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Posted: 7/22/2012 9:56:11 AM EDT
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I could have had an overcharge this morning if I didn't follow my self-established quality check routine when throwing powder.
I was throwing 5.2 grains of Unique. My routine is to check the scale for zero, fill the hopper, throw 15 charges into the pan & return to hopper, adjust the charge to desired weight and then throw fill 10 at a time. I select 10 pieces of brass & have them in my hand, charge, look at it & place it in the loading tray. That way I can look into each one to make sure there is powder, and that it looks consistent. After 10, I throw one into the pan & weigh it. Every time - so that check is getting done before I start batch and after I've ended a batch. I run batches on a single stage press, so if I've done something else between throwing charges (i.e. seating bullets), I'll settle the hopper (15 throws), check one and then go for 10. Today, I'd thrown 100 charges, then seated 100 bullets using this routine. I was starting my second batch of 100... threw my 15 to settle the powder (keep in mind that the press is mounted to the same surface as the hopper) and then threw one to measure. Hmm. Way too heavy (about 5.6). Thew another one - again, way too heavy (about 6.0). Time to check everything over. What I found is that the measuring cylinder bushing (which should be secure, and sits behind the lock ring on the measuring screw (RCBS Uniflow - page 17 http://www.rcbs.com/downloads/Parts_Book.pdf )) had worked its way loose. The only thing I can figure is the bushing was on the cusp of breaking free and the vibration from cycling the press 100 times loosened it up. Earlier this morning, I was contemplating whether I was wasting time with checking every 10th throw... Maybe go to 20? 30? Do I really need to check between batches? Glad I didn't fall for it and stayed with my tried & true routine! |
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had the same thing happen to me before only I caught it before I seated my bullets into the powder charged cases. So I rechecked them and yes they were off bad enough to hurt me and my gun.
So I poured all of them back in the hopper and started over making sure it was secure this time around. I check that first thing after getting my charge dialed in now. |
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I use loading trays and while my routine is not as strict as yours it would have caught what happened to you. I'll weigh after 10 then again after 10 or so more. Then one more after the tray is done. I then visually inspect the powder levels of all of the cases in the tray to see if any are different or maybe even empty.
One thing that got me once is I was using a RCBS electronic scale and the scale's zero drifted. I had to pull 50 rounds of rifle ammo. If you are using a electronic scale you must return the EMPTY pan to the scale occasionally to make sure it still is zero. My Charge Master 1500 scale will do the same thing. BTW: I always double check my electronic scale with my beam scale and I always check the zero on my beam scale before I use it. |
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Yep - glad you have a system in place to catch potential errors. I work in a lab, so I've learned a lot about qualiity assurance. Comes in hand when reloading!
I've dropped powder for well over 10,000 rounds from that Uniflow... Never had a problem like this until now, and it would have been easy to have the mindset that everything was fine at the end of the last batch & nothing had changed. |
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