I have many, many things on my reloading bench, some old, some new. A couple of them I even helped test and design. I do a good deal of load development and experimenting, and my reloading bench reflects that. A good reloading setup can be minimalistic and simple, or it can look like the gizmo factory exploded, either way a solid process and safety should be paramount. Safety should always be our priority when handloading ammunition.
We all live busy lives with many interruptions, and this is not conducive to reloading ammo. When I was first learning to handload the rule was, no interruptions when measuring powder no exceptions. This is what I still strive for but sometimes it just doesn’t happen.
This is where the Post-It note straps its superhero cape on and helps us out.
Once you have settled on a powder charge write it down, triple check it and then stick it to the scale you are using to measure your charges or using to check your charges. (You do periodically check the powder charges if you are running a progressive machine, right??)
This all but eliminates the possibility of getting confused once you are inevitably interrupted. It is very easy to get sidetracked and transpose a number or get two loads mixed up. Your wife is texting you about the power bill, a buddy just sent you the score of the kids’ big game, your favorite podcast keeps freezing up and you are trying to weigh powder. Was it 24.5gn was it 25.4gn or was it something completely different?
Honestly if this is your situation you should stop and try again when things calm down, however this is where the post it note can save the day, no matter what confusion may happen you have a written and confirmed load value right in front of your face. You confirm the scales reading to the post it and you know you’re correct, and most importantly safe.
Not much is more frustrating than looking at a batch of cases and realizing you can’t be 100% certain they are charged properly, you have wasted your time, your components, and bruised your ego a little.
This is a simplistic idea, and you can customize it to suit your loading setup, my hope is that it gets you to thinking and keeps you from having to “unload” a bunch of ammo you just loaded. Sometimes the simple things are the most helpful to us.
Marc