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Joined: Nov 2007
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Campfire Tracker
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OP
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Joined: Nov 2007
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I have often wondered...What would happen if you fired a round with no powder in the brass, only a primer. Well, it’s a first...but after 20 years of loading, now I know. Pulled the trigger and “nothing”. I ejected the round and assumed the primer didn’t detonate. Bullet was still seated to length in the brass. I pulled the bullet and to my surprise, there was no powder in the case and the bullet was all dirty on the bottom from the timer firing. I never heard anything to indicate the primer detonated. #humbled
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Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 8,573
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Oct 2011
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Did you have your hearing aids turned off?
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 48,024
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 48,024 |
You should have heard something and more than likely it would have sent the bullet into the lands of the bore. I've seen it done before, but thankfully never done it myself. I guess chit can happen though. Fingers crossed...
I try to stick with the basics, they do so well. Nothing fancy mind you, just plain jane will get it done with style. You want to see an animal drop right now? Shoot him in the ear hole. BSA MAGA
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,980
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,980 |
You should have heard something and more than likely it would have sent the bullet into the lands of the bore. . Wrong I have had exactly the same experience as the OP
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,195
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,195 |
You should have heard something and more than likely it would have sent the bullet into the lands of the bore. . Wrong I have had exactly the same experience as the OP Did it once. What bsa says is what happened in my case.
Ride well, shoot straight, and speak the truth.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 19,107
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 19,107 |
I had a .44 special lock up during a bowling pin shoot from this very thing. Lead slug stuck partially in the barrel and partly in the cylinder. Joe Darbyshire had a short piece of dowel and a hammer, and we knocked it back where the cylinder would open, and extracted the round. Nothing hurt. Could have been worse if it had gone far enough to let another good round follow it down the barrel. miles
Look out for number 1, don't step in number 2.
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Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,376
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,376 |
Exactly why I visually inspect cases after charging. I charge 10 at a time and do the visual inspection of them as they sit in the loading block before seating bullets.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 19,107
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 19,107 |
I loaded the .44 special on a progressive. No chance to inspect. Not sure what happened as I never let the powder run out, in fact I keep topping it off to try and make it meter better, and that is the only time it ever happened to me. miles
Look out for number 1, don't step in number 2.
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,978
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,978 |
I had this happen early this year at the range too. Heard the primer strike with no sound. Assumed a bad primer. Pulled the bullet and there was a sooty, empty case.
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 4,404
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 4,404 |
Easily corrected with better loading habits.The main one being make sure all your cases are visually inspected to make sure they are charged with powder.
~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~ As Bob Hagel would say"You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong."Good words of wisdom...............
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 18,902
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 18,902 |
I look in them with a light while they are in loading block after dropping powder in all of em, look in each one as I take it from block to press during seating operation and then shake em before sticking them in the flip top box.
Been lucky so far.
The last time that bear ate a lawyer he had the runs for 33 days!
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Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 287
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 287 |
That happened to a friend of mine when antelope hunting. He drew down on the buck, gently squeezed the trigger and nothing. When he racked in a fresh round, the buck trotted off unscathed. Pulled the bullet when he got home and realized there was no powder. Primer did make a sound though. That was quite a lesson he learned, and I took note. Always go over that tray before loading the bullets.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 5,491
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 5,491 |
I did it with a TTSX in a 270 and the bullet stuck in the barrel. I couldn't drive it out with a dowel. Finally packed dry ice around the barrel and was able to drive out the bullet with no harm to the barrel.
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Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 232
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 232 |
Did you have your hearing aids turned off? If I turn my hearing aids off, then don my hearing muffs, the only way I know that the rifle has discharged is by the recoil.🙄😁
What man, on his death bed, ever lamented, "God, I wish I had spent more time at the office."
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,154
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,154 |
I have had it happen twice. Once years ago with 38 Spec, and the lodged bullet locked the cylinder. That's when I added a bright lamp to my reloading table. The second time was using a friends 357 Mag reloads. The 125 gr bullet cleared the cylinder with an anemic pop, but stuck flush in the forcing cone. That one could have been bad if we had been doing rapid fire.
My biggest fear is when I die my wife will sell my guns for what I told her they cost....
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Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 232
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 232 |
Easily corrected with better loading habits.The main one being make sure all your cases are visually inspected to make sure they are charged with powder. I use two loading blocks. The empty cases are placed mouth down in one block and the full ones are placed upright (of course) in the second block as I go along. Then, once I’m done, I inspect them under good light. An old timer instilled this practice into me about 50 years ago when I was new at the game and I’ve faithfully adhered to it ever since. May sound a bit over anal but I’ve never had a squib situation.
What man, on his death bed, ever lamented, "God, I wish I had spent more time at the office."
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 7,003
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Apr 2013
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I use a flashlight to inspect all my cases before seating a bullet.
This ensures that all of the cases have been filled with powder, then stuff like this doesn’t happen - especially when on a coveted hunt. No room for error!
Last edited by Sakohunter264; 04/04/20.
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 1,054
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 1,054 |
I loaded the .44 special on a progressive. No chance to inspect. Not sure what happened as I never let the powder run out, in fact I keep topping it off to try and make it meter better, and that is the only time it ever happened to me. miles I had something similar happen also. For loading small batches of rifle cartridges it’s very easy to avoid mistakes. Not so much when loading large quantities of handgun ammunition on a progressive press. It’s really unfortunate that progressive presses didn’t have a hole for (1) size, (2) expand, (3) powder, (4) lock out die, (5) seat and (6) crimp. And anything manual index is prone to human error.
Last edited by Hawkeye_Reloader; 04/04/20.
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Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 4,755
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Oct 2014
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You should have heard something and more than likely it would have sent the bullet into the lands of the bore. Not necessarily. Most of what you hear is escaping gasses, and when none escape, there isn't much noise. I've done it myself intentionally, as well as sticking a bullet with very light powder charges (the right way to firelap with a lead bullet is when they barely make it out the muzzle, that means you get some that don't) - sometimes it hardly sounds any different than dry firing. I do agree that usually it'll push the bullet into the bore, but if the OP's situation involved pretty high neck tension, and/or a large case, it can happen just as he described.
Last edited by Yondering; 04/05/20.
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Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 417
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 417 |
Did this a couple years ago when loading for my wife's 270. Went to the range before deer season and "click". Waited several seconds and she ejected the round, primer was struck with bullet still in place. Shook the cartridge and no sound. Shook next round and no sound. Didn't powder 5 in a row. Apparently I got distracted when I took the funnel off after finishing a row on the loading block. Picked it up and started one row too far. Thankfully it wasn't during season and it was a good experience for her. I learned to keep a flashlight on the bench and everything gets visually inspected before bullet seating.
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