Well after 35+ years of reloading I came as close to a major issue as I care to do. I was working on an accuracy load for my 400PDK. Everything was working fine.

I always make sure I have no other cartridges on the bench as I test. Yesterday I only had the one rifle. Along about the 6th or 7th combination I pulled the trigger and nothing happened. So I waited about a minute recocked and tried again. Nothing. I waited opened the action and removed the EMPTY case. Looked on the bench and there was a loaded round. First thought was I had simply removed the next round from the case laid it on the bench and looked over at the guy next to me trying to set his stuff up and simply left the fired case in the action and tried to shoot it again.

Thank goodness that little voice in the back of my mind said better check to be sure. Pulled the bolt and saw nothing but black down the barrel. Ran my cleaning rod in and it couldn't move the bullet. Lucky the range officer had a heavier rod. Out it came. My knew ESP hearing aid/plugs I bought from Hogkiller had worked so well I hadn't even heard the primer.

So this was actually the first time in 35+ years I had loaded a round without the powder so I'm lucky for that and REAL lucky I checked the bore.

Remember guys better safe than sorry!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for this post.....if anyone reloads long enough he runs a serious risk of loading a powderless load.....I've done it too!

Absolutely anytime one has a misfire he should check for obstructions....maybe by reading this thread someone may also be saved a very bad day!

Note to self "if you perceive any possibility of a misfire, check the bore before you even think about firing another" .

Excellent post ramrod, thanks for taking the time to mention it. Safety, always safety .

Ken....

and wait a little while before you open the bolt, you never know

Everybody has either done it, or is waiting to. I already have, and you sure do get paranoid for a while.

In my case, I was interrupted by that 'urgent phone call' while loading....I had a funny feeling about them after seating, and pure hunch compelled me to weigh my loaded rounds. Sure enough, one weighed considerably less than the rest.

I'm glad you caught yours as well, and thanks for starting a good thread.

Had a similar experience shooting a 1911. Pulled the trigger and thought I had a misfire. Waited 30 seconds or so and carefully opened slide and ejected an empty case. Figured that somehow the pistol had failed to eject the previous fired case, so chambered a round and prepared to fire when something told me "ya better check it out!" Sure enough, removed a bullet from barrel w/cleaning rod.

As Ramrod said, my ear muffs had completely muffled the sound of the primer.

Still haven't figured out how the Dillon managed to skip the powder on that one case??

Can't be too careful.

Regards,
hm

I am glad the incident turned out to be uneventful. It serves as a perfect reminder to all of us that we can never, ever be too careful.

I've done it a few times - forgotten to eject the spent case, cocked and fired - click - and just reloaded and fired! Holy, crap! Who said it wasn't an unpowdered cartridge? Thanks for the warning - I will be checking the bore next time that happens!

A similar thing happened. I took three rifles to the range, 'knowing' that they were ready for firing - yeah right! Fortunatly I decided I wasn't too sure about the third rifle. I had not cleaned the preservative out the bore!

I think I had a primer go off but fail to ignite
the powder. I heard nothing, I guess we all have hearing protection while testing, but I don't think the primer makes much noise if the bullet stayes in the barrel. I had a lot of scorched powder muck all through the action, and a bullet just into the rifling.

So, a primer can drive a bullet into the rifling of a rifle? ramrod340, just how far in did it go? The 400PDK is new to me. How big is the case and what bullet weight was it?

I seem to think I had a powderless 303Brit that did not move the bullet. But that may have been with a pistol primer with a cast bullet load. Unless it was a 223 with a pistol primer.

Thank you for the post.
The message is clear " check for obstructions on misfires"

save a life.....YOURS!

quote:

So, a primer can drive a bullet into the rifling of a rifle? ramrod340, just how far in did it go? The 400PDK is new to me. How big is the case and what bullet weight was it?

303

The 400PDK is my own wildcat. 2.65" 06 cylinder brass. Minimum taper 40deg shoulder. Case capacity is 86grs of water. There are a couple threads about it over in the wildcatting forum. The primer was a basic Federal non magnum. The bullet was a 300gr Hornady flat point. I didn't think to measure how far the bullet was into the lands but it was in there far enough that I couldn't get it backed out with my normal cleaning rod. The range officer had what looked to be a aluminum rod with a 9mm case stuck on one end. It took several hits with that rod to back it out. The entire bearing surface had grooves cut in it. While I didn't try to see if a round would chamber the throat is cut for a 400gr which would leave a lot of room with 300gr flat point.

quote:

The entire bearing surface had grooves cut in it.

Thanks ramrod340. That is astounding! Is there any chance there might have been just a few granules of powder in the case? (That doesn't change the value of your post - I am just inquisitive! )

And I am popping over to the wildcatting forum!

quote:

That is astounding! Is there any chance there might have been just a few granules of powder in the case?

While anything is possible. I boubt it. More likely a long taper in the throat and short bearing surface on the 300 gr.