AJC1
Member
If you have and shoot 38 probably a wise decision.... I play because I don't and won't own a 38.
Reloading mistakes
- Thread starter conan32120
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Mark_Mark
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I got a bunch of very old Smith & Colt .38’s even .38 Smith. and a few Modern .357.
I do not want to make a mistake! guess I’m the idiot they designed this for… I’m ok with that!!
Mark_Mark
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WORST NIGHTMARE! I have both H110 & H1000 powders
AJC1
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I don't have either but in your situation 296 would be my choice just for that reason
GeoDudeFlorida
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Actually, .38-44 was never a cartridge designation. It is the nomenclature for a particular Smith & Wesson revolver series: .44 caliber (Special) bored and chambered for the .38Spl cartridge. Before the +P(ressure) designation was accepted, manuals and manufacturers referred to +P loads as, “.38Special High Velocity” and typically with a line about being specific to heavy duty revolvers. The Colt “Forty-One Frame” revolvers (Official Police and Army Special) were very popular for those loads - the New Line revolvers were made from Vanadium steel, which is very hard and tempers evenly.
AJC1
Member
I agree, buy trying to be clear about loadings not safe for 38s I use that nomenclature..... if only to give pause to those who may try using them.... it's a lot more sane than using tho old name of 38sc for modern loadings.... I think that's dumb and potentially dangerous
GeoDudeFlorida
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I think maybe that’s how SAAMI was “sold” on the +P and +P+ designations. The day of 44-frame .38’s was over when the K-frame became a .357. The M&P was made for the .38Spl.
Which actually brings to mind another common reloading mistake: “it’s perfectly fine to use data from different manufacturers components, even if they are made completely differently, as long the weights are the same.”
I see that a lot and for some reason - like a character from a George Romero film - it just won’t die.
Over 45 years of reloading has taught me some methods or habits to avoid making mistakes.
I never reload if somebody interrupts me. I stop and listen, and wont restart until they leave the room.
I always check the fit of my ammo in the guns I'm loading it for as soon as the first case is loaded. Then if I'm hunting, or shooting a match with that ammo, every cartridge gets checked in the gun beforehand.
Before loading any large amount of ammo I start by working up 5 rounds and test fire them at the range. I continue 5 at a time until I get the best accuracy, and then move on to quantity loading.
I charge all my cases and then check by comparison to make sure all look the same prior to seating bullets.
I don't want to have to report about mistakes made. I'd rather talk about successes.
I never reload if somebody interrupts me. I stop and listen, and wont restart until they leave the room.
I always check the fit of my ammo in the guns I'm loading it for as soon as the first case is loaded. Then if I'm hunting, or shooting a match with that ammo, every cartridge gets checked in the gun beforehand.
Before loading any large amount of ammo I start by working up 5 rounds and test fire them at the range. I continue 5 at a time until I get the best accuracy, and then move on to quantity loading.
I charge all my cases and then check by comparison to make sure all look the same prior to seating bullets.
I don't want to have to report about mistakes made. I'd rather talk about successes.
dcarr
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GeoDudeFlorida
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I told that to my wife. She said, “That’s because wives aren’t really retired until their husbands are dead. Until then they still have to run the restaurant, laundry, hotel, infirmary, and taxi service.”
dcarr
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that may be trueI told that to my wife. She said, “That’s because wives aren’t really retired until their husbands are dead. Until then they still have to run the restaurant, laundry, hotel, infirmary, and taxi service.”
IWAC
Member
Oyeah...I remember (can I ever forget?) giving a reloading demonstration for a Boy Scout troop, and the powder started dribbling from the empty primer pocket!Using pseudonyms of course.
"Library of wisdom" sticky has many of the majors, but you're talking about even the little ankle biters. That's going to be a long, long, thread
A truly AHH Sssshucks moment! Funny, but they never asked me again!
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CQB45ACP
Member
I'd rather make a mistake in front of my boss. Kids think we are supposed to be perfect. Bosses know we're not.Oyeah...I remember (can I ever forget?) giving a reloading demonstration for a trop of Boy Scouts, and the powder started dribbling from the empty primer pocket!
I poured my powder into my RCBS Hopper with the gate open "BUT" I have a Pyrex bowl under the drop so as I noticed what I had done, I stopped pouring and closed the hopper spout and refilled the hopper. I have made other mistakes but not double charges. I brought the RCBS Rock Chucker Press up to bell my casings without backing the die up and adjusting the bell, you should have seen what the casing looked like. Oh Well, you learn from your mistakes.
stonebuster
Member
Yup, six pills a day except Monday when a note goes on the fridge to remind me it's a 16 pill day.
Have a jar half full of mixed powders by forgetting to empty the powder hopper after a run of reloads. Have a 45 acp cylinder for a Ruger Blackhawk to dispense with overloaded 45 acp trials. And then there is the bullet puller. As i age out, it takes a lot more concentration to deal with less memory.
And as the old saying goes; It is more productive to praise those who fix mistakes, then to blame those who make them. If you're not making mistakes, you either aren't doing anything, or a liar.
And as the old saying goes; It is more productive to praise those who fix mistakes, then to blame those who make them. If you're not making mistakes, you either aren't doing anything, or a liar.
bullseye308
Member
I did somehow load one round of 9mm 20 years ago with no powder and a friend of mine found it in his new Sig. Fortunately he had a pair and kept shooting. I loaded 15-18k rounds of 9mm a year for 15 years and the one I missed he gets.
Was teaching a class on reloading at my home for some preppers and had bullseye run out of a 357 case cus I missed the primer. Never did that one before or since.
Had a load of brass I scrounged from the range and threw it in the tumbler together without sorting it. 25, 32, 380, 9, 40, 45, 357, 223, 308, 444 all went in together. 3 hours later it was a terrible mess. You won’t do that one twice.
Got distracted while depriming on a single stage and deprimed my thumb by mistake.
Two things I’ll never forget my dad telling me when I was young:
Be hard on your kids, but harder on yourself.
Live and learn, just don’t forget to learn.
Was teaching a class on reloading at my home for some preppers and had bullseye run out of a 357 case cus I missed the primer. Never did that one before or since.
Had a load of brass I scrounged from the range and threw it in the tumbler together without sorting it. 25, 32, 380, 9, 40, 45, 357, 223, 308, 444 all went in together. 3 hours later it was a terrible mess. You won’t do that one twice.
Got distracted while depriming on a single stage and deprimed my thumb by mistake.
Two things I’ll never forget my dad telling me when I was young:
Be hard on your kids, but harder on yourself.
Live and learn, just don’t forget to learn.
orionengnr
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- Jan 3, 2005
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- 5,717
I have owned and reloaded for .38Spl and .357 Mag for a number of years.
Bought a .38/44 last Fall, and have been learning about it and loading for it ever since.
I am very careful to label the few boxes of ammo as ".38/44 ONLY" to ensure I do not load these in something that may not be strong enough...and not load much more of those than I can shoot in the next 30 days.
I will confess to having a squib when I first started...now I have a light which allows me to look inside each case while loading (Dillon 550).
Bought a .38/44 last Fall, and have been learning about it and loading for it ever since.
I am very careful to label the few boxes of ammo as ".38/44 ONLY" to ensure I do not load these in something that may not be strong enough...and not load much more of those than I can shoot in the next 30 days.
I will confess to having a squib when I first started...now I have a light which allows me to look inside each case while loading (Dillon 550).
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FROGO207
Member
It's not the actual mistakes you might make, but the ability to keep them from causing damage by catching them first. That is the real talent in reloading.
dobedo
Member
The only reloading mistake I can think of is not reloading earlier in my life been doing it for 40+ years. Seriously, the only Issue I have ever had is a batch of primers were bad and hang fired. I did write the company and they sent me a UPS shipping slip to send them back for testing. Then a couple months later I received a new batch on them. They never released why the primers failed.
lightman
Member
I guess about everyone has made up a few loads that didn't do what we wanted and ended up using a bullet puller!
I had a cast bullet load for my M-1 Carbine that I used to practice the standing position with during the Winter months at our clubs indoor range. A buddy ask for my info and loaded 1000 rounds without trying them and they wouldn't cycle in his rifle. We ended up doing some swapping but looking at breaking down 1000 rounds didn't look like fun.
I had a cast bullet load for my M-1 Carbine that I used to practice the standing position with during the Winter months at our clubs indoor range. A buddy ask for my info and loaded 1000 rounds without trying them and they wouldn't cycle in his rifle. We ended up doing some swapping but looking at breaking down 1000 rounds didn't look like fun.
Ha Ha! I use one of those and I reload it in my reloading room. Mostly because my island table has the best lighting in the house. I've considered posting that in the "what did you do in the loading room today" thread!
GeoDudeFlorida
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Okay this one happened tonight when I got a wild idea about loading up just a few extra cases (9mm) that were leftovers.
NEVER lose track of BoBo Kitty!
He pounced me while I was measuring powder. He’s a hugger and don’t take no for an answer when he feels like he needs attention.
BoBo watching a fly buzz around the light fixture.
NEVER lose track of BoBo Kitty!
He pounced me while I was measuring powder. He’s a hugger and don’t take no for an answer when he feels like he needs attention.
BoBo watching a fly buzz around the light fixture.
OP
OP
conan32120
Member
Did you figure out why they would not cycle?
sparkyv
Member
Of course I've never done this myself, but I've heard this called a "pepper shaker". 
