What do do with lots of squib load ammo?

[Pistoler0]

During the ammo crisis 1 year ago, I was running low on 9mm and I bought 500 rds of a no-name reloaded ammo that I could still afford.

Problem is.... the batch has LOTS of squib loaded rounds!! 1 in 20 at least.

I don't know what to do with it, practicing quick follow up shots with it is out of the question, and I am nervous using it.

I am thinking about getting rid of the whole batch, but I don't even know how. How do I dispose of 500 rounds of ammo?

[L-2]

Many shooting ranges will take in ammo for recycling or disposal.

There are also ammo puller tools on the market should anyone want to take bullets out of a casing and recycle/reuse the components.
https://www.amazon.com/RCBS-9412-Pow...s%2C141&sr=8-2

[4V50 Gary]

Pull bullets, dump powder into garden. Reload.

[Shadow9mm]

Assuming they are missing powder, i would weigh them all. You should be able to determine which are missing powder, and shoot the rest

[jetinteriorguy]

Originally Posted by 4V50 Gary

Pull bullets, dump powder into garden. Reload.

This, I’d get a good bullet puller such as the Hornady collet style and go to town. But of course, if they are steel cased that’s a different deal, I’d probably still pull them but I’d punch out the primers and reuse them and the projectile, provided the primers aren’t swaged in.

[stagpanther]

Squib has a specific meaning--you're saying one in 20 cartridges is so underpowered that the bullet gets lodged in the bore? That is one of the most dangerous defects for loaded ammunition to have--you should send all you have back for a refund and the source examine and issue a recall IMO.

[Pistoler0]

Originally Posted by stagpanther

Squib has a specific meaning--you're saying one in 20 cartridges is so underpowered that the bullet gets lodged in the bore? That is one of the most dangerous defects for loaded ammunition to have--you should send all you have back for a refund and the source examine and issue a recall IMO.

That's exactly what I am saying, Stagpanther. Although only one bullet got lodged in the barrel. The other squibs did dribble the bullet out of the barrel, thank goodness

I don't remember who I bought it from, I'll go back to my emails and see. But I am not exaggerating when I say 1 in 20.

[Jim Watson]

Assuming they are missing powder, i would weigh them all. You should be able to determine which are missing powder, and shoot the rest

Not unless it is in same headstamp, same lot number brass, then maybe.
Mixed cases that I would expect in junk reloads will vary more in brass weight than the powder charge.

The only choice to is to pull them to salvage the components or let the bomb squad trash them. If they will. My PD and FD would not.

[higgite]

Originally Posted by Shadow9mm

Assuming they are missing powder, i would weigh them all. You should be able to determine which are missing powder, and shoot the rest

I suggest that's not a good idea with unknown source reloads. See below.

Originally Posted by Jim Watson

Not unless it is in same headstamp, same lot number brass, then maybe.
Mixed cases that I would expect in junk reloads will vary more in brass weight than the powder charge.

The only choice to is to pull them to salvage the components or let the bomb squad trash them. If they will. My PD and FD would not.

Even the same headstamp is not always a good barometer. I have some Blazer 9mm brass saved from factory ammo that varies in weight from 57 grains to 63 grains. I have no idea what the brass lot number is, but they all came out of the same box of bulk ammo.

[Unclenick]

Bullet puller. If they are all lighting, the primed cases are still good to use (though, given how sloppy the charging was, I would check those with my finger for proper seating below flush with the head).

Dump the powder and examine it. I had some surplus .308 cartridges one time that had about one squib in 10. It turned out the powder was deteriorating, and deterioration begins randomly, then snowballs in the case it starts in, so getting some that still shoot fine and some that don't is a normal result of that. In my case, pulled bullets revealed about one in ten had powder that was oily-looking and would not pour out of the case (was clumped together and had to be dug out with a drill). I also got fine after-rust in the chrome-moly bore I was firing them in due to the nitric acid radicals in the deteriorating powder. This made it look like the maker had used corrosive primers, but later testing of pulled cases showed he had not.

So, if your powder is bad, obviously, you dump it. If it looks fine but just very unevenly charged, you can weigh the collected powder from all 500 pulls and divide it among the cases, and put it back in. This will mean a slight reduction in average charge, but not likely enough to prevent cycling or shooting reasonably well.

[ciwsguy]

Once I thought I forgot to put powder in a 9mm casing, so I weighed each round to see if I could detect it. With low level powder charges, and weight variations of cases and bullets, I found it’s not likely to detect a squib load without pulling the bullets. Bottom line is for my load, the weigh the cartridge method didn’t work.
Two bits.....

[akinswi]

what ciwsguy said, 4 or so grains of powder is easily distributed thru the case and projectiles, and is hard to detect the squib weighing every case . Time to start pulling….

You may want to reach out to them (who sold it) and let them know whats going on. That way they know they had a problem

[Jim Watson]

I have some Blazer 9mm brass saved from factory ammo that varies in weight from 57 grains to 63 grains. I have no idea what the brass lot number is, but they all came out of the same box of bulk ammo.

Oh, that's bad.
The only ammo I ever weighed looking for a missed powder charge was for .308 and the deficit would have been 47 grains. No, I hadn't skipped one but I went back to my old single stage powder charging procedure anyhow.

[RoyceP]

Originally Posted by 4V50 Gary

Pull bullets, dump powder into garden. Reload.

Correct answer. Agree.

[Unclenick]

...unless he discovers undercharged cases, in which case the powder is likely still good, just improperly metered by the loader. If the loader was using something like Unique, you can see how this sort of thing might happen with some powder metering tools.

[cdoc42]

What do our attorney friends on these posts think? You purchased ammo that should not have created a threat to your safety nor represent a potential hazard to your continued existence. Rather than taking them all apart and doing your best to make them what they should have been, I would contact the seller by certified mail and describe the problem. If they opt to resolve it in any way, fine, but if they give you any grief, the next step is legal action. If they are handloads that have been sold, I think one needs a federal license to sell that ammo, otherwise, it is illegal. No phone calls, you can't prove what was said. Everything should be in writing.

Now, if the loader was a friend or relative, bring all this to his or her attention, give them all back for a refund and let that person take them all apart to see what's wrong. If their investigation produces a trust result satisfactory enough for you to give it another try, that's up to you. But the result causes your gun to fracture and produce any serious injuries up to and including death, you made the wrong choice.

[44 AMP]

the batch has LOTS of squib loaded rounds!! 1 in 20 at least.

So, how many did you fire to get that number??

I would contact the seller by certified mail and describe the problem. If they opt to resolve it in any way, fine, but if they give you any grief, the next step is legal action. If they are handloads that have been sold, I think one needs a federal license to sell that ammo, otherwise, it is illegal.

Technically accurate, and certainly the proper thing to do. However, this only works with reputable companies, who have an interest in customer satisfaction.

The OP bought "no name" reloads, and while technically selling reloads without the proper Fed license (and insurance) isn't legal, its done all the time, and is something the govt has very little interest in prosecuting.

Generally speaking, buying reloads from a "no name" maker is an "as is" situation, and I'm pretty confident you'll spend a lot more in legal representation than you will ever realize in compensation.

Pulling the remaining bullets is the best option, assuming you just don't turn them in for disposal. It avoids the risk that since some rounds are undercharged its possible some are overcharged and possibly dangerous.

Plus it leaves you with reusable bullets and brass.

Another option, if the risk doesn't concern you, is simply shoot them, as plinkers, one shot at a time, with a good rod and mallet handy to dislodge any bullets that get stuck.

[hdwhit]

No assumptions here.

Never shoot reloads from someone unless you have watched them go through the process.

Break the remaining rounds down for components.

And stop buying cheap ammunition. Even if we're not talking about squib loads, you have no idea who loaded those roundsmm or what process they used.

The reloader might have been one of those people who think the lawyers made the reloading manuals artificially reduce loads, so that what you are firing are now essentially "proof loads".

Please, don't get mixed up in this.

[higgite]

Originally Posted by hdwhit

No assumptions here.

Never shoot reloads from someone unless you have watched them go through the process.

Break the remaining rounds down for components.

And stop buying cheap ammunition. Even if we're not talking about squib loads, you have no idea who loaded those roundsmm or what process they used.

The reloader might have been one of those people who think the lawyers made the reloading manuals artificially reduce loads, so that what you are firing are now essentially "proof loads".

Please, don't get mixed up in this.

He hasn't posted in a month, so hopefully he has already executed a safe and sane game plan.

[hdwhit]

Never buy someone else's reloads unless you know them personally and have been reloading with them for at least 20 years.

Period. Stop.

The only reason to buy unknown reloads is that you want to break them down for components.