do you ground your press?

[freonr22]

I was talking today to a guy that in the 80's was reloading on maybe an rl1000?? supposedly him and my brother reloaded like a 100,000 rounds on a few of these presses and he made a big deal to me about grounding the machine. talked about primers blowing or powder going off.... I do Electrical work so i could see this, but really?

[Fjold]

Never, but I've only been reloading for 28 years.

[tamalpias]

I have wood floors, should I be worried? :-o

[Beelzy]

Maybe if you reload on carpet.

[Jonathan Doe]

I have beve rdone that. However, my press is mounted on a steel table with the steel leg touching the floor. Maybe that will be enough. I have never had a problem with non-grounded mounting system.

[Revoman]

I have grounded my shotgun loaders due to static electricity, especially during the Santa Ana season. It's so stinking dry that the powder sticks to the plastic bottles and hulls. I figured that while it may not be necessarily needed why risk it for so little effort?

While I have never, knock on wood, had any issues with any loaders and static, there is always that slim chance. I also stand on a static mat while loading for the same reason, cheap insurance, at least in my mind.

FWIW

[ar15barrels]

I have grounded my shotgun loaders due to static electricity, especially during the Santa Ana season. It's so stinking dry that the powder sticks to the plastic bottles and hulls. I figured that while it may not be necessarily needed why risk it for so little effort?

Do you notice a difference in that the powder does not stick to the sides of the powder bottle once the press is grounded?

[Sig357]

Interesting topic. My room is carpeted and I'm always shocking myself when wearing flip flops. Guess I will have to take some precautions when I get my equipment setup.

[Revoman]

"Do you notice a difference in that the powder does not stick to the sides of the powder bottle once the press is grounded?"

There was not a noticable amount of difference until I used the non-static mat, that helped a lot.

Not necessarily a complete absence of powder sticking, but much less. There seem to be some flakes that just have a knack for hanging on no matter what the weather.

I mostly use Titegroup, Longshot and Lil' Gun in my loaders. Titegroup seems to be the most sticky, of course it's used in the 12 ga, which since it has more area, may be the reason, if that makes sense.

The mat also helped with Dillon SDB metallic loaders, noticable difference.

I have not tried using the anti-static sheets, I understand that they work too.

[copenhagen269]

I have my press grounded, I haven't noticed any difference.

[ironhiide]

Wow, never heard of a static issue, I reload on carpet since I reload inside my apartment. And I'm still here, but it would be easy to get anti-static spray or a mat, since I'm IT guy at work, hehe.

[Sky_DiveR]

Hmmmm. That's interesting. I knew about static electricity and that it can set off primers and powder but never really thought about grounding my press. Don't recall reading anything 'bout grounding yourself and/or the press in, "The ABC's of Reloading".

I used to assemble, test, diagnose, and repair network servers for HP and was aware of Anti-Static flooring, clothes, and gloves but never gave it a second thought about reloading. Better to blow myself up than destroy expensive computer equipment??!! Guess I better pay attention when powder starts sticking to my fingers...

[freakshow10mm]

I have a anti-static mat in front of the presses, mainly as a safeguard. It makes for a comfortable cushion mat and if it's just a placebo for the static guard, it's not wasted money.

[Lancear15]

This sounds like a job for Myth Busters.

http://community.discovery.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/9701967776

[Sky_DiveR]

Someone has already tried. I asked at a reloading forum and this is what I got...

http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/sparks/sparks.html