I am just realizing what might have happened from something that happened to me recently, and I am a little shaken. I was trimming a batch of 357 Magnum brass, and my Lee trimmer wouldn't go into a case.
I looked, and there was something funny inside! I got my dental pick, and dislodged it...there was a really misshapen piece of brass inside the case!.
It appeared to be a piece of small centerfire pistol brass, probably a rimless 25 caliber.
"Passing strange", sez I. I don't have a .25 caliber handgun and have never had .25 caliber brass on my bench.
It turned out it was a really misshapen piece of .22 Long Rifle brass that had somehow gotten inside the 357 Magnum! The case was expanded by the sizing and decap stage, and the decapping pin punched a hole in the case head!
THANK YOU, strong Winchester brass and Smith & Wesson handgun!
Although I take what I thought were sufficient measures to keep my trash brass separate from reloadable stuff, somehow, It had gotten inside one of the e57 brass. Fortunately for me, I hadn't loaded and fired the round without noticing anything.
I will now invert each and every piece of brass, and rap it on the bench before I load it! Once in a lifetime is enough!
Maybe my experience will help someone else...NEVER get complacent, and check everything twice, even if you have been handloading since Adam was a teen-ager!
I looked, and there was something funny inside! I got my dental pick, and dislodged it...there was a really misshapen piece of brass inside the case!.
It appeared to be a piece of small centerfire pistol brass, probably a rimless 25 caliber.
"Passing strange", sez I. I don't have a .25 caliber handgun and have never had .25 caliber brass on my bench.
It turned out it was a really misshapen piece of .22 Long Rifle brass that had somehow gotten inside the 357 Magnum! The case was expanded by the sizing and decap stage, and the decapping pin punched a hole in the case head!
THANK YOU, strong Winchester brass and Smith & Wesson handgun!
Although I take what I thought were sufficient measures to keep my trash brass separate from reloadable stuff, somehow, It had gotten inside one of the e57 brass. Fortunately for me, I hadn't loaded and fired the round without noticing anything.
I will now invert each and every piece of brass, and rap it on the bench before I load it! Once in a lifetime is enough!
Maybe my experience will help someone else...NEVER get complacent, and check everything twice, even if you have been handloading since Adam was a teen-ager!
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