Poor reloading practices are a recipe for disaster. I visually inspect every case for correct powder volume before seating a bullet. Every - single - one. Obviously this is much easier on straight walled pistol cases than it is on bottle necked rifle cases, but I still do it for the bottle necked cases, too. My loading bench has an articulated, architect's type overhead light above the work station, so it's easy to see the powder level in most of the cases before I seat a bullet. I can easily move the light for better illumination wherever I need it. With bottle necked cases using relatively small charges, it's more difficult to see powder levels, so I keep a bore light (with a magnetic base) on the arm of the overhead light. I can easily access the bore light and use it to look down into each rifle case.
This is a good practice in all reloading operations, but if you ever make up light plinking loads using a small amount of pistol or shotgun powder over a cast bullet in a large rifle case, it becomes absolutely critical. As an example, seven grains of Bullseye, Red Dot or similar under a 130 to 150 grain lead bullet in a 30-06 case makes for an accurate, inexpensive and light recoiling round. I made up a lot of these during the recent .22 LR shortages. I enjoy making up these light plinkers and they're fun to shoot, but the idea of a double - or God forbid - triple charge of Bullseye in one of these cases makes my stomach turn! A rifle case full of fast pistol powder is enough to 'energetically disassemble' even the strongest actions!
Best regards
Doc
