Oct 6, 2018 4 min read

In last week’s article, we discussed some of the advantages of reloading your own own ammunition and how the number of individuals reloading has grown. While there are many advantages to loading your own ammo, there are some potential hazards along the way. Most of them are the result of carelessness or distractions.

One must always keep in mind that while pressure is good, as it is what moves the bullet down the barrel, it also can be an example of too much of a good thing. Too much pressure and something has to give. It might be the rifle or it could be you. Remember, while reloading you never add powder to a heavier bullet. If you want to shoot tomorrow, keep that pressure within bounds.

It is pretty much an iron-clad rule that when adding bullet weight, you must lower the powder charge. Just the opposite occurs when adding a light bullet to the mix. One goes up, the other must come down, and vice-versa.

One common problem that can happen if you aren’t careful can easily be prevented. Powder comes in a variety of burning rates. Some burn quicker than others and can raise that pressure with just a few grains. So what happens when you add a fast powder by mistake to your can of slow powder? Well, if you are lucky, it will result in a stiff bolt lift or a casing that won’t come out. The worst case scenario is a face full of burning gunpowder mixed with brass and steel. This is a preventable accident. Just check repeatedly when pouring one receptacle into another and never keep more than one powder on the reloading bench at a time.

Then, there is the guy or girl who wants a super load that will down Mr. Yeti T. Sasquatch of Oregon. The loading manual says that 50 grains of IMR4350 is a top load showing 50,000 pounds of pressure. Now our reloader is not happy with such a mundane load so he starts out with 54 grains and hopes for the best. You might get away with that mentality for years. But sooner or later, it probably will jump up and bite you on the posterior. At the gun range, one meets them all and has to wonder how people survive. It is proof that there is a God who protects us from ourselves.

Another cause for concern is the reloader who deprimes, sizes the cases and reprimes them, then is all ready to just drop a powder charge into that case. He has forgotten or just ignored a very necessary step in the reloading process. It matters little to him or her that the cases have been stretched so far that it is all but impossible for the pressure to move the bullet when it is being held in place by a pinched case mouth.

As the case is pushed by the powder, the non-moving bullet pressures are shooting skyward until something has to give. Maybe the casing, maybe the rifle or maybe you. All I can say is measure the case length and keep to the length that the manual states as the maximum. Cases stretch when used and the higher the pressure, the more they stretch. Also, the sizing die will increase the stretching. The use of a neck sizing die keeps this stretching to a minimum.

There are many snags that can be faced during the reloading process. Another easy one is the expander ball being too large. In this condition, the bullet seated will be too loose in the neck and can easily be pulled out by hand. If this happens, take the dies back where you purchased them.

Powder can leak around the case when in the funnel. Get a new funnel. They are cheap. Maybe your charge of powder seems to vary or something else is causing erratic velocities. Take a flashlight and look in every casing, making sure they all seem to be charged at the same level. In fact, this should be done to every case that is charged with gunpowder.

So that is it as far as my reloading dos and don’ts are concerned. I hope this two-part article has been useful to you and helps you become a better reloader. I am sure to revisit it someday as there are a lot of things to learn on this subject. But that’s enough for one day.