How many here have had a squib?

I was at a gun store a couple days ago and talked to the owner about squibs. He said he just got in an original colt python from a local shooting range master that had 3 squibs in his Python and he was working on it as we spoke. How do you not notice 3 squib loads in the same firearm? Being a range master he should have noticed. The gunsmith said the barrel was slightly bulged out and i said he was lucky he still had his hand. Its kind of a testament to the toughness of a python.

 

Yup I have had them. Mainly during reload development. If you are and experienced shooter you can tell from the report and the way the pistol/gun reacts. Also the target is a good tell.

 

Are you saying a person should “hear” a squib? (from the misspelling in the title)

 

Mag/cylinder dumps.. Is my best guess..

 

I had one around 20 years ago. It was a short charge on one of my handloads and made a pop instead of bang. I field stripped the pistol in question and saw the nose of the bullet just barely sticking out of the muzzle. It took a few taps from my hammer and screwdriver to dislodge it, then back to the races with no more squids since.

 

Ive had a number of squibs over the years, most of them in revolvers for some reason. I knew immediately that there was something wrong when they happened, and stopped. And I usually shoot basically in bursts of 2 and 3 when Im shooting, so its not like it was slow fire when most of them happened.

At least with the autos, the gun usually doesnt cycle, so you get an extra clue there.

I would think if you were paying attention, they would be pretty hard to miss, but, who knows.

 

Well its been a long day and it should have been here...

 

I have had a squib in 9mm factory ammo. I was actually letting my brother check out a gun before buying it. He fired a round and all I heard was the primer pop, so I stopped him. I took it home and removed it pretty easily, it was just inside the bore. It lets you know what to listen for. If it don't sound right stop, clear the gun of live rounds and check the bore. To me it is a distinctive sound compared to a normal report.

 

About the 3rd or 4th shot from the first reloads I ever assembled in 1977. Using a 6" model 10 S&W, a Lee loader, Unique and Speer 158gr JSP's. The directions said to use one level scoop, which I did. They sounded fairly weak and I noticed on one of the shots there was no bullet hole in the piece of lumber I was shooting. Looked down and the bullet was sticking halfway out of the muzzle. I grabbed it with a pair of pliers and pulled it out the rest of the way. Maybe one or two others in the 45 years since.

 

I've never had one but I have had 2 duds. Both were traced back to primer failures. One was missing the anvil, the other was missing the compound. I missed seeing both while priming.

 

Squibs can be felt and heard - more of a thunk than a bang. That is, if the cause is a lack of powder in the casing, so the only force is coming from the primer. I had a couple of these in my early reloading days and the result was a bullet stuck in the chamber. (But a bullet launched by just a primer can go further down the barrel -- and create the situation described next):

However, if the problem is a little higher order of magnitude -- there is powder, but it didn't ignite fully, but it did light up enough to propel the bullet part way down the barrel -- or the primer by itself was strong enough to launch the bullet -- then the whole thing is a lot more dangerous. The cylinder will turn - on a semi-auto, the slide may fully cycle and introduce a new round to the chamber -- and the follow-on round can ignite and the bullet head down the barrel until it hits the back of the first bullet. That's when you can get real damage to the barrel, the chamber, and/or the rest of the gun as the force has to go somewhere.

There are some great pictures on the internet you can find on Google showing the damage that can result.

 

I had one about 10 years ago shooting my, then new, Bodyguard revolver. I was given a few thousand rounds of various calibers of older "remanufactured" ammo from a local guy who was moving back to Jersey and couldn't bring it with him (was hollow point).

It lodged about a third of the way down the barrel. Report was a loud pop, not a bang. I was lucky to have heard the difference, stopped shooting, and emptied the cylinder of the remaining rounds. Surprisingly that was the only squib I've come across in that bunch of ammo.

 

I might have had one 10 or 12 years back. It was a .38 Special load if I remember correctly. I thought I'd had a misfire, and foolishly just kept on shooting.
When I got home, I pulled the "misfired" cartridge apart expecting to see the powder fall into my inertia bullet puller. Instead, all that fell into my bullet puller was a bullet with a blackened base.
I figured myself lucky that I had crimped that bullet in place firmly enough so that it never left the case - because I either had too small of a powder charge, or no powder charge at all.

 

Almost a dozen over my 45 years of handloading. All but one in revolvers.

 

I haven't but have seen a couple in competition. RO's were quick on the draw and luckily nothing blew up.

Its something that I occasionally think about but don't dwell on.

There are many things that can go wrong when one regularly shoots as a hobby. No point in working yourself up over it.

 

I've had a couple of squibs on my reloaded ammo but I'd say about 5 in well over 200K rounds. It happens.

Worst one was when shooting the State Championship many years ago. I had a real good stage going, all that was left was a steel popper about 10 yards away.

I fired the first shot and thought I hit dead center but the popper did not drop. I fired the second shot and again no point. I looked at the RO and he said "keep shooting" so I emptied the cylinder. NO hits and I couldn't see my misses.

I went for the reload and noticed a bullet sticking out of the barrel. All six stuck in the barrel. I later called Sierra since I was using their bullets and they said my load wasn't hot enough to guarantee that the bullets would exit.

I ended up giving the barrel to a friend that cut it in half and used it on Safety Courses for new shooters.

 

Yup. Just one. Colt 1911. 24 other guys shooting a drill. First round stuck just short of the bushing, follow-on blew it out, bulged the barrel into the bushing, locked up tight.
Had a machinist friend carefully cut the bushing loose. Original barrel was bulged but didn't blow.
Kart replacement barrel.
And my underwear.

To add:
All factory loaded ammo.

 

Thanks, I tried to edit, i didnt find where to edit the title.

 

I would guess that a revolver is less likely to blow up vs an auto, simply because there is usually a lot more beef with most revolver barrels.
OK, so how many people have had 3 squibs in the same barrel at the same time? To me that would be a Darwin award, especially if your a range master, lol.

 

I have had a couple of squibs over the years. All were with reloads during load development. And a squib should be very noticeable unless you are shooting as fast as you can and not paying close attention. I have noticed right away every time it has happened to me.

I guess part of why I do pay close attention is because of my Army training. The drill sergeants always preached to stop shooting immediately if you had a "pop and no kick". The last squib I had was 14 years ago when shooting reloads out of my 40 S&W Hi Point carbine. The pop and no kick was definitely noticeable.

 

We would occasionally get a squib round using GI issue M193 ammo in our M16A1 rifles when I was stationed at Ft Leonardwood. All the ammo came from Lake City. And yes people have had squibs even with major brand factory ammo too. It happens.

 

Just once, with it being one of my handloads (148gr DE wadcutter over 2.8gr bullseye, but without the powder ).

This was from a circa 1976 model 60 I purchased a couple years ago.

The bullet was stuck 1/2" past the forcing cone but refused to be dislodged by a dowel.

I ended up going with the strange-yet-effective method of removing it. In a primed case, I loaded 2gr of bullseye, pressed it into a bar of soap until the soap-slug was flush with the case mouth.

I filled the space between the rear of the stuck slug and the top of the forcing cone with water, loaded the soap slug cartridge still pointed down (to keep the water in the barrel), indexed the round and fired into the ground.

Absolutely worked with no harm to the barrel.