Opie Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 (edited) I am on the fence right now between the 550b and the XL650. I do not care about how fast I can make the ammo, I have more time than money. What I am paranoid about is a double charge/squib, and I like the powder check of the 650. I don't know about you, but I like my fingers, all ten of them. So lets say a double charge did make it thru and 8.8 grains of titegroup made it into the finished product. Is that a sure thing to blow? I am really leaning towards the 650 for peace of mind, but the cost difference is substantial. What do you think? Edited January 31, 2009 by Opie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Neill Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I've not used Titegroup so I have no "feel" for what cartridge you are loading based upon the charge weight. I know a double charge of 231 in a 45 will take the gun apart. I expect a double charge of Titegroup would not be good, regardless of the cartridge. The good news is that serious injury is not all that common - but it's still not good to have a double charge. I tend to prefer presses with an auto-index because it normally means you have to specifically back things up to get a double charge. Squib loads are not good either, but there is the hope you can detect the squib before firing the next shot - the one that will damage the barrel if the squib left the bullet in the bore. Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boz1911 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I never set a bullet without visually verifying the powder charge. This is one reason I have never pursued a bullet feeder, even though I know they are a great timesaver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prreed10 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 We had guy at my local club blow up a g G34 with a double charge of tightgroup last Saturday. By "blow up", I mean cracked frame and unserviceable slide and barrel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 TiteGroup is absolutely CERTAIN to blow your gun up if you double charge. TiteGroup will blow your gun up if you have a significant setback event. I have seen 3 guns blown up in the last 2 years and all of them were with TiteGroup. There are two powder check dies that you can trust, the slimy mostly white multi-colored balls in the upper front part of your head. EVERYTHING else can fail and is only assistance in maintaining the safety of your reloaded ammunition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougCarden Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Most every double charge I have seen or heard about is on a 550 by experienced reloaders....FWIW..... I dont think it is a powder thang..... DougC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I blew up a gun with a dbl charge of Tightgroup and I was loading on a 1050. And I can say that I had about 15 years of loading experience before hand... It can happen to anyone, anytime you get lazy enough to stop paying atttention to what you are doing; on any press. You need to be paying 100% attention 100% of the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 It can happen to anyone, anytime you get lazy enough to stop paying atttention to what you are doing; on any press. Yup. Knew a guy who had been working with hazardous equipment for 25 years without anything even remotely resembling an accident. One day he was too busy thinking about his upcoming vacation and, zip... there went the tip of a finger. He said he was just thankful that he was thinking about sex! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Gaines Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 (edited) bye bye gun, you would have a hand grenade in front of your face. Edited January 31, 2009 by PAPER KILLER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganShootist Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 A friend blew up a 1950s vintage S & W 38 spl revolver. The cylinder and barrel bulged and the top strap came apart.... he was using TG . I use it all the time and always visually inspect. I have a light mounted on my 550 just for that reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BayouSlide Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I never set a bullet without visually verifying the powder charge. Heed this wise advice and you will never have a squib or doublecharge no matter what you load on. Curtis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 So lets say a double charge did make it thru and 8.8 grains of titegroup made it into the finished product. Is that a sure thing to blow? I'd say you're looking at 100% chance of catastrophic failure.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Is there ANY powder that would not blow up a handgun if double charged? I have thrown away half a tray of ammo after a )@(*$Up with my 1050... Pretty simple to me - 10 bucks of ammo vs a pistol... Never blown up a gun but I am sure I would soil myself while screaming like a little girl...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve J Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 That's 3.6 grains over the maximum recommended charge. By itself 3.6 grains would most probably make minor with a 230 grain bullet. I load 4.4 grains of TiteGroup. Every so often I intentionally double charge a case and take a good look to remind me what it looks like. 8.8 grains fills the case less than a lot of powders at normal charge. Look at the level in each and every case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxshooter Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I put a powder check on the first 650 I bought and didn't like it and ended up taking it off. None of my loaders have a powder check, I use a light shinning in the case and look at each one as it goes by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el pres Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I blew up a gun with a dbl charge of Tightgroup and I was loading on a 1050. And I can say that I had about 15 years of loading experience before hand...It can happen to anyone, anytime you get lazy enough to stop paying atttention to what you are doing; on any press. You need to be paying 100% attention 100% of the time! Curious, how ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzShooter Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Two suggestions, Get a 650 and change from Titegroup just in case. Titegroups hows excellent signs of acuaracy in my .38 loads. I do use Solo 1000 instead because it fills more of the case. For 80 % of my .38s last year I used Trail Boss. It is so dense you will never be able to double charge. Unfortunately you cannot compress Trail Boss and I'm working with a new bullet (180 grains) and I can't get enough Trail Boss behind it to make minor let alone major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtg Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I blew up a gun with a dbl charge of Tightgroup and I was loading on a 1050. And I can say that I had about 15 years of loading experience before hand...It can happen to anyone, anytime you get lazy enough to stop paying atttention to what you are doing; on any press. You need to be paying 100% attention 100% of the time! Curious, how ??? I also would like to know how this could happen?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I blew up a gun with a dbl charge of Tightgroup and I was loading on a 1050. And I can say that I had about 15 years of loading experience before hand...It can happen to anyone, anytime you get lazy enough to stop paying atttention to what you are doing; on any press. You need to be paying 100% attention 100% of the time! Curious, how ??? I also would like to know how this could happen?? Any kind of stoppage where you manually move the ratchet to allow moving the shell plate to remove a crushed primer or piece of brass. Take it from the sig line of someone here who said "Just when you get it foolproof along comes a more advanced fool" --- or something to that effect. I know a lot of 1050 users remove the ratchet to allow them to clear malfunctions more easily.... Works fine but, Anytime you move the shellplate backwards you can double charge. Just about every time you have a malfunction - you move the shellplate backwards. It is sooo very easy to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I had a handgun survive a double charge of Titegroup. I was using 4.5 grains of Titegroup to push a 180gr Montana Gold CMJ bullet in a 40S&W load. I was new to reloading on a progressive press at the time and some how double charge a case with 9.0gr of Titegroup on a friends Dillon Square Deal. Lucky for me that particular round was fired in my S&W 610 and not my XD-40. The case burned in two pieces at the top of the web and the head of the case nearly separated from the rest. I had to pound the cylinder out of the frame while holding the cylinder lock open. I sent it back to S&W for a safety check and it checked out just fine. Pick of the case if your interested. mcb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkeeler Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 (edited) You can blow up a gun with any powder and bullet combo out there. If things are not done correctly this is the end result. KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BK Edited February 1, 2009 by bkeeler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I blew up a gun with a dbl charge of Tightgroup and I was loading on a 1050. And I can say that I had about 15 years of loading experience before hand...It can happen to anyone, anytime you get lazy enough to stop paying atttention to what you are doing; on any press. You need to be paying 100% attention 100% of the time! Curious, how ??? I was using a bud's 1050 as my 650 was out of commission, had never used a 1050 before. Was in a hurry, not paying attention, carrying on a conversation and basically had my head up my arse. Something went wrong with the press, I lowered the shell plate just enough to clear something off and then raised it back up, and didn't even give it a second thought that I could have thrown a double charge at that moment. Felt like someone smacked both hands with a 2x4. Hard. Dug brass out of my thumbs for about a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasOPM Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I use bulky powders and have a light shining into the case on my 550. I have had the same gun blow up in my hands TWICE! Once from an overenthuiastic barrel throating and once from a case failure. I wasn't seriously hurt, but it pretty much ruined my day and put me off shooting for a while- so I'd rather not repeat it. BTW: The gun was not mine, and the friend that owned it was trying to prove that it was "fixed" when he gave it to me to shoot for the 2nd KB. He fired 3 rounds and said "there, it is all fixed".... my first round went kablooie and I cleared the chamber (the magazine left of its own accord) and mentioned that I didn't care for this particular firearm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opie Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 I am going to get a 650 with the powder sensor and also watch the cases as I reload. I appreciate the advice given. Thanks! Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markcic Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I am on the fence right now between the 550b and the XL650. I do not care about how fast I can make the ammo, I have more time than money. What I am paranoid about is a double charge/squib, and I like the powder check of the 650. I don't know about you, but I like my fingers, all ten of them. So lets say a double charge did make it thru and 8.8 grains of titegroup made it into the finished product. Is that a sure thing to blow? I am really leaning towards the 650 for peace of mind, but the cost difference is substantial. What do you think? Here is a what a double of Titegroup did to my Glock. The key is to pay attention to what you are doing. I wasn't paying attention when I did that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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