First squib

[Texfire]

Had my first squib today. Not sure I liked the experience. I was shooting my .357 Stampede and heard a muffled bang. Stopped and thought, "hmmm that didn't sound right." Waited a couple of seconds, then opened the loading gate and tried to pull the hammer to half cock so I could unload it. The bottom pawl would unlock but the cylinder wasn't rotating. Tried pulling the cylinder pin, but the cylinder rotates on the fired cylinder.

Long story short, I take it to my local shop and the bullet is wedged halfway between the cylinder and the forcing cone. They pushed it back into the cartridge enough to free the cylinder, and we pulled the bullet. Inside the cartridge, along with some unfired powder, was a mangled .22 brass! The load is a cowboy .38 from a mass reloader. Somehow the brass, probably a range pickup, went through tumbling, depriming, sizing and loading without the .22 brass coming dislodged or discovered. As a matter of fact the bottom of the .22 had been perforated by the deprimer.

It wasn't until I thought about it at the gun shop that I got nervous. I was at an indoor range and wearing plugs and muffs, so I barely heard the difference. Also the cowboy loads I was shooting have real light recoil, so I doubt I would have noticed the difference there. If it had advanced into the barrel that could have been bad.

On the upside, I definately know what a squib sounds like.

Tex

 

[Icewolf]

Congratulations on your good luck! Had the bullet lodged fully in the barrel you might be typing left handed.
Was there powder in the case or just the .22 brass? I would certainly make the cartridge company that loaded it aware of their lack of quality control. I would not hold back at all and let them know of the dire consequences of their lack of interest in proper reloading techniques.

Glad to hear that neither you or the gun was hurt.

 

[Texfire]

Well I caught the squib either way, but I wouldn't want to depend on that. I bought it from my shop and they are going to contact the reloader. According to my dealer they have a real stringent set of criteria, including lasers that check the case exteriors, but obviously some improvements in their quality control can be made. That said, I really think that it's one of those 1 in a million set of unlikely circumstances. And I didn't blow up myself or my gun, so I was indeed lucky. I figure that the unfired powder was shielded by the .22 brass from the primer and caused it to only come halfway out of the case.

Tex

 

[Pierre]

WoW

Merry Christmass.... Nice present! Still have both hands and your eyesight!

WooT!

Haven't seen one of those...

Talk about dodging the BULLET...

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Cousin Mike]

I wanted a revolver until I read this

 

[wdlsguy]

Long story short, I take it to my local shop and the bullet is wedged halfway between the cylinder and the forcing cone. They pushed it back into the cartridge enough to free the cylinder

The exact same thing happened to me while shooting a S&W model 60 a few years back.

The load is a cowboy .38 from a mass reloader.

I wonder if our rounds came from the same company?

 

[Shipwreck]

Back in 1994, I had a G17 jammomatic. Jammed ALL the damn time. Anyway, I got so used to it that I didn't realize that I had a squib at an indoor range. Racked the slide and shot again. Buldged the hell out of the barrel, and it too a gunsmith to close the side back over the barrel. Changed the barrel and the gun worked again, but still jammed. Finally got rid of it.

This was w/ someone's reloads. I have NEVER used reloads again. Also, I do not let anyone shoot my gun w/ reloads.

 

[Scarface]

Hi texfire,

Congratulations on the good catch. Squibs are so few and far apart, it's hard to be prepared for one. Good reactions!
Cousin Mike, I had a squib in an autoloader 2 weeks ago, the ammo being from a major manufacturer. The point is, it can happen in any type firearm. Mine was my first squib in almost 50 years of shooting.

Be Well,

Scarface

 

[jeepmor]

Squib question

Does anyone know if primers are "sized" to do this in the case of no powder loads. I've seen them in a .45 and it just started the bulllet into the rifling, but stuck it pretty good. However, it would not feed the next round, let alone eject the case under primer only ignition.

I am wondering if this is a design issue for firearms manufacturers if anyone knows. I know, it should never happen, but it does, occasionally. As an engineering type with a mechanical background, this would be a good safety system to design into the firearm.

Just wondering.

jeepmor

 

[EddieCoyle]

I had it happen to me twice in one day. I was working a pistol shooting booth at my gun club's annual turkey shoot. At the start of the day, I was testing the .22 revolver we would be using (an H&R). When I pulled the trigger on my 4th shot, I heard a hiss instead of a bang. I stopped, opened the cylinder, and saw the bullet in the barrel just north of the forcing cone. I was able to pop it out with a cleaning rod. I tried again and it happened on the 8th shot out of the next cylinder. Needless to say, we threw that box of ammo in the trash.

 

[rocky]

Don't think primers are designed to push the bullet in the barrel upon squib. Just has enough ummpt. to do it. I have had 2 squibs so far. 1 someone else reloaded and 1 I reloaded. Perhaps the best way to reconize a squib is have someone load 1 for ya. Also , electronic muffs would help ya to hear the fffttt sound , instead of a bang.

 

[rockstar.esq]

I wanted a revolver until I read this

Seriously, the problem would be just as severe with an auto. Faulty ammunition is very serious stuff. I sense an anti reloader sentiment coming on and so I am compelled to mention that just like firearm ownership, knowledge is everything. I'm sorry to hear that a commercial reloader bunged things up for a couple of you. But let's face it, new commercial ammo still has the capacity to be squibb. I realize that FAR more often it's some idiot reloader at fault. But that's sort of my point. If you reloaded you own ammo, you'd have a healthy respect for the damage you can do. As such the additional care you can afford as opposed to the the guy cranking them out will net you a well made cartridge. I hope that this thread will remind folks of how to act when they sense something's not right. Texfire did everything right, I hope others will learn from him.

 

[Texfire]

I'm not anti-reloading now. I've got about 400 rounds from the same batch that I intend to shoot and expect no problems from. I'll be a little more careful while doing so. I really feel it was a fluke, now if I have another one from the same batch I might reconsider, but i'm not concerned right now.

Tex