Squib

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Fredo

Bearcat
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I'm a new shooter and I've read some scary things about squibs. How rare is it for that to happen?
 

Bad Barlow

Blackhawk
Joined
Apr 3, 2022
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628
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Norcal
I'm a new shooter and I've read some scary things about squibs. How rare is it for that to happen?
The squib is not the scary part, it's the next round!
Seriously,a squib should be quite evident, report and recoil obviously not normal.
Stop shooting, push the bullet back down the bore with a brass "squib rod" and be glad you weren't shooting rapid fire.
It happens fairly often with reloads, often enough to be cautious about.
 

Fredo

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 18, 2024
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77
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Phoenix
The squib is not the scary part, it's the next round!
Seriously,a squib should be quite evident, report and recoil obviously not normal.
Stop shooting, push the bullet back down the bore with a brass "squib rod" and be glad you weren't shooting rapid fire.
It happens fairly often with reloads, often enough to be cautious about.
Thanks for your reply
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2005
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10,566
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Greenville, SC: USA
Years ago I dropped two fully loaded magazines for my Sig P230 in the lake at the dock beside our boat. Took me about 30 minutes to get suited up and drop down the 30ft and retrieve them.... then the next week I decided to try out that ammo. The factory reloads from Georgia Arms would not fire... the rounds from Seller and Belliet (sp?) would but they were all squip loads... this was back before cellphones had cameras and I missed the opportunity for a great picture... one of the squib load rounds was actually sticking halfway out the end of the barrel of the pistol.
I have a piece of 1/4" diameter fiberglass rod in my range bag just in case....
 
Joined
Jan 2, 2005
Messages
4,029
Location
Northern Illinois
I don't reload, only use factory ammo. I have never had a squib in all my years of shooting, including 24 years in the U.S. Army. I don't recall ever having a center fire dud, but I can't be sure about that. 22LR duds are pretty common, but that is not the same as a squib.
 
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Messages
10,084
Location
missouri
I haven't experienced a 'squib' but just last week, I encountered a round with no powder. Fortunately, the primer didn't force the bullet out of the case.
I buy 'factory culls' from a guy who's in the business of gathering such things up and reselling them for components. I have no idea how many good rounds the bad rounds are sorted from but during the pull down process, I find a LOT of short loaded rounds. Probably enough powder to 'squib' a bullet into the rifling. I'm a bit less concerned about the short loads than I am about where the extra half charge of powder went--like maybe into the next round. :unsure:
 

Fredo

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 18, 2024
Messages
77
Location
Phoenix
I haven't experienced a 'squib' but just last week, I encountered a round with no powder. Fortunately, the primer didn't force the bullet out of the case.
I buy 'factory culls' from a guy who's in the business of gathering such things up and reselling them for components. I have no idea how many good rounds the bad rounds are sorted from but during the pull down process, I find a LOT of short loaded rounds. Probably enough powder to 'squib' a bullet into the rifling. I'm a bit less concerned about the short loads than I am about where the extra half charge of powder went--like maybe into the next round. :unsure:
Thanks
 

bykerhd

Single-Sixer
Joined
Oct 17, 2023
Messages
170
Location
Sunny Florida
Years ago I saw a squib in a Ruger Super Blackhawk.
Factory Remington .44 Magnum 240 grain lead loads.
Slug was 1/2 way up the barrel, cartridge case looked nearly virgin. No powder charge.
One in a million, but it does happen.

Nobody hurt, we pushed the bullet back out of the barrel with a cleaning rod.
Could have been bad.
 

Fredo

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 18, 2024
Messages
77
Location
Phoenix
Years ago I saw a squib in a Ruger Super Blackhawk.
Factory Remington .44 Magnum 240 grain lead loads.
Slug was 1/2 way up the barrel, cartridge case looked nearly virgin. No powder charge.
One in a million, but it does happen.

Nobody hurt, we pushed the bullet back out of the barrel with a cleaning rod.
Could have been bad.
Thanks
 

althor

Bearcat
Joined
Sep 30, 2022
Messages
10
Location
USA
Not a squib, but don't know what to call it.

I was shooting at a range and fired a round that sounded and felt just like a squib. I was shooting a G17 and the slide wouldn't budge no matter how hard I pulled.

I was able to pull the slide lock with some difficulty and remove the slide from the frame. The barrel was still jammed and I couldn't remove it from the slide. I could see a gap about <1/16" between the case head and the breach face and the extractor claw had gouged the rim and was lodged about about half way into the edge of the case rim. I believe that this caused a lot of friction between the primer and the breach face preventing the barrel from unlocking from the slide.

I ended up putting the slide in a vice and using a dowel to drive the barrel down and it came away from the frame. The cartridge came out of the chamber and still had the bullet in the original position. I checked the extractor and firing pin. Everything looked fine so I reassembled the gun and kept shooting.

A few weeks later I posted about it and someone said that it sounded like a case with no flash hole and that he had heard that there had been several lately.

I had kept the round as a souvenir of sorts, so I put it in the bullet puller, knocked the round out and found that it had a powder charge, and also no flash hole as suggested.

I hope to never have anything like that happen with premium self defense rounds because if it had happened in that scenario the only backup would have been a second gun.

As far as squibs go, I inherited a Colt Model 1903 from my Dad. While cleaning it, I noticed a bulge in the barrel and asked him about it. He thought I did something to it, but I just noticed it when I got back from shooting it. Years later he told me about a time when he and a friend were shooting some old ammo out of it and and had a round where the bullet got stuck in the barrel. They didn't have anything to push it out with so my Dad was going to take it home to take care of it. His friend said, "I can get it out." He took the gun from him, loaded a round and fired it. It cleared the barrel and they kept on shooting it. I told him that was what bulged the barrel and they were lucky nothing worse happened. He didn't know much about firearms and only had the gun because it was found after his father died.

Lucky for me, US Armament re-released the Model 1903 in 2015 and new parts were available. I purchased some springs and a new barrel and it is good as new... at least for a 108 year old gun.
 

Pál_K

Single-Sixer
Joined
Nov 30, 2023
Messages
328
Location
Gig Harbor, WA, USA
Regardless of whatever ammo, whatever firearm (yours or a friend's), the guidelines are:

If it doesn't sound right or doesn't feel right in recoil - stop immediately. Don't fire again until you've checked that the barrel is clear - and don't check from the muzzle end!
 

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