Pretty sure it was probably a double charge from the looks of it or a bullet set back.

Posting some pics here to see what the hive has to say.

I loaded these 45 cases almost two years ago but had gotten out of 45 ACP and got back into it a few months ago and wanted to test these through it.

Win 244 suspect load was 5.4 grs. Max is 5.6

230gr Everglades JHP. CBC 45 acp case loaded 5 times. This was #5.

Where you see the case rim torn off was not during the firing but after I had to knock the case out with a wood dowel.
Case was stuck in the chamber pretty hard.

Bullet fired and hit the target.


My damaged ego wants to say that I'm always very cautious about checking for double charges because I place 50 at a time on the tray before I seat the bullets into them and inspect them to make sure nothing has a double charge in it but who knows because it was almost two years ago.

No injuries, no cuts ,no bruises, just a bruised ego. I was wearing safety glasses so all was good.

This happened to me once before with factory ammo and a Glock 21 and the casing looked exactly like this one that I fired in my 45 So I'm thinking I double charged this one.

Anyways I want to see what you guys think could have possibly happened.

The slide and barrel all look good and don't look bowed out at all with no visible cracks. I compared them with a upper to my 10mm slide which should be the same dimensions

ETA: I forgot to add the mag stayed inside the gun intact with the rest of the rds still in it, and was still held in by the catch.

Mag is still good.

I'm really hoping that they'll just have to replace the frame because this gun was really accurate right out of the box.

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Will not buff out...

Looks pretty similar to one I had in a 45 ACP with a double charge of 231. Glad to hear you didn’t suffer any physical injuries. I caught some pieces of brass shrapnel in my cheek - luckily my shooting glasses saved my eye from damage.

AR, factory load, bullet didn't feed right and had bullet set back, I loaded it anyway.
It happens

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Thanks for the replies so far, even the funny one

I have to admit I'm going to be paranoid as fuck from now on even though I thought I already was, but I guess not enough

If this weren't my fault I would probably then be really gun-shy and selling all my reloading shit this week, so part of me is glad it's just somthing I have to pay even closer attention too from now on.

Still boggles my mind though being I always double checked my pistol cases especially for double charges before seeting and crimping. I have to wonder if maybe I got a phone call that day or looked away or something? I'll never know.

Almost looks like the unsupported chamber failure we had on my G23, but yours definitely has more damage to the case plus the primer was dislodged. Case ejected on it's own on the G23 and short cycled.

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Too bad your frame got toasted. Assume the mag got blown out of the gun?

If you are serious about loading pistol ammo (20,000 rounds a year) cry once and get a Dillon 750. Automatic indexing will help prevent this exact problem. Glad you are OK.

This poor old S&W was blowed up next to me a few weekends ago. Unknown bullet loaded with unknown amount of Titegroup.

No, I forgot to add the mag stayed inside the gun intact with the rest of the rds still in it, and was still held in by the catch.

Mag is still good.

A good reminder to us who reload we need to pay attention. Thank you for owning your mistakes, and sharing them in the hopes others learn from them.

It is impressive to see how “safe” many guns are even when they blow up.

Glad you are OK.  I look forward to the assessment from someone more familiar with .45 ACP kabooms.  

I will say, I'm not a fan of the charge-tray system with pistols - at all.   It's very easy to make an error progressing from one casing to the next, and the flashlight trick at the only QC step involved, is IMHO, not as reliable in practice as people think.   Especially with casings that have a decent amount of void space.  While .38 and .357 get the most press, a .45ACP casing can have quite a bit of void space in there too.  The nice thing about a progressive press is it mechanically indexes every round.  moving a funnel from one round to the next, does not.  Not saying this can't happen with a progressive - it very much can, but at least by design, it takes care of the indexing for you.

It's funny you mention this, because one of the reasons I stayed away from a progressive press was due to possible double charges an not being able to see them, but apparently this time my method didn't work either. I usually charge one at a time from the powder measure until I have a whole block of 50 and then inspect them again while in the tray then crimp and seat them one at a time.

Like I said these were from almost two years ago so God only knows what I did. Maybe I looked away or got a phone call or someone in the house called me or something, Who knows?


Yes 45 ACP cases are pretty large but you should still be able to tell a double charge in one.

I will say I have been thinking all day about selling off my setup and going to some kind of progressive with some kind of alarm system or something that tells me when I double charge.

I have loaded and shot a metric ass-load of 9mm with Tite Group on a Dillon SDB and haven't had an oops yet.

Now... That being said, some time ago I decided that Tite Group was asking for trouble and switched to BE-86.

Friends don't let friends load powders that you can double charge.

Pics like that are why I'm only interested in the 9x19mm Chiappa Rhino.

Had a thread awhile back about rimmed revolver cartridges - all but the .41 & .500 Magnums were descendants of or actually started as black powder cases, meaning in almost all revolver calibers there's plenty of room to put too much in.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/General/-ARCHIVED-THREAD-Other-than-the-41-Magnum-which-revolver-cartridges-don-t-have-black-powder-origins-/5-2569464/

Thanks man

I'm not going to lie, but I'm going to be a little scared to load again for a while.

Might take the summer off, and just buy ammo

I'm almost out of LPP anyway and I refuse to pay these ridiculous prices that look like they are not going away anytime soon.

Good thing is I will constantly be second guessing myself now so things should be much better from now on.

@lokifox

Got some BE-86 I been using for 9mm and I'm going to use it for the ACP when I start loading for it again.

It's my only 45 right now so I Imagine I'm going to be without this thing for the summer at least before I before I get it back from S&W.

#1 Glad the OP is safe!
#2 Things happen that defy explanation.
#3 I have been loading the 45 ACP since the very early 80's.  And, I have used just about every powder
in the burn rate for a 45 ACP.  Unique, Bullseye, 231/HP38, Universal Clays, TG, N310, N320, CFE Pistol, 244
#4 I think you could darn near triple charge with TG a 45 ACP.
#5 I have been using Dillon stuff since the middle 80's and I will fully admit I have caught myself nearly
double charging a case on the 550.  
#6 I was present when a Glock 19 blew up at the range.  The fellow said he was using TG.  And, he figured he must of
did a double charge .  The frame cracked at the magazine release, blew out the magazine and it was ruptured, the bbl and slide seemed
intact. The fellow had some bleeding in his palm of his hand from the shrapnel of the frame cracking I would guess?

A month or so I saw him at the range and asked what Glock had to say...... He said he was honest with them. He sent it back on his dime. They replaced
the gun for a fee way less that buying new one he said.  

Bummer.

Use a cop or check die.

Every time I see a thread like this I post the same thing. Usually no responses, or people dismiss the powder check die idea as unnecessary.

We're human. No matter how careful, stuff will get missed. Build a physical, engineering safeguard into your process. Double charges should be essentially impossible.

Auto indexing isn't enough. One bridged load in the dropper that results in an empty case followed by a double charge will ruin your day. One jam that you clear and move on without checking all stations because of a momentary distraction, and you're boned.

Don't pretend you're superhuman and will never be distracted. Use a check die.


If your progressive doesn't have enough stations for a check die, either get a different press, or combine neck flaring & powder drop into one station to make room, or use a powder for which double charges are physically impossible (too bulky). A check die should be a non-negotiable essential station on any progressive loading pistol rounds.

If you're shopping for a press, pick one that has enough stations.

Cue the "aah been reloadin' fer 35 years and ain't nevah had a double charge and aah don't need no safety die" posts. :)

Glad you're alright.

You think about pulling the bullets from that batch of handloads and checking your charge weights?

Running them through a HiPoint would be faster.  

One of the reasons a progressive press is superior to manual when loading pistol rounds.
It's also one of the reasons I do NOT use Titegroup for anything.
My 9mm loads use 7+ grains of powder (SW Major Pistol) that takes up roughly 1/2 the case.

Squibs on the other hand........

Yes pulling them all, and checking them when I get over this UTI that started yesterday. What a fucking day that was

Pulled what was still left last night and weighed  them all and there were no double charges. Whew, that made me feel a bit better that there were no more double charges.

Had about 90 rds left.

For experimental purposes I took one case dumped it into the other to make a double charge then hid it amongst the rest while I was pulling the rest of the bullets so I would forget about it. When I went to look to see if I could single out the double charge it was quite difficult so I could definitely see how this would happen.

Either way I'm going to be buying myself some kind of powder check die to run each case through before I seat and crimp from now on.

Thanks for being honest.  Because that is my own observation - double charges in 9mm and .380 casings tend to be pretty noticeable.  You can be thinking of something else (because you will - thats how the human mind works), and autopilot placing the bullet - and its enough visually obvious (even with titgroup)  to trigger your eye to "wait, thats not right".  

In other casings, including .45; it's not nearly as blatantly obvious.

Glad you're ok.

Be-86 is my favorite.45 powder

I use a single stage and visually check every case

The problem with that approach is control and QC are 100% manual, and subject to 100% human error free operations.  The nice thing about progressives is the machine is automatically transitioning every casing - and it takes a human error or a mechanical hangup not properly managed, to fail.  The # opportunities for failure is every single case, when done single stages. The # of opportunities for failure when the machine is autoindexing, is lower.  

Running a progressive with the operator paying attention, IMHO, is inherently safer that single stage or manual indexing.

JMHO - but in our current N of 1 (this thread), the failure appears to correlate with operations and QC related to a 100% manual system loading practice.

I have a dillon rl1100 but i can not run a powder check. I run a bullet feeder, seating die then crimping die so there is no room for a powder check. I have a camera mounted in between the powder drop and bullet feeder. So no matter what press you have its not always possible to run everything you would like.

I have room for one no problem.

This is probably one of the better things you can do. If you do accidentally double, it will spill, kind of hard to ignore.

Seating and crimping in one station may be an option, though it has drawbacks, especially with mixed headstamp brass.

Beyond that, the only prudent option is to choose a powder that is too bulky to double charge.

Just my opinion. :)