when you are reloading.........food for thought. There is a reason why I am so methodical when I reload.......... Nemo, this might be a blessing in disguise. If SW can fit a 625 cylinder to your gun you would be able to use lead or precision type bullets......maybe? Plus the bling factor is off the scale too....... Regards, DougC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxshooter Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 I use a 650 most of the time but load all of my revolver loads on a 550. I bought a little clip on spotlight and mounted it on the 550 where I can see down in the case. I check it before indexing the press. It is a little slower but that is ok. The powder check on the 650 is great. If anyone is running a 650 without one it is a big mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sinko Posted January 22, 2007 Author Share Posted January 22, 2007 Speaking of the Dillon 550, I had an interesting experience when my brother was loading some .45 Colt for my very expensive Bowen Redhawk Alpine Conversion. When he gave me the ammo, he kept a few separate and told me that "something just didn't feel right" at the beginning and I "just might not want to shoot those." My brother is a very cautious reloader so I dismissed his apprehension as mere paranoia. The load was a 255 gr. cast bullet over 8.8 grs. of 231, which nicely duplicates the ballistics of the original black powder loading. So I'm shooting this stuff at an indoor range when suddenly the recoil is significantly sharper and the muzzle blast is off scale. I nervously opened the cylinder and examined the gun. Everything still functioned properly and the gun appeared to be normal. The gun shot perfectly for some years afterward and was only recently returned to Bowen because it appears to be going out of time. It is a six shot re-bore of a .44 Magnum and not the five shooter with special cylinder. There is no way to prove it happened, but just the thought of shooting 17.6 grs. of 231 behind a 255 gr. cast bullet has kept me awake more than a few nights. I still use the 550 extensively because it is so easy to change primer sizes and calibers. It is also very easy to load relatively small batches of ammo for test purposes using this press. I refuse to abandon the 550 but I realize it needs special precautions. I also have a 650 which is dedicated to .45 ACP. I somehow managed to load one without powder using this press too. I was shooting a steel match when neither the RO nor I heard the primer pop. I thought I felt the striker of the Glock 21 go forward and figured I had a misfire, so I racked the slide and chambered another round. That one didn't fully chamber, so I hit the rear of the slide with my palm and tried to shoot again. By this time everybody was screaming for me to stop, so I stopped. There was a 200 gr. SWC stuck in the chamber and luckily it prevented the next round from chambering. I never heard that pop and tried my damndest to fire the next round. To this day I don't know how I loaded one without powder on a 650. It was probably those first few rounds where I was trying to get the load just the way I wanted it. I've been very lucky. Over the years I've had two shotgun wads stuck in the barrel of my 1100 (not my fault, just a bad batch of powder) but I had the sense look down the bore when the gun didn't cycle properly. And I once loaded a .300 Savage without powder, but that's an easy one to detect. The only gun I ever damaged was a Ruger 10/22 which somehow fired when the round was half chambered. That was cheapo Remington .22 Thunderbolt, and obviously not a reload. Also, my brother blew up a 9mm Keltec Carbine when the round somehow went off halfway in the chamber. The case was cut cleanly in half with the forward part remaining in the chamber. Be careful! Just when you think it can't happen to YOU is when Mr. Murphy will come a knockin' at your door. Dave Sinko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooney Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Yep- rule no.1 to learn while reloading or teaching someone to reload. IF IT DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT- STOP. LOOK. OPERATE SLOWLY. LISTEN. LOOK AGAIN. It really made me slow down and learn the proper feel of my press (along with the value of the spare parts kits Dillon offers). I haven't had a problem with my ammo from my 550 since. Caution = happy guns and shooters. Dillon (still and always will) Rules! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemo Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 (edited) Everybody wants to argue, argue, argue with me when I say this, but this is why you want a press with auto-indexing. Glad you guys are OK. Nemo, sorry to hear about your gun. I would never argue about this, much less with you Mike. My youngest brother is a lawyer, I know about arguing with lawyers. The auto index definitely helps, but it's all in paying attention. I'm guessing that something happened, either was interrupted or had a hiccupp in the machine, and was too lazy to clear all the stations and start over. It cost me a gun. Francisco was shooting it with me and I'm SO glad it wasn't him who shot that bad round. My charge is 4.1 gr. of Clays, and yesterday out of curiosity I delivered a double charge into a case, 8.2 grains. It was almost full to capacity. So I still want to be not convinced it was a double. I want to think I would've caught it. Calling Smith today to send it in for repair. Edited January 22, 2007 by Nemo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R/T Performance Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Anybody ever try one those lock out dies? I seen rcbs or some one has them in cabellas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear23 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Sorry to hear. The 25-2's are cool guns. The 550 is a great reloader, i use it for my 45acp and 38 spl for my 625's and 686's. It does require attention when something doesn't feel right. I wear one of those Head mounted LED rigs when i reload. I look right into the case on position two at every fill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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