Colorado Redneck
New member
Today was a near miss day for me. Call me lucky lucky lucky!
Started loading some .243 rounds with W760 and Speer SPBT. Checked the scale with a 50 gr. weight and it was good (balance beam scale.) Wife came in and made me turn down the music and said her Mom and Dad were coming by in about 3 minutes to pick up the Fathers Day Card. I went upstairs, and 20 minutes later went back to the loading room. Set the scale for what I thought was 41.0 gr. and proceeded to load up a few test rounds, using several different charges of powder. Marked the cases etc as I went along. Got done, put them into a plastic box and thought about whether or not to do another test batch using different bullets and powder, or just quit and test the ones I had just finished. Decided to go ahead and load up some test rounds using Nosler bullets. Started to recheck the scale with a test weight and went "@#$#%^$#! What the $#@%@&*% was I thinking!!??" I had overcharged those by 10 grains. The heavy weight on the scale bar was still at 50 grains. The cases were nearly full, and the book said nothing about compressed load, but I had barged ahead not knowing what I know now.
Long story short, after some more cussing and expletives, I gathered my wits and settled down, pulled the bullets, dumped the powder back in the canister, and redid the loads. That was a lucky ending to a goof up that could have been a miserable train wreck if not discovered. Essentially the charge was 25% above what I wanted.
Moral of this tale: Check everything 3 times. If you get interrupted, when you go back, begin at the beginning and check everything you have done so far to make sure you don't skip something in the process of preparing.
Started loading some .243 rounds with W760 and Speer SPBT. Checked the scale with a 50 gr. weight and it was good (balance beam scale.) Wife came in and made me turn down the music and said her Mom and Dad were coming by in about 3 minutes to pick up the Fathers Day Card. I went upstairs, and 20 minutes later went back to the loading room. Set the scale for what I thought was 41.0 gr. and proceeded to load up a few test rounds, using several different charges of powder. Marked the cases etc as I went along. Got done, put them into a plastic box and thought about whether or not to do another test batch using different bullets and powder, or just quit and test the ones I had just finished. Decided to go ahead and load up some test rounds using Nosler bullets. Started to recheck the scale with a test weight and went "@#$#%^$#! What the $#@%@&*% was I thinking!!??" I had overcharged those by 10 grains. The heavy weight on the scale bar was still at 50 grains. The cases were nearly full, and the book said nothing about compressed load, but I had barged ahead not knowing what I know now.
Long story short, after some more cussing and expletives, I gathered my wits and settled down, pulled the bullets, dumped the powder back in the canister, and redid the loads. That was a lucky ending to a goof up that could have been a miserable train wreck if not discovered. Essentially the charge was 25% above what I wanted.
Moral of this tale: Check everything 3 times. If you get interrupted, when you go back, begin at the beginning and check everything you have done so far to make sure you don't skip something in the process of preparing.