And the “dumbest mistake while reloading” prize goes to…

Sitting here feeling a little sorry for myself… chipping away sizing some 223 brass. 50 odd cases in thinking I was doing pretty well. Then managed to leave my finger on top of the brass case as I slid it into the shell holder, whilst pulling on the leaver with my other hand. Result was a neat .224 sized whole cut in the bottom of finger and small but deep puncture in the top of finger from decaping pin. Not to mention more squealing than I’d like to admit and some choice language as well.

Got me thinking, surely that’s not the worst someone has done amongst all you fine folk?

Google “ primer Proximity Detonation”

Reloaders around the world have occasionally squashed a primer setting the others off in the tray

There’s plenty to go wrong when reloading

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Originally Posted by Missalot

Sitting here feeling a little sorry for myself… chipping away sizing some 223 brass. 50 odd cases in thinking I was doing pretty well. Then managed to leave my finger on top of the brass case as I slid it into the shell holder, whilst pulling on the leaver with my other hand. Result was a neat .224 sized whole cut in the bottom of finger and small but deep puncture in the top of finger from decaping pin. Not to mention more squealing than I’d like to admit and some choice language as well.

Got me thinking, surely that’s not the worst someone has done amongst all you fine folk?

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I have done the same but my finger only got ‘neck sized’. Not ‘full length sized’.

From memory, it was during projectile seating too. So maybe the correct analogy is that my finger only got seated ‘to the first cannelure’


On the plus side, with a small .224 sized hole in your finger, it could make a handy place to store a spare pellet if you shoot air rifles.

Thank fkn god that I'm not the dumbest.
Luck is best.

It's not an exclusive club you know I'm a member, so they'll pretty much let anyone join.

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Originally Posted by Missalot

Sitting here feeling a little sorry for myself… chipping away sizing some 223 brass. 50 odd cases in thinking I was doing pretty well. Then managed to leave my finger on top of the brass case as I slid it into the shell holder, whilst pulling on the leaver with my other hand. Result was a neat .224 sized whole cut in the bottom of finger and small but deep puncture in the top of finger from decaping pin. Not to mention more squealing than I’d like to admit and some choice language as well.

Got me thinking, surely that’s not the worst someone has done amongst all you fine folk?

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And the prize goes to @ Missalot

I've done the cookie cutter on the case mouth but not the deprimer through the top
That takes real skill

Perhaps @rambo-6mmrem would like to pop in and tell us about his recent primer related spectacle...

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Originally Posted by Makros

Perhaps @rambo-6mmrem would like to pop in and tell us about his recent primer related spectacle...

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Oh yeah
He wins this one hands down

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Originally Posted by SmokeyJason

Thank fkn god that I'm not the dumbest.
Luck is best.

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I liked my Redding turret press so much I decided to make a couple more but decided that the way they laid back was a mistake in the design.
Turns out built upright if you do not hold the handle, it drops and traps your fingers so perhaps they knew after all.

Tried reloading with a toddler playing in the same room. Found it impossible and decided to keep him busy by letting him work the press handle. He got impatient and I suddenly had a 308 sized hole in my finger.... Real deep too.

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Originally Posted by akaroa1

Oh yeah
He wins this one hands down

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Id rather not talk about it lol

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Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

Id rather not talk about it lol

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That's OK I have all the pictures somewhere

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Originally Posted by akaroa1

That's OK I have all the pictures somewhere

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And a picture tells a thousand words

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Originally Posted by akaroa1

That's OK I have all the pictures somewhere

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One day those pictures will come back to haunt him

A Proximity detonation of primers is really good at removing chunks of skin, proper chunks.

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Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

A Proximity detonation of primers is really good at removing chunks of skin, proper chunks.

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And a good amount of shit out of your lower intestine I imagine

Ive managed to put a piece of brass in my amp annealer that still had a live primer in it. Went off with quite a pop gave me a hell of a fright. Luckily no damage to myself or the annealer


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ouch!
Need a photo for proof.

Done heaps of other dumb shit in the past. We all have hahaha

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Originally Posted by 6.5 CRD

Ive managed to put a piece of brass in my amp annealer that still had a live primer in it. Went off with quite a pop gave me a hell of a fright. Luckily no damage to myself or the annealer


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I'm only laughing because I'm sure I've done something dumber at some point in my life

ok here it is @Makros and @akaroa1 asked for
I'm a bullet and sinker caster who has been doing it for 15-odd years with no serious accidents
about 2 months ago I was cleaning up the reloading room and off the floor, I picked up quite a few cast bullets that I dropped and thought I'd get that later
for those of you who don't know cast bullets need to be lubricated with a sticky wax-based concoction

anyway, a week or so later I had the lead hot and thought (I'll add those old bullets to melt back down) something I do all the time it's a standard practice
unknowing to me there was a live primer that i must have dropped without realizing that had stuck to the wax lube on the bullets

boom molten lead everywhere including myself
to cut a long story short I'm still recovering from some bad burns over 2 months later the pot was about 500c at the time

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Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

ok here it is @Makros and @akaroa1 asked for
I'm a bullet and sinker caster who has been doing it for 15-odd years with no serious accidents
about 2 months ago I was cleaning up the reloading room and off the floor, I picked up quite a few cast bullets that I dropped and thought I'd get that later
for those of you who don't know cast bullets need to be lubricated with a sticky wax-based concoction

anyway, a week or so later I had the lead hot and thought (I'll add those old bullets to melt back down) something I do all the time it's a standard practice
unknowing to me there was a live primer that i must have dropped without realizing that had stuck to the wax lube on the bullets

boom molten lead everywhere including myself
to cut a long story short I'm still recovering from some bad burns over 2 months later the pot was about 500c at the time

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Hell, nasty stuff ! Tragic to say the least.
Pity you didn't know about the lost primer.
If I lose or drop a primer when making ammo my policy is everything stops until it's found and returned to the bench. Don't want any mishaps caused by stray primers.

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Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

ok here it is @Makros and @akaroa1 asked for
I'm a bullet and sinker caster who has been doing it for 15-odd years with no serious accidents
about 2 months ago I was cleaning up the reloading room and off the floor, I picked up quite a few cast bullets that I dropped and thought I'd get that later
for those of you who don't know cast bullets need to be lubricated with a sticky wax-based concoction

anyway, a week or so later I had the lead hot and thought (I'll add those old bullets to melt back down) something I do all the time it's a standard practice
unknowing to me there was a live primer that i must have dropped without realizing that had stuck to the wax lube on the bullets

boom molten lead everywhere including myself
to cut a long story short I'm still recovering from some bad burns over 2 months later the pot was about 500c at the time

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That's totally unfair to put that out there

Now my blackmail images are worthless !

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Originally Posted by 30.06king

Hell, nasty stuff ! Tragic to say the least.
Pity you didn't know about the lost primer.
If I lose or drop a primer when making ammo my policy is everything stops until it's found and returned to the bench. Don't want any mishaps caused by stray primers.

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Fuck I wouldn't get any thing done if I looked for dropped primers!

Sent from my SM-A556E using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by andyanimal31

Fuck I wouldn't get any thing done if I looked for dropped primers!

Sent from my SM-A556E using Tapatalk

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Too true!

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Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

ok here it is @Makros and @akaroa1 asked for
I'm a bullet and sinker caster who has been doing it for 15-odd years with no serious accidents
about 2 months ago I was cleaning up the reloading room and off the floor, I picked up quite a few cast bullets that I dropped and thought I'd get that later
for those of you who don't know cast bullets need to be lubricated with a sticky wax-based concoction

anyway, a week or so later I had the lead hot and thought (I'll add those old bullets to melt back down) something I do all the time it's a standard practice
unknowing to me there was a live primer that i must have dropped without realizing that had stuck to the wax lube on the bullets

boom molten lead everywhere including myself
to cut a long story short I'm still recovering from some bad burns over 2 months later the pot was about 500c at the time

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Farking hell… guess I’ll settle for 2nd place.. glad it’s not worse!
Bloody primers are expensive enough without melting them too!

roll crimp on 450 bm which head spaces on case mouth , click click bang if lucky .

Closest I've come to that is shaving a flap of skin on a case mouth feeding a pill into the seating die. No blood, but surprisingly eye watering so I can understand what that would have felt like, ouch. Attention getting...

I've only ever lost 1 primer - and too this day even moving that gear three houses I have still got no idea where it went. Houdini stuff that.

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Originally Posted by andyanimal31

Fuck I wouldn't get any thing done if I looked for dropped primers!

Sent from my SM-A556E using Tapatalk

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Yeah im the same
If i saw were it went easy but I don’t spend hours looking

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Originally Posted by andyanimal31

Fuck I wouldn't get any thing done if I looked for dropped primers!

Sent from my SM-A556E using Tapatalk

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As far as possible I handle and process primers to always keep them under control and avoid dropping any. But still drop the odd one now and then. If they do drop to the floor and if I'm quick enough I can see where they end up so retrieval is a matter of seconds only. The ones I don't see can have me searching with a torch, muttering and cursing at my stupidity. I hate wasting the time but I've always found them, eventually.

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Originally Posted by andyanimal31

Fuck I wouldn't get any thing done if I looked for dropped primers!

Sent from my SM-A556E using Tapatalk

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Jeez have you got that many primers you can throw a few away :D

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Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

ok here it is @Makros and @akaroa1 asked for
I'm a bullet and sinker caster who has been doing it for 15-odd years with no serious accidents
about 2 months ago I was cleaning up the reloading room and off the floor, I picked up quite a few cast bullets that I dropped and thought I'd get that later
for those of you who don't know cast bullets need to be lubricated with a sticky wax-based concoction

anyway, a week or so later I had the lead hot and thought (I'll add those old bullets to melt back down) something I do all the time it's a standard practice
unknowing to me there was a live primer that i must have dropped without realizing that had stuck to the wax lube on the bullets

boom molten lead everywhere including myself
to cut a long story short I'm still recovering from some bad burns over 2 months later the pot was about 500c at the time

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Other stories I can laugh at but that one just made me wince - burns are the worst

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Originally Posted by 308

Other stories I can laugh at but that one just made me wince - burns are the worst

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Didn’t hurt too bad actually
Probably because it got some nerves maybe
The doctor was checking it every day (i just had to go in every day for like 2 weeks
Then every 2 days for a bit) im completely doctors free now and they are healing on their own

Got away with one really as could of needed skin grafts but they ended up not being that bad


Im changing my system for adding old bullets to the pot
Ingots are ok to add hot as they are clean and guaranteed dry

Remelts are a little more risky as I found out so from now on I will add them cold and turn the pot on before going and having coffee until it’s hot
That way if anything happens im no where near it

While you guys are making me wince, it's also good to know others can manage the same or similar levels of self mutilation as myself. My partner reckons I'm on a 2 year cycle of ER visits... Like clockwork.

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Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

Didn’t hurt too bad actually
Probably because it got some nerves maybe
The doctor was checking it every day (i just had to go in every day for like 2 weeks
Then every 2 days for a bit) im completely doctors free now and they are healing on their own

Got away with one really as could of needed skin grafts but they ended up not being that bad


Im changing my system for adding old bullets to the pot
Ingots are ok to add hot as they are clean and guaranteed dry

Remelts are a little more risky as I found out so from now on I will add them cold and turn the pot on before going and having coffee until it’s hot
That way if anything happens im no where near it

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A piece of stainless mesh relatively fine stuff stops a lot of the fun as well. Doesn't build up pressure/lets the smoke out etc etc...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Missalot

Sitting here feeling a little sorry for myself… chipping away sizing some 223 brass. 50 odd cases in thinking I was doing pretty well. Then managed to leave my finger on top of the brass case as I slid it into the shell holder, whilst pulling on the leaver with my other hand. Result was a neat .224 sized whole cut in the bottom of finger and small but deep puncture in the top of finger from decaping pin. Not to mention more squealing than I’d like to admit and some choice language as well.

Got me thinking, surely that’s not the worst someone has done amongst all you fine folk?

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No. This could never have happened to anyone. That pain was caused by something else. Crikey that hurts. LOL.

Putting old lead head nails into the pot, there must have been some moisture in some of them. Fortunately just a heap of steam and bubbling but no spray. Now they go in as a full charge from cold and I resist topping up except with ingots that have sat on the lip for a while.