Loading 30-30s, something weird this way went

[J Miller]

Yesterday I was loading some good old fashioned, under powered, anemic, not good for anything other than mice 30-30s. The load, my regular go-to load; 34.5grs of Win 748 under a Speer 150gr HCFP. I'd loaded one box and seated the bullets, and was in the process of charging the next 40 cases when one of the cases over filled.

IMG_0041.JPG

I stopped, looked at all the powder that had spilled and the overfilled case and said, "What?!?!?!?!" After that I dumped all the others in the case block and double checked everything. I knew I had not double charged that case, and 748 doesn't bridge as it's a ball powder. So I really started checking things.
What I found in the case that over filled was a big chunk of some kind of brown fibrous paper like material. Really jam packed in the case.
I tried to tap it out, it didn't budge. I tried to dig it out with a screwdriver and it was really hard and resistant. I stuck the case in my 94 Trapper and fired the primer, that didn't blow it out either.
So I sat there with the screw driver and dug this matter out. Here is what I found:

IMG_0039.JPG

What bugs me is these cases were some that I'd bought from another person on the net. They are once fired range brass. I sized and decapped them which means this fibrous plug was created after I'd decapped the case. There is no web, or signs this is from an insect or bug. Paper, and fiber is what I found.
I'm stumped.

I'm glad the case overfilled as I'm sure that if the powder had fit and I'd loaded it, then fired it, there would have been either a dud or a KABOOM. Neither is to my liking.

From now on I'm looking in side my empty cases before I charge them just as I do after I charge them.

Joe

[LeverBob]

I haven't a clue either Joe...beats me! Smell the stuff & see if it has a solvent smell. Could be unburned powder. If not, then it might be a bug nest.

LB

[Blaine]

Well, I think the de-primer pin could have punched thru that pretty easy.....

[J Miller]

No odor to it other than being singed by the primer I fired, and no hole in the center of it to indicate the decapping pin had punched through. Matter of fact the wad was so big it would have brought the decapper to a halt before the pin got to the fired primer.

Joe

[Blaine]

Fairy Poop....

[jnyork]

Insect nest. Has happened to me a couple of times over the years with brass someone had stored in a garage or the like. Also saw it in the bore of a rifle once, makes a good reason to check the bore before you shoot a gun for the first time after it has been in storage.

[kimwcook]

Fairy Poop....

Blaine, that was too funny.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Wasp nest. They are everywhere down here ... I see that stuff in crevices all the time. Mostly created by wasps called Mud Daubers down here. They chew up a mixture of plant fibers and silt/dirt. Mixed with their saliva if forms a really tough shell.

That's what I'm going with anyway.

[Chuck 100 yd]

What Rimfire McNutjob said +1

They can and will fill the muffler of your lawn mower full of that stuff in a day!

[J Miller]

This brass was in the basement. First I tumbled it, sized and decapped it then put it in a zip lock bag. It sat there for quite a while. Then I took them out, primed them, and set them in my cartridge tray.
No wasps, no mud dobbers, no little bees that plug up things in the basement. There is nothing in the debris that resembles a nest. Just packed fiber material.

I'm still stumped.

Joe

[jlchucker]

This brass was in the basement. First I tumbled it, sized and decapped it then put it in a zip lock bag. It sat there for quite a while. Then I took them out, primed them, and set them in my cartridge tray.
No wasps, no mud dobbers, no little bees that plug up things in the basement. There is nothing in the debris that resembles a nest. Just packed fiber material.

I'm still stumped.

Joe

I had a similar thing happen to me--and I was loading 30-30 with 748 powder as well. My sequence of loading calls for tumbling after I size and trim the cases. I always look for bits of tumbling media that stick in the primer holes, and poke them out with a small nail if I see it. Once, when I thought I was OK, I got an overflow like you did. I reviewed all of my processes, and found the problem to be media that was clumped in the case, but not down at the bottom. I had, sometime before, added some Midway brass polish to my media according to instructions. I noticed later that some of that stuff had caused some clumps in my media mix. One or more of these little clumps found its way into one of my cases. What came out looked a lot like your photo. Since then I only use dry corncob media. When it reaches its useful life I throw it out. I've still got some of that Midway liquid but no longer use it. I don't know if Midway even carries it any more.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I use the Midway brass polish all the time. I also look for little bits of media sticking in the flash holes. At that time I inspect the cases inside AND out for defects.

Whatever it was Joe, you just missed it. Good thing you
were using a powder that filled or nearly filled the case or you could have had a squib load leaving a bullet or debris in the bore to cause a problem on the next shot.

[horsesoldier03]

I still use a single stage press and work slow. Once I have my brass cleaned, I will go out one day and do nothing but deprime and resize my brass. After that I check them for splits and OAL, reprime them and put them back into the cartridge box.

They will sit like that until I decide to reload them. At that time, I set my scale and powder throw and when each cartridge is loaded, I visually look inside the brass and lightly blow any dust or debris out (seldom if every any there) from the powder throw it goes straight to the press and has a bullet seated immediately.

Too many things can go wrong if you rush and dont follow your system as a routine.

Take your time and go slow, its something you should be enjoying!

[Last Spike]

I've found cigarette filters stuck in cases on occasion. Given the long Canadian winters, no reason not to inspect every case.

[J Miller]

I've found cigarette filters stuck in cases on occasion. Given the long Canadian winters, no reason not to inspect every case.

Absolutely!

I finally realized what the fibrous stuff reminded me of. The fiber wall board. Nasty stuff.

Joe

[El Chivo]

something could have fallen in if you left the cases standing up after you worked on them. Or even fallen from the ceiling.

I sometimes have primed cases ready to load sitting in the loading block for a few days or weeks. I cover them and check to make sure they're still empty when I fill them.

[txpete]

better to find it now than later.thats strange stuff.
pete