Lucky To Be Alive

[dkyser]

This is the hardest post to post, I know if I had read it a week ago my comment would have been "You have no business reloading"

I had everything perfect, except pouring the wrong powder in the powder measure.

I type this slowly with my left hand, embarrassed but only so possibly saving someone else a tragedy or like me a long drive to the ER and surgery to save my finger.

[dkyser]

i knew what powder to use, thought it was what I used. Was not until the following day did I realize the Varget was still sealed. Brand new gun and scope was the least of my worries.

[DavidAGO]

I feel for you, hope you recover well with no loss of use of the finger.

David

[lee n. field]

Thanks for the reminder.

Only load for handgun, only use one powder (usually).

[dkyser]

Thanks David, Obviously the canisters were not facing labels forward that day but still no excuse at all.

Now I watch archery season go by waiting for my hand to heal, lucky to be alive.

[pax]

Ouch.

Glad you're (mostly) okay. And thank you!!! for sharing your story. The only thing worse than a painful experience, is a painful experience nobody learns anything from. Thanks for passing the lesson along.

pax

[sawdustdad]

A valuable lesson for all of us. The rule to keep only one bottle of powder on the bench at a time is a rule I follow religiously.

Hope you don't suffer any long term issues from that injury. And wish you a speedy recovery. Takes some b*lls to post that. Hat's off to you for doing that as a reminder to the rest of us.

[dkyser]

Had not loaded 9mm in years, did not even realize I had other Hogdon powder. Again no excuse and simple fix. All powder in cabinet except what you are loading. 30 years and never an issue, but only takes 1.

Just wanted to remind you guys to be safe.

[Ruger45LC]

Very sobering indeed, on the bright side you get to keep your fingers.

I've reloaded for quite a while and a few months back put a stiff charge of LilGun in a piece of .45 Colt brass I had no business loading with anything let alone a warm load and blew my gun (Ruger Blackhawk) sky high, pieces actually imbedded themselves into the side of the house. Luckily not a scratch, just a bruised ego.

[dkyser]

The 7 hr period it took to go to ER, transport to Trama center and surgery made me think it was Savage rifle issue. Brand new rifle, new brass, triple checked loading data. The next day I was humbled when I realized the powder was still sealed.

I knew I needed to share my mistake, even though it is embarresing, just to remind people. Been reloading for 30 years.

[TXAZ]

Thanks for sharing, and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I do not reload for reasons not unrelated to your plight.

I sincerely hope those who do reload proceed with the utmost of caution.

[waveslayer]

Ouch! Sorry about the gun and hand... no need to lecture.

[TimSr]

That's one thing I noticed in the gun shop is that today's Hogdon Powders all seem to use a very similar label, unlike the older powders having very different color labels. I'm a visual person, and for me, putting different colored tape or coloring in the number with bright markers on the labels would likely prevent me making such a mistake if I had more than one Hogdon powder on hand. Otherwise, I'd be very prone to the same mistake. I pray for a fast and full recovery.

[hanno]

Hope you get back to 100% soon. Thanks for the heads up to all of us.

[jmorris]

Holy sheep! Kaboom thread of all kaboom threads. Glad your hand was all that was hurt!.

Your going to make me quadruple my double check from now on.

Did the bullet even make it out of the barrel?

[FNX45Guy]

Thank you for having the guts to post your regrettable experience to remind us all that it only takes a momentary lapse in attention or judgement for things to go seriously wrong. Get well soon and best wishes for a rapid recovery. One other thing; call me a bit paranoid but I'd take an additional step of keeping your powder away from any and all potential ignition sources i.e. junction box.

[dkyser]

when t happened i only grabbed the things left on the bench, was in a lot of pain and bleeding. when we went back the following day someone had picked up the barrel and pieces and put together on one of the benches. not sure if bullet made it down the bartel or not.

[dkyser]

Imagine 40.5 gr of Tite Group in a 7mm-08 120 gr bullet round. I was looking forward to a nice light recoil

My hand is still in horrible pain.

[Model12Win]

I'm sorry to hear that, get well soon it could have been FAR, FAR worse.

You have friends here that are here to help you! We all make mistakes, sometime large sometimes small, I bet you won't repeat this one though!

[Nick_C_S]

We are all glad it appears you're going to be okay.

We share experiences here on TFL. We are thankful you are sharing yours. In the common interest of reducing such potentially tragic events, I'd like to share mine. Without judgement, scolding, or smugness.

I have a few techniques to avoid such mixups. I've been loading for 30 years, and have never mixed up my powders. That is not to say that I never will, because arrogance has no place at the load bench; and humility can be your savior.

My load bench is in the garage. My powders are in the house, upstairs in a utility room.

I check my records for the load I'm going to produce. Then double check it. Then grab the powder. I look directly at the label and read it aloud.

Only one powder comes down to the garage at a time. Only one powder is ever at the load bench.

When loading, the powder's label is facing me. I look at it throughout the load process.

Complacency is the enemy of the experienced loader. For me, these are rules to never be broken, fudged, or side-stepped.

We never stop learning. I've learned more about loading techniques and safety in the last 19 months here on TFL than I have in the previous 10 years.

[Barnacle Brad]

A sobering story indeed. Thanks for sharing and I appreciate the courage to do so. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

[skizzums]

don't give up on reloading. but definitely buy two powder measures, one for rifle and one for pistol and always label what's it in with a little piece of masking tape. thanks for sharing. DONT leave powder in a hopper overnight, can never lead to good things. when you get more experienced, youll be able to tell what kind of powder your using jst by looking at it, well, at least varget between titegroup. I am surprised you could get the titegruop heavy enough for your load. sorry about your hand, and your gun.

send it back in for warranty work

[Sevens]

I only dabble in rifle rounds so I bet I only have 6-7 different rifle powders. But I don't have -any- rifle powders that look anything at all, even close, like Titegroup. Varget couldn't look any more different if it was pink.

Hope you heal 100%.

[hartcreek]

As Nick CS stated techniques for avoiding screwups are the key. I started reloading about the time I was working as a lab tech in biology and chemistry at a local college. I was and still am extremely anal about technique because if I scewed up with the chemicals i could have taken out a building and who knows how many people.

You showing your oops is a good wake up call for all reloaders in the group but especially the new guys just starting out.

[Jimro]

Lucky, yes. And I hope you have a full recovery.

My particular method for not mixing pistol powders with rifle powders is to only have one pistol powder, Unique. Since it is the only flake powder I use, it is easy to recognize.

I finally felt comfortable enough a few years back to have a total of TWO ball rifle powders on hand, Power Pro 2000-MR and WC872. But the 2000-MR only ever got loaded into a powder hopper on a progressive press, and the 872 only ever got loaded into a PPM I use for single loading.

My only extruded powder for rifle is IMR4064, so that is an easy visual identification. When I was still reloading IMR7828 in magnum casings I was paranoid about not mixing up the 4064 with the 7828, but I mitigated that by only buying a pound of 7828 at at time and loading magnum shells in lots.

I'm probably more paranoid than most, but if my segregation techniques help out someone in the future then all is well.

Jimro