Thread: Safety Reminder

Battery operated scales - A timely reminder.
We had a gentleman visit us on Friday with a blown howa 223.
This is the second time we have seen a Howa rifle hold together in a catastrophic event.
We have seen it when there has been both an overcharge and incorrect powder was used, both times the Howa held together when other firearms may well have thrown the bolt back at the firer.
In the latest event, the batteries in the scale had become flat enough that the readings were no longer accurate.
It is important to regularly check your scales are still reading accurately when reloading.
Barrel
Cracked bolt body
Bolt face stuck in the receiver

Bet there was a change of undies required as well

As a Howa owner, that makes me feel good but I'd love to know how much pressure it took to do that

There's a lot to be said for the "old fashioned" mechanical beam balance scales.

Ive heard of guys reloading warching tv. Recepie for a fuk up there Im thinking as well

Originally Posted by zimmer

There's a lot to be said for the "old fashioned" mechanical beam balance scales.

Batteries never run flat
Check the zero every time you go to use it
Take your time and do it properly

You can get some descent calibration weight from vape shop or aliexpress

Hornady scales come with a calibration weight

Looks like wrong powder not wrong charge weight.

A two lug bolt is a lot stronger than an Ar15 and they can take some pretty spicy 5.56 loads

Originally Posted by blip

Ive heard of guys reloading warching tv. Recepie for a fuk up there Im thinking as well

Like having a few beers while reloading.

Like most catastrophic failures there are usually multiple failures that combine.

If someone has developed a powder and bullet load combination in a 223 that would leave enough space for a wrong powder charge to not be noticeable and subsequently accept a bullet without it being obvious then they should have changed to a powder that had a higher load density and would more likely avoid this situation .

Just one of the many things that could have gone wrong

I just hope no one was hurt and a valuable lesson has been shared.

I have often said lately that " I'm one day closer to blowing a gun up"

As I grow older and my collection expands things get much more complex.
I can be actively be working on and loading for several rifles at once.
A recipe for disaster.
So I keep meticulous records and post-it notes in my reloading reference book on all those rifles.

Especially complicated with multiple rifles of the same caliber in nitro and black powder.

This is a timely reminder

We have seen this once before when a customer used cfeblk instead of cfe223 in their howa 223, they had been loading for 2 calibres and just mucked it up spectacularly. Again the howa held together beautifully, rifle was a write off though but just goes to show how strong those howas are and how easy a mistake can happen when loading multiple calibres

I am surprised you could fit enough of the correct powder in the case to cause that. Surly wrong power makes way more sense.
Surly it had to be super compressed otherwise

I was in a shooting comp many yrs ago,north canterbuy.The guy next to me had his 270 bolt blow up,smacking the under side of his scope.I got quit a fright,what the fk was that load bang 2mtrs beside me.About 1/2 the bolt was damaged,actually the rifle was stuffed.The guy got bit of a shock.He said he had made up some slightly hotter load for the comp,lucky he was wearing safety glasses.He told the range officers he had another 270 to try,they told him yr day is over.Then they questioned everybody about what ammo they were using.Any reloads above spec were not to be used for yr own safety and anybody's elses.

Almost screwed up once being tired. Since I always leave ONLY the tub of powder I’m using on the reloading table next to the case tray with label facing me.