I did not find a "poll" option on the editor, so please forgive the clumsiness of creating a poll in a thread.

I am interested in the ACTUAL practices of ACTUAL reloaders regarding some elements of reloading. Please only reply if you are a reloader and you ARE using/not using the practices I list below. There's nothing nefarious going on, nor are there any "hidden agendas". I'm not a lawyer and this has nothing to do with "business" of any sort. It's simply a discussion among a few friends regarding what to tell folks considering getting into reloading.

In the context of "full disclosure":

I am not particularly "fond" of those that practice one thing, and tell others to "do" something else. I find this behavior all too common among our nation's lawmakers, as well as among MANY reloaders. They are very quick to tell others how they are supposed to behave, but don't come close to that behavioral standard themselves. In the case of advising those new to reloading, or contemplating starting reloading, I think such "advice" is discouraging and ultimately harmful. (Just as the same behavior is harmful when our legislators practice it.)

So here's the first pair of questions:

I WEAR SAFETY GLASSES EVERYTIME AND ALL THE TIME I AM PERSONALLY RELOADING.

I USE SAFETY GLASSES DURING SOME OPERATIONS OF MY PERSONAL RELOADING.

I NEVER WEAR SAFETY GLASSES WHEN I RELOAD.

Now, I'm NOT suggesting that safety glasses aren't a "good idea' FOR THOSE THAT WANT TO USE THEM. What I am "opposed to" is telling a newby that they "HAVE" to get a pair of safety glasses if they intend to reload, and if they don't, they are being "irresponsible" and they are "hurting all of us in the shooting community". Frankly, the last phrase annoys the hades out of me.

Again, in the context of "full disclosure":
I have been reloading for exactly 45 years, six months and four days, and I have never once worn a pair of safety glasses while reloading. Futhermore, I have used for more than 40 years, that "dangerous device" the automatic primer tube on the RCBS press. I have all my fingers and toes and faculties, and have never been to or needed to go to the emergency room. Neither has there EVER been a need for "safety glasses" at my reloading bench. Also, I about as far from a "vanilla" reloader as you can get, having worked up thousands of loads for wildcats, and duplesx and triplex loads for all sorts cartridges.

So, IF YOU RELOAD, I'm interested in WHAT YOU ACTUALLY DO, not what you THINK every body else should do. IF YOU DON'T RELOAD but you are the OSHA representative for your union shop, please save your opinions for a thread you start.

Thanks for your time and honesty.

Paul

I don't wear safety glasses while reloading in 40 years I have had one primer pop. Can't say that it was dangerous as it is housed completely in the die.

I WEAR SAFETY GLASSES EVERYTIME AND ALL THE TIME I AM PERSONALLY RELOADING.

BUT my reading glasses are also safety glasses so it is no big deal.

Here I am all ready to put up a mess o'.32 long wadcutters.

I have never wore safety glasses during reloading. I've reloaded shotgun since age 8 and rifle the last 10 years or so.

I do need reading glasses lately for some operations though.

Kent

I cook bacon in the nude.

TMI

Call me suspicious, but I just feel there is "something" more to this post, something hiding in the background.

So.... I do what I do. I am responsible for my own actions. I won't ask you to do it the same way, and expect the same in return.

Thanks noKnees. I appreciate that, sincerely. I am truly trying to find out what the "community" actually does.

Also... thanks to levrluvr and steelhead. A little levity is 'a good thing'.

Paul

ColdBore - It would not be possible for you to be more wrong in your suspicions.

Paul

When you present a small target (or maybe the correct term here is a soft target), it's not that dangerous.

never

I have always worn glasses, since I was 10, my glasses are real glass, not plastic, so I guess you could say I always wear glasses when reloading. My eyes, my decision.

OTOH, if someone wants to comment that there may be a SAFER way to do something and recommend that method, that doesnt mean he is being a safety nazi and is likely just a citizen trying to help out a newbie. The fact that you have done something a certain way for years and have suffered no injury does not necessarily mean that is the best or safest way to do it. JMHO

I do not wear safety glasses while reloading or anything else. I do wear prescription glasses. miles

jnyork,

I tried to make it clear that I wasn't oopposed to whatever safety one wanted to use. What I'm opposed to is "Do as I SAY, not what I DO."

Paul

"I cook bacon in the nude."
Damn. I bet that hurts when the grease splatters.

did you get the 222 stuff?

I've worn RX glasses since I was a teenager, same time I started loading... I've always had polycarbonate lenses... No side shields though

That's me. I've got 20/20 vision, but that's at 20 feet. Up close, I need the readers. Before my mid-40's, no glasses.

No accidents, either.

No glasses and I've been known to smoke while reloading .

I do wear safety glasses while weed-eating or using a chainsaw so it ain't like I think I'm bullet-proof .

And I did stop using my kinetic bullet puller when a guy on here reported a bad experience with one so it ain't like I'm too old to change .

I don't wear safety glasses but insist any newbie that I am teaching wears them.

Same

Been reloading for 18 years, since I was 15. No safety glasses. I reload 99% of my stuff on a single stage press where I do every operation separately. I will size and deprime in one stage, bell cases if needed in another. I also use the auto prime but in the RCBS tabletop version and have never had a primer go. I then powder and when powder is all weighed and cases filled, I turn them towards the light and make sure they all look the same level. I have caught a double charge once, where the flake powder (Unique) got caught in the funnel and I moved it on to the next one. The three previous and three after were all dumped and recharged. I load for 32 different cartridges currently. There have been others, but when the rifles were sold the dies went to. That's something I will never do again either. I may sell the rifle but in the future keep the dies and brass, as I may come up with that cartridge again. I use an old Lyman Ideal Powder Measure when using ball powders. I DO check everything 5th charge on a scale. For Christmas this year my wife got me a new Dillon Progressive Press, currently set up for .38's/.357's. I still periodically check the powder stage, but not as often, as it seems that's more likely to screw up my routine and get a double charge then just getting it right in the beginning and moving through..... That's my drill.....OH, I DON'T COOK BACON IN THE NUDE!!! Apparently I run more risk then some of you all

A number of years ago a friend of mine had just exited the shower when he noticed that the light bulb above the sink was burned out. Being the sort to have things on hand, there was a spare bulb in the vanity below the sink. He had to stretch a bit and lean in to reach the socket. This brought Morton into direct contact with his wife's curling iron, which had naturally been left on and lying on top of the vanity. From here in, the story gets a bit murky. He claims to have suffered manfully and in silence. The story as it has come out involved a trip to the emergency room where the first nurse to see the damage let out a scream as she assumed that it had been burned completely off. Further examination revealed it to be intact, but with burns over 90% of its area, which amounted to an area about the size of a dime.

The only time I wear safety glasses is when I'm deprimeing live primers.

LMAO

LOL!!!

I figure I should be able to buy as many primers - that are not designed to erode - as I want.

I will also fight tooth-and-nail the same methods that were unleashed on smokers, with the end goal being pricing something deemed "dangerous" out of practiacal use.

Got any you'd let go? - 210M's would be perfect.

I've reloaded for about 40 years and never worn safety glasses. I use the method noted above for putting charged cases in a loading block and visually comparing charge levels before the next operation.

I WEAR SAFETY GLASSES EVERYTIME AND ALL THE TIME I AM PERSONALLY RELOADING.

I USE SAFETY GLASSES DURING SOME OPERATIONS OF MY PERSONAL RELOADING.

I NEVER WEAR SAFETY GLASSES WHEN I RELOAD.



I wear my glasses every time I reload, or at least for the last 12 years or so. For the 31 years before that I didn't have glasses so I didn't wear them. I, like others here, have also
1. run with scissors.
2. owned a BB gun my entire life and haven't put my eye out.
3. Crossed the street without looking even one way much less both.
4. gone swimming immediately after eating.
5. have on occasion patted my head and rubbed my stomach at the same time.


Alan

Loading Bench Items

Reloaded either with my mentor or alone for about 15 years. For the last 10 or so I always have on reading glasses because I can't see up close without them. They're the Wally World version so probably polycarb. I add safety glasses when using the RCBS press priming system or when using an impact bullet puller. FWIW

Only when priming cases.

I have been reloading for over 40 years and have never worn safety glasses until I started wearing glasses full time. At that time I bought safety glasses and my profession as a machinist required them.

Never have, probably won't - doesn't mean it's not a good practice. Of all the things I think I could function without, eyes are not one of them.

Never wear them -- What's the story with the kinetic bullet puller?

Thanks for the answers - at least most of 'em anyway. I'll give this a day or two and tally up the numbers for those that like numbers. (That'd be me.)

Paul

I have worn them a time or two while reloading, but for the last ten years, regular glasses were all I've worn (over my eyes, that is. I may someday cook bacon clothes-less, but I will not reload in that condition!)

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Only my prescription daily glasses are worn, and that goes for most things I do on a daily basis, even cooking bacon. I do have safety glasses as well as a safety facemask that gets used on work that is really throwing the debris.

This is me and my crew when we reload or go to the range. Note, only Tony in the center has glasses. We are very brave.

No, never at any stage. I've been reloading for 30 years and not so much as a popped primer. kwg

I have thick glasses. Does that count?

Dang, you have as many dies as I do......

I thought I was the only die slut.......




Casey

I've wore eyeglasses for the past 40+ years. So for the 35+ years I've been handloading, I've had glasses on the entire time, and for the last 15-20 years they were polycarbonate or safety glasses.

But I've never popped a primer with my Lee Auto Prime--I took one look at the RCBS set-up that came with my Jr kit, and figured there had to be something better. Consequently, my 38 year old RCBS press mounted primer is still a virgin.......


Casey

i dont wear safety glasses, and i never have whilst reloading. i have been loading for about 8 years now. mostly for my 30-06, but now into .45 ACP and .357 mag and .38 special, and just starting on .300 win mag.

Prescription glasses, polycarbonate. If i don't wear them
i don't see too much. No side shields. Have had glasses
since i was 16 so i am used to wearing them. Have never had
anything go bang in all my reloading, but my buddy had
a tube of primers go on an industrial machine and that was
exciting. Burn mark on the concrete roof, shrapnel all over
the place. He was as blind as i am, and had his normal glasses on.

I wear them for some operations and not for others.I have not always done so,just getting older I guess.My safety glasses have a "bifocal" 1.5x magnifier built into the lower part of the lens. Lightman

i always wear glasses when reloading, eben before I needed them, its called good practice..........i have never needed them nor have i needed a motorcycle helmet or a life boat or a seat belt and many others. just the way of doing business.

I've been reloading about 30 years, I've been wearing polycarbonate glasses W/O side shields about 20 of them. The last couple of years, I've been wearing my prescription safety glasses, I'm very far sighted,(trifocals are coming in very handy)it was for the reason you posted this question I was asking about the new auto primers w/safey shields on the fire recently.

Don't load a lot, but have done so for 35-ish years. Never wore any safety glasses. No problems thus far.

OK...

Thanks to all of you that provided reasonable answers.

About 24 hours 'later', here's my tally.

"Yes I wear SAFETY glases" - 6
"Yes I wear glasses for all or some of the reloading operations, and they function as safety glasses" - 4
"No I don't wear safety glasses when reloading even though I do wear glasses as a result of needing them to see, and I didn't wear them before I needed them to see." - 23
Humorous - 9

That doesn't add up to the total number of posts because some of them were irrelevant.

The way I "see" this is:

Of the 33 people that reponded in the spirit in which the question was asked, 10 of them wear glasses overtly as a safety precaution in some or all of their reloading activities, and 23 don't or wouldn't if they didn't need them to see with.

10 divided by 33 is 0.303.... or 30.3%
23 divided by 33 is 0.6969... or 69.7%

Actually, while the overall sample size of 33 is pretty small, I'm a little surpised that as many as 30% of reloaders in this sample CHOOSE to use safety glasses in at least some of the operations of reloading.

Thanks again to those that responded in the spirit in which the question was asked.

Paul

No safety glasses for me. I wear eyeglasses that serve the same purpose.

I wear prescription eye glasses. That's all.

So, about 24 hours later (48 hours total) the numbers have only changed by 2. I'll let this run one more 24 hour period, and "stick a fork in it".

Paul

Not sure where you put me... but I would wear safety glasses if my �reading� glasses did not function as Safety Glasses� I just silly that way

I put you in the "I wear safety glasses for at least some operations of reloading", because you said:

"but I would wear safety glasses if my �reading� glasses did not function as Safety Glasses"

AND... That's certainly not "silly" to me, and I NEVER suggested that using safety devices IF YOU SO CHOSE, was silly.

Paul

I have four pairs of bifocal prescription glasses, they are all safety glasses. (If I buy safety glasses, the company pays a good share of the cost.) I wear them for reading and reloading as well as drilling, grinding, and other potentially hazardous duties.

How in the heck did you make that arrow float all over your post.

LOL
I about crapped. I thought I had just flushed $35 on this new cordless laser mouse.