HOLY CRAPOLA MURPHY!!

[Coffinmaker]

Well,  First things first.  A DISCLAIMER:  I am not admitting to having done this just TODAY.  I will publicly deny any involvement or participation.  We perfectly clear on THAT!!! 

So ..... does anybody have any idea as to what happens when one dumps a third of a bottle of powder into one's Powder Measure (Dillon) and suddenly discovers One's Powder Measure doesn't have the Powder Bar innit??  One suddenly observes that the Hoopper isn't in fact filling up with said powder.  Nope.  Not a bit.

Then one stops.  And says what the Heck??  Or some words to that effect.  Then one looks down.  At the loading press.  At the loading bench.  At the FLOOR.  In the drawer of loading paraphernalia.  In the other drawer of other odds and ends.  And at that point, discovers all of those things are completely covered with 3f.  3f is everywhere.  Sorta like a PLAGUE.

At this point is is understandable  if one proceeds to demonstrate one's command of ....... language.  The sort of language one usually reserves for a SALOON.  Not normally uttered in mix'd company.

Then one spends the the next THREE AND A HALF HOURS sweeping and cleaning and cleaning and sweeping and flushing all the contaminated 3f downa toilette.  Not that we should mention taking one's loading press completely apart to continue cleaning.  NO.

Not that any of this actually happened to me we understand.  No way.  Not that I' ll admit in pubic.  Nor in front of witnesses.  Didn't happen.  It's strictly hypothetical.  For discussion only in confidence.  We were not pleased.

Not necessarily a real fun afternoon.  NOT.

[PJ Hardtack]

If I had done that, the air around me would have been blue and the dogs would have run for cover!

Closest to that I've done was to pour a charge of 65 grs BP into my drop tube without a casing under it to catch the powder.

Doing such things can best be summarized as "character building". I prefer another description that I can't mention here .....

[Major 2]

There is an appropriate 4 letter word coined for such happenings !

[Coal Creek Griff]

When a nightmare becomes a reality...  Good thing that didn't really happen 

CC Griff

[Douglas Sheridan]

I imagine the commentary was very similar to what might have been uttered the time someone emptied the remaining half pound of VV N540 from my measure into the brand new can of VV N550 that I had just bought earlier that day thinking they had grabbed the correct can to make sure it didn't get mixed.   Better than a hundred buck worth of powder turned into fertilizer for the garden.

[Dave T]

Nothing like that has ever happened to me (disbelieving face goes here) but a guy I know who's been reloading since 1973 has had a few mis-steps with progressive machines.

First with a Star Universal when he forgot to advance the shell plate (distracted) and crushed a bullet into one case, double charged another, and tried to prime a case already primed. And he had done the same thing several times before.

Then he got a Dillon 550 and failed to advance the shell plate. Same sort of mess but it didn't seem as bad. Maybe because the Dillon was easier to take apart than the Star.

Ain't reloading fun...he said!

Dave

[PJ Hardtack]

We envied a guy who had the first Star progressive I ever saw - until he loaded well over 100 rds without powder while he was watching a TV movie.

That's a lot of bullet pulling .... with a Kinetics bullet whacker.

To err is human. But it takes genius to REALLY screw up! Fortunately, I'm not that smart.

[Baltimore Ed]

I'm a big fan of dillon powder measures and have adapted them to work on my two lyman T2 turret presses. They are very accurate and eliminate a step— just lift the case and the powder falls. Well, I occasionally swap measures between my dillon 550 and T2 presses. You have to tighten those 2 allen screws on the measures collar to secure the measure to the press or else when you lift the case you lift the measure and then gravity kicks in. Not too good, but I've only done it once.

[Crow Choker]

Coffinmaker: I don't believe in a minute that you did any of the things mentioned in your original post, it was that other guy that you heard of doing the gaff-I believe ya. 

Now I'll admit of a few, such heating a old Hoppe's bottle nearly full of 75/25% bottle of Balistol in the kitchen microwave so the contents would mix better, having the contents explode within the microwave. Mrs not happy at all. Then there was the time I was going to show my Police Chief the fun and accuracy of a muzzle loader rifle only to leave the caps 8 miles from home. The time I casted up close to 400 .454 round balls for my 44 cap and balls, had them in a large plastic bowl. Well had the bowl of balls sitting on a ledge in the shop where they shouldn't have been placed. I'll tell ya, on yer hands and knees picking up nearly 400 lead balls that have rolled everywhere, under everything, and in hard to reach places "ain't" fun. In fact just found one several weeks ago nearly two years after the occurrence. Have a few kitchen stove counter episodes I did/attempted with the Mrs gone only to be severally reprimanded for doing so. Hot bluing a percussion revolver, melting lead/casting when first starting out in the shooting of c&b guns, few others.


Never really any big loading boners. Double dropped a 2.8 grain charge of Bullseye once in a 38 case just to see what a double charge would looked like. Poured it out and set the case back in the loading try, but forgot to drop another 2.8 grains in. Seated the wadcutter bullets, then to my horror remembered the gaff of not recharging the case. Sat there looking at the fifity rounds in a container wondering which one it was. Sooo'---started weighing each one looking for one approx. 2.8 grains lighter and after about 20 of them found one, pulled the bullet and thar it was. One other time and I'll tell ya right now it won't work is when loading 44 Colt blackpowder rounds is trying to seat a .452 diameter 45 Colt bullet in a 44 Colt case that is sized to take a .430 bullet Mighty tight!!! The first one told me something was terribly wrong. I reload using a single stage RSBS Rockchucker and bench mounted powder dispenser, hand held Lee Primer and am happy as a dog in a butcher shop with it. No issues as Coffinmakers to contend with.


Coffinmakers reported 'non-personal' story reminds me of a time while serving as a LEO in one of the towns I was hired to clean up main street. (They gave me a broom and dustpan, used them to effect and left). Anyway a friend of one of my fellow boys in blue told him about his neighbor across the street who was known in the community not to be overly endowed with brains, nor his wife. Anyway 'the neighbor' had his pickup parked on the street in front of the house and as the guy across the street watched reading a magazine. He advised he observed from across the street his neighbor come walking out of his garage with cans of oil, a filter, several wrench's, and a oil pan and proceed to change the oil in his pickup. Thought that wasn't really the best place to do it, but just kept reading his magazine. The magazine neighbor advised he looked up and noticed that there were empty oil cans laying next to the pickup of his neighbor and watched as his neighbor inserted the pickups dip stick in, pull it out, and then walk to his garage and bring back another can of oil, poured it in, check with the dipstick, go back into the garage, return with another can of oil, poured it in, check with the dipstick, then walk back to the garage, and returned with another can of oil.

The magazine neighbor advised that this was nothing but a Chevy V8 and the max they use is five quarts. He advised he hadn't been paying a whole lot of attention, but now his interest was really in tune. He said he looked close under the pickup and there was a stream of oil running down the street (which had a slight slope to it) and his neighbor was in the process of dumping another quart into the engine. He advised he whistled at his inept neighbor and pointed at the oil running down the street and advised the guy that he didn't put the plug back in the pan. The magazine neighbor said his neighbor looked under the pickup, scratched his head, and looked back under the pickup. The magazine neighbor said that any regular guy would have figured after five with nothing on the stick that something was amiss, but not his idiot neighbor, who after inserting the plug had to go out and buy more oil. The incident got turned into city hall and the oil changing neighkbor and his wife were reported to have been out on the street the next day with oil dry and pails of water with cleaning solution and brushes in lieu of facing any charges for polluting the city streets. The gaff of some guy you reported on Coffinmaker is 'nuttin' on the stupidity curve as this, but as you reported-it was a mess!!!

[PJ Hardtack]

When it comes to reloading boners, I think we've all had a few .....

I once needed some fine powder to prime a flintock so I poured some Fg into the blender and hit the "Pulse" button a few times. It worked, but  prob'ly not a good idea. Clean up was a PITA.

My wife 'suggested' that I use her mortar and pestle should I need to create some more FFFFg

[pony express]

Just notices this last month's thread, but, Crow Choker's oil change story reminds me of a certain Private, E-2 in a motor pool in Germany(who shall; remain nameless). Had to change the oil in a Duece-and-a-half, and had to get it done quick. If I recall correctly, they held 5 gallons, plus 2 quarts. Takes a long time for 5 gallons of 30-wt to glug out of a metal can, so the accepted solution, in that motor pool, at that time, was to carry a ball peen hammer up on top with you, and punch a vent hole in the bottom of the can so it'll run right out. This creates quite a dilemma, when said unnamed E-2 punched the hole, then realized the drain plug was still out. What do you do with 5 gallons of oil that leaks out of both ends of the can? Big mess, Motor Sergeant mad.

[Major 2]

Can't say I've "ever done"  anything remotely dumb....  actually more accurately , I won't say I ever did ! 

[Roscoe]

Something similar happens when you don't assemble a Lee Auto Drum measure correctly, even knowing better, and thinking it a good idea to put in plenty of powder to maintain consistent flows. Ask me how I know. I think it was A2400 that took the hit. I set the hose in the vacuum to exhaust and blew everything off and then swept the floor with a mop, which thankfully was smooth terrazzo.

[Drydock]

Y'know, I really love my old Belding and Mull.  Best thing ever for BP.  Just gotta remember to put the little piece of glass back in . . .

[willy]

No need to spend hours sweeping up,,I could have gotten rid of that mess in a ""flash"  with just one well placed spark .

[Bunk]

Succinctly stated the Romans had a word for it.
stercus accidit
Bunk

[scrubby2009]

There is an appropriate 4 letter word coined for such happenings !

Golf?

[LongWalker]

I once needed some fine powder to prime a flintock so I poured some Fg into the blender and hit the "Pulse" button a few times. It worked, but  prob'ly not a good idea. Clean up was a PITA.

. . . and they used to give me flack for grinding priming powder on a wooden plate, with a wooden spoon. . . .

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

When it comes to reloading boners, I think we've all had a few .....

I once needed some fine powder to prime a flintock so I poured some Fg into the blender and hit the "Pulse" button a few times. It worked, but  prob'ly not a good idea. Clean up was a PITA.

My wife 'suggested' that I use her mortar and pestle should I need to create some more FFFFg