Reloading Kaboom Yesterday - Please Learn From This

[grant22]

I think a steel tube with no air space would contain the blast and allow it to blow out both ends. Ughhhh, I think if you were there for the kaboom, you might have a different opinion.

Hey I have an idea. We put the steel tube on it, Ill rub a blanket fresh out of the dryer all over you (You can't threaten me with pleasure!!!) and then you can pick up the tube and see if it explodes.

...

[Fyathyrio]

OK, one process question that may help all of us...

When I pick up primers in tubes, the last one always gets stuck in the little plastic fingers. Up until this post I have always carefully used my finger or thumb nail to both spread the plastic fingers and push on the edge of the primer so it falls into the tube. Large is pretty easy, small can be kinda tight.

Am I OK or AFU? Anybody got a better plan?

[GrizzlyGuy]

Wow, I'm glad you are OK! Root cause analysis and deciding on a corrective/preventive action plan is always fun, so here is my contribution: SAAMI - Sporting Ammunition Primers - Properties, Handling & Storage
for Handloading

A few excerpts:

1. Primers may explode if subjected to mishandling.
Explosions may be caused by friction and by percussion,
such as hammering, pounding, dropping or bullet impact.
Heating by fire, static electricity, sparks, hot tobacco
ashes, or other unspecified abuses may also cause
primers to explode.

Primers should never be handled, used, or stored in bulk,
since primers in bulk can explode simultaneously. The
placing of primers in tubes or columns, or using other
bulk systems in which the explosion of any one primer
may cause the explosion of all others, is a potentially
hazardous condition. The manufacturers of primers do not
recommend the use of primer feeds for reloading unless
adequate protection from the hazard of explosion is provided.
It is the responsibility of the manufacturers of primer
handling systems to provide safety and protective features
for their equipment. It is recommended that primers be
handled individually unless adequate safeguards are provided
and used.

Precautions should be taken to avoid buildup of static
electricity on the person when handling primers or conducting
handloading procedures. Loading equipment
should be electrically grounded.

ESD is tough to prevent even for the pros in the electronics industry, so my vote for best post in the thread in terms of preventive action is JHermsen's:

I can tell you that anyone working with Ordinance is to stand down when the RH goes below 25%. EOD won't touch Black Powder, Missles, ect, when the RH is that low because the hazards are too high.

I do not reload or handle bulk powder, primers, anything explosive during periods of relative low humidity, neither does the Gov. (unless absolutely necessary and then with many precautions).

This is probably information that should be included by manufacturers in regards to their materials and equipment. Actually, I believe there is a warning shipped with primers about SE, shock, heat and the potential for ignition.

For the future: When the RH is low it's time to do something else....other than loading...

Glad your still in one piece, minus the gouges.

PS. You can mitigate your risks by wearing all cotton clothes, conductive shoes, humidifiers...but why? when you can wait for conditions to improve.

Just sayin'

[ke6guj]

I bought 30k of these primers and loaded 20k of them with no issues. The reason they asked you this is because when it happens we have to poke the primer to get it out. That practice is where it gets dangerous. So long as you remove all the "free" primers above and below that bad one you are only dealing with 1 bad primer. When people start poking at the stack of 50+ primers and set one off its bad news. The out of shape primer itself is not the issue but instead the practice required to deal with it that gets scary.

I seem to recall that dillon recommends htat you pour oil down the tube to kill the primer and then throw the tube away. and then let them know so that they can send you a replacement. they don't want you poking stuck primers out of the tube.

[NoJoke]

OK, one process question that may help all of us...

When I pick up primers in tubes, the last one always gets stuck in the little plastic fingers. Up until this post I have always carefully used my finger or thumb nail to both spread the plastic fingers and push on the edge of the primer so it falls into the tube. Large is pretty easy, small can be kinda tight.

Am I OK or AFU? Anybody got a better plan?

I just loaded 50 rounds and needed to load the primer tube

Then I sat and just stared at that last hanging primer....

I had a small allen wrench and on the edge of the primer, gently pushed it on down the tube. Worked well....but, then again, I could have slipped and banged that anvil.

And grizzly guy: "Loading equipmentshould be electrically grounded. " - How is this done?

[GrizzlyGuy]

A few more preventive action ideas, some already mentioned:

1) Add something like this to your setup: ESD BENCHTOP MAT & WRIST STRAP GROUNDING KIT

2) Assure that all of your equipment is grounded.

3) Get a piece of coiled telephone cord, connect one end to ground, and add a big alligator clip to the other end. Attach the alligator clip to your pick-up tube prior to filling it. Also touch your handling tray to ground (I think you said it was metallic) prior to putting primers in it, and again prior to filling the tube.

4) Add a good quality hygrometer to your reloading area and don't reload when the humidity is low (as per JHermsen).

[thacker8394]

I'm not sure a steel tube is the answer. A tube full of primers has a heck of alot of energy, I would rather it blow out the side of an aluminum tube vs building up thousands of PSI then blowing out. Your going to get hit with shrapnal either way, why increase the pressure? Of all the years and thousands of dillion machines out there, it just may be a freak accident. You usually cant prevent those, but the good news is you will probably never see it happen again.

The steel tube would force the blast to go out the top and bottom. Unless he capped the ends and that would just be natural selection.

[JHermsen]

Thanks Grizz!

All materials that are used in a situation where sparking is a problem are made of Beryllium/Bronze alloy; hardness, without sparks and a fairly neutral metal. I think it doesn't transmit the electrons as well as some metals do.

Another hint: I never touch a primer with my fingers. Surgical tweezers with flat points to pick up, move, push Primers is best. One thing about touching them is finger oils and the paper backing on the primer will allow the oils to transmit to the compound and desensitize it. Especially not good for people looking for consistency (Long Rangers).

Primers should go from storage to tray to insertion without contact from fingers. Think sterile technique.

Another point to be taken when handling primers is the orientation, had the tube been pointed at his chest or gonads he'd really have ED problems!

[HighLander51]

grant22, do you have an idea of what the relative humidity was in your house at the time of the incident?

[grant22]

No, I'm sorry but I don't. If any of you have the brains for the world wide internets, it was 11/2/11 @ 12 noon in zip 86406.

Currently, the RH is 93%...........good time to reload, apparently

[deac777]

Not saying that this is the cause of your explosion. But as a general precaution to all reloaders, make sure that you clean your primer tubes and any associated parts where primer dust or residue can accumulate. It takes a fairly low static discharge to detonate primer dust and the primer dust explosion then becomes the primer to set off the stack of primers.

In fact most carbon based material in dust form under the right conditions can explode as seen this past Monday in Kansas when there was a grain dust explosion that killed 6 people.

http://www.hpj.com/archives/2011/nov11/nov7/elevatorexplosion1pic1graph.cfm?title=Grain%20elevator%20explosion%20claims%206%20lives

[Brian1979]

Seems that by design the auto Dillon primer filler would be the best option. The skinny inner tube is inclosed in a much larger tube.

This whole deal is just nuts and I think was very eye opening to many of us, even those who have loaded for years. Imagine the stories out there that never made it to the internet. I think as technology has advanced and we can communicate online we get to learn more about things like this. In the old days you wonder how often things like this occurred.

[JHermsen]

You know..I'm always looking for a good return on an investment...all you guys that don't believe me..keep handling/reloading during periods of low RH and I'll take out a Life Insurance policy on you...I get to be the Beneficiary though!

Also, I'd prefer if you were to handle at least 5k primers at a time too...

[grant22]

@jhermsen, I don't think anyone here is 'not believing' you. But when you've stuck your hand in the bear trap (like me), you can't blame someone for taking even more precautions than just waiting for correct conditions.

I can guarantee you I'll have a (hydrometer, or barometer?) before I get back on the horse. But I can also guarantee you it's gonna take more than that before I get going again.

[grant22]

Finally looked it up and found out the average RH for 11/2/11 was 15% and the low was 10%.