First stuck bullet

[1Victor30]

Ran into my first stuck bullet today. Had been firing my Black Powder pistol and switched over to the 9mm. Got off 9 rounds before #10 did not sound right. Case barely cleared the slide. No further rounds would load. Took the gun apart and saw that there was a bullet stuck in the barrel. Two things come to mind...I did not put powder (or enough powder) in the case or there was a bad primer. I hand measure each load and am pretty meticulous about making sure the right amount of powder is in each case. Not saying I did not screw up. Would a bad primer have enough oomph to push the bullet into the barrel?

[Valornor]

Yes, a primer with no powder has enough to ooomph to unseat the bullet and get it stuck in the first 1/4 or so of the rifling. It's happened to me a couple times when I was having trouble with my autodisk. That's for sure happened to me with lead bullets but I don't think I've managed to have a squib on plated or jacket bullet.

The trick with squibs is getting them to roll out the end of the barrel, so they drop on the ground in front of you. I've gotten close but I haven't perfected it yet

[1Victor30]

I was using Montana Gold 124gr CMJ over 4.5gr of Bullseye...or so I thought!! It did not go very far before it got stuck. Was going to a LGS on the way home anyway and they got it out for me. Stuff happens I guess. Probably won't be the last time.

[jepp2]

You did good recognizing the change and stopping to check. Don't do this....

[Valornor]

Squibs happen, maybe not to everyone, but they happen. That's why its important to pay attention while you are shooting. When you get a bang, bang, pop. Stop. Don't to a tap rack drill, just stop. Eject the mag, open the chamber and inspect the firearm.

Also if you let other people shoot you pistol with reloads, inform them you've got reloads, and if anything sounds funny or doesn't feel right. Stop. Let you inspect the gun.

Like I said, Squibs happen, its why I don't use my reloads for self defense, I know I make mistakes, more often then ammo manufacturers. If wanted to be really, really careful, sure I'd put together a self defense load, when it comes to that, there are too many variables and legal issues I just would rather leave alone.

[1Victor30]

I also use factory ammo for defense loads. My reloads are just for my fun. Have had several people want me to reload for them and I say nope. If I am going to screw up, then I only want one person to get the bad end of the deal and that would be me. I do know that this incident will make me even more careful about my loads. I am never in a rush and I never do more than 100 rounds at a time. Spending too much time doing this could make you just a little complacent. When I do shoot, I shoot slowly, listening to each round. That is what made me stop and check what was going on.

[Sevens]

jepp2, I'm trying to figure just by looking -- are those .22 Magnum slugs in a stainless Single Six convertible?

I'm really curious to know what's going on with that one. Bore looks -so- small. But .22 Magnum isn't something the typical handloader is going to under-charge, as we don't handload rimfire. (Most of us, I mean... [b]FrankenMauser need not reply! )

Those are jacketed bullets in the picture, so we know it's not .22LR. But small bore... long slug... what are we looking at?

[dssajj]

Valornor
I did the same thing a decade ago when I first started reloading. It was a jacketed soft point 38 spl. Luckily it was second or third round fired and didn't sound the same as the ones fired before.

[DennRN]

Sounds more like a light charge or something interfering with ignition to me. A primer going off will stick it in the bore but generally won't have enough oomph to cycle the slide enough to eject the brass. Of course tha's all dependant on slide mass and springs but in general it doesnt sound like no powder at all. Good catch though, saved yourself from a potentially bad day.

[PA-Joe]

This is why I like a loading block where I can set all the rounds in a tray and look down into them to make certain all the powder seems to be the same.

Doesn't work on a progressive.

[pgdion]

Also if you let other people shoot you pistol with reloads, inform them you've got reloads, and if anything sounds funny or doesn't feel right. Stop. Let you inspect the gun.

Not just for reloads. My son had a squib on some cheap Russian ammo in my new Bersa Thunder 380. He noticed the difference in the firing but didn't know to check for a bad round. He sent another round down with one still stuck in the barrel. It ruined the barrel. Bigger deal was getting the old barrel off. It was bulged so the slide wouldn't fit over it. It took some careful machining to get the gun apart and the old barrel out. Luckily the new barrel from Bersa was only $40 and after a couple of weeks the new gun was as good as new again.

[pathdoc]

Been there, done that. Pushed a 150gn rifle bullet far enough out of the case on primer power alone that I bent the lead nose driving it back out of the barrel. Thought I'd hangfired it at first, but all the noise must have been swallowed up getting the thing out of the case.

[Tejicano]

Many years ago I used to go out shooting with groups as big as 8 to 10 people. Not anymore.

One time some friends of friends came along with some ammo to shoot - but didn't have any of their own guns. They were shooting that ammo in my Colt Trooper with an 8" barrel. I was a few feet back when one shot didn't sound right - the shooter didn't notice but I couldn't get his attention quick enough to stop him. He fired the next round which was blocked by the first bullet about 4 inches down the bore and bulged the barrel at that point.

[ShootingNut]

Squibs stopped years ago, when I started loading in "batches", and ran my light over every charged casing in the lot. Powder type in some auto powder drops can run amiss.
SN

[1Victor30]

Needless to say that I will be checking each case to make sure there is powder in it. I hand load each round in batches of 50. A few extra seconds might help prevent this from happening again.

[RC20]

I would guess more likely a missed powder charge. How do I know? Got back into reloading a couple years back after a long hiatus and probmply did just that (also 9mm!). What I failed to realize was that the auto memory was not as good as it was when I was reloading (you never know how sharp you were until you loose it).

My more meticualous borhter had the same thing happen.

End result, we inspect each trya of charged cases visualy before puttin bullets in them rather than assume. I have had no more failures since (though sometimes out of habit I start to put bullets in before my case check, stop, do so.)

One very handy tool is the digianl scale you can check if there is powder in the case. I think I caugth one I was suspoius of that way.

I also use factory ammo for defense loads. My reloads are just for my fun. Have had several people want me to reload for them and I say nope. If I am going to screw up, then I only want one person to get the bad end of the deal and that would be me. I do know that this incident will make me even more careful about my loads. I am never in a rush and I never do more than 100 rounds at a time. Spending too much time doing this could make you just a little complacent. When I do shoot, I shoot slowly, listening to each round. That is what made me stop and check what was going on.

My take as well. I have yet to have a factory round fail and the Golden Sabers are more accurate than anything I can hand load in 9mm. Of course the hand-loads are good backup if you ever needed it and would have no issue but that would be a drastic situaiton and hope never to have that occur.

the only people I share hand loads with is are my brothers and never for anyone else or sale.

[44-40]

I've done it more than once using to coarse of powder in an auto disc, or being so pleased with myself by finally getting my pro 1000 to operate smoothly and glancing up at the empty powder hopper wondering how many rounds ago that happened.......CRAP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!