SR9 survived a squib

[inuswetrust]

WifEy's loads, not mine (yeah, most women make cupcakes, my wife makes ammo). Long story...skip this paragraph is you don't care how it happened. I came in while she was reloading, noticed that the powder was getting low, and so were the primers. When powder is low, it may not throw the correct charge. When primers are low, it may not feed them properly. She gave me a dirty look and said she knew, and since the cases were also low she was going to change them all at the same time.
Not wanting to piss her off...for many reasons...I went ahead and let it go.

Got to the range, first few rounds were fine, then something didn't sound right, and the slide wouldn't go completely forward. This is the LUCKIEST kind of squib to have. I don't think there was any powder at all...so the bullet only went a few cm into the barrel. That means it wouldn't chamber another round to blow-up the gun.
It's good to keep a rod (or even a pencil) that's can go the length of the barrel. That way you can quickly check if there's an obstruction to the barrel...without having to field strip the gun. Looking into the barrel of any gun while it's fully assembled, is never a good idea.

We had a talk that night. I explained what could've happened, and that she should eyeball each round before placing the bullet.
NOTE - it's really important to eyeball your round after you've fixed something on the press. It's easy to do a double charge by accident when you're trying to fix something...and depending on the powder and load, a double charge can be as disastrous as a squib.

Tips for reloaders and their wives....

Keep a rod and a brass hammer in your range bag for extracting squibs.
Listen carefully to each shot (not easy in action pistol).
Some shooters also carry a case extractor.
Don't get distracted when reloading.
Know what a short load, and a double load look like (make some for reference...eyeball it, then dump it).
After shooting a new load, examine the primer and case for signs of excessive pressure (primer will be flat, expanded, may fill entire pocket).

Be safe, have fun, shoot straight, shoot fast.

- chip

p.s. She likes reloading almost as much as she loves shooting. So it's not a chore to her.

 

[demented]

Good advice. I've either been very good or very lucky (most likely) but I've never loaded a squib, this with 30 years loading and hundreds of thousands of rounds. As for your wife, what I wouldn't give for one like yours, consider yourself lucky!

 

[revhigh]

I've never loaded a squib, this with 30 years loading and hundreds of thousands of rounds.

I haven't either. If you have, it goes to poor reloading practices and bad judgement at that particular time. There are no shortcuts or 'it's probably OK's' in reloading.

Glad it worked out as it did for the OP.

REV

 

[Al James]

Sounds like your diplomacy paid off! You didn't piss off your ammo maker [wife] and you didn't blow up your gun! Thanks for the reminder. If you need to SHOW her the results of a Double charge or a squib that gets fired on just go to google images and search two words: Glock KB.

 

[Donaldjr1969]

I've never loaded a squib, this with 30 years loading and hundreds of thousands of rounds.

I haven't either. If you have, it goes to poor reloading practices and bad judgement at that particular time. There are no shortcuts or 'it's probably OK's' in reloading.

Glad it worked out as it did for the OP.

REV

Rev, a couple months ago I seated a bullet atop an empty case one afternoon. However, I was able to catch it and set it aside. I was certain that I found the empty case but to be sure, I decided to take my ammo to the range and only load one round into the cylinder. All rounds fired properly so it seems I found the empty case.

I immediately realized why my loading practice led to that. As you probably know from previous posts of mine, I keep all my cases sized, primed and flared in bags or plastic jugs. Then when I am ready to reload, I merely need to charge, seat, and crimp. Anyway, I had set aside my 18 cases into the loading block that I wanted to load. But I also had my container of empties right next to the load block. So absentmindedly, I grabbed an empty out of the plastic container rather than a charged case out of the loading block when I went to seat a bullet. The tipoff was when I had 2 bullets left sitting on the bench but 3 cases in the loading block. I immediately started shaking the cases to find the empty one. I loaded HS-6 so there was still enough room to feel the powder moving inside the case.

It did not take long for what I did to sink in. Starting with my very next loading session, I would grab my empties, take out only what I needed, say 36, set them in the loading block, and put the rest of the empties in back on the shelf out of reach. I also looked inside the cases 3 times to verify if the powder is present. Once right after charging, once when all cases are in the loading block, and finally when I set a bullet in the case mouth prior to seating. Obviously my squib was caught and it all worked out. But it sure was a good wake-up call for me to improve my loading practices! To date, no more squibs nor have I ever had a double charge even with Titegroup.

 

[inuswetrust]

We're using HS-6, but going to chrono some different loads with Titegroup on Friday. Need to hit a minimum of 1250fps, hoping for 1350.

WifEy has changed her practices. She's now dividing the brass according to manufacturer. In addition to dumping and weighing every 10th or 20th round, she's weighing every completed cartridge....lesson learned.

And yes, I am a VERY lucky man.