Survived a squib

[runkenstein]

I encountered a squib load (homemade by me) last monday. Heard the distinct *pling* and stopped firing and ejected a very blackened and sooty brass case.

The next round would not have seated, there was no powder at all and the bullet was jammed near the chamber.

Just something everyone must be aware of. It can happen even with factory ammo (highly unlikely but possible).

 

[Skalkaho Slim]

Good to hear you caught it!

I was R.O.'ing a shooter at an IDPA match one time. He was shooting a Sig 220. All of a sudden he stopped, pulled the slide back and chambered another round. Click, no bang. Did it a couple more times at which point I asked to see his firearm. Dropped the mag, looked things over and saw that there was a squib that wasn't allowing any rounds to chamber enough for the slide to close all the way. A few hundredths more down the barrel and things would have gone pear shaped.

Neither of us noticed a change in report.

That was lucky.

 

[bigboredad]

I have a commercial squib as well as contaminated powder that would not light and the oh @#@" I forgot powder. So nowif it sounds a even a little different iI stop and check. s was said above it can be hard to hear during a match

 

[FlyerTom]

Any of us who have loaded charges less than 4 grains of Unique with a powder measure know the squib removal routine. :mrgreen:
It was the reason I bought a bullet puller.

 

[Ethang]

I loaded many thousands of rounds without ever having a squib until the last few years. I don't know if I have just gotten older and less attentive or something else. I have had a couple 9mm sqibs and some 45's that while not squibs, were for sure not the normal power level. Now I have two batches of loads that I make darn sure the bullets hits the berm. I can't stand the thought of pulling all those loads.

 

[FlyerTom]

Having not loaded low-power rounds for my Ruger Blackhawk before, I was ill-prepared for my session with 3.6 grs of Unique under 148 gr wadcutters. When I got that first squib, I didn't have any removal tools with me, so it was back home to pop the bullet out of the barrel. It wasn't as easy as I thought, either. I shredded a 1/4" wood dowel and broke the swivel handle on one of my cleaning rods. So it was off to Lowe's to get a length of 5/16" aluminum rod. The next day, after 3 shots of varying noise level (I saw each bullet hit the backstop), I got another FTE (Failure to Exit). I had the rod with me and knocked that bullet out, only to have the very next round go PFFHT like the others. Well, that was enough for me. A stop at the LGS for an inertia puller, and a session on the basement floor, and I had 14 rounds out of 50 with no powder or just a couple of kernels in the cases. During my next reloading session, I weighed each powder drop as I was going along, when there would be one drop with four crumbs in the case... then another, and another. Further research on this and other forums confirmed what I learned the hard way - Unique is so coarse it log-jams itself in small-capacity cavities. Hence, I switched to W231 and leave Unique for heavier charges.
I still carry that bullet-puncher-outer to shooting sessions, but thankfully haven't had to use it again.

 

[wlhawk]

I had that experience years ago when I was new to reloading. I've been much more careful to see it doesn't happen again.

 

[DGW1949]

Any of us who have loaded charges less than 4 grains of Unique with a powder measure know the squib removal routine. :mrgreen:
It was the reason I bought a bullet puller.

I understand your frustration...but in all due respect, you weren't loading 3.6 Grns of Unique. You were loading much less, and sometimes none.
3.6 Unique actually works perty-dern good under a 148 wad-cutter in a .38Spl. I've shot a gazillion of them. Thing is though, ya gotta actually insure that the powder has arrived in the case before seating the bullet, but that is true for any powder being used in any loading. In other words, squib loads can most-usually be traced back to the process. As far as that goes, so can Ka-Boom loads.

Measure twice, cut once.....just sayin'.

Stay safe.

DGW

 

[DGW1949]

Any of us who have loaded charges less than 4 grains of Unique with a powder measure know the squib removal routine. :mrgreen:
It was the reason I bought a bullet puller.

I understand your frustration...but in all due respect, you weren't loading 3.6 Grns of Unique. You were loading much less, and sometimes none.
3.6 Unique actually works perty-dern good under a 148 wad-cutter in a .38Spl. I've shot a gazillion of them. Thing is though, ya gotta actually insure that the powder has arrived in the case before seating the bullet, but that is true for any powder being used in any loading. In other words, squib loads can most-usually be traced back to the process. As far as that goes, so can Ka-Boom loads.

Measure twice, cut once.....just sayin'.

Stay safe.

DGW

That is what Flyer Tom was saying...Unique will not meter consistently at 3.6grs...not that 3.6grs would not push the bullet out of the barrel.

That aint what I read. What I read was that "less than 4 grains of Unique" produces squibs....which may be true IF one uses a LOT less, as-in none or almost none......which BTW, would also be true when using any powder.

No offense meant to anyone, but changing from one componant to another is NOT a substitute for sound loading practices. Point being that it's up to us as individuals to know the equipment which we are using, pick the right equipment for the task at hand, and to include those two into some sort of a process which allows us to make dern-sure that we are producing what we "think" we are producing.

Obviously, when one is regularly producing squib loads, SOMETHING is missing from "the process", eh?....hence my (prior) suggestion to "measure twice, cut once" which, when it comes to powder charges, can/should be appllied quite-literaly. After all, regularly-verifing one's powder charge is a time honored aspect of sound loading practice, is it not?

Stay safe.

DGW

 

[FlyerTom]

OK - here's what I meant:
"anyone who loads less than 4 grains of Unique WITH A POWDER MEASURE knows the squib removal technique."

If you read further, Unique, being a coarse powder, log-jams easily in small measuring quantities. I switched to W231 because it slips through a powder measure more easily.
Sorry if it caused any misinterpretation.

 

[Pvt. Pyle]

I had a squib once of my own doing. Im not sure how I missed it loading but I did. Thank the stars it wouldnt allow the next round to chamber as I was attempting to burn down a magazine of 8. Its a scary thought. Gotta stay on top of these things.

Glad everything ended the way it did for you.

 

[DGW1949]

OK - here's what I meant:
"anyone who loads less than 4 grains of Unique WITH A POWDER MEASURE knows the squib removal technique."

If you read further, Unique, being a coarse powder, log-jams easily in small measuring quantities. I switched to W231 because it slips through a powder measure more easily.
Sorry if it caused any misinterpretation.

I don't think that I misinterpretated anything, meaning that I agree that dispensing Unique can be problematic, and that ball powders are often prefered for that reason.
Sorry if I came off sounding too gruff.
What I was trying get at is that even though we might be dealing with a dispenser-friendly powder, we still need to adhere to safe loading practices. That's not to say that you don't, I just didn't want any new handloaders who might be reading this stuff to get the idea that substituting one componant for another means that it's safe to start taking shortcuts ..........Not saying that that is how you meant your post to read...just sayin'.

Stay safe.

DGW

 

[1911Tuner]

Most squibs are caught. The ones that cycle the slide and load a fresh round...and let the slide go completely to battery...are destructive. The gun doesn't blow up. The barrel bulges...if it's a carbon steel barrel...or bulges and splits if its stainless...and the gun just locks up.

I know that some people believe that it's impossible for a squib to cycle a slide...and at one time, I was in that camp...until I saw it happen. I was looking straight at the gun from behind and slightly to the right of the shooter from about 15 feet away. She was cleaning the plate racks, missing only rarely. I saw the slide cycle and dribble the empty case out of the port. No plate fell, and there was no strike in the dirt. I heard the light report...and before I could stop her, she pulled the trigger again. Game over.