Reloading Kaboom Yesterday - Please Learn From This

[joefreas]

Could it have possibly been an upside down primer at the bottom of the tube and when you slid the clip out it created friction on the open side of the primer?

(just a thought)

[Sheldon]

Maybe primer dust had built up in the tube and went off either due to friction or static......first I have heard of it going off like that too. Seen and heard enough stories of them going off when on the machine due to various reasons....glad you're ok!! I wear glasses already, butnot ear plugs. I have had a primer go off when trying to prime a case that had some primer pocket crimp not totally removed....LOUD!! I can't imagine what a whole tube full going off would be like, except LOUDER and more PAINFUL!!!

[kmca]

I keep asking myself how could SE be the problem if you are using a metal primer tube? Any contact with the tube would ground you to the equipment. If the SE charge goes else where, I am at a loss as to how it could affect the primers. Just my thoughts.

UGN

The primer filler tube isn't part of the reloader, it isn't grounded until it touches the reloader. The person is isolated because of the rubber soled shoes.

[dholla]

What is the lot/batch number of those primers. Just so others can check and see if they have any from the same group. Maybe send a note to the primer company and get there take on the situation.

Glad your okay with some flesh wounds. And it sounds like your getting back on the horse!

[theduece]

@ Deuce:

-You're probably right about the spark........I'm just throwing stuff up and seeing what sticks at this point.
All I am trying is to see what not to do. if it is a preventable accident. Going through the motions in my head I believe I touch the press prior to loading primers... I think. I know I will typ. load 4-6 tubes and have them at the ready.
-Work bench is a MDF top with metal base and is meant to be portable (although I haven't moved it since I got it).

Presumably with metal screws coming into contact with the press and metal frame? However my press is isolated from the ground and with rubber soled shoes so am I. What say you electrical guru's?

[NoJoke]

Update:

I just spoke with a manager at Dillon and also sent him the pics. Although there’s some documented cases of primers going off in the primer magazine, he said he’s never heard any reports of primers going off in the “pick up” tube like my incident.

Although the cause is still inconclusive, he thinks it was possibly a single defective primer or possibly the static electricity theory.

Although the cause is still unknown, and can therefore happen again, I’m trying to think of some safeguards:

-Grounding the press itself is definitely worth doing

-Wearing an anti-static bracelet thing is worth doing.

-Dillon is sending me a new pick up tube but I also asked for a steel magazine tube. I’m going to try to make the pickup tube mimmick the design of the magazine…….aluminum tube floated inside a steel tube.

-I’m still going to look into Kevlar gloves or anything that will help if the same incident were to happen again.

-I think using a toothpick instead of a metal clip might be good, too.

He said he’d talk it over with more staff at Dillon and would get back to me if he finds anything else out.

Wow.
Kudos to you for not throwing in the towel!
I kind of like the mechanical stuff with reloading and this has always intersted me. It is expensive.....but maybe now worth the expense after seeing your pictures?!?!?!?
Turn it on and walk out the door.

EDIT: it's a bit concerning to think that static electricty can set off primers? Doesn't seem right - there's got to be some other explanation.

Also, did it blow up where you held it? ...or did you pick it up at the top/bottom?

http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23474/catid/9/Dillon_RF_100_Sm__Primer_Filler

[sonnyt650]

Sorry to read about this though thanks for posting it. I had my own issues with primer pick-up tubes but realized soon after it was due to my stubbornness that nothing could happen just trying to clear a tube. Still, I absolutely hate dealing with primer pick-up tubes.

Static electricity is the build-up of charge, so non-conducting rubber shoes (and flip-flops) will only increase the likelihood of build up. Dry skin isn't a good conductor so you might have developed an electrical potential between your two hands which would discharge when a better conductor comes along, and however minor the potential it was enough to set off a primer which in turn blew up all the rest.

[damndave]

Glad you escaped with only minor injuries. It easily could have been a lot worse. It just sounds like a freak accident. Just goes to show everyone that disaster can happen at any moment. ALWAYS wear your safety equipment.

It has been extremely dry here in socal as well. Maybe I'll wait till this weekend to load up some more when it is supposed to be raining.

[rsrocket1]

Theory:
You say the kaboom happened when you were pulling the pin on the tube. That leads me to believe that the pickup tube may not have already been in contact with the tube in the grounded press when it went off.

If SE was the culprit, could it be that there was a gap between the static charged pickup tube (and your body) and the grounded press? When a primer came down the tube, it caused an arc between the pickup tube and the press mounted tube and went off.

Out here in NoCal, it was also very windy and dry on Tuesday and I was getting static electricity shocks with just about everything I touched, I was still getting shocks yesterday even though the wind stopped.

Richard Lee pontificates in Modern Reloading that he will never use a primer tube in anything that Lee sells. While that may sound a bit pompous, having a single primer go off accidentally is much better than having 50 (or 100) go off right in front of your face.

[Hamilton]

First class of you to share. In a community of like mind souls, it's one of the best ways for us to learn. Thanks for the post and I hope you're healing is quick and complete.

[grant22]

Ok, some questions to answer:

-As far as the SE questions, I've got nothing for you. My understanding of it is basic at best.

-@ Sonny, it probably blew up at the last primer (per Dillon), not where i was holding it (I usually hold it like a pencil. I had about 50 primers in there (give or take) and although he said their tubes are designed for 100, he thinks since I already inverted it, the theory of primers having more inertia to slam into each other is out. Besides, as designed, 100 primers typically fall down into the magazine without incident.

-Through our conversation, I learned that primers from the package are in a way 'unarmed' and become 'armed' when they are pressed into the bullet. That's another reason he was as stumped as I.

-@Nojoke, I'd be interested in that primer filler if it filled the machine directly. I'm not clear on whether that fills the magazine or p/u tubes. If it fills the p/u tubes, then I'd still be quivering as I pulled the pin.

-@Joefreas, anything is possible, but my attention to detail is bordering OCD. I really don't think there was a flipped primer.

-@Gforcejunkie, I'm still considering the concept of the steel outer tube. Here's why: The way I would mount the inner tube into the outer tube would allow the energy to go UP, not out. There would be air space between the two tube walls, the steel tube would just be a blast shield.

-I hate to sound like a puss, but another device I'm considering is tongs with tips capable of handling the small tube and an ice pick with a bent tip to pull the pin. Yes, this probably was a freak accident, but if I'm gonna get back on this horse, my hands are gonna have to be a foot away. My left had was directly grasping one 'end' of the explosion.

[joefreas]

Thanks. One quick question, what company made the primers?

[Dutch3]

Yes, thank you for posting this, grant22. I am just preparing to start reloading and it is good to know about potential hazards before they happen.

I have worked around machinery, electricity and heavy equipment my entire life in various combinations, but I just learned some new respect for the lowly primer.

[Fyathyrio]

I'm glad you're basically OK, I just some random thoughts/questions that may help the investigation...

MDF is pretty benign electrically being just wood and glue, is there some sort of plastic coating on it perhaps?

Static frequently requires some sort of friction...anything on the bench rubbing/moving at the time such as perhaps a tumbler?

Do you have anything electric on the bench where perhaps there's a grounding issue?

Kinda scary, I was reloading yesterday afternoon with the humidity running about 15% or so down here. No sparking/static issues here and my situation is worse from a static standpoint. My garage is carpeted over concrete (From previous owner, I haven't destroyed it enough to remove yet.), I was barefoot, my bench is particle board that's plastic coated in counter-top type material. I reload the primer tubes on my other bench that's just plain painted wood as it's a better height for that though.

One thought about a defective primer, perhaps in the process of pushing one into the tube you somehow pushed the anvil into the primer compound? Maybe an anvil was sideways from the box?

[hypnoman]

Sorry about this horrible happening . . . it is among the worse things imaginable, yet really, really glad you're okay and your outcome is much better than it could have been!

And really grateful you share this so we all can take better precautions!