reloading sequence

[bucksnbears]

could have had a bad deal happen today. when i reload i get into a pattern and have for years but last night i was going to experiment with some new loads for my new .280 and was only going to load 10-15 rounds . well, i got out of rythm and was not following my usual rythm.after work today i went out to see how they did and about the 7-8 nothing happened when i touch the trigger. i thought i had a missfire withought really thinking i tryed chambering a new round and it would not quite go in. what happened was on the previos round, the primer went off and pushed the bullet out of the case but not by much. the new round hit the base of the bullet in the barrell. hate to think of what would have happened if bullet went into the barrell a bit farther and i would have shot a new round moral of story, check and recheck everthing and always follow a set pattern.i asume i did'nt charge the round with powder.

[LeviM]

Spot on Post, Bucks, I have only been reloading for a year now, but I have never changed my sequence yet. I dont want a mishap!!! Good to hear it wasnt as bad as it could of been!!

[Tbush]

WHEW could have been one less coyote hunter....glad you posted this it will make us all remember

[Tim Anderson]

I had a buddy with a H&R Sako action chambered in 17-223. Pretty fancey rifle for its time and accurate and also a collectors item. Worth about 1200.00 in good condition.. He forgot the powder in one case and fired it. When he herd the click he thought a round did'nt chamber so he chambers another round and gets back on this redfox and pulls the trigger. He said the shot was more of a Boom rather than a bang with a cloud of smoke and hot powder blowing back into his face...
In his case the primer had enough pressure to move the bullet half way down the barrel and after fireing the second round the second bullet rested against the first .. When he got back to the truck he was carrying his rifle in 3 pieces with a few smaller pieces in his pocket. The rifle is non-repairable and hangs on his wall as a reminder of how lucky and stupid he was...

[lyonch]

When i get done with the powder stage, i always check every one of them before i put the bullets in. A real quick (30 seconds) look over at the 50 laying in the tray is quick and cheap insurance. Trust me you dont want the bolt to come partially open when you fire a round. It will one scare the daylights out of you and of course the flinching automatically starts and second you could kiss a good portion of your face good bye

[Tim Anderson]

Dam!! I was out this mourning and the guys had a coyote running through a section and it dropped down into a drainage ditch so i parked my truck by the bridge and got out and got down on the ice hopeing the coyote would come my way..
About five minutes later here it came from around the corner about 300 yds out and on a dead run down on the ice.. I waited for it to clear a spot where there was some open water and when the coyote got past the water I took the first shot and missed..The coyote was still comeing hard and i chambered another round and fired, the coyote goes down and i can see it was a bad hit so i chamber the third and final round and fired. Instead of a bang i got a loud boom along with a cloud of smoke and burned powder and my ears where ringing like they never rang before.. What the hell!!! I openned the bolt on the rifle and it did'nt look good, and then i noticed the blood running down my face onto the snow and onto my rifle.. I climbed back up onto the road and some of my buddies showed up and asked if i got the coyote, i said i hit him pretty good but could'nt finish him off cause he was shooting back..LOL I lowered my hand from my face and the blood started to flow again and two of the guys got really nervous.. I looked into my truck mirror to check the damage and noticed i had a very small hole in my right cheek about the dia. of a piece of pencel lead.. I got some paper towels from one of the guys and placed over wound and applied pressure till the bleeding stopped.. We were two miles from town and it had a hospital so the guys hauled me to town to get checked out..
After the x-rays the Doc. came into the room and said i have a piece of metal under my cheek and close to a very big nerve and him and another doctor recomend that it be left in there due to haveing it removed would cause more damage and also damage to the nerve..
Going to the gun doctor tommorrow and see if things canbe fixed and try to figure out what happen.. Be safe everyone..

[LeviM]

TIm hope you alright! Do you know what exactly happened yet?

[Tbush]

[Tim Anderson]

Swelling has gone down and i feel great..
I looked the bolt over and the only damage i see so far is the sako extractor is missing or should i say melted.. I took a cleaning rod and popped out the stuck case and noticed a hole at the base of the case right where the extractor grabs the case. Will get some pic's soon... No bulges in the barrel or stuck bullets so thats ruled out.. You can't fit a double powder charge in the case so that is also ruled out..
Going to measure the necks on the other cases. and pull the bullets and check charge weights. Out of the 50 rd. box 40 cartridges have been fired prior to accident and the fired cases show no signs of hi pressure..
Some of the causes couldbe brass failor, powder break down, bullet could of vibrated farther out of the case increaseing pressure or bullet may have been bumped into the case when chambered also raiseing the pressure, or over charge of powder...??????

[Red Fox]

How many firings on the brass? Could it be the case stetched too far and made the weak spot in front of the case head?

[lyonch]

Tim is it possible that you got a magnum primer mixed in with a standard primer? Things like that can really make a guy start flinching I had one case this pass summer when working up a load with reloader 15. I fired 3 of the five cases with a great group starting with no signs of any pressure. Then on the fourth round i had a big flame from below the scope and powder thrown in my face and the bolt blown about hlaf way open Everything looked completely fine after i extracte it, but that case showed signs of sever pressure.

[Tim Anderson]

No mag. primers. I have some but i'm saveing them for when my good primers run out..LOL
The case actually let loose from the base on one side. It could of maybe been a loose primer pocket which allowed the pressure to escape from there and melt the metal as it heated up. The deffently was some pressure there thats for sure.. Here are some pic.'s..



In this pic. the piece of metal entered from the right and is under the skin to the left of where other pen is pointing.

[LeviM]

Wow, that is crazy! Just curious if that case showed any signs of weakness, before the failure! I inspect my cases, but at times I think I go through them too fast.

[Pilgrim]

Tim

Glad to learn you're OK. Wow!

Question: Are you able to determine how the metal piece struck you in the cheek? (assuming you're right handed) You likely know that a 700 will fire with the bolt and lugs barely turned. Unless the bolt blew open, your shooting eye is pretty well guarded with a 700 and scope mounts. Any deflection marks on the bottom of your scope?

[Tim Anderson]

On the stiller action if you look on the right side and to the front of the port you will see a area cut out for the bolt lug to pass through before you turn to lock it the small piece may have gotton through this area and gone straight back and hit my cheek.