I'm relatively new to reloading, been through about 4000 rounds of 9mm so far so not much experience yet. I had my first squib the other day in my 226 which surprised me as I'm in the habit of looking for powder before inserting each bullet during the process (newbie caution if anything). Also surprising was that the recoil was normal and so was the sound. The stuck bullet (about 3/4 inch into the barrel) and the brass (which didn't eject) were both pretty burned. I'm not saying that I didn't make a mistake, but the fact that it didn't show any classic signs of a squib when I fired made me wonder. Is there anything besides a powderless round that can lead to a stuck bullet? Did the burning indicate that powder was ignited or would a primer-only shot do the same? Every time I google the topic of a stuck bullet a squib seems to be the only root cause that's talked about.
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First (not a) squib?
- Thread starter MikeyT
- Start date
Me too which is why I asked this seemingly stupid question, maybe it was a weak round and I didn't notice the difference, but based on the videos I've seen, it should have been obvious and noticeable.
There is always a chance that the bullet wasn't crimped in tight enough and was set back into the case but I suspect that would be a slim chance. The tapered 9mm case could allow enough gas to pass around a set back bullet to prevent it from building enough pressure to travel the barrel length.
It is more likely just the primer or perhaps the primer and a small amount of powder burned. There wasn't enough pressure built to push the bullet down the pipe so there wasn't enough pressure to expand the brass out in the chamber to seal the gasses that were there from whatever was burning inside. The slide likely opened enough to allow the gasses to escape without enough pressure to eject the case. Had there been enough recoil to operate the slide fully you'd have loaded another round into the chamber and likely done a bit of damage to your Sig and possibly yourself when you fired that round.
Other than being sooty was there anything unusual about the case? Signs of damage or overpressure? Was there any unburned powder?
It is more likely just the primer or perhaps the primer and a small amount of powder burned. There wasn't enough pressure built to push the bullet down the pipe so there wasn't enough pressure to expand the brass out in the chamber to seal the gasses that were there from whatever was burning inside. The slide likely opened enough to allow the gasses to escape without enough pressure to eject the case. Had there been enough recoil to operate the slide fully you'd have loaded another round into the chamber and likely done a bit of damage to your Sig and possibly yourself when you fired that round.
Other than being sooty was there anything unusual about the case? Signs of damage or overpressure? Was there any unburned powder?
I didn't see any signs of damage on the brass other than it being sooty nor did I notice any unburned powder, there was a good amount buildup behind the round but it appeared to be all burned to me. Now that I think of it, the brass didn't come out when I pulled the slide back the first time, I had to smack it forward and pull it back again to get it out, but it wasn't stuck enough that I had to get out a tool, so perhaps there was a bit of bloating I didn't visually see.
