How not to reload...

[Brian D.]

I don't understand the fascination with seeing how hot a round you can load.

Anyone want to enlighten me?

I used to work with a guy in NYC, actually he was the new car prep manager.
He used to hand load for his Colt Gold cup and kept the loads under maximum. But when he got himself a new GP100 and Ruger Redhawk (before the super redhawks were around), he loaded his .357s and .44s over the maximum listings. I went to the range with him and after each cylinder-full was fired, he had a hard time extracting the brass.

He said the revolvers could handle the extra power as they didn't rely on the cartridge to work the action. He must have been from Texas, as everything he did/buy/use was "bigger" than what the average guy used.

I made sure I stayed well behind the firing line when he shot those revolvers. When he was shooting his Gold Cup, that's when i returned to the line.

A dunce that thankfully no longer comes around anyplace that my friends and I shoot, managed to quite visibly crack the forcing cone on a Ruger GP-100 with his "vigorous" reloads.* This topped his earlier feats of busting multiple locking blocks on both Taurus and Beretta model 92s. One of the other shooters joked that this poltroon's name and picture were probably featured in Beretta's repair shop in some humorous and dubious fashion, since he'd sent his pistols there so many times.

*Talked to a Ruger engineer at the SHOT Show maybe a year or two after this occured. He remembered the gun, and the guy's name, right off the top of his head!! So the guy who made the joke about the Berettas may well have been right!

[captainstormy]

As I said, you can modify and be reliable - you just have to have an inkling as to what you're doing.

I agree, but at the same time if you modify something (in this case, the cartridge) don't blame part of the original design for the failure if it happens.

[SMMAssociates]

I had a nutty one about a year ago....

Some 40 years ago, a friend of mine loaded up some .357's for "duty" that were, to be charitable, over-the-top. I stuck a couple in a revolver and put a "factory" .357 in after them. Thought the factory load was a hang-fire....

I found some old factory .357's, from that time period, and took 'em out to the range. Figured that they might not be reliable. Loaded up....

Boom....

Boom!!!!!

BOOOOOM.....

Jammed solid....

I'd managed to put a couple of those nasty reloads into the mix. The second one (the flash & such was impressive - I'd never shot those indoors before) shoved it's primer back enough to jam the cylinder.

No damage, and it wasn't too hard to clear, but those went back into a "DO NOT USE!" box....

Part of the problem is that he was carrying the "Highway Patrolman" (can't think of the model number) and my M19 "Combat Magnum" is really a K-frame with a stronger cylinder for the .357. The Highway Patrolman is an "N" frame or something like that. HUGE! (Although the K-frame isn't exactly a lightweight, it's a snubbie compared to a 4" N, and this one's a 6"!)

Is the relieved area around the casing right for the gun shown in that picture set, or is the case chambering too far rearward? I don't know. (I should go downstairs and look at my P3.... If I can find it. Damn tiny guns....)

Dunno about reloading .380's. You kinda wave the case over a bottle of powder and then put in the ball....

Regards,

[jeep45238]

As I said, you can modify and be reliable - you just have to have an inkling as to what you're doing.

I agree, but at the same time if you modify something (in this case, the cartridge) don't blame part of the original design for the failure if it happens.

He didn't have an inkling what he was doing

[mauser]

It may not be the load he was using but probably the loader. I don't know what kind of quality and consistency controls he has in place on his bench but he is obviously not inspecting his finished rounds. I would bet real money he doesn't have a case gauge.

If he reloads a .380 case too many times with a hot load, the case is weak in the head and all bulged out and it is placed in a chamber that is not fully supported, booms can and will happen.

A chamber that is not fully supported is not necessarily a design flaw but it sure isn't something to put a lot of hot handloads through either.

[Jerry Morris]

One of my first firearms was one of those AR-7 survival rifles. No matter what ammo I used, the nose would jam against the barrel. I took a round file and created a tiny ramp for the lil suckers to enter the barrel. It worked, but all the fired .22LR cases had a blowout right where the filed away metal was located. Good thing it was only .22LR, but it did feed without issue... it WAS reliable, just not "safe"

I bought a replacement barrel and sold it with the rifle. The new barrel had the same exact issues... great "survival rifle"

Your problem was not in the chamber, it was in the magazine. I adjusted mine and it fed like a champ. Sometimes all that is needed is just the right style, or brand to settle down to reliability.

Jerry

[SSChevyMan]

I like to bash Glock Talk every chance I get. Their IDIOTS.

they're*

[carmen fovozzo]

I like to bash Glock Talk every chance I get. Their IDIOTS.

they're*

Glock talk belongs to these idiots. So I'll use THEIR. So there.