I'd like to take this opportunity to describe a reloading mistake I made in hopes that others may learn from my error.
BLUF, i reloaded 12 cartridges without powder.
How it happened:
Usually at the end of a reloading session I will close the powder hopper, operate the powder drop into a case several times to empty the powder drop body, then carefully remove the powder hopper and bushing and funnel it back into the bottle. That leaves the powder hopper valve in the "closed" position
On this occcasion I had decided to instead use the hopper valve to drop the powder directly into the bottle and eliminate the need to use a funnel. This left the hopper valve in the "open position.
Next reloading session, working from muscle memory rather than watching what I was doing, I operated the valve thinking I was turning the powder drop on. (I was instead turning it off) I dropped several charges as usual, measuring them and then returning to the hopper. Then I loaded about a dozen cartridges' before I noticed they had no powder. Rather than risking a squib load, I pulled them and found all but 2 of the initial 12 were similarly empty.
BLUF, i reloaded 12 cartridges without powder.
How it happened:
Usually at the end of a reloading session I will close the powder hopper, operate the powder drop into a case several times to empty the powder drop body, then carefully remove the powder hopper and bushing and funnel it back into the bottle. That leaves the powder hopper valve in the "closed" position
On this occcasion I had decided to instead use the hopper valve to drop the powder directly into the bottle and eliminate the need to use a funnel. This left the hopper valve in the "open position.
Next reloading session, working from muscle memory rather than watching what I was doing, I operated the valve thinking I was turning the powder drop on. (I was instead turning it off) I dropped several charges as usual, measuring them and then returning to the hopper. Then I loaded about a dozen cartridges' before I noticed they had no powder. Rather than risking a squib load, I pulled them and found all but 2 of the initial 12 were similarly empty.