LNL AP Explosion/Fire

[Yoder]

Yesterday I switched my powder drop from my old Lee setup to the Hornady powder drop that came with the press. I got the insert so it flares and drops powder at the same time. I got the case flare looking good and dialed the powder drop to 4.7 gr of Titegroup for my .45 ACP rounds. It worked great. Deviation was maybe .05 gr over ten drops. I started loading rounds one at a time, checking the OAL which was 1.26 and very consistant. The last round I loaded I re-sized/deprimed. Next stage inserted primer. Now I don't remember if this felt smooth or was difficult. It may have been a small primer .45 case and I'm using large, or it may not have seated or it may have seated fine. I honestly don't remeber what happened. I indexed to the next stage to drop powder and flare the case when I heard a primer pop and then a loud bang. Then the powder hopper with almost a full pound of powder burst into flames and looked like a rocket engine with two ft of flames coming out the top. I immediately took off to find a fire extinguisher. I tore through all the cabinets and couldn't find it. I filled up a pitcher with water and ran back downstairs. Luckily the powder burned out without catching the ceiling on fire. I dumped water on the powder hopper since it was still on fire. Looking at the carnage I think the primer did not seat into the round and when the slide went back to pick up the next primer it went off blowing the 100 primers stacked on top of it. It blew apart the primer tube and it shot out of the saftey shroud. This was sharp and blowing up, so I guess it punctured the powder hopper and lit all the powder. Loading pistol rounds the hopper is very close to the top of the primer tube.

Lessons learned:

1. Always have a fire extinguisher at your reloading bench.

2. Verify all .45 brass is large primer type. I'm not sure if this was the cause but it could have been. It could have also been a crushed primer. Some brass just sucks and the primers don't seat.

3. Install metal cover around powder hopper on the side closest to the primer tube. This should prevent anything from blowing through the cheesy plastic hopper tube and starting a 2in rocket engine on the top of my reloader.

I sent Hornady an email telling them what happened to see if they replace the parts. If not I will make some calls. All I know is if the primers explode, (which happens) the powder hopper should not be effected. If I was loading rifle cases it would have been up higher and may not have been an issue. I've used this press for two years so I know what I'm doing, I was really shocked that I've never heard of this happening to anyone else. Be careful out there. Here are some pics of the parts and my ceiling.

[MT1]

Wow... I recently bought another 10 lb fire extinguisher at Costco for the laundry room. Maybe the next one needs to go in my reloading room.

Thanks for sharing!

[Gunsnwater]

Thank god it turned out ok. Add to the list a sheet metal heat guard on the ceiling over the powder measure with a four inch or so air gap to the ceiling.

[Curmudgeon]

I'm glad there were no serious injuries or damages. As to the fire extinguisher, I would keep it "handy" to your reloading area, but not at your reloading area (bench) if you get my meaning.

In the event of a fire at your bench you don't want to have to reach toward the fire to access the extinguisher. Maybe across the room, or right at the doorway. Find a good combo of "close at hand but away from the flames".

The biggest fire extinguisher we own is in our 2nd floor bedroom, and it's not because we are prepared for a fire there, it's because we may need to fight our way out of the house.

Disclaimer: I am not a fire fighter!

EDITED TO ADD... just saw the pics. Wow. Looks like you were really lucky. I think most of us know powder can burn very hot and can do an enormous amount of damage very quickly. Thanks for posting this, I think a lot of us might re-visit our own safety precautions as a result of your post.
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[joelitespeed]

Thankfully the damage haas been contained. This makes me worry since I have insulation above my press inthe basement. Maybe a sheet of drywall will go up this weekend.

[Maryland_Shooter]

Yeah, I never really liked anyone's priming system, so I sit and watch TV with a maxwell coffee plastic container and hand prime.

I bet I've primed 50K rounds by hand and never any mishaps of this degree.

The re-sized and primed cases are ready when I am and the containers stack nicely.

I simply don't trust any other way, with good reason.

[Curmudgeon]

Thankfully the damage haas been contained. This makes me worry since I have insulation above my press inthe basement. Maybe a sheet of drywall will go up this weekend.

Yeah, I would think exposed insulation would have turned this event into a disaster. I just did a quick google search on fire-rated drywall and building materials and came up with this...

http://www.lowes.com/pd_89091-61-915...ductId=3045521

I would want to compare actual ratings between materials, but I'll bet this is a lot easier to work with. Overhead drywall work is no picnic for me.

[Pkspawn]

What brand primers were you using?

Was the cap on the powder measure?

Was there any damage to the ceiling from the primers shotgunning out of the tube? It appears the blast shield worked properly.

You think the powder measure ignited from the hot primers falling into it? Or you think they actually burned through the side plastic??

[Yoder]

What brand primers were you using?

Was the cap on the powder measure?

Was there any damage to the ceiling from the primers shotgunning out of the tube? It appears the blast shield worked properly.

You think the powder measure ignited from the hot primers falling into it? Or you think they actually burned through the side plastic??

The cap was on. I'm pretty anal retentive about this. Not just for safety, but for consistant powder drop.

My theory is when the primer tube blew out of the protective pipe it broke the powder measure and ignighted it. Either that or it burned from the bottom when I dropped powder a hot primer ignighted the powder being dropped into the case. It happened just as I indexed and dropped powder, so that would be possible. I really don't know but it scared the shit out of me.

No ceiling damage other than being black. The primer tube wound up next to the press somehow.

Federal Primers. I know they are the most deadly but I have loaded at least 20k without incident.

[762xIan]

Wow...glad it wasn't worse and that you are ok.

Really suprised on the powder measure going up like that.

Yeah, I never really liked anyone's priming system, so I sit and watch TV with a maxwell coffee plastic container and hand prime.

Same here, while it slows down the process, it does give an extra inspection step, I have wound up culling a few during re-priming.

Again, glad things weren't too bad.

Please post how well Hornady handles this, in the past they have had very good customer service when it comes to issues like this.