A Squib? Nope...

[sparkyv]

I hadn't had Callahan at the range for almost a year, and I was excited when he came up in the rotation when I was done shooting my 10mms. I loaded up 6 rounds of 755fps Cat Sneezes to warm up, but didn't pay close attention as I grabbed the cartridges. I was just too excited. Well I lit off the first round and experienced a WAY louder than expected report and SIGNIFICANT recoil. I thought that I remembered my Cat Sneeze loads were lighter than that, but it'd been so long that maybe I just didn't remember what they felt like. So I lit off the second round, and it went (or at least it seemed like it went) "pffft". Oh great, a DUD I told myself. Well there were two holes in my target, but I opened up the cylinder anyway and found no obstruction. Hmmm. I lit of another and "pffft". Then I realized that I loaded up 5 Cat Sneezes and one Elmer Keith round. I had started with a 1,467fps round instead of my intended 755fps rounds for my warmup. I was confused for a few moments, but the silver lining: no squib!

Callahan:

 

[Riomouse911]

Ouch! I bet that was a shocker.

Reminds me of the time my buddy and I were shooting our old model Vaqueros in .45 Colt. I had also brought a couple of .44 Magnums.

While I was on the line my buddy apparently grabbed .44 loads and put them in his Vaquero. When he touched the first one off it had a distinctly different sound and substantially more recoil so he stopped right there. I remember the case split lengthwise, but the stout Ruger was unfazed.

Lesson learned for us to do a better job separating ammo that looks pretty similar.

Stay safe.

 

[BobWright]

Ummmmm.................I thought the Callahan was a Uberti? Please elucidate.

Bob Wright

 

[sparkyv]

...it's a Dirty Harry reference.

Ummmmm.................I thought the Callahan was a Uberti? Please elucidate.

Bob Wright

 

[Y-T71]

Did you have 2 different loads in the same box?

 

[sparkyv]

Yes, I did. They were clearly separated and labeled and had noticeably different projectiles. I was just so excited that I reached over one row and grabbed one hot round without paying close attention. The odd thing was that I just happened to set off that hot round first!

Did you have 2 different loads in the same box?

 

[Y-T71]

Thank you for answering.

I had a friend who loaded bulk amounts of different calibers and kept them in small, zippered, black nylon or canvas bags with dividers; shoot ammo out of one side and put the empties in the other.

In one particular bag he had 2 different 9mm loads in the same bag and had something similar happen, just not quite as dramatic a difference as yours.

 

[Y-T71]

... They were clearly separated and labeled and had noticeably different projectiles....

BTW, I sometimes do the same thing, just haven't had the same experience...

... Yet