hey bc here is the thing that happened to mossy, just goes to show you can never be to safe.


http://forum.hunting.net/asppg/fb.asp?m=806968&key=

i never have, knock on wood 20+ years of reloading, but don't get to lax in the saftey area

like a guy used to tell me

no saftey know pain
know safety no pain

bc....i remember the post by mossy very well and it gave me chills when i read it. If you'll go back and look you'll see i responded to that post and the first thing i mentioned was safety glasses. The safety glasses have become a habit for me and i keep several pair on my reloading bench. I don't wear them the entire time i'm reloading but i always wear them when installing primers, seating bullets or pulling bullets with live primers. If i'm using a power case trimmer instead of a manual one i have them on as well because that brass tends to go in all directions. I haven't had an accident as of yet but i just don't think you can be to safe. I too use a kinetic hammer type puller and after reading mossy's post i must admit i get a little nervous everytime i use it now. The company i work for is nothing but a big machine shop and it is mandatory for us to wear safety glasses and i've seen lots of eye injuries from those who chose not to so maybe that contibutes to my awareness when it comes to eye safety.
I may have 5yrs on you when it comes to reloading but i'm always learning and i've learned a great deal from your imput on this forum in various areas of reloading and guns and i really appreciate the information you and others provide. Your knowledge & skill book of guns and reloading is no doubt bigger than mine no matter how long you've been involved in the sport so keep it coming, like i said you've helped me as well as others with your feedback and i for one appreciate it. Thanks! Mike

Read lots of manuals, not the load tables, but the how to sections.

Get a couple of videos and watch them. Reading is a must and super. NOthign like seeing it to top it all off. Plus your mentors. But make sure your mentors are safe also. Good luck. I started at 14 with a lee handloader. Hammer and all. Tough way to learn and I made some dumb mistakes along the way. Like not knowing that (never had read it) that you don't use data for lead bullets with jacketed ones. That one scared us but we survived. The rifle wasn't so super though. I"m a bit further down the road now having learned a lot and loaded quite a few rounds for IDPA and Highpower rifle matches(to the tune of almost 10K rounds a year or more at times) I'm lucky I read and learned correctly for the most part as I'm still here and so is my wife and all our guns some 26 years later.

Jeff

Talk to old farts you see at the range about their reloading methds. A lot of them have been around long enough, have tried enough things, have made enough mistakes that they have already culled a lot of the BS from their methods. I've been reloading for about 10 years and I feel like I know very little about reloading as I learn something new every time I talk to people who have been doing this for 30 or 4o years.

Thanks MyKey, I also learn more every day from new guys and old ones alike. Some things like neck turning, I wish I never learned.

I think Gargoyles makes some glass's that are pretty tuff stuff that can take a hit from a shotgun. My problem with safety glass's is they are cumbersome. I should invest in a decent set in my perscription.

Bigcountry- I did what you are thinking about doing about 5 years ago. My insurance allows for me to get new lenses every year and new frames and lenses every other year. One year I bought the biggest set of frames I could find and had them fittted with polycarbonate lenses. My wife calls them my 'geek glasses' but I pretty much wear them only when I'm shooting my rifles or compound bows. The reason I got big frames is because most of the trendier glasses that are commonly worn have lenses that are fairly narrow in height which means you will end up looking over the top of them or at the very edge of the lenses where they are blurry or distorted when trying to shoot with them. These glasses saved my eyes once, when I had a casehead failure in a 9mm I was shooting and got a big stream of hot gasses, burning powder and bits of brass blown in my face. I always wear these for reloading also, but I might have to upgrade to bifocals soon because my closeup vision is starting to go bad too.

Big country

On neck turning, I agree with ya. Just FYI-- shoot turned necks and non turned to see if there is any or enough difference to make a difference for you. I've found in some rifles it makes a considerable difference and in others it makes almost non.

Jeff

Rost, I found that on calibers with little freebore like a 270win, 30-06 and 308win, that neck turning made miniscule difference. But on my 300RUM, it made alot of difference.

It sure pays to test. I'd hate to turn necks I didn't need to. And though match chambers might repsond better, I've found its a barrel by barrel deal. Unless the brass is bad. Which may be an issue with 300RUM brass. Have not heard great things about it. Will see when I get my 338 Edge done. I hope its better by then.....

Of course turning 100 necks for hunting isn't a big deal. Turning 1000 for matches sucks.

Jeff