Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Yep, I really did this...

Short version - I accidently seated a bullet in a primed case with no powder in it and took it to the range.

Long Version - Been handloading for 40 years and never thought I'd goon it up like this, but I sure did. I've been seeking a good load with a temperature resistant powder with the 165 ABLR in my 8" twist, slightly long-throated, custom M70 .270 WSM. Had been using mostly MagPro, with some trials of RL-26. Heard some good things about the temp resistance of Ramshot Magnum and last week's ladder showed some nice velocity promise. So I went out today with a seating depth trial, looking to test the "you might oughta get really far off the lands with ABLRs" guidance.
On my second group, the second round didn't do a bloody thing when the trigger broke. My crosshair stayed right on target (that was comforting), but I didn't hear a thing except the firing pin fall. Ejected the round and the primer was fully dented, but the bullet hadn't moved a bit.
Did I have a dud primer? It was a Fed 215M. Figured if the primer went off it would have at least moved the bullet. I don't have what I would consider a lot of neck tension. My FL die (decapping rod removed) only sizes down the neck a little, and I expand the neck with a Sinclair mandrel, resulting in just over a .274" ID on the neck. a bit less than .003 tension. And I anneal every firing. I set that round aside and fired the "third" in that string and it cut the hole of the first. My next deeper-seated load put three in 0.7", so I think I'm in the right ballpark on CBTO.
Anyway, got home and pulled the bullet - no powder in the case! The primer had fired and the base of the bullet was all sooty, but it had not moved a bit in the neck.
So, a couple lessons here:
1) No matter how experienced you are, a mistake can happen. There's no such thing as being TOO careful at the loading bench.
2) Even without a lot of neck tension, a primer alone may not budge a bullet in the case. I consider this a good thing. Much better than lodging it in the barrel.

Still don't know how I managed that clown act but I reckon it can happen to anyone - y'all be careful out there.
Rex

So I’ll say that’s all a good learning experience and could happen to any of us eventually. Glad you brought it up though and nothing was damaged.

On a better note, very much interested in the 270 WSM work with the 165. I’d love to see your work on this when you’re thru. I have a 1-7 1/2 277 Krieger dying to get on a rifle.

It could happen to anyone. If you are getting tired or fatigued. The other night, I was loading some ammo for my new rifle and I forgot to check to make sure I put powder in the first case I seated the bullet on. Generally that is just a rule, but for some reason I forgot. I always double check with a small light to be sure too. I thought to myself, I must be getting too tired and better go to bed. Luckily at the range, they all went bang.. Glad to hear the op did not lodge a bullet in his rifle. I've seen guys do that..

It happens. Done it a few times myself. Bullet usually just gets lodged in the throat just out of the neck if even that. Won't let you chamber another round and easily knocked out with a cleaning rod.

For Beretzs- That 7.5" Krieger ought to be fantastic for a 270 WSM! My M70 allows about 3.02" OAL in the factory mag. What will your candidate rifle have for a mag length?
The first load I found that was very promising was the 175 Sierra TGK at about 2840'-2850' with MagPro. But I discovered by reviewing my range notes that MagPro in this chambering varies about 1 FPS per degree temperature. As we are moving into the hotter months here in Arizona, my former consistently 1/2 MOA load with MagPro, snuck up into the 2880' neighborhood and I think I may have bumped up out of the node (or some such nonsense talk) because group sizes doubled.
I saw a penetration test on YouTube where the results looked as if the 175 TGK might have been borderline stable with an 8" twist, having a slightly curved penetration path in the gel. But when tried in a 7.5" twist, it ran dead straight on penetration. The 165 ABLR seems fine in the 8".
I bought several bags of the 170 Nosler BTs that SPS has had for a long time now, and they have been problematic so far. I may need to back them way off the lands too. Here are those three bullets side-by-side.

I will update you a bit on my CBTO findings when I have more of them...
Cheers,
Rex

Great info Rex. I am undecided if I am going to do a 270 Win or WSM right now. The thought of a lighter handling 270 Win is kinda appealing. I have an older 270 WSM Classic I could swap barrels on as well.

Keep the info coming. I am still searching for the right donor

The 270 WSM seems to have about the same recoil as a 270 WCF to me.

Reloads also don't work as advertised when you seat the primer upside down. Kind of embarrassing when they don't go off and you look to see if the primer is dented and see priming compound and anvil instead of a dented cup. Doh!

One thing I d I different from how the loading manuals describe is to seat a bullet after putting powder in each case. I weigh each load, drop it in the funnel, the seat the bullet before going to the next case. I don't powder a tray full of cases before bullet seating.

This is how my father taught me almost 40 years ago and it has never failed me.

Yes, I do the same with hunting rifle ammo. Charge the case, then seat the bullet.

Much better than a double load. I'm not a handgun freak, but with those speedy powders and light charges, I think one could get a triple or maybe even a 4X load in some of those cartridges. Most of my rifle loads are damned close to filling the case.

I use a flashlight and check every case before bullet seating. I also check the level of powder also.

I was breaking in a new barrel (35 Whelen) and was shooting some 158 gr. 357 pistol bullets loaded will a mild charge of red dot. I pulled the trigger
on one and it popped but not as loud as the others. I ejected the case and the bullet was gone. Luckily I thought to drop the bolt and check the barrel.
Yep barrel obstructed. Dumped some Hoppes #9 down the barrel and let it work for a while and was able to tap bullet out. Only went a couple inches
into rifling. I still don't know if I forgot powder and primer alone did this or I had just a small amount of powder but any time it don't sound right it ain't right.
Imagine if I would have fired the next round even a mild one. Always check once and then twice. Reloading calls for concentration and caution just as much
as shooting.

Did the same exact thing with .375R last year. Click. WLRM didn't budge the bullet, thankfully.

Powder is a thing, evidently.......

Not a reloading issue , but similar. A long time ago Iwas sighting in my trusty Model 70 in .338 win. for the upcoming season . I hung targets, got rests all set. Proceeded to get gun and ammo all lined out on bench. Got comfy, rifle in rest . Checked target through scope. Put a round in chamber , lined up on target. I suddenly got an uneasy feeling and opened bolt. Took cartridge out and withdrew the bolt. To my surprise there was a cleaning patch about 3" in front of the chamber. I hate to think what would have happened if I would have pulled the trigger...........

The Good Lord must have had more work for you to do and whispered in your ear. That would have likely ruined your day.

I got that uneasy feeling a few years ago after I’d gotten all comfy behind the scope. Stopped to check everything over and realized I had left the laser bore sighter in the end of the barrel. ( It’s not a bore sighter but I don’t know what else to call it). Close call.

Same here, usually 2-3 times.

I had just gotten an RCBS Progressive conversion kit some years back, ran close to a thousand rounds of .45 ACP through it before I decided I did not like it and went back to single stage.

In that run, there was one round that powder did not drop and one round the primer was protruding badly, this all found years later when I decided to burn up old stock. The primer I saw while loading the mag, the powderless one lodged the bullet.

I eventually got a Dillon 550c. The case-activated powder charge system is much, much more reliable and the feel of the priming lets you know if something ain't right. I prefer the manual advance also, it doesn't tie the machine up in knots if I short stroke. I have a mounted light to check powder level.


I've been through that upside-down primer thing, too. Hard to explain using a ram-prime....I used a very complicated excuse for that one.

"Duhhh..."

I'm beginning to think it has it's place. (grin)