Over on the Hodgden site I ran across the most important story I ever read for the new reloader:

Although I do not have a hunting story to                    tell nor do I have a picture or a tight group on a target to                    show you, however, I do have a Hodgdon reloading story. About                    20 years ago I decided to get into reloading. Back then, the                    Internet was in its infant stages of development and I had to                    rely on advice from fellow shooters and information obtained                    from the library. I read all the manuals and every article and                    book on reloading I could get my hands on.  I was interested                    in reloading .357 magnums for my new Colt Python. So off I went                    to my local gun store where I bought my Python to order everything                    I needed to get started. I walked up to the counter armed with                    confidence knowing exactly what I wanted to buy. The old guy                    behind the counter looked up from behind his glasses and asked,                    "What can I do for you?"


                 With all the confidence of a master reloader,                    I replied, "I want to buy an RCBS Rock Chucker kit, .38/.357                    caliber carbide dies, a box of small magnum pistol primers,                    a couple boxes of 125 grain JHP bullets and a pound of Bullseye                    powder."   The old guy just looked up at me and said,                    "You ever reloaded before, kid?"  I responded,                    "Well...no...not exactly...but I read every book out there                    on reloading."  He said, "I see...."


                 I watched him as he gathered all the stuff                    I asked for...he placed the RCBS Rock Chucker kit in front of                    me, then the dies, and the magnum primers and the bullets. I                    was so excited at this point, I couldn't wait to get home and                    make a couple hundred thousand rounds! I couldn't believe he                    had everything in stock! All that was left was the powder. Then                    the old guy walks up to me and puts a pound of H110 on the counter                    and says, "Anything else?"  I said, "Hey                    wait a minute...I asked for a pound of Bullseye powder, not                    this stuff! Do you have any Bullseye powder?"  He                    said, "Yup".  I said, "Fine....I'll take                    a pound of Bullseye then."  He said, "You can't                    have the Bullseye until you load a pound of H110."                     I said, "Are you refusing to sell me the Bullseye?!?!?"                      He said, "Yup".


                 Well needless to say I was furious! I read                    all the books...I read all the articles! I KNEW WHAT I WANTED!                    I figured this guy just wanted to sell me the "old"                    stuff he couldn't sell. I told him to give me everything but                    the powder and I would just buy the Bullseye at another gun                    store. With that he said, "Fine..just remember to buy your                    next Python here. I'll give you a good discount...come on in                    after your hand feels better."  I looked at him and                    said, "I'm not buying another Python...I just bought one                    from you...why would I buy another one?"  He said,                    "The new one will be in one piece and you may want one                    after your hand heals."  "My hand???  There                    is nothing wrong with my hand or my Python!" I said. He                    just looked up at me and said, "No, not yet."


                 I had the distinct feeling that the old guy                    was trying to tell me something. I just couldn't figure out                    what the hidden message was...powder was powder, right? Anyway,                    I decided to go with the H110 just in case. When I got home,                    I quickly forgot the hassle at the store and began setting everything                    up. When I set the powder scale for the recommended charge,                    I quickly realized that H110 requires a lot more powder than                    the Bullseye. At first, I thought the old guy was slick... making                    me buy a powder, because I had to use so much, I would just                    have to buy more of it. What a scam! I remember thinking what                    a jerk he was even after I bought all my stuff from him. I was                    still a little angry. Then it happened.....
                 I got distracted and accidentally threw a                    double charge into the case. I knew what happened immediately                    because the powder spilled over the top of the case and onto                    the reloading bench. I remember saying to myself, "Wow,                    good thing I had to use so much powder...had this been Bullseye,                    I might not have caught this mistake..."   A chill                    ran up my spine as I realized why the old guy insisted on selling                    me the H110. I was still inexperienced...had this been Bullseye                    (or any other brand requiring much less powder), I may have                    completed reloading that round and attempted to fire it. This                    would not have been a good thing.


                 Well, it wasn't long before I needed more                    supplies since I was shooting a couple of times a week. I went                    back to the old guy and asked for a few hundred more 125 gr.                    bullets, and another pound of H110. He said, "I'll sell                    you that Bullseye now if you want."  I said, "No,                    no thank you...the H110 will do just fine."   He just                    smiled at me as if he knew I almost had a double throw. He couldn't                    have known...could he?


                 About 20 years later, I was in the same store                    buying some supplies when a young guy walked in. He wanted to                    start reloading for his .357 S&W. He asked for some bullets,                    primers, and a pound of Bullseye. The old guy said, "You                    ever reload before, kid?"  The kid said, "Well,                    no...not exactly..." I just smiled as I heard the beginning                    of a conversation which, for me, began almost 20 years ago....and                    the cycle continues....


                 Thank you for making an outstanding product.                    I've enjoyed safely reloading using your powders for 20 years                    now. I will use no other brand.


                 Thank you,


                  Joe Chimento


For those of you compelled to answer that you have never or will never make a mistake while reloading... don't bother.  Everyone makes a mistake when they've been reloading for any length of time.  My gun dog used to operate at about 90% without mistakes... I figure that was about 15% better than mortal man does... especially me.  



You'll notice he said: "I've enjoyed safely reloading using your powders for 20 years                    now."  He didn't say that he never made another mistake.


It's like I teach in Hunter Ed... I ALWAYS check a firearm two or three times...WHILE POINTING IT IN A SAFE DIRECTION.  Belt AND suspenders!

too right. when i was in the cadets we were always doing training exercises with blank rounds (the rifles used 5.56mm nato rounds). we were always warned never to point a rifle directly at someone, even if you knew it was only a blank, because powder still comes out. now this bit still scares me at times...
 
it was my last year, i was 18 yo, and was highest ranking cadet in about 100 cadets. meant that i didnt do much, just ordered other cadets about! we were going on an exercise using blank ammo, and i had been told to give the safety brief to the cadets about aiming to the left of the target so youd miss, etc, etc. i decided that id done it too many times before, so i got one of my junior nco's to do it to give him practice. so he was doing it well, all the right advice, he even pointed the rifle at my head to show the younger cadets what NOT to do (the rifle was fully cocked and loaded at this time, but with blanks...) and was asking them if he should shoot me! luckily he didnt. :o
 
so after he did that, he took the safety off, aimed at a tree and fired, just to show how some of the powder residue can be blown out of the barrel. now it turned out some joker had put a live round into the mag, so instead of a small crack and a few bits of residue hitting the tree there was a loud "boomp" and a nice neat hole in the tree trunk, complete with bark blown off and sap trickling out . that could have been my head. now he was experienced, and so was i, but it just shows that you can never be too careful with guns. after that we unloaded all the mags and checked all the rounds, but that was the only one that was live.
 
so just because you think a gun is 100% safe doesnt mean it is!

Jay,

I'm not tempted to say that I haven't made a mistake while reloading, but...
 
I haven't made a mistake that I haven't caught before the step was completed.
 
I have a system for handloading that uses some checks and balances to prevent mistakes from becoming serious.  Yes, these checks came after a bit of experience, but I've always been really careful.
 
Just for fun, I'm going to post the steps I use, and why.
 
1.  Deprime/resize the cases, placing them neck down in a shell box.  I do this so that I can see that they are all deprimed, and therefore are also resized.
 
2.  Trim to length, placing back in the box neck up.  This is so that I can see the shiney edge where they've been trimmed.
 
3.  Debur, and put back in the box as before.  This is where I also bell the mouths of the cases if that's needed.
 
4.  Prime the cases, placing them primer up in the box.  This allows easy inspection to make double sure that they are all primed and seated correctly.
 
5.  Charge the cases.  Weigh each charge, put it in the case, and place the case neck up in a loading block.  Only neck up cases are full, and primer up cases are obviously empty.
 
6.  Inspect charged cases with a flashlight, making sure that the powder is fairly equal, and that all cases have powder in them.  I've never double charged a case, but I HAVE found empty ones in the loading block.
 
7.  Put the bullets in, placing the loaded cartridges in proper storage boxes.
 
Repetition causes mistakes, and everyone makes them.  This is the system that I use to CATCH those mistakes so that they can be corrected before they cause a serious problem.
 
After 30 years of handloading, I still use a single stage press, and weigh every charge of powder, and the system still works great.
 
:)
 
Daryl