Never hand load ammo when your tired!!

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Sauer Grapes

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I think I saved myself a lot of pain tonight. Worked 4am to 3pm today.
Picked up a S&W mod 60-15 3'' today after work. Have a S&W mod 19-3 6''. Don't shoot much .357 mag, but I like to keep something loaded in the cream puff range, when I feel like shooting it.
New gun, bought some Hornady swaged 158gr bullets = got the urge to shoot it.
I've loaded 357 mag using American Select. 5.5grs shoots pretty easy in the M19-3. Using a RCBS 505 beam scale, I inadvertently moved the weight from one notch {5grs} to two notches. {10grs}
I thought to myself, hmm, don't recall the case being that full. I'm not using the auto disk, I just want to put 10 rounds together to use in the little J-frame. Hand measured each charge.

I decide to set up to run some .40S&W for a while. Never have too many 40s' loaded. I set the auto disk up and go to measure my first 40, and the beam doesn't move. I'm like what the ''you know what'' is going on? Instead of 5.1, the scale is set on 10.1grs. Oh sheet! Now I realize my prior hand charged .357s are double charged.
Max load is 6.0grs, I got 10.5grs. I put the powder back in the bottle, turned the light out and went upstairs for the night.
I'm always so careful. Well kinda like when I bought my first boat and launched it without putting the plug in it. I'll never do that again!!!
 
At least you caught you own error. Now you can pull those bullets when you're feeling more rested. Doncha just love reloading?! done that.
Thanks for sharing. If at least one newbie learns from your mistake, it's a good thing.
 
...or drunk. Bad, bad news having more than a beer or two while reloading. Better to have a cup of coffee and not let your mind wander.
Sauer Grapes said:
Well kinda like when I bought my first boat and launched it without putting the plug in it. I'll never do that again!!!
Click to expand...
Being in the land of 10,000 lakes, Ive left the plug out more times than I can count on my fingers and toes. We're required by law to pull the plug immediately when the boat exits the water and keep it out. Plugging it back in on my next outting slips my mind from time to time.
 
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Sauer Grapes

Glad you caught your error. I hope you set them aside and labeled them as bad until you pull them. I’d hate for you to forget and mix them up with good rounds.
 
being tired is one of the more self deluding distractions (Meaning, you can easily rationalize to yourself that it's not a distraction) which makes it worse, IMO. Not as bad as drinking, but it's right up there.

I find myself awake and restless in the small hours of the morning more times than not....

That's when I do most of my handloading.... But! I make very sure all the cobwebs are brushed aside and I'm solidly awake before I do anything.
 
I usually charge a tray with powder, then I can check all of them for the same amount of powder, then I place the bullets, then I pick each one up, double check powder, then replace the bullet and place in the press. Bullet made, repeat...

Just the way I do it, my $0.02
dg
 
I'm diabetic. I do a blood test first if I'm doing a long run. A few years ago I did a 3,000 round and when I finished I didn't even remember pulling the handle one time. I did a blood test then and found I had a 420 count. The next day I had to redo all the rounds because they were meant for my family at a family shoot. I ended up shooting all the rounds and they were perfect, but I wasn't taking a chance on my family.
 
Good plan.

No reloading when tired, sick, distracted, or when drinking is always wise IMO.

I had took a week off and decided to get the flu.
I was planning on doing a bunch of reloading and shooting that week, but passed because I didn't feel well and didn't want to make any mistakes.
(ended up watching Mythbuster marathon for 4 days, best thing on the tube at time)
Could I have done it safely, probably, could I do later yes, so I chose later.
 
Some great examples in all the posts. Just last week I forgot to check the powder levels in my cases. I was about 30 rounds of seating bullets when I realized I skipped this step. I pulled all the bullets and started over. I feel that if I get in a hurry to get it done it’s better to just walk away and do it on another day! Glad to hear you caught your own mistake!
 
Oofda, that could have been a bad one. The worst I've ever had was doing load development in 223 with a new powder weighing each charge on a beam scale. I accidentally substituted the aluminum scale pan for my plastic one without rezeroing the scale resulting in like a 5 grain overcharge. Luckily a couple blown primers and and sticky extraction were the only result.
 
Mn Fats said:
Being in the land of 10,000 lakes, Ive left the plug out more times than I can count on my fingers and toes. We're required by law to pull the plug immediately when the boat exists the water and keep it out. Plugging it back in on my next outting slips my mind from time to time.
Click to expand...

Tell me about it. My standard procedure for putting the boat in is back it in till the fenders are in the water, get out of the truck just in time to see the water start pumping out the bilge pump, pull it back out to put the plug in, and repeat.
 
someguy2800 said:
Oofda, that could have been a bad one. The worst I've ever had was doing load development in 223 with a new powder weighing each charge on a beam scale. I accidentally substituted the aluminum scale pan for my plastic one without rezeroing the scale resulting in like a 5 grain overcharge. Luckily a couple blown primers and and sticky extraction were the only result.
Click to expand...
That's almost like having two different powders on the bench at the same time. Something to remember, though I usually only have one scale in use. A pan could be left out from another scale.
 
BigBore44 said:
I have a rule as well. When that little voice in my head tells me something isn’t right or something is getting ready to happen, I listen. And it’s saved me countless times.
Click to expand...

Meant more for pilots, but the idea applies...

NASA didn't study awhile back ("in the 60's" awhile back), looking at pilot's intuition and what it means, if anything. What they found is if the pilot has the thought of "that's weird" or "that's funny", 90% of the time the problem they are worried about a) has occurred b) is getting worse and c) needs attention NOW.

Listen to the voice in your head. At least in terms of reloading safety... :eek::rofl:;);)
 
That could have been one big, badda, boom!. Great object lesson. I found that in cold weather my PACT electronic scale was unreliable, even though I was constantly re calibrating as the garage warmed up. I took rounds I loaded to a mid range match and missed the target! The powder levels were too low to hit an 8' X 8' target at 600 yards. Since then, when it is below 50 F, I use my old balance beam scale. Gravity is not affected by temperature.

N6ixH7V.jpg
 
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hdwhit said:
My reloading procedures provide for no alcohol consumption in the 8 hours before reloading.
Click to expand...
I have the same rule, if 8 hours bottle to throttle is good enough for pilots it is good enough to make sure I don't blow my face off.
 
Anyone can screw up, glad you caught yourself in time. When my turn at this came, I didn't. I'd loaded up a cylinder-full of lead SWC's with H110 for my model 58 (.41 mag... think "model 10 on steroids"); and a second 6 with a slightly heavier load. Fortunately I started small. At the range, the first six recoiled surprisingly hard. "That's funny" I thought, as I loaded the second six... which squibbed. Turns out I had double charged the first batch... and yes, I did have a look down in there before seating bullets. But with a new load using a new powder (H110 packs differently than Unique), how do you know? Thank Vulcan (god of Heat Treatment) for the strength of a 58, it absorbed the shock without damage.
 
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