Reloading... what happened?

[B4LLZNJ 2]

So I started reloading a couple months ago. Did a few sets of test rounds. Everything went great. About 200+ rounds later I experienced this. Does anyone know why this would happen? It hasn’t happened again and didn’t damage the gun. 

[Scorpio64 5,153]

Load data?

Looks like overpressure to me, double powder charge probably.  Have you previously had spent primers fall out of any brass or pierced primers.

[Golf battery 1,223]

Agreed overcharged and blew the primer out    Two things you never want to do in reloading is 

overcharge or undercharge a load.  Never.  I use a powder cop and inspect each casing for powder.  

[raz-0 1,259]

That is definitely an over pressure round. I have never seen a case that FUBAR without the gun being damaged. Is it just the case head that is stretched or is the body of the case also messed up (i.e. you got a side view)? 

 

 

[JackDaWack 2,895]

Could be what im always afraid of, bullet setback. 

I factory crimp all my rounds to prevent that. 

[Mr.Stu 1,918]

This is an important teaching moment.

I am guessing from your statement that "It hasn’t happened again" you continued to fire more rounds from that batch.

This was a mistake. One overcharged (or even suspected overcharged) round marks the entire batch as suspect. You got lucky with that one and you were not hurt. Tempting fate by continuing to use suspect ammo is a really bad idea.

You should have pulled the rest of the rounds from that batch and measured them for OAL variations, inspected the crimp and pulled the bullets one by one and weighed the charge to try to identify what went wrong.

[B4LLZNJ 2]

I appreciate your feed back and what you listed is exactly what Ive done so far. The bullet in question was #9 in a 10rnd mag. I stopped shooting, pulled the mag and popped the round out and proceeded to inspect the gun and barrel. I did check the remaining rounds for OAL and crimp and all seemed fine. Unfortunately I didn't have a bullet puller so I ordered one. Ill check them but Im pretty confident powder was on point. So after inspecting the gun and having someone check it , the gun is ok nothing was damaged and I wasn't hurt thankfully. I really enjoy this hobby but I am new to it and have a whole lot to learn. However I really need to find the cause.

So formular was 

Hodgdon Titegroup , OAL was 1.1 , 4.1 grs, 115gr rn, Federal small pistol primer

 

[JC_68Westy 1,024]

I like using powders that can't be double charged without overflowing or filling the case for this exact reason. I have partially used pound of Titegroup that will probably never be used again. I overcharged one round using it years ago and fortunately it was a 38 SPL that I fired in a 357 Mag revolver. I did pull the entire batch and only that one round was overcharged.

[Mr.Stu 1,918]

24 minutes ago, B4LLZNJ said:

So formular was 

Hodgdon Titegroup , OAL was 1.1 , 4.1 grs, 115gr rn

What type of bullet was it? Lead, FMJ, plated, coated? It makes a difference.

[124gr9mm 859]

1 hour ago, B4LLZNJ said:

I appreciate your feed back and what you listed is exactly what Ive done so far. The bullet in question was #9 in a 10rnd mag. I stopped shooting, pulled the mag and popped the round out and proceeded to inspect the gun and barrel. I did check the remaining rounds for OAL and crimp and all seemed fine. Unfortunately I didn't have a bullet puller so I ordered one. Ill check them but Im pretty confident powder was on point. So after inspecting the gun and having someone check it , the gun is ok nothing was damaged and I wasn't hurt thankfully. I really enjoy this hobby but I am new to it and have a whole lot to learn. However I really need to find the cause.

So formular was 

Hodgdon Titegroup , OAL was 1.1 , 4.1 grs, 115gr rn, Federal small pistol primer

 

If it was Titegroup I'd say double charge is the top candidate.

 

 

[JackDaWack 2,895]

Is it possible to double charge a 9mm with titegroup? I feel like that would be hard to do. A 45acp I could see that happening. 

[raz-0 1,259]

10 minutes ago, JackDaWack said:

Is it possible to double charge a 9mm with titegroup? I feel like that would be hard to do. A 45acp I could see that happening. 

Depends on your charge and your bullet. .45 you can triple charge a major PF load and stills eat a bullet. 

[JackDaWack 2,895]

I use titegroup in 9mm exclusively and I'm pretty sure you would have to compressed the charge significantly. Im also pretty sure that would blow up your gun, or do some kind of damage. Titegroup spikes rapidly. It could have just been a hot charge and no necessarily a double. 

 

[JackDaWack 2,895]

Powder cop die is a must for a progressive press. I set mine to lock out on the max side. If I under charge its no biggie before it locks me out on that side. 

[Golf battery 1,223]

4 hours ago, Mr.Stu said:

This is an important teaching moment.

I am guessing from your statement that "It hasn’t happened again" you continued to fire more rounds from that batch.

This was a mistake. One overcharged (or even suspected overcharged) round marks the entire batch as suspect. You got lucky with that one and you were not hurt. Tempting fate by continuing to use suspect ammo is a really bad idea.

You should have pulled the rest of the rounds from that batch and measured them for OAL variations, inspected the crimp and pulled the bullets one by one and weighed the charge to try to identify what went wrong.

Absolutely agree.  I would toss that batch.  Or save the heads.  My concern is    Did it cause fractured damage?   To only find out later?

[Golf battery 1,223]

19 minutes ago, JackDaWack said:

Powder cop die is a must for a progressive press. I set mine to lock out on the max side. If I under charge its no biggie before it locks me out on that side. 

And under charges can cause pressure spikes also.  

[JackDaWack 2,895]

2 minutes ago, Golf battery said:

And under charges can cause pressure spikes also.  

True, but with a cop out die it locks you out before that. Problem with titegroup is you will spike faster with an overcharge. 

[Golf battery 1,223]

I have a lnl.  I believe the lock out die is for dillon?   Pistol i use cfe pistol.  And revolver is clays for 38 and 45

[JackDaWack 2,895]

Rcbs make a standard die for any press.

[Longranger 16]

Any idea how many reloads you had done on that case?  Measure some case lengths and see if they’re at least the minimum specified length of 0.744”.  Not OAL, case length.  9mm rounds seat on the case mouth.  Too much crimp and you screw up how the round seats. Slight taper crimp, not roll crimp on 9mm.

[Golf battery 1,223]

3 hours ago, JackDaWack said:

Rcbs make a standard die for any press.

Ill look into that.   Visual is best though

[tony357 386]

Was that case blown out at the feeding ramp or does your barrel have full support ? What Handgun was this fired out of? Do you have any side pics of round?

looks pretty similar. 

I blew up my gun with a double charge - YouTube

 

[Bagarocks 36]

I have both the RCBS Lockout die and the Hornady Powder cop. They both work equally well IMO.

My motto is When in doubt hammer them out (bullet puller) although I use the RCBS collet puller die set on my press, really helpful when pulling more than 2 rounds.

Ive pulled 100 rounds before. If doubt creeps in im pullin and startin over. Oh and the 100 rounds I pulled were all good better to be safe than sorry. 

[Bagarocks 36]

oops

Edited February 14, 2021 by Bagarocks
double post