squib happens

Crankgrinder · November 24, 2012, 09:04 PM

Howdy fokse, No matter how many times we all hear it/ read about it time and time again someone informs us when they get one stuck they try to shoot it out. Well, i had to post it happened to me today for the first time. Shooting my beretta, sp101, and gp100. i got to the gp last and wanted to shoot a few rounds of .38 to "warm up" the gun before i put my .357s through it which as i recall were 158s on top of 14.8gr 2400. after the third cylinder full i sighted in, heard a "thunk" and felt a thump right then i knew what it was. Opened it up and looked and sure enough one lodged 2/3 of the way down the barrel. Did the right thing though, brought it home opened it up and drove out the slug with a wood dowell. Looked through the barrel a few times with a light and everything looks smooth, rifling is all good and sharp (the guns almost new) did not see any evidence of a bulge that i could tell. Need to thank all those folks that posted their experiences about this kind of thing and what could go wrong. Not enough time to learn it all the hard way.

Brian Pfleuger · November 24, 2012, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crankgrinder

Did the right thing though, brought it home opened it up and drove out the slug with a wood dowell

Well...

Almost the right thing...

Wooden dowels can splinter and wedge between the barrel and the bullet. If you think a squib is a problem, you'll love it if that happens.

Brass rods are the preferred method.

Crankgrinder · November 24, 2012, 09:31 PM

in fact the first one i used did split on the end, pulled it out, checked it and drove it out with a new one. youre right though, when i get back to the shop ill be scrounging for a brass rod of proper diameter if not ill have to make one for that purpose.

Gbro · November 25, 2012, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Did the right thing though, brought it home opened it up and drove out the slug with a wood dowell. Looked through the barrel a few times with a light and everything looks smooth, rifling is all good and sharp (the guns almost new) did not see any evidence of a bulge that i could tell.

Yes you did do the right thing. But you will not do any barrel damage by squibing, that comes from firing another shot with a blocked barrel. If the next rounds are low pressure squibs they will just stack up in the barrel, but if its a full power load the gun is generally destroyed.
Here are a couple pic's i saved off this forum.

I used a centering (transfer) punch that was undersized for the barrel and put a couple/five or so wraps of electrical tape to keep it from touching the bore. I got a nice hollow point FMJ bullet now.
My SIL was using my 1911 during a action pistol match and squibbed, however he didn't recognize what it was and cycled the slide and drove the squib out with the next shot. I was watching the target and saw the double strike on the fresh painted steel and wasn't surprised when he couldn't open the slide.
The barrel was bulged.
I have plans to make a rifled liberator out of the scrap.

(just kidding)

stev32k · November 25, 2012, 10:26 AM

I've had a .40 S&W bullet get lodged in the barrel and saw right away that driving it out with a dowel pin was not going to work. I have a drill press and a machinist's cross vice so I put a pair of wooden jaws in the vice, clamped the barrel, lined it up, and drilled a good size hole though the middle of the bullet. After that the bullet came out by pushing on it with the dowel pin by hand.

hounddawg · November 25, 2012, 11:23 AM

saw a squib happen yesterday at a club match. Factory ammo. Luckily both the shooter and range officer caught it before another round was fired

dahermit · November 25, 2012, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Looked through the barrel a few times with a light and everything looks smooth, rifling is all good and sharp (the guns almost new) did not see any evidence of a bulge that i could tell.

A squib load resulting in a bullet lodged in the barrel will not cause a bulge in the barrel. What causes a bulge is shooting another shot with the barrel still plugged.

Crankgrinder · November 25, 2012, 11:52 AM

Im very glad a squib wont bulge one out by itself. Sometimes im too carefull i suppose, but couldnt help looking up and down the bore for anything strange. I couldnt help but laugh real hard at those pics too. Always real funny when its someone elses gun but hope nobody was hurt like that. Thanks for the good advice folks.

Mike38 · November 25, 2012, 12:11 PM

It’s hard to type this while knocking on wood every other letter, but I have never had a center fire squib load in my entire life of shooting. Neither factory or reloads. Now .22LR, I’ve had a few. Even did a follow up shot with a semi auto .22LR target pistol. It smeared lead in the bore badly, but didn’t do any damage. After cleaning the smeared lead out of the bore, the pistol is just as accurate as the day I bought it. If it was a center fire, I'm sure it would have done serious damage.

jepp2 · November 25, 2012, 06:13 PM

Quote:

It’s hard to type this while knocking on wood every other letter, but I have never had a center fire squib load in my entire life of shooting. Neither factory or reloads.

Keep knocking, but that isn't a guarantee. I have had a total of 2 squibs in over 50K rounds fired.

- the first was a factory load of 22 Jet. The factory load was primed but had no powder. The primer sent the bullet about 1" into the barrel. The Jet isn't a load you want to fire with a bullet blocking the barrel.

- the second was my reload. It was a book load in 32-20 Win. It had the proper amount of H110 in it, but it was on the low end of the listed loads. I had fired the next increment up and experienced different ignitions due to the lighter loading. On the first round at the lower load, it squibed and the powder never ignited. The bullet was also about 1" in the barrel with H110 packed all the way to the FC. I was half expecting it.

I second having a sold brass rod of the proper diameter (just fitting the barrel) as a jacketed bullet can be challenging to drive out. A smaller diameter rod can expand the bullet as it drives into the center of the bullet. And don't use wood, even oak. You just can't be sure of the grain, and as mentioned a wood dowel that breaks and wedges is much worse than any squib.

tank1949 · November 26, 2012, 08:25 PM

Only squibs I have ever experienced have been from my own stupidity, especially letting my wife interrupt me requesting me to do some BS task for her. I have experienced commercial "duds" but nothing disloging the bullet. However, if you are using a progressive press, some powders do not fill cases to capacity (like 38s and 357) where you can actually see that powder has gone into the case, and it is important to inspect each case to verify that powder went into brass. I use an older Dillon (before sensors) and have erected a mirrow to allow me to look inside 38 and 357 cases before seating bullet. 45s, 9mm, and 10 mm on the other hand require a greater volume per case capacity. In my process, no mirror is required for these. Most of my squibs have been in rifles. I couldn't chamber a new rnd. A couple in revolvers made the guns inoperable and I had to remove the cylindar. Good luck..

November 24, 2012, 09:04 PM	#1
Crankgrinder Senior Member Join Date: July 24, 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 917	squib happens Howdy fokse, No matter how many times we all hear it/ read about it time and time again someone informs us when they get one stuck they try to shoot it out. Well, i had to post it happened to me today for the first time. Shooting my beretta, sp101, and gp100. i got to the gp last and wanted to shoot a few rounds of .38 to "warm up" the gun before i put my .357s through it which as i recall were 158s on top of 14.8gr 2400. after the third cylinder full i sighted in, heard a "thunk" and felt a thump right then i knew what it was. Opened it up and looked and sure enough one lodged 2/3 of the way down the barrel. Did the right thing though, brought it home opened it up and drove out the slug with a wood dowell. Looked through the barrel a few times with a light and everything looks smooth, rifling is all good and sharp (the guns almost new) did not see any evidence of a bulge that i could tell. Need to thank all those folks that posted their experiences about this kind of thing and what could go wrong. Not enough time to learn it all the hard way.

November 25, 2012, 11:23 AM	#6
hounddawg Senior Member Join Date: March 1, 2009 Posts: 4,232	saw a squib happen yesterday at a club match. Factory ammo. Luckily both the shooter and range officer caught it before another round was fired __________________ “How do I get to the next level?” Well, you get to the next level by being the first one on the range and the last one to leave.” – Jerry Miculek

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November 24, 2012, 09:31 PM	#3
Crankgrinder Senior Member Join Date: July 24, 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 917	in fact the first one i used did split on the end, pulled it out, checked it and drove it out with a new one. youre right though, when i get back to the shop ill be scrounging for a brass rod of proper diameter if not ill have to make one for that purpose.

November 25, 2012, 10:26 AM	#5
stev32k Junior Member Join Date: November 8, 2012 Posts: 12	I've had a .40 S&W bullet get lodged in the barrel and saw right away that driving it out with a dowel pin was not going to work. I have a drill press and a machinist's cross vice so I put a pair of wooden jaws in the vice, clamped the barrel, lined it up, and drilled a good size hole though the middle of the bullet. After that the bullet came out by pushing on it with the dowel pin by hand.

November 25, 2012, 11:52 AM	#8
Crankgrinder Senior Member Join Date: July 24, 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 917	Im very glad a squib wont bulge one out by itself. Sometimes im too carefull i suppose, but couldnt help looking up and down the bore for anything strange. I couldnt help but laugh real hard at those pics too. Always real funny when its someone elses gun but hope nobody was hurt like that. Thanks for the good advice folks.

November 25, 2012, 12:11 PM	#9
Mike38 Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2009 Location: North Central Illinois Posts: 2,710	It’s hard to type this while knocking on wood every other letter, but I have never had a center fire squib load in my entire life of shooting. Neither factory or reloads. Now .22LR, I’ve had a few. Even did a follow up shot with a semi auto .22LR target pistol. It smeared lead in the bore badly, but didn’t do any damage. After cleaning the smeared lead out of the bore, the pistol is just as accurate as the day I bought it. If it was a center fire, I'm sure it would have done serious damage.

November 26, 2012, 08:25 PM	#11
tank1949 member Join Date: November 12, 2012 Posts: 243	Only squibs I have ever experienced have been from my own stupidity, especially letting my wife interrupt me requesting me to do some BS task for her. I have experienced commercial "duds" but nothing disloging the bullet. However, if you are using a progressive press, some powders do not fill cases to capacity (like 38s and 357) where you can actually see that powder has gone into the case, and it is important to inspect each case to verify that powder went into brass. I use an older Dillon (before sensors) and have erected a mirrow to allow me to look inside 38 and 357 cases before seating bullet. 45s, 9mm, and 10 mm on the other hand require a greater volume per case capacity. In my process, no mirror is required for these. Most of my squibs have been in rifles. I couldn't chamber a new rnd. A couple in revolvers made the guns inoperable and I had to remove the cylindar. Good luck..