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Old June 26, 2010, 11:10 AM   #1
cryogenic419
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First squib I ever experienced

So I was at the range yesterday and had un unusual experience. Firing my 9mm and my last shot sounded very weak. Also thought it was odd since the slide did not lock back and the brass stovepiped. Dropped the mag, pulled the slide back and held out the gun to see if I could spot any daylight...nothing.
Field stripped it and finally got a good look at the barrel. There was blackened powder still in the chamber and the bullet was not very far into the barrel. Used a brass rod sealed in electrical tape and 3 medium taps of the hammer got it out. The stovepiped brass was also completely black inside and out. I've checked the brass and did not see any cracks, seperations, pieces missing.

I recently switched over to a progressive setup and before somebody says I didn't have enough powder, I have been using a powder check die and everything was coming up good. I load one at a time and watch every movement on this thing until I get more comfortable its operation.

How likely is it I had a bad primer? One of the things I noticed that make me lean towards a bad primer is the powder did not burn up, just turned black. Making me think there was not enough ignition to get the powder really going, just enough to lodge it in the barrel slightly. I've been reading up on this all morning and I know its a 1 in 100,00 shot that a primer can be bad. I've never had any issues with my guns or ammo except some crappy mags that misfed more often than they worked correctly I had for my AR-15 back in the AWB days. So I am actually curious as to why it happened and the one thing I keep coming back on is the primer. I suppose contaminated power is an option as well, but everything else shot fine and the rest of what I was shooting yesterday was loaded at the same time.

Would love to hear thoughts or experiences with squibs.
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Old June 26, 2010, 12:45 PM   #2
Ozzieman
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Had one of those myself years ago and never figured it out.
Take a good look down the empty failed case and look at the primer hole and look for any kind of obstruction. A friend loaded several hundred 38 cases and had a bunch of squib loads out of the 12 he fired. None of them stuck in the barrel but he said he could see the bullet heading down range.
And yes when I asked why he continued to fire he did one of those “Duha,,,,,, Yea your right should have stopped on the second one."
He brought them over since he didn’t own a bullet puller and we pulled several apart. What we found was that several cases had cleaning medium in the primer pockets.
He said that he have never had that problem before but had started using cat litter to clean cases.
He would size them then clean them.
I also load on a single stage press and use loading blocks. I dump powder into the cases when there in the loading block but the last thing I do before dumping powder is take a flash light and look at each and every primer hole and make sure I can see the back side of the anvil.

Last edited by Ozzieman; June 26, 2010 at 12:52 PM.
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Old June 26, 2010, 01:00 PM   #3
zippy13
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It's a small world…
I had my first squib yesterday, too. A .45ACP in my buddy's Springfield. Thank goodness, the bullet lodged in the forcing cone and prevented the chambering of subsequent rounds.

I try to be attentive when loading and especially vigilant to avoid double charging (a real possibility with with Bullseye). Since they were fresh reloads, I tried to remember what might have happened -- it's usually some sort of distraction that breaks my rhythm with the vintage Dillion 450/550. Then I remembered, I'd had to interrupt my loading when the bellcrank cube, a self-lubricating plastic bushing, split and jammed up the works. I suspended loading long enough to find a suitable piece of plastic and made up a replacement bushing. Obviously, an uncharged, but belled case case snuck through during the repair work. On the bright side, better a dozen squibs than one double charge.
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Old June 26, 2010, 01:05 PM   #4
Brian Pfleuger
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What powder, charge and bullet are you using?
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Old June 26, 2010, 01:17 PM   #5
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peetzakilla,
In the .45ACPs, I was using 5.4 gr of Win 231 under 195 gr home cast SWCs.
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Old June 26, 2010, 01:21 PM   #6
cryogenic419
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Mine was 4.7 H. Universal under a 124gr Berrys
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Old June 26, 2010, 01:41 PM   #7
Xfire68
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"Cat litter" as cleaning media? Is this something that is used in place of corncob media? Cat litter is made out of clay and I would not IMO use it to clean brass but, hey that is just me.
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Old June 26, 2010, 04:00 PM   #8
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My first and only squib was with my AMT AutoMag in 9mm Magnum (9x29)! It stuck right at the muzzle. There wasn't a lot of powder left about so it was either under charged or no charge but if it was no charged I am VERY surprised how far a primer alone pushed that 147 grain pill!


I knew it was a squib when I pulled the trigger and yelled "SQUIB!" Everyone stopped firing and gathered around to see it. (it was a group shoot). I field stripped it and borrowed someone's cleaning rod to pound the bullet out. I put her back together and continued on without any more issues!

PS: These are my loads as you can't buy "factory" ammo for the 9mm WinMag any more and reloads are $5.00 EACH on the web!
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Old June 27, 2010, 10:30 AM   #9
cryogenic419
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Cat litter...I could see if its one of those new age cat litters made from ground up walnut shell or something. Definately not the old school kitty litter.

9mm WinMag....just thank your lucky stars Starline is still making brass for them, 5 bucks a shot is insane. I know for those who don't load it may be their only option.
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Old June 27, 2010, 12:10 PM   #10
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Life's getting way too complicated when we have to worry about the consistency of cat littler. My main concern is that Costco cat litter no longer comes in those convenient buckets.
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Old June 27, 2010, 08:40 PM   #11
Ozzieman
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Let’s just say that he thought it over and quit using cat litter all together.
He used it because it was easy to find and very cheap and it did a great job of cleaning.
I have often wondered at what the chemicals that are in cat little for clumping and keeping odor down did to the inside of the case.
One of the cases I looked at the primer was actually deformed a little from all the crap that was stuck in the primer pocket.
I ‘m amazed that he has never blown up a gun,,, at least not yet.
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Old June 29, 2010, 08:50 AM   #12
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Squib loads

I always carry a RANGE ROD and a small HAMMER to remove the stuck bullet from the barrel.
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Old June 29, 2010, 05:00 PM   #13
zippy13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MADISON
I always carry a RANGE ROD and a small HAMMER to remove the stuck bullet from the barrel.
Yes, and thanks for the reminder. A rod/dowel can be a shooter's best friend in the event of a squib. The hammer is nice, but there's usually something at the range that will substitute.
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