Update on fried Commander

[Dusty Miller]

My 'smith tells me that what likely happened was that the unsupported area of the case blew out.  He sez to mark one side of a cartridge and put the mark right smack dab in the unsupported area and fire  the round.  THEN, the idea is to measure with calipers to see if there is any bulge in the case and if there is that's a good indication that there's too much unsupported area.  That'll have to wait a few days but I'll gitter done.

[Smokin Joe]

If you've got that much of the case unsupported, you probably need a new barrel, or at least start using +P brass.

[Dusty Miller]

Yeah, I'm think'n about replacing all my brass with something a bit on the sturdier side.

[Mikey]

Dusty - if you think it was a double charge that blew your brass and locked up your Commander, sturdier brass won't help.  A double charge may blow even new brass.  

Your reloading procedures are what needs attention.  Your Commander can be repaired, your good looks will cost a bit more to get fixed up if this sort of thing happens again.  

A couple of us mentioned that although we have 550s or similar types of presses, reloading large numbers of rounds without being able to double check your powder charges is liable to lead to another accident.  I know how great it feels to be able to kick out 5 or 600 rounds in just a couple of hours, but if you kick out a few less because you double check all your powder charges it will only take you a few minutes longer.  

To stay safe you have to be safe.  Your loads were fine, until you got a double charge.  It is better to err on the side of caution in this regard.  HTH.  Mikey.