18 replies to this topic

[JimmyZip]

It happened to a nice guy and if you are not careful with your 550, it could happen to you. ( Or me!)

We were shooting I beleive, the OUter Limits. He was on his second string and I hear pop, pop, pop, BLAM!
Then a collective "Whoa are you allright?" Well besides a stinging palm he was alright, but that glock is history. I took pics with my phone, but I can't put them on my computer. The rails that the slide ride on were sripped from the frame, and the barrel,(I think it was a Lone Wolf?) was split at thechamber.
No squib in the barrel. Figure it must have been a double charge. the guy uses a 550, another person said you gotta be careful,DUH

Can this happen on a SDB? I only weigh every 50th charge, is that enough?

Crazy things happen in this sport.
JZ

[Merlin Orr]

Much harder to do the double charge thing with a SDB than a 550. But anything is possible and it CAN happen to any one of us.

Keep the loading room free of distractions.......

Glad the guy still has his fingers and eyes....

[XRe]

Double charges and squibs can happen on any of the presses (ask Jake di Vita about his squib that he loaded on his 650....). It all depends on what happens while you're loading.... The 550 is a little easier, obviously, to do that with - you must develop a good working process on any press to insure that you don't make any mistakes...

As far as your buddy goes, have him call Glock - they'll at least help him get the gun rebuilt, etc....

[dcarter]

As you said, It could happen to anyone. At least, in this case, he was ok. That, in the end, is what matters.

[CenTX]

On my 550 I try use powders that fill the case over half full. If I double charge, powder would overflow the case and it's pretty obvious.

I have a light set up where I can look in the case as I set the bullet. It's still possible to screw up and not look and get a squibb, but I am more afraid of a double charge than a squibb.

[Jman]

...for our newest members and anyone wishing to be reminded.

If one studies the process, understands it and practices age old techniques of re-manufacturing ammunition

the odds of this happening are nil. Virtually nonexistent.

What is the hurry?

Thank God no one was seriously hurt.

Producing good reloads is a lot like the game we shoot.

Crank out ammo no faster than you can produce guaranteed "A"s


Jim M

[Micah]

I've saved several Glocks...and STIs from being blown up from squibs. Hopefully

Glad nobody was injured.

[Johann the Horrible]

Second Glock Kaboom, this week!

Whats up with the Glock guys, cant they reload or do the shooters of other guns keep quiet when they KABOOM their guns.

[psyops]

I know this sounds really anal, but I case guage and weigh each round. For every 1000rds I crank out on my 650, I'll "discover" 1or 2 squib wannabes and maybe 1 'hot' load. My STIs and my Glocks thank me.
Just my $0.02.

[DonT]

Glad nobody was hurt. From day one I put a light over my 550 and watch every powder drop. Now it's just natural and I'm glad I do it.

DonT

[boz1911]

I never set a bullet on the case without "seeing" the powder, whether it's my 550 or 1050! And I do not allow distractions.

[Steve J]

Second Glock Kaboom, this week!

Whats up with the Glock guys, cant they reload or do the shooters of other guns keep quiet when they KABOOM their guns.

Well, let's see. One of the local guys was doing the live fire portion of his CHL, when he lodged a bullet in the barrel from a squib and then pumped another in behind it. Crack, but no Kaboom. Wilson Combat 1911 45 ACP. It cracked the barrel, but didn't damage anything else on the gun.

New underwear: $10
Replacement barrel installed by Wilson: $300
Not having to pick plastic out of your hand and face: Priceless

The bigger the KABOOM, the bigger the story I guess.

[mr1911]

One of my shooting buddies swore off factory reloads when a squib cost him the barrel of a classic Colt .357 python....not a cheap and easy fix.

[Carl]

I never set a bullet on the case without "seeing" the powder, whether it's my 550 or 1050! And I do not allow distractions.

EXACTLY! I have a "reflector" light that I shine on my 650, set to "cast a shadow" about where the powder should be in the case. Give me a good visual indication that everything is ok. It's a little slower, but being sure is better than faster

[Harmon]

the plastic glock uses is 10x better for explosions than wooden or hard plastic grips on a 1911 as they do not shatter into small splinters.

wood splinters suck.

harmon

[38superman]

I have been loading on a 650 for a couple of years and have never double charged a case.

I have produced one squib.
That scares me as much as a double charge.

When it happened, there was no noise other than the click of the hammer falling.
I thought I had a failure to feed so I racked the slide and kept going.

The only thing that saved me was that the bullet didn't travel far enough down the bore to allow another cartridge to chamber.
The gun didn't quite go into battery.

I have a powder check device on the loader that's supposed to alert me when a case has too much or not enough powder.
In spite of this, I found a way to omit the powder in one of the many thousands of rounds I have pumped out of the 650.

Since then, I bought a small inspection mirror with a telescoping handle.
I took a hose clamp and clamped to the back of the 650 frame.
The mirror is round and about the size of a quarter.
It has a swivel built into the handle and I can set it to look down into the case as I'm working.

That way I can visually verify that there is powder in the case as I'm placing the bullet.

I find this especially comforting when using powders like Titegroup.
Without the mirror I can't see the powder at all while loading.
A normal charge doesn't even fill half the case in a .40 or 45.

Nothing is fool proof but this adds another layer of defense against the dreaded zero/double charge.

Tony

Edited by 38superman, 22 May 2008 - 11:40 AM.

[L9X25]

I exclusively loaded on a 550 for over 10 years without incident. You have to lock yourself in the room and remove all distractions. Allowing the wife, kids, dog, TV, or whatever to distract you, even for one second, can be very dangerous.

I personally hate reloading but realize that I do not spend much time actually reloading. I can afford to devote 100% of my attention to the process for the short time that I am doing it. If you mess up while loading on a 550 it is certainly NOT the presses fault.

[Duane Thomas]

Whats up with the Glock guys, cant they reload or do the shooters of other guns keep quiet when they KABOOM their guns.

I think the reason you hear the Glock KB stories is it's just so impressive when a casing lets loose inside a polymer framed gun. I've been on the range at a class with a guy who let his brother load his class ammo for his Glock 21. I wasn't actually watching at the moment the gun blew but I got to see the aftereffects. The frame split all the way from the dustcover to the base of the frontstrap, all along the mold line, and the trigger blew out of the gun. That night the guy went to a gun store and bought himself another Glock 21. He showed up the next day with his new gun and I asked him, "So, you still firing your brother's handloads?" For some reason he didn't find that funny. I don't understand why. I'm a funny guy.

OTOH I have personally blown two casings in a steel framed 1911. In both instances the magazine was trashed but other than that no damge to the gun or shooter. Of course I was running Pachmayrs with the steel insert at the time. Just pound the Pachmayrs back flat, stick a new magazine in the gun and drive on.

[oddjob]

I agree with the "light" over the press practice..........I see the powder first......then the bullet goes.....