First Squib Load

jhagberg88

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had my first squib load last night with a .38 snub nose, the projectile was pushed almost to the end of the barrel. its a little unnerving but it was easily identified with no recoil and a loud popping noise.
 
I had it happen with 20+ year old factory loads last trip to the range. It's what prompted me to make squib rods. I did a karma for three of them, to three different green members (two mailed out, third will be picked up here).

While your chances of getting a squib with factory loads is low, it's not zero. If you are attentive when reloading, chances of getting one is also low. Having a way to clear the squib in your range bag means you don't have to end the range day over it.
 
no no not factory, one of my own.

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i did have a squib with a friends WWB 9mm about 2 years ago.
 
I have had two in the last two months. Is it generally an undercharge that causes these? Or crappy/poorly kept powder? Crappy primers? Could too little headspace cause one?

Or is it really the crappy reloader? Everytime I seem to have a load GTG, I get some crappy failure mode that did not appear on test loads.

(A squib caused me to have a crappy evening, if you were wondering, and yes I have all my fingers and a non-damaged firearm)
 
Damn, well glad everything was okay from your ability to pay attention. I still haven't dealt with this yet, but I dread just the idea of it happening.

Charles.
 
I have had two in the last two months. Is it generally an undercharge that causes these? Or crappy/poorly kept powder? Crappy primers? Could too little headspace cause one?

Or is it really the crappy reloader? Everytime I seem to have a load GTG, I get some crappy failure mode that did not appear on test loads.

(A squib caused me to have a crappy evening, if you were wondering, and yes I have all my fingers and a non-damaged firearm)

What caliber, press, powder, and charge weight?

Several things can cause a squib, but the most common reason is no/low powder.
 
I have had two in the last two months. Is it generally an undercharge that causes these? Or crappy/poorly kept powder? Crappy primers? Could too little headspace cause one?

Or is it really the crappy reloader? Everytime I seem to have a load GTG, I get some crappy failure mode that did not appear on test loads.

(A squib caused me to have a crappy evening, if you were wondering, and yes I have all my fingers and a non-damaged firearm)

You are leaving out the most significant factor with respect to a squib: human error. Your processes and equipment setup make a huge difference.

Sent from Samsung Note 2
 
9mm Luger, 5.0-5.1 gr autocomp, col 1.1" Montana gold 115 fmj, hornady single stage, rcbs dies.

I had made and fired about ~80 rounds before the squib. My initial load of 15 chrono'd ~1100-1125

Dcmdon, by "crappy reloader", I was referring to myself. [laugh]
 
Ha.

Well, I've loaded about 30K pistol rounds and have not had any squibs. I'm paranoid about it, maybe that helps. I've had duds, but no squibs.

I shoot a lot of revolver so squibs are particularly dangerous to me. In a semi-auto, a squib won't cycle the action, so you have a reason to pause and reflect while you clear the jam. A revolver, you just squeeze the trigger again and you launch another bullet, possibly into the back of the first.

Here are some thoughts.

1) I won't run with the powder hopper less than half full. Less powder means less force available to make sure the powder drops.

2) I clean the inside of the powder system with q tips and acetone or some other VOC to completely remove any trace of oil from the powder's path.

3) On my Dillon 650s, where I'm really making stuff fast, I have a Dillon powder check.

4) Even on the 650s, I don't actually go that fast. My cyclic rate is maybe 500 rounds per hour. Actual output when you figure in digging .380s off the shell plate and loading primers is closer to 400 rounds per hour.

5) Nothing beats eyeballing the round. When I load AA5 into 9mm to make hotter loads its easy to see the powder and impossible to double charge because it fills more than half of the 9mm shell. When I load only 4 gr of Clays into a .45, its difficult to see the powder and you would not recognize a double charge. So I also use a mirror and a light on the press to facilitate looking into each shell.

6) Know your limitations. I am a bit ADD, so I limit myself to 300 rounds without a pause. Then I go upstairs and fill primer tubes. Also for me I keep a "sterile cockpit". No radio, no TV, no other stuff.

7) on my turret, I do use an auto powder drop. Its a lee drop. The key with lee disk drops is to make sure that things are adjusted so that when the handle is at the botom of the stroke, the hole in the disk is directly under the bore of the hopper and riser. If its not, you could have problems. Particularly when

1) Its a large grain powder, like Clays
2) Its a small sized disk hole for light charges (like 2.9 gr of clays in .38 spc)
3) The hopper is not very full.
4) The insides of the lee parts have not been fully cleansed of oil and grease.

8) Thoroughly QC your loaded ammo. This won't help with a squib directly. But the better you know how "good " ammo looks and feels, the better you can avoid a squib. for example, I can tell if a .223 has powder because when I shake it, I can feel the powder move back and forth.

You can also tell if a rifle cartridge has powder because the powder weighs so much.
For example. A .45 may have a 200 gr bullet and use 4 gr of powder. So the powder makes up a tiny portion of the total cartridge weight. Unless you are confident in the consistency of your cases and bullets, you couldn't confirm the presence of powder by weighing the cartridge.

However, lets compare this with a .223 cartridge. In that case, the powder may be 25 gr and the bullet may be 55 gr. Wow. In this case it is EASY to weigh a complete cartridge and tell if its got powder. Especially since most .223 bullets are within .2 gr of each other.

When in doubt, weigh it. If still in doubt, take it apart.


I hope this helps. I know its only a matter of time before i get one, but I'll do my best to avoid one.


Don
 
We all screw up. The trick is coming up with a process that works for you to make sure you catch yourself. When I'm reloading pistol on my turret, I look in before seating the bullet.

When I'm loading rifle, I actually give it a shake when it comes off the press to feel the powder inside move.
 
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We had a shooter on the line at this Sunday's pistol shoot have a squib round. ShaneF and I both noticed it immediately and yelled STOP. Was a .38 Special in a S&W revolver. A rod proved the barrel to be clear but we were able to stop the shooter before he could pull the trigger again. Several people asked us afterwards "How did you know/hear that?" Years of Range Officer experience for both of us.

If you hear POP, yell STOP!

Better safe than sorry.
 
A squib in my .45 1911 will cycle the slide, same with my beretta 96.

Define squib. Do you mean something with no powder or low powder? Do you mean something that leaves the bullet in the bbl, or just a weak load.

Are you running the stock recoil spring?

I find it to be nearly impossible that a load that doesn't get the bullet out of the barrel will cycle a slide. The recoil that drives the slide back is caused by the bullet accelerating out of the barrel. If the bullet accelerates forward then decelerates to a stop in the barrel, the net recoil is zero.

On a practical side, when I was working up target loads, my 1911 wouldn't cycle a 4.0 gr load of clays under a 200 gr swc with the stock recoil spring. So again, it seems impossible that a load so weak it can't get a bullet out of the barrel would have enough recoil to run the slide back enough to pick up a new round.

Then again, maybe your squib is comparable to my target load.
 
I had a couple of squibs because the cases were wet when I loaded them. I had washed my brass in the sink the night before.

Well there's your problem. While you are in the kitchen, get out your wife's cookie sheets and spread the a single layer deep and set the oven on 150 deg convection.
They're perfectly dried inside and out in 20 minutes.

Ha. I thought I was really slick until I noticed that the brass left marks on the cookie sheets. The marks are still there. I chuckle every time I see it. I think the copper reacted with the stainless sheet.
 
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