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I was reloading some 9mm on my 1050, about 10 rounds into a new mag full of primers, "something gets stuck" so, since I'm an old man, I tilt my glasses up on my head so I can see more clearly what is stuck, with some fiddling (and foolishly lifting the ratchet on the 1050 toolhead) I manage to move the handle, the toolhead comes down (luckily) and I hear a loud POP! And for a minute, my ear is ringing and I could feel stuff hit my face. My nose is bleeding a bit. My glasses are still popped up on top of my head.
So what happened? Not really sure, but the entire primer magazine detonated. At first I thought I might have rotated a primed case back to the swaging station, but if the primer stack blew, that makes no sense. But what I know is that the plastic tip of the primer magazine blew up UNDER the shellplate, and several primer anvils and cups were strewn about, that's what hit me in the face. A call to Dillon had repair parts in the mail and got to me in a few days ...
But the important lesson learned was that I (almost literally) dodged a bullet, a primer anvil or cup hit me square in the face enough to cut my nose and that could easily have been one of my eyes. I wear glasses, but since I'm old, my near vision is bad and I have to remove my glasses to see up close. Big mistake that almost cost me huge.
From now on, clear goggles will replace my Rx safety glasses if I ever need to examine anything on the press, or I'm adding stick on magnifiers to my glasses.
I used to wear e-muffs too, but I got lax with my ear and eye pro. Luckily popping primers is not as loud as a gunshot, and luckily Dillon's primer magazine shield is very stout.
So, take this warning and keep your eyes protected!
Some images to hammer the point home.
Oh, yeah, mistake number two ... extracting the primer magazine from the primer shield. I hosed down the tube with WD-40 to kill any un fired primers, but Dillon recommends tossing the whole thing, since they'll send you a new one anyway. If a live primer started a reaction on any other un fired primers left in the tube, that might have gone worse. As it was, I pulled the burst primer mag out of the shield with a vice and pliers.
So what happened? Not really sure, but the entire primer magazine detonated. At first I thought I might have rotated a primed case back to the swaging station, but if the primer stack blew, that makes no sense. But what I know is that the plastic tip of the primer magazine blew up UNDER the shellplate, and several primer anvils and cups were strewn about, that's what hit me in the face. A call to Dillon had repair parts in the mail and got to me in a few days ...
But the important lesson learned was that I (almost literally) dodged a bullet, a primer anvil or cup hit me square in the face enough to cut my nose and that could easily have been one of my eyes. I wear glasses, but since I'm old, my near vision is bad and I have to remove my glasses to see up close. Big mistake that almost cost me huge.
From now on, clear goggles will replace my Rx safety glasses if I ever need to examine anything on the press, or I'm adding stick on magnifiers to my glasses.
I used to wear e-muffs too, but I got lax with my ear and eye pro. Luckily popping primers is not as loud as a gunshot, and luckily Dillon's primer magazine shield is very stout.
So, take this warning and keep your eyes protected!
Some images to hammer the point home.
Oh, yeah, mistake number two ... extracting the primer magazine from the primer shield. I hosed down the tube with WD-40 to kill any un fired primers, but Dillon recommends tossing the whole thing, since they'll send you a new one anyway. If a live primer started a reaction on any other un fired primers left in the tube, that might have gone worse. As it was, I pulled the burst primer mag out of the shield with a vice and pliers.
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