Finding squibs

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W

walking arsenal

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Hey all.

I just recently got into reloading and was wondering if there were a way to find squibs without pulling all the rounds you made.

I'm almost 90% sure i don't have one in a recent batch i made but I'd like to be sure so i don't have to take a hammer and dowel to my beloved 1911.
 
Weigh them.

If you know the powder charge you used, and you should, you can probably tell which cartridge(s) didn't get powder.
 
Yup, weighing them will work. Weigh a few known non-squibs and get an average. If you find one that deviates from the average by the amount of your powder charge, you most likely found a squib.
 
I was hoping to not have to buy scale. I just use a lee powder dip for my loads, a scale was in my future buy.

What would be the best procedure for doing this? I used two different bullet brands for my loads.

The same powder and primers but a mix of cases.

There is going to be a lot of variation in that isn't there?
 
If you weigh them let us know how it worked. I have never heard of anybody having much success that way. If you get a light case and bullet in the same round it could be 4 or 5 grains lighter and still have powder.
Rusty
 
I was hoping to not have to buy scale. I just use a lee powder dip for my loads, a scale was in my future buy.
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If you don't have a scale then how do you know how much powder you are putting in the case? I have never used the dippers but have heard from others that they are as accurate as the auto disk measure when it comes to the Lee chart. For the auto disk measure I have to go up 1 or 2 cavities to get the charge that Lee said I could get with the smaller one. For example you might think you are throwing 5 grains because of the Lee chart and in reality only be throwing 4 grains or less. I personally won't load without a scale to check my measure.
As far as squibs this is what I do for 223. The case is very hard to see into and I like to see into every case so instead of looking in I shake the finished round. With the amount of powder I use in 223, in the finished round you can just barely feel the powder shake back and forth. If I don't feel powder shake or it shakes to much I pull the bullet. When I load pistol I look into every case before I set the bullet on to be seated.
Rusty
 
Very easy to avoid with proper loading procedure.

#1 Buy a loading block.
#2 Turn all your empty cases mouth down in it.
#3 As you charge a case, put it back in the block mouth up.
#4 When you get done, LOOK IN THEM and see if any have been double charged, or with no powder.

#5 Now, set bullets in the mouths of all of them.
#6 Then seat them all.

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rcmodel
 
Shoot them.

No, I'm not trying to be smart. I carry a small brass rod with a weight on the opposite end for pistol and a cleaning rod for rifle.

It only takes once. Drive the 30 min to the range, set up your gear, put the target stand out there and *click*. Without a rod of some sort, you'll change your mind right quick. ;)

Ed
 
Variances in bullet and case weight are significant compared to variances in powder charges; this makes weighing them a useless test. For example, if you get a heavy bullet married to a heavy case, it may weigh as properly loaded when actually light. Get a light bullet married to a light case, and it will weigh as a squib when actually not.

If in doubt, take them apart: proper reloading does not involve guesswork.
 
I carry a small brass rod with a weight on the opposite end for pistol and a cleaning rod for rifle.
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Again, if you have a squib reload once in a lifetime, you are doing something very wrong

You need to carefully review your reloading procedures, and figure out what it is.

1224.jpg
rcmodel
 
If you weigh them let us know how it worked. I have never heard of anybody having much success that way. If you get a light case and bullet in the same round it could be 4 or 5 grains lighter and still have powder.
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Thats what i'm worried about

Variances in bullet and case weight are significant compared to variances in powder charges; this makes weighing them a useless test. For example, if you get a heavy bullet married to a heavy case, it may weigh as properly loaded when actually light. Get a light bullet married to a light case, and it will weigh as a squib when actually not.
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Exactly

Shoot them. No, I'm not trying to be smart.
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Obviously

Dude, pull the bullets.
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It looks like thats what i may have to do. I'm not looking forward to pulling 150 rounds though. It might be easier physically to just shoot them and pound out a squib if i find one.
 
If you are not 100% sure you put powder in one, are you 100% sure you didn't double charge another one?

Pull the bullets before you blow up a gun!

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rcmodel
 
You need to carefully review your reloading procedures, and figure out what it is.
Click to expand...

I've used the pistol rod exactly once at an IDPA match for another fellows pistol.

I've used the rifle rod exactly once when loading light bullets long on my .223 AI and had the bullet pull out against the lands.

I appreciate the concern, but my load procedures are just fine.

Ed
 
i dunno... if being "90% sure" means you think you could have as many as 15 rnds loaded sans powder (10% of 150 rnds) i'd probably pick a different hobby
 
+1 for what rcmodel said. Be very carfeful and methodical with your reloading and this will never happen.

Weigh them....if you don't have a scale, you should buy one....it'll come in handy
 
If you reload you need a scale -- especially if you want to get anywhere near factory ammo performance.

But unless you are using all the same lot of brass and bullets your task is hopeless as the variation of the bullets and brass will exceed the charge weight. Weigh some (say 20) of your brass cases and bullets seperately, and compare the variations to the difference is charge weight you want to detect.

Just be aware of reduced recoil and have a squib rod and mallot in your range bag. Its not that big of a deal. A 6" long, 3/8" diameter brass rod works very well for a 1911, or so I've been told :)


If you are not 100% sure you put powder in one, are you 100% sure you didn't double charge another one?
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That's why I strongly recommend "bulky" powders like Unique and Blue Dot, especially when starting out as you can't miss a double charge when you go to seat the bullet since the powder overflows the case.

--wally.
 
I think reloading and handloading mandates a certain level of personal quality control....I have no problem with a dipper, but to ask us/a forum how to tell if you loaded some 'squibs'? I think you are tempting fate, your eyes and possibly your life...(your guns a goner).....you must check powder levels. You must. You must be careful when you handload....I'm restarting after 15 years, been re-reading alot, started when I was 13 years old. Never had a squib or double charge....it's not in my equation....Walking Arsenal, are you serious? Handgun powders are fast burning and a double charge can be life threatening. We need all the votes we can get in 2008.
 
I think somebody already said it, but I'll repeat, weighing whole cartridges looking for a missing (or doubled) five grain powder charge is not reliable, especially since you are using mixed brass and bulk bullets.

What do you think your chances of delivering a double charge while you left one empty? If it is not zero, you must pull them down. If it is zero, you have two choices, you can pull them all down or you can shoot them slowly with a clearing rod at hand.

Loading single stage, you must get 50 cases at a time in a loading block and go down each row under a strong light to be sure each one contains 1.00 powder charge.

I am with rcmodel, stuck bullets are getting entirely too socially acceptable now. Just taken as a cost of doing business in a half-assed way. They ought to be considered a humiliating blunder.
 
Rule #1 - SEE every powder charge you seat a bullet over.

Rule #2 - SEE every powder charge you seat a bullet over. - yes, this is important.

I have never had a squib in 20 + years. SEE Rule #1 & Rule #2

Weighing the rounds WON'T work for the reasons Jim gave. Period.

I keep a brass rod in my range bag. The time I jammed up my EMP with a borderline big reload it came in real handy. (The EMP went back to SA with an undersized chamber which they reamed out - documented in earlier threads) Other than that it has just ridden around in my bag for years, and still will. It may come in handy again some day.

Oh yea, I am loading on a progressive, which is NO excuse for not seeing every charge. I bored a hole in my press and have a Fenix E1 in it shining down in the case. I used to use a Maglight Solataire before the advent of the LED flashlight.
 
Walkalong is right

Walkalong is right. There is no way weighing will work. As some others have already explained. And very correctly also. Reloading with out a scale ?
That is a NO NO. And as stated by others, LOOK at the powder. KNOW that it is there. Be able to bet your life on it. As with Walkalong and I'm sure many others I have over 25 years of reloading with no squibs.

That scale is a #1 tool, A nessessity ! Not an option. I'm not so convinced on the dipper thing, for measuring powder.
I may not have added some new point to the discusion here but am backing up the idea that you need a scale and need to SEE the powder in the case.
 
Gad, last time i post an honest question about something like this.

i dunno... if being "90% sure" means you think you could have as many as 15 rnds loaded sans powder (10% of 150 rnds) i'd probably pick a different hobby
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(Sigh)

They (squibs) ought to be considered a humiliating blunder.
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Well if they aren't yet they're getting close.

Just so i can quell some of the assumptions of my stupidity (you guys know who you are) I'm using a lee hand loader and a set of carbide RCBS dies to reload .45acp rounds. I know it's a menial set up.

Let me explain.

I live in a tiny shoebox apartment. I'm poor. Very poor. I don't have the space nor the money to go out and buy every nifty little gadget for this hobby, I make use of what i have and can afford. I bought the press so i could maybe continue to do the hobby i love. I haven't fired most of my collection in over a year and a half except for once when someone else footed the ammo bill. Most of the collection by now has been sold to cover bills.

Anyway

The recipe i'm using is:

Either a sierra or hornady 230grn fmj on top of 7.5 grns of Hogdon HS6. (i think, its late here and i'm tired and don't want to look it up)

Supposedly the load clocks around 7:30 FPS, i don't have a crono so i don't know.

I'm very careful reloading my rounds but i have a suspicion that i may have missed one case out of the one hundred and fifty that i loaded.

All i wanted to know was IF i there was a way that i could find that single round without having to save up money for a bullet puller and spend eight hours pulling all my rounds.

Apparently there isn't.

And apparently there isn't a way to tell a guy that without being condescending and demeaning.

Way to take the high road guys.

G'night, I'm off.
 
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