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Old 01-08-2012, 09:43 PM
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Rocky7 Rocky7 is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Central Alberta
Posts: 5,062
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Damn, you do type fast Cat. I killed my thread and moved over here.

Here's mine:

Years ago when I was poor, I only had one rifle - a .270. I reloaded everything for it and that included 90 gr. hollow points for varmints. My buddy and I spent many pleasant summer afternoons exchanging b.s. and banging away at gophers as far away as we could see 'em. It was good practice.

I was reloading a batch of those hollow points one afternoon and kind of expecting a phone call later on. Let's say it was a phone call from a tall, blonde amazon with full lips and big blue eyes who could look you right in the eye and have her way with you. It wasn't, but let's say it was.

I'm in the middle of 50 rounds and looking forward to outshooting my buddy. Phone rings. Now, I KNOW that I don't answer the phone when I'm reloading. I know that because I close the door behind me and it is one my rules. Cue the blonde.

I leave and pick up the phone. Blah, blah, blah. Back to reloading. When I'm done, I make a thermos of coffee and arrange to meet my buddy on a ranch we have access to and which is polluted with gophers.

At some point in the afternoon, I line up on one about 350 yds away. It's windy so it's going to be a Hail Mary shot but I've got a bipod and lots of ammo and what the heck. I line it up, adjust, concentrate and slowly squeeze it off.

"click"

My buddy snickers. WTF. I forgot to chamber a new load. I tell him to bugger off and slam another one home. Gopher's still there.

"click"

I'm stunned. I wait and pull the bolt back, slowly...thinking I've got a hangfire. I see the brass and then see the end of a 90 gr. hollow point poking out the end of the brass. Cue Twilight Zone music. What the.....

I look down the barrel. It's dark.

Now I start to break out in a cold sweat. This no longer funny.

Thankfully, I had a cleaning rod in the truck to knock out the 90 gr. hollow point that was just stuck into the lands by the first dud primer ignition. That's the bullet that pushed back the one I saw poking out of the brass. When I pulled the first dud out, I had seen exactly what you'd expect to see - a spent brass with a fired primer.

I loaded exactly two - and only two - rounds with no powder. It happens I put them in consecutively. God looks after fools and drunks.

Since then, I never, but never, put a round into a box until I shake it beside my ear. I can stand too little powder. I can even stand too much powder. But no powder at all is really bad. That's the way I'm training my daughter to do it.

That's not in any reloading manuals I've ever seen, but it's a good last step IMO.

I carried that 90 gr. hollow point around for years. I always intended to get it gold-plated and make a necklace out of it, but somewhere along the line I lost it.

Hope that helps someone.

Regards,

edit: And I don't take calls anymore, either. Big blonde or not.
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Last edited by Rocky7; 01-08-2012 at 10:00 PM.
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