Consequences of double charge with HS-6

[41rem]

Anybody been there?

I'm just starting with this powder & have heard good things about it. I usually don't mess with a powder that doesn't reach halfway in my cartridge case, just for safeties sake. The 10.0 grain charge in my SAA .45 Colt only comes up about 1/4 at most.


41

[pacecars]

Haven’t done it but bright lights at the bench would be a requirement

[kevshell]

Not mine but my understanding this is a double charge of HS-6.

[junebug]

With my single stage presses I charge all 50 cases in a reloading block then visually check them before adding bullets. With a progressive I place a light so I can visually check the powder level in each case, and I do. NEVER BE DISTRACTED, AND NEVER BE IN A RUSH WHEN RELOADING!

[pacecars]

And no drinking!

[pacecars]

I bet the shooter had some black streaks in his pants to go with those on his hands. To do that to a Ruger!

[harold89]

Some great advice here! I either charge all of the cases at once and inspect before placing bullets or even better, I load the cartridges on my auto-indexing progressive press. Very bright lighting is a must. I load a lot of cartridges where double charging could easily take place. It can be personally challenging to not be in a hurry. I also tend to run a lot of small batches of cartridges to test for accuracy so it’s really important to pay attention and not be distracted. I very seldom allow anyone to be in my reloading room while I’m charging cases. If I do, it’s only to teach others how.

[shorty500]

While there are certain cases a double of some particular powder may only produce a “normal” load for a given cartridge- most situations it’s UGLY!
Accidentally mixing powders together or using the wrong powder by mistake can get really scary too. I’ve been lucky in many regards that my explorative
nature hasn’t hurt me! But I have most definitely intentionally produced (as have others) some .45 Colt loads that should’ve never been shot in whatever
firearm we may have fired them in for example, etc. etc.
I over time eventually settled on certain powders that fill the case for every thing from mild to normal to high end, not just because of safety issues but
because of certain performance gains in consistency & accuracy of end results as Elmer said- effenciancy be damned it’s results am after!
30 plus years ago I saw a good friend & knowledgeable handloader split the forcing cone of his favorite old Colt .38 with what was most likely at least close
to a double charge of fast powder. Accidents & sloppiness can happen to any one. I saw yet another do similar results to a Interarms Dragoon .44 Mag due
to very early AA#9 powder recommendation to load like 2400. Yet another friend wrecked a Ruger Redhawk- he relied on me to chronograph his ammo at
the time so I was firing his loads thru his revolver over my chrony - 2 chambers cracked, another bulged with 320g JDJ design slugs I had cast, sized& lubed
and sold to him. He only loaded 3 WW powders at the time and was cautious to only keep 1 @ time on bench. Very doubtful that w296 in the slightest overload
could have made a Redhawk even burp- ammo we shot before it blew was perfectly in spec for velocity, what we tore down afterwards weighed out to precise
21.5g charge, BUT it didn’t look right! Somehow it appeared some W540 & W296 got accidentally mixed together, disaster!
I remember somebody quoting the late Bob Milek as having said he let many loads get published that he in hindsight wished people never saw after he got to
see pressure results etc. With my hair near completely white I really grasp what he said as I still have some 30plus year old “Contender Only” .45Colt ammo that
I need to pull down- because the only guns I’d fire them in would be a FA m83 or BFR 7 they won’t fit in either cylinder

[pacecars]

That is why I like black powder. It is hard to cram enough powder in a case to blow up a gun. Admittedly all my experience has been with Shiloh Sharps rifles and some pretty big cases and there may be a handgun out there in bad condition that could blow

[COR]

Well…I know of one fella on here that counted his fingers and eyes one day and I’ll let him pop in here and tell his story if he feels so inclined. It happens and I will only say this as free advice… to be safest NEVER use a powder like this on a progressive… that being said, folks do it and check every charge so what’s your risk tolerance?

I use unique and 231 and occasionally even that bullseye just to smell a gallery load or two… it’s dangerous to reload and shoot, that is a fact.

[drycreek]

I used to load .357 on a progressive press and I’m pretty sure I fired a double load once. The recoil was that of a .44 mag and the report was LOUD ! I fired it in a Colt King Cobra and I could see no damage to the revolver whatsoever. That particular press, if you had a glitch, could throw a charge twice. Operator error but dangerous nonetheless.

[tj3006]

I don't often use a powder that has room for a double charge, but when I do I generally weigh the rounds when finished. If one is out of wack < I pull it, Don't think I ever had a double charge, Just a cast bullet that was a few grains to heavy, witch caused me
to pull the bullet and check the charge weight...

[bradshaw]

Jan 5, 2023 20:52:39 GMT -5 41rem said:

Anybody been there?

I'm just starting with this powder & have heard good things about it. I usually don't mess with a powder that doesn't reach halfway in my cartridge case, just for safeties sake. The 10.0 grain charge in my SAA .45 Colt only comes up about 1/4 at most.


41

*****

41rem.... fast powders and medium powders leave air space in most revolver cases, the .38 Special a prime example. The old .38 Special target load of 2.7/Hercules Bullseye behind a 148 grain wadcutter has space in the case for five more charges. Fast powders leave space for multiple charges; medium powders leave space for double charges.

At minimum load level, double charge of fast powder may spring a chamber; a double charge of medium powder may split the chamber. At 2x maximum charge weight amplifies damage. Cylinder steel, heat treatment, and chamber thickness varies among revolvers. As a general rule, more powder generates more pressure. A very short pressure rise----TTP or TIME TO PRESSURE----tends toward detonation.

VISUAL INSPECTION of charged case before seating bullet is the best assurance against a double charge.
David Bradshaw

[Fowler]

Been there, done that with HS6, a double load with a 335gr cast bullet made my Bisley look like the one in the picture above.

I was single staging all of my hand loads back then and a double charge got by me. I got sloppy, I keep a small flashlight on my loading bench, once I charge a tray of cases I run the light over each and every case and verify the powder levels are even. Lord knows I have had powder stick in a powder measure and then come out on the next case charge leaving one case light and one case heavy on powder. Confirming the powder is even, not just there or way over filled matters.

Moving on to my Dillon progressives, watching each load with a mounted light is a game changer. I have this marvelous LED light that mounts in the center hole of a Tool head on a Dillon reloader (not the Square Deal B).

At the end of the day as others said, don’t rush, pay attention, don’t alter your mindset with drugs or alcohol while loading, minimize distractions such as having the family in your ear.

I havnt sworn off HS6, still a favorite powder, but I certainly pay a lot closer attention.

[tullymars]

I’ve also wrecked a perfectively good S&W Mountain Gun with what I can only assume was a double charge of HS-6. It was a .44 special load of 10gr under a 240 gr lswc. It was hiding somewhere in a box of 100 that I had recently loaded. Pulled the remaining seventy or so rounds and found nothing amiss. IT ONLY TAKES ONE.
People always assume that the shooter has to change his pants afterward,but in my case, I didn’t realize what happened until I tried to pull the trigger for the next shot.
I was loading on a progressive press, and still do, but am super vigilant after this incident. HS-6 is a wonderful powder but you must be careful.