Tragic safety reminder

[GodFearinGunTotin]

That had to be a tough 3 months. I. cannot. imagine.

God rest his soul and comfort his family...

 

[jedi]

It is my understanding that he was burning some unused (and old) powder(s) at his home and the powder(s) "flashed" causing him to sustain burns over 70% of his body. I have not seen any disclosure of the amount of powder he was reported to have been burning but it was implied it there were several pounds. I also have not seen any real definition of what caused the "flash" to occur. I have been loading shotgun shells at the same bench located in my garage for 15 years. I have carpet on the floor in that area. I don't spill much, but admittedly there is some small amount that does hit the floor. The only reason I sweep is to keep the general area clean. Smokeless powder does not explode like black powder. It merely burns unless under pressure and ignited by a source (i.e. a primer)

Nonetheless, general safety precautions are always adviseable.

Sorry only 1 year old to reloading so the concept of burning unused powder is a to me. Is this what you are suppose to do with unused powder? Have yet to have any unused powder so have not even thought about how I should dispose of it.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I put mine in a coffee can with coiled rice.

 

[jedi]

what is "coiled rice"??

 

[Leo]

I really do not want to make speculations, but I lived near him in Texas. It can get really dry there. When the air is really dry, a lot of static can build up in things. I do not know if that was the cause, but every time I would get out of my car, I would hold the key and touch it to the metal door frame before I closed the door to avoid getting a shock. Some of those static sparks from the key would be pretty impressive. Pretty easy to make a spark, especially with plastic jugs. When I lived there, I had to run an electrical ground wire to my reloader to keep the powder flakes from sticking in the hull fill tubes.

 

[whippo]

That is very tragic and an eye opener to a new reloaded myself...