mishap at the reloading table

[Shadowrider]

Is it possible that you came down with the completed round on top of a live primer that was ready to be seated? This is a really weird deal. I pretty much use Federal primers exclusively and have never set one off. Ive seated them upside down, sideways, into crimped pockets, crushed them beyond all comprehension, you name it! And never popped one yet. Now, where's some wood?

 

[aviator41]

Like you've I've really mangled primers in the past, thousands and thousands of rounds have been loaded on this press, I lost count of how many mangled primers have been tossed. I really don't know what caused it yet. It wasn't a double primer, I can tell you that. Primers have to be manually placed in the primer arm by swinging the EZ-prime arm forward and clicking it.

 

[Pulp]

I've been studying on this since you've first posted and cannot think of anything that would have caused it. Static? I've seen tests where black powder has been repeatedly hit with high voltage static with no ignition. Will smokeless react the same way, or is it more static sensitive? Down here in my neck of the woods we usually don't have a problem with static, but this winter it has been bad. Cold weather with much lower humidity than normal has caused many a spark in my house. First time I really remember it since I've lived in the house.

I also use a Lee 4-hole turret, although on .223 I just use two dies and skip the other holes. I'm assuming you had no pressure on the handle, since if it is fully down or fully up, you can't remove the loaded shell. I raise the handle about half way, pull the loaded cartridge, and insert the next empty case. I'm goin' way out on a limb here and not suggesting you did this but, if a person did raise a loaded shell back up into the decapping/sizing die, could it drive the bullet down far enough to cause heat from compressing the powder? I know from 7th grade science that compressing objects generates heat, but would it be enough to ignite powder?

 

[criticalbass]

Since you said the brass was Lake City and that it still had some of the military crimp, it may be possible that the distortion of the primer rendered it super sensitive to even a slight impact.

Having seen one shotshell primer go off as it was seated (the guy said he "went" right along with it), it seems possible that you just got a bad one from the manufacturer. The guy who had the shotshell primer go off had loaded literally hundreds of thousands of rounds.

Of course I am glad that you are okay. Congratulations on having the good sense to wear the glasses.

About primer pockets, I use a swage tool that does the job without cutting brass, and does it very quickly. Had it so long I forget who made it, but I think maybe it was RCBS. There are two different parts for large or small primers. As I recall, the tool was only about twenty bucks.

I can't see how static electricity could have caused this, but when handling powder in super dry conditions, it's something to keep in mind.

If you learn more, please let us know.

 

[OwassoMike]

Wow! I've never seen anything like that. I am impressed that you had your safety glasses on, not many use that protection. Glad you're ok, that could have been hairy!

 

[MoBoost]

Glad you OK! Thanks for sharing.

I bet you got a sensitive primer, that got dinked by the primer arm - I've had a few with SKS, it would slam fire with the softest touch of floating pin - I switched to Tula and "Mil-Spec" (CCI white box) primers for those applications since.

 

[aviator41]

It's always hard to share a mistake or other less-than-perfect experience. There are many people out there that would never dream about sharing something like this. I have to admit I was a little embarrased at first, only because it could have potentially been pretty bad.

I hope someone else can learn from my experience and, at the very least, I can get some people wearing safety glasses.

 

[Maverick1911]

It's always hard to share a mistake or other less-than-perfect experience. There are many people out there that would never dream about sharing something like this. I have to admit I was a little embarrased at first, only because it could have potentially been pretty bad.

I hope someone else can learn from my experience and, at the very least, I can get some people wearing safety glasses.

Nothing to be embarrassed about. I think everyone on here would agree that you are one of the most knowledgeable guys on this forum. Sometimes stuff just happens. Reloading has been fun...but it is stuff like this that reminds me we ar basically creating a small device to complete a controlled explosion only inches from our face when firing a weapon. I never wore safety glasses before but will certainly start now. And maybe an anti static mat is on order....?

 

[aviator41]

I'm still of the mind that this was a soft primer in a pocket that was just too close. I have never had a problem with static electricity before, I'm still not sold that static would set a primer off.

 

[alank2]

When did it go off if you can remember, while traveling down when getting to the bottom, or while traveling up when getting to the top?