I've been reloading for the .45 auto since the early 1970's and with the exception of a few times when I failed to get any powder into the case, I've NEVER had a problem attributable to my reloading. That is true even though I've easily averaged better than 3,000 rounds of .45 ACP ammo per year and in some years more than 5,000.
Obviously, with that much ammo going downrange, I use a progressive press. I'lll not name it, since I don't want even to appear to put the blame on the press for my FUBAR.
Bottom line - Sunday before last I had a cartridge blow out the entire bottom of the case where it is unsupported by the barrel. Significant pieces of brass flew back at my face and punctured it deeply in several places. One piece is apparently still in my cheek and it looks like I'll need to visit my doc to check it out and maybe remove it surgically. Not looking forward to that.
Three things stand out from the experience.
1. The cartridge case did not eject so apparently the pieces somehow flew back at me THROUGH the action. I can't imagine how that took place, but I don't have any other explanation as to how the brass pieces got back to me.
2. The obvious dings on my top quality shooting glasses proved the truth of the rule that we should NEBVER, EVER shoot without eye/ear protection.
3. I was so upset by the blowout (and the pretty large amount of blood flowing down my face onto my jacket, etc.), not to mention the alarm I could see in the faces of other people around me, that instead of calmly thinking things through, I immediately tossed the remaining reloads in that box into the nearest trash can. Accordingly, I effectively prevented myself from taking the other rounds apart to see if I could find out what had caused the Kaboom. Clearly, I must have allowed my attention to lapse while I was reloading that batch of ammo. Maybe the powder measure got out of whack and I was overloading. Maybe the brass had been fired too many times and I failed to note cracks, etc. Perhaps somehow I used the wrong powder. Who knows? It is possible to make a large variety of mistakes in a reloading session and obviously I made at least one. I really wish that I'd kept the suspect ammo so I could have checked it out. Bottom line - reloading is a good way to get reasonably inexpensive ammo of high quality, but it requires FULL TIME AND ATTENTION to the process. A lapse can be disasterous and when loading large amounts at a time, a lapse is even more possible. Be careful - you might not be as lucky as I was. Luck is not something I want to rely on when it comes to reloads.
