Finally had a squib

Doc Holliday 1950 · December 11, 2019, 12:15 AM

Since shooting since 1970, I've never encountered squib before. Well I sure did with my G43X last week. I heard pop & immediately ejected the shell.I did not realize that I had a bullet in my barrel .I thought I cleared everything
but was I wrong. the next round jammed in & that's all she wrote. My GS has ordered a new barrel & will cut out the old one when it arrives.
Has anyone else screwed up like this before?

jimbob86 · December 11, 2019, 12:36 AM

I've had it happen with a borrowed gun (and the owner's reloads) at a pin match....... luckily the bullet stuck very close to the chamber, and the next round would not completely chamber/ gun would not go into battery.

My brother also had one ...... seems a spider got into one of his cases ..... and got powder dumped on him, and trapped in there when the bullet got seated on top ..... apparently, spiders and Universal don't mix .....

74A95 · December 11, 2019, 12:36 AM

You're not the first. Squibs are very dangerous.

https://americanhandgunner.com/handg...ger-of-squibs/

AK103K · December 11, 2019, 08:25 AM

They happen, and if you shoot enough, youre bound to have one at some point.

Ive only had a few with my autos, and only one that actually stuck in the barrel. The others all cleared, but the guns didnt cycle.

Ive had more with my revolvers, and most of those did stick in the barrel. I think the revolvers are actually more dangerous in this respect, as they will often let you send the next round with nothing more than a trigger pull.

This was the last one I had, which was earlier this summer. Got into a discussion on another board about ammo and water resistance and soaked a handful of reloads for a couple of days. This was the final resul of 5 or so rounds fired from my one Glock 17. Some fired fine, some fired, but were noticeably off, cleared the barrel, but they didnt cycle, and then this.....

Almost!

What I normally do in practice when I have a round that sounds "off", is to do the malfunction drill, TRB, ect, and then follow through to the point of shooting, but instead of shooting at the end, do a mental "bang", then stop and clear the gun and check.

With the revolvers, I dont pull the trigger again until its checked.

If youre paying attention, the squib, or other than normal rounds, are usually very noticeable when they happen, and worthy of a check.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbob86

My brother also had one ...... seems a spider got into one of his cases ..... and got powder dumped on him, and trapped in there when the bullet got seated on top ..... apparently, spiders and Universal don't mix .....

This actually isnt all that uncommon, especially if you scrounge brass thats been laying awhile.

What the problem there is, is usually the little sticky cocoon they lay in the bottom of the case, that often doesnt come out during tumbling and is easily missed, especially when handling a lot of cases. I actually had one yesterday while loading. I usually catch them when charging the case and checking the block for powder levels before seating the bullets. The cases with the cocoon, usually have the powder to the top of the case, if not overflowing.

My buddy and I actually got into a discussion on loading methods and this came up. He loads "one round at a time", where I load "by the blocks".

He swears you cant screw up by throwing the charge, and then immediately seating the bullet.

I like to throw 50 at a shot and then do two checks, a visual comparison check on powder levels on the block, and then weigh three across the block as a QC check.

He says Im being less safe and wasing my time. Too much of a chance to screw up between throwing the charge and seating the bullet. We still argue about it now and then.

USNRet93 · December 11, 2019, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doc Holliday 1950

Since shooting since 1970, I've never encountered squib before. Well I sure did with my G43X last week. I heard pop & immediately ejected the shell.I did not realize that I had a bullet in my barrel .I thought I cleared everything
but was I wrong. the next round jammed in & that's all she wrote. My GS has ordered a new barrel & will cut out the old one when it arrives.
Has anyone else screwed up like this before?

What ammo??

jimbob86 · December 11, 2019, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbob86 View Post
My brother also had one ...... seems a spider got into one of his cases ..... and got powder dumped on him, and trapped in there when the bullet got seated on top ..... apparently, spiders and Universal don't mix .....

Quote:

This actually isnt all that uncommon, especially if you scrounge brass thats been laying awhile.

What the problem there is, is usually the little sticky cocoon they lay in the bottom of the case, that often doesnt come out during tumbling and is easily missed, especially when handling a lot of cases. I actually had one yesterday while loading. I usually catch them when charging the case and checking the block for powder levels before seating the bullets. The cases with the cocoon, usually have the powder to the top of the case, if not overflowing.

My buddy and I actually got into a discussion on loading methods and this came up. He loads "one round at a time", where I load "by the blocks".

He swears you cant screw up by throwing the charge, and then immediately seating the bullet.

I like to throw 50 at a shot and then do two checks, a visual comparison check on powder levels on the block, and then weigh three across the block as a QC check.

He says Im being less safe and wasing my time. Too much of a chance to screw up between throwing the charge and seating the bullet. We still argue about it now and then.

This was a 38 special, loaded on a Dillon progressive press - cases deprimed and cleaned and then loaded into the hopper and left for some time, in a basement ..... this basement was notoriously infested with big wolf spiders .... apparently one of those buggers crawled in there and failed to escape .... the primer went "Pop!" and upon investigation, there was a lot of unburned powder and spider legs in the case and a bullet in the forcing cone ..... some penetrating oil, patience and a tap from a copper drift fixed that ..... no cobwebs/cocoon or anything ..... he keeps all his cases in ziploc bags now, and uses a powder check die on the press.

RAfiringline · December 11, 2019, 11:32 AM

>Has anyone else screwed up like this before?<

Something similar, but mine was with an AR.
The explanation in my case involved 2 problems: a dead primer, and a bullet that wasn't tightly crimped to case.

"My first squib" thread.

TunnelRat · December 11, 2019, 12:20 PM

Tens of thousands of rounds and not yet. I've had noticeably light loads but they've all cleared the barrel. Probably due for one now that I said this.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Gary Gill · December 11, 2019, 12:35 PM

I too have reloaded for more than 30 years with no squibs until today. Recently, I hand loaded a couple thousand rounds of 9mm using Berry's 124gn round nose bullets and Accurate No. 5 powder. I have shot more than a thousand of them just fine.

This morning the third round I fired in my Glock 26 had an unusual sound. I dropped the magazine and racked the slide and found the blackened case still in the gun. The bullet was lodged about 3/8" shy of the muzzle. The interior of the case looked like every other with residue. Didn't see any fractures or defects in the case. I was able to drive the bullet on out. I measured the barrel diameter and roundness. No problem there.

I charge 50 cases to the tray and visually inspect powder level under a light before seating bullets.

I doubt I will know the exact cause but I will try to be more careful.

jetinteriorguy · December 11, 2019, 05:25 PM

I shoot nothing but handloads, 9mm, .38, .357, and .41mag. I keep a section of cleaning Rod in my range bag to check the bore anytime I feel a weak round or anytime something just feels off. I have saved a couple barrels over the years, I've also learned how not to just pull the trigger without being aware of what's happening before the next round goes off.

Mike38 · December 11, 2019, 05:38 PM

I had a squib load in a .22 LR pistol. It must have been the last round of a magazine, and I put in fresh mag, chambered and shot. I didn't notice a thing. Shot ten times at a target, went to score target, it had ten holes. Though four of the holes where way outside the group, I figured it was just me. New target, another ten rounds, looked like a bad shotgun pattern. So I examined the bore. You could not see the rifling the leading was so bad. Took me a couple days of scrubbing, and got the lead out. Shot that pistol another couple years before selling it. Didn't effect accuracy a bit. To this day, I'm not 100% sure what happened. The only thing I can figure was a follow up shot pushed the squib bullet out, but leaded bore bad. I got lucky.

pete2 · December 11, 2019, 05:52 PM

I've had 3 , all in revolvers. in all 3 the bullet stopped still in the cylinder and forcing cone, stopped the gun. I have seen others have worse problems, 1 was a 1911, bulged bbl, another was a nice Colt Official police, bulged bbl. One 1911 gun the bullet stopped and wouldn't allow the next round to chamber, he got lucky.
2 of mine had no powder. One was a plated HB wadcutter, my pet load wasn't strong enough to push the plated bullets, had one that didn't make it to the target even tho it was pushed all the way out the bbl. Some shot normally but the load was just on the edge and was a mistake. It was the same load I used for lead HB WCs(I still use the load with lead). I got rid of the plated bullets.
Be careful. If the report doesn't sound right, stop and check it out before you chamber the next round and send it down range. A squib may tie the gun up OR it may allow you to chamber another round.

mikejonestkd · December 11, 2019, 06:33 PM

I have had three squibs: 1 was a weak 22 round that just made it to the end of the barrel.
two others were in centerfire revolvers and 700X powder - it bridged my powder measure... I'll never use 700X with light loads again

FrankenMauser · December 11, 2019, 06:48 PM

Quote:

My GS has ordered a new barrel & will cut out the old one when it arrives.

Unless you pulled the trigger, there's nothing more required to put the pistol back in service besides pushing the bullet out of the barrel (and maybe a quick cleaning).

No new barrel necessary.
No 'cutting' necessary.
Just an appropriate punch or rod, and possibly a hammer.

More often than not, bullets from squibs can be pushed out of the barrel with a cleaning rod, at the shooting location.

----

I've had long hang-fires from really old ammo that was stored poorly and gifted to me, as well as failures to fire. No real squibs ... yet.

My only 'squibs' with bullets lodged in the bore were actually from loss of gas seal with light powder charges in experimental situations. (.30-40 Krag, and .30 WCF, respectively)

Doc Holliday 1950 · December 11, 2019, 07:34 PM

yes I pulled the trigger & the ammo I used was new in the box from Remington.
I've used this ammo(9mm) for quite some time & have had no problems up until now. I still feel like I was an idiot for not realizing what was happening.

Bartholomew Roberts · December 11, 2019, 08:54 PM

I bought three cases of Federal XM193PD. One of those cases had a whole bunch of underpowered rounds that were dropping 8” low or occasionally hitting the dirt before the 100yd target. You could feel the difference.

Like an idiot, I kept shooting it. One day, I could tell I had a squib because the recoil was different and the action didn’t cycle; but I swore I saw the impact down range so I racked the charging handle to continue. Luckily for me the bullet didn’t go far and the next round couldn’t chamber.

After that I figured rolling the dice on bad ammo wasn’t worth it and gave the remaining 600+ something rounds to a friend who broke them down for reloading components.

Shoot enough and you’ll come across a squib eventually.

AK103K · December 11, 2019, 08:56 PM

I quit buying pretty much anything Remington related after buying about 10000 of their small pistol primers for a real good price a few years back.

That was about a 1000 or more unexpected malfunction drills, due to duds/fail to fires I had to wade through until they worked their way through the queue.

Ricekila · December 11, 2019, 09:23 PM

A year or so ago - our fearless leader ( NRA board member ) got us a deal on some Winchester white box ammo 22LR ( factory floor sweepings ) 555 count - for our Women on Target classes --

Squibs / misfires / duds -- pure crap --

After two classes and about 15 problems -- I tossed 6 boxes in the salt water canal --

1MoreFord · December 11, 2019, 09:25 PM

OP, your first warning was the odd sounding report. The second warning was when you had to eject the empty brass. At that point you should have checked the barrel for an obstruction.

That's one of the reasons I like semi autos. You get two squib warnings.

Bart B. · December 12, 2019, 11:33 AM

Shooting a rimfire prone match with a scoped rifle, one round fired but no bullet seen going to the target, shot sounded muffled so I quit shooting. Removed the bolt then gently pushed a cleaning rod into the bore until its tip stopped about an inch back from the muzzle. Pushed the lead bullet out then pushed two patches through the bore, shot two rounds on the sighter bull to verify zero then shot the rest of the record shots.

Called the USA Eley ammo rep to ask about this incident. He said it rarely happens but that round probably had a tenth of a grain, or less, of powder if it stopped an inch short of the 26" long barrel muzzle.

I've fired several 7.62 NATO rounds without powder. Bullets never left the case mouth. Black primer residue inside the case and on bullet heel. Less than 130 psi in the case from primers firing.

FrankenMauser · December 12, 2019, 12:01 PM

Quote:

yes I pulled the trigger

On the second cartridge? Or just the squib?

If only the squib, that barrel is fine. Push the bullet out and carry on.

SIGSHR · December 12, 2019, 03:19 PM

I've had one, one of my reloads in my 4' S&W M-57. I have made a range rod-a 12" brass rod in a wooden handle. Better than a cleaning rod. Haven't had one since.

Prof Young · December 12, 2019, 04:04 PM

Back in the days when I was using Lee dippers to measure powder and just learning to reload I had two squibs in my 44 mag. I realized the first one as it happened. Had a to use a brass rod to bang out the bullet. More scary a friend was shooting the gun when the second one happened. He didn't realize it and tried to take another shot. Fortunately the cylinder was jammed up and he couldn't get it to turn. Made a knot in my stomach for the rest of the day.

Plus, twice I've had remington 22LR squib on me. I don't buy remington 22LR any more.

Life is good.
Prof Young

TailGator · December 12, 2019, 04:24 PM

I couldn't find any squibs in all the factory ammo I shot. I had to make my own!

I recognized it, took the pistol (G26) home and knocked the bullet out, and revised my reloading procedures to check powder drops better.

dyl · December 12, 2019, 05:07 PM

While I haven't sent a second bullet down the barrel, I have had a squib or two in a semi auto that must have only gotten a primer, no powder. It's surprising how far the bullet can get in the barrel with just a primer. No harm done on those.

One that I do regret is a squib that got stuck in a revolver cylinder. Let's just say: Make sure to remove the cylinder first before you try to hammer the squib out!!

My poor revolver. Gouged the heck out of the two nubs that hold the cylinder in place in the open position (one in front next to crane, one aft). I grimace every time I see it.

December 11, 2019, 12:15 AM	#1
Doc Holliday 1950 Senior Member Join Date: June 16, 2014 Location: Bout as south as it gets Posts: 1,238	Finally had a squib Since shooting since 1970, I've never encountered squib before. Well I sure did with my G43X last week. I heard pop & immediately ejected the shell.I did not realize that I had a bullet in my barrel .I thought I cleared everything but was I wrong. the next round jammed in & that's all she wrote. My GS has ordered a new barrel & will cut out the old one when it arrives. Has anyone else screwed up like this before? __________________ Shoot well and be Accurate, Doc

December 11, 2019, 11:32 AM	#7
RAfiringline Senior Member Join Date: November 15, 2014 Location: western US Posts: 290	>Has anyone else screwed up like this before?< Something similar, but mine was with an AR. The explanation in my case involved 2 problems: a dead primer, and a bullet that wasn't tightly crimped to case. "My first squib" thread. __________________ Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything. You need to take your time, in a hurry. Wyatt Earp

December 11, 2019, 12:35 PM	#9
Gary Gill Member Join Date: October 22, 2006 Location: Indy Posts: 61	I too have reloaded for more than 30 years with no squibs until today. Recently, I hand loaded a couple thousand rounds of 9mm using Berry's 124gn round nose bullets and Accurate No. 5 powder. I have shot more than a thousand of them just fine. This morning the third round I fired in my Glock 26 had an unusual sound. I dropped the magazine and racked the slide and found the blackened case still in the gun. The bullet was lodged about 3/8" shy of the muzzle. The interior of the case looked like every other with residue. Didn't see any fractures or defects in the case. I was able to drive the bullet on out. I measured the barrel diameter and roundness. No problem there. I charge 50 cases to the tray and visually inspect powder level under a light before seating bullets. I doubt I will know the exact cause but I will try to be more careful. __________________ Gary

December 11, 2019, 06:33 PM	#13
mikejonestkd Senior Member Join Date: January 3, 2006 Location: Brockport, NY Posts: 3,716	I have had three squibs: 1 was a weak 22 round that just made it to the end of the barrel. two others were in centerfire revolvers and 700X powder - it bridged my powder measure... I'll never use 700X with light loads again __________________ You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

December 11, 2019, 07:34 PM	#15
Doc Holliday 1950 Senior Member Join Date: June 16, 2014 Location: Bout as south as it gets Posts: 1,238	yes I pulled the trigger & the ammo I used was new in the box from Remington. I've used this ammo(9mm) for quite some time & have had no problems up until now. I still feel like I was an idiot for not realizing what was happening. __________________ Shoot well and be Accurate, Doc

December 11, 2019, 12:36 AM	#2
jimbob86 Junior member Join Date: October 4, 2007 Location: All the way to NEBRASKA Posts: 8,722	I've had it happen with a borrowed gun (and the owner's reloads) at a pin match....... luckily the bullet stuck very close to the chamber, and the next round would not completely chamber/ gun would not go into battery. My brother also had one ...... seems a spider got into one of his cases ..... and got powder dumped on him, and trapped in there when the bullet got seated on top ..... apparently, spiders and Universal don't mix .....

December 11, 2019, 12:36 AM	#3
74A95 Senior Member Join Date: November 26, 2016 Posts: 1,564	You're not the first. Squibs are very dangerous. https://americanhandgunner.com/handg...ger-of-squibs/

December 11, 2019, 12:20 PM	#8
TunnelRat Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2011 Posts: 12,215	Tens of thousands of rounds and not yet. I've had noticeably light loads but they've all cleared the barrel. Probably due for one now that I said this. Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

December 11, 2019, 05:25 PM	#10
jetinteriorguy Senior Member Join Date: April 28, 2013 Posts: 3,173	I shoot nothing but handloads, 9mm, .38, .357, and .41mag. I keep a section of cleaning Rod in my range bag to check the bore anytime I feel a weak round or anytime something just feels off. I have saved a couple barrels over the years, I've also learned how not to just pull the trigger without being aware of what's happening before the next round goes off.

December 11, 2019, 05:38 PM	#11
Mike38 Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2009 Location: North Central Illinois Posts: 2,710	I had a squib load in a .22 LR pistol. It must have been the last round of a magazine, and I put in fresh mag, chambered and shot. I didn't notice a thing. Shot ten times at a target, went to score target, it had ten holes. Though four of the holes where way outside the group, I figured it was just me. New target, another ten rounds, looked like a bad shotgun pattern. So I examined the bore. You could not see the rifling the leading was so bad. Took me a couple days of scrubbing, and got the lead out. Shot that pistol another couple years before selling it. Didn't effect accuracy a bit. To this day, I'm not 100% sure what happened. The only thing I can figure was a follow up shot pushed the squib bullet out, but leaded bore bad. I got lucky.

December 11, 2019, 05:52 PM	#12
pete2 Senior Member Join Date: May 15, 2012 Location: Texas Posts: 2,566	I've had 3 , all in revolvers. in all 3 the bullet stopped still in the cylinder and forcing cone, stopped the gun. I have seen others have worse problems, 1 was a 1911, bulged bbl, another was a nice Colt Official police, bulged bbl. One 1911 gun the bullet stopped and wouldn't allow the next round to chamber, he got lucky. 2 of mine had no powder. One was a plated HB wadcutter, my pet load wasn't strong enough to push the plated bullets, had one that didn't make it to the target even tho it was pushed all the way out the bbl. Some shot normally but the load was just on the edge and was a mistake. It was the same load I used for lead HB WCs(I still use the load with lead). I got rid of the plated bullets. Be careful. If the report doesn't sound right, stop and check it out before you chamber the next round and send it down range. A squib may tie the gun up OR it may allow you to chamber another round.

December 11, 2019, 08:54 PM	#16
Bartholomew Roberts member Join Date: June 12, 2000 Location: Texas and Oklahoma area Posts: 8,462	I bought three cases of Federal XM193PD. One of those cases had a whole bunch of underpowered rounds that were dropping 8” low or occasionally hitting the dirt before the 100yd target. You could feel the difference. Like an idiot, I kept shooting it. One day, I could tell I had a squib because the recoil was different and the action didn’t cycle; but I swore I saw the impact down range so I racked the charging handle to continue. Luckily for me the bullet didn’t go far and the next round couldn’t chamber. After that I figured rolling the dice on bad ammo wasn’t worth it and gave the remaining 600+ something rounds to a friend who broke them down for reloading components. Shoot enough and you’ll come across a squib eventually.

December 11, 2019, 08:56 PM	#17
AK103K Senior Member Join Date: May 1, 2001 Posts: 10,223	I quit buying pretty much anything Remington related after buying about 10000 of their small pistol primers for a real good price a few years back. That was about a 1000 or more unexpected malfunction drills, due to duds/fail to fires I had to wade through until they worked their way through the queue.

December 11, 2019, 09:23 PM	#18
Ricekila Senior Member Join Date: May 25, 2017 Location: Lawnguyland, NY Posts: 169	A year or so ago - our fearless leader ( NRA board member ) got us a deal on some Winchester white box ammo 22LR ( factory floor sweepings ) 555 count - for our Women on Target classes -- Squibs / misfires / duds -- pure crap -- After two classes and about 15 problems -- I tossed 6 boxes in the salt water canal -- __________________ NRA Instructor / RSO & NRA Life Member / S.A.F.E. Armorer / 03-FFL / Moist Nugget gun nut / Ammosexual / COR of a Venturing Crew / And a right wing Republican Jew with guns Μολών Λaβέ Last edited by Ricekila; December 11, 2019 at 10:03 PM.

December 11, 2019, 09:25 PM	#19
1MoreFord Senior Member Join Date: July 30, 2014 Location: Arkansas Posts: 244	OP, your first warning was the odd sounding report. The second warning was when you had to eject the empty brass. At that point you should have checked the barrel for an obstruction. That's one of the reasons I like semi autos. You get two squib warnings.

December 12, 2019, 11:33 AM	#20
Bart B. Senior Member Join Date: February 15, 2009 Posts: 8,927	Shooting a rimfire prone match with a scoped rifle, one round fired but no bullet seen going to the target, shot sounded muffled so I quit shooting. Removed the bolt then gently pushed a cleaning rod into the bore until its tip stopped about an inch back from the muzzle. Pushed the lead bullet out then pushed two patches through the bore, shot two rounds on the sighter bull to verify zero then shot the rest of the record shots. Called the USA Eley ammo rep to ask about this incident. He said it rarely happens but that round probably had a tenth of a grain, or less, of powder if it stopped an inch short of the 26" long barrel muzzle. I've fired several 7.62 NATO rounds without powder. Bullets never left the case mouth. Black primer residue inside the case and on bullet heel. Less than 130 psi in the case from primers firing. Last edited by Bart B.; December 12, 2019 at 11:53 AM.

December 12, 2019, 03:19 PM	#22
SIGSHR Senior Member Join Date: September 13, 2005 Posts: 4,700	I've had one, one of my reloads in my 4' S&W M-57. I have made a range rod-a 12" brass rod in a wooden handle. Better than a cleaning rod. Haven't had one since.

December 12, 2019, 04:04 PM	#23
Prof Young Senior Member Join Date: August 21, 2007 Location: Illinois - down state Posts: 2,404	Yep, been there, very scary . . . . Back in the days when I was using Lee dippers to measure powder and just learning to reload I had two squibs in my 44 mag. I realized the first one as it happened. Had a to use a brass rod to bang out the bullet. More scary a friend was shooting the gun when the second one happened. He didn't realize it and tried to take another shot. Fortunately the cylinder was jammed up and he couldn't get it to turn. Made a knot in my stomach for the rest of the day. Plus, twice I've had remington 22LR squib on me. I don't buy remington 22LR any more. Life is good. Prof Young

December 12, 2019, 04:24 PM	#24
TailGator Senior Member Join Date: May 8, 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 3,787	I couldn't find any squibs in all the factory ammo I shot. I had to make my own! I recognized it, took the pistol (G26) home and knocked the bullet out, and revised my reloading procedures to check powder drops better.

December 12, 2019, 05:07 PM	#25
dyl Senior Member Join Date: October 31, 2009 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,310	While I haven't sent a second bullet down the barrel, I have had a squib or two in a semi auto that must have only gotten a primer, no powder. It's surprising how far the bullet can get in the barrel with just a primer. No harm done on those. One that I do regret is a squib that got stuck in a revolver cylinder. Let's just say: Make sure to remove the cylinder first before you try to hammer the squib out!! My poor revolver. Gouged the heck out of the two nubs that hold the cylinder in place in the open position (one in front next to crane, one aft). I grimace every time I see it.