"Saw" My First Squib Yesterday

[otisrush]

Yesterday I was shooting with some good friends. Pistols. When the squib occurred it just so happened one was shooting and the other three were watching.....standing right by him. Through my custom-molded earplug it sounded only like a failure-to-fire. I didn't hear a "Pfffft!" at all. But the others very quickly and deliberately said "I think you've got a squib!" The shooter opened the gun and a bullet-less case came out.....with soot on the case. He cleared the gun and left the action open......looked down the muzzle and.......saw nothing but black.

The sobering/profound reminder for me was that I can't rely on a sound to trigger the "I might have a squib." thought in my brain. If you've got particularly good hearing protection you might not hear it. I've had a few failure-to-fires (.223) but they've all been due to primers that weren't fully seated. So consequently, prior to this event, when I have gotten a FTF, I think of primer issues.....not squibs.

Not anymore. Now failure-to-fire = Assuming it's a squib. I know it should have always been this way. But this event was a good (and scary) reminder.

OR

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

I've been shooting for close to 50 years. I've had one squib, and that was with factory ammo in 32 ACP.

I remember it sounded funny, even through my earmuffs. I hesitated, wondering if I actually heard what I thought I heard.
Then I decided it was better to stop and check. I'm glad I did.
It took me quite a while to get the bullet out of the bore; I had to let it soak in penetrating oil for an hour or so before I could drive the jacketed bullet out.

The take away is this: if you hear something not right, stop and check.

 

[Blue68f100]

The primer has enough energy to push a bullet out in small volume rounds. In larger volume rounds it may or may not depending on crimp. So at any time something sounds odd investigate. Normally if there is a powder charge it will clear the barrel on a handgun, not the case with longer barrels.

 

[.308 Norma]

The primer has enough energy to push a bullet out in small volume rounds. In larger volume rounds it may or may not depending on crimp.

Well, I guess that depends on how you define "small volume" and "larger volume" rounds. My one and only "squib" was a 38 Special, and luckily, the primer did not have the "energy" to push the bullet out - because thinking I had only had a misfire, I went ahead and fired the remaining 2 or 3 rounds in the cylinder. It wasn't until I later pulled the "misfired" round apart that I saw the base of the bullet was burned black. Either I had forgotten to charge the 38 Special case with powder, or I hadn't put enough powder in it. Either way, the "energy" of the 38 Special primer wasn't even enough to make the bullet jump its crimp.
Lesson learned - if I have what I think is a "misfire," I stop right then and find out what the problem is.
I guess if I was in a self-defense situation, I'd risk blowing my gun to smithereens if I had to try another round immediately after having what I thought was a "misfire."

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Yesterday I was shooting with some good friends. Pistols. When the squib occurred it just so happened one was shooting and the other three were watching.....standing right by him. Through my custom-molded earplug it sounded only like a failure-to-fire. I didn't hear a "Pfffft!" at all. But the others very quickly and deliberately said "I think you've got a squib!" The shooter opened the gun and a bullet-less case came out.....with soot on the case. He cleared the gun and left the action open......looked down the muzzle and.......saw nothing but black.

The sobering/profound reminder for me was that I can't rely on a sound to trigger the "I might have a squib." thought in my brain. If you've got particularly good hearing protection you might not hear it. I've had a few failure-to-fires (.223) but they've all been due to primers that weren't fully seated. So consequently, prior to this event, when I have gotten a FTF, I think of primer issues.....not squibs.

Not anymore. Now failure-to-fire = Assuming it's a squib. I know it should have always been this way. But this event was a good (and scary) reminder.

OR

O ya, I remember mine. H&K P7 firing old surplus German Geko police stuff. It kinda went "pop" and a cloud of white smoke blew out of the chamber. The gun did cycle and chamber another round.

We pulled a few bullets from other rounds in the lot and the powder was stinky and clumpy. It had probably gotten wet at some point.

Just wait until you get your first hangfire! Betcha youll wait a bit longer to clear the chamber next time you get a FTF.........

 

[hdwhit]

otisrush wrote:
"...But the others very quickly and deliberately said "I think you've got a squib!" The shooter opened the gun and a bullet-less case came out.....with soot on the case. He cleared the gun and left the action open......looked down the muzzle and.......saw nothing but black."

For someone shooting reloaded ammunition an occluded barrel is a sure sign of a failure in the re-loader's procedures - particularly their quality checks and quality control.

I am about to turn over my 43rd year as a reloader (handloader) with ZERO squibs.

I attribute this to the fact that my WRITTEN reloading procedures, which include a MANDATORY checklist that accompanies EVERY 25, 50 or 100 round batch be completed before the cases/ammunition move from one stage in the process to the next.

As far as I am concerned, if you are not following documented reloading procedures to which at least you (or better yet a third party, even a spouse) is accountable, you are asking for a catastrophic result.

-----------------

Separate from above:

• For single-stage loaders, there is nothing un-manly in asking your spouse to visually confirm you have powder in each case. Your spouse will often catch what you miss.
  
• I am not a progressive loader, but it seems to me those who are and haven't either added/developed procedures to ensure an adequate amount of powder in the case are just asking for trouble.

 

[otisrush]

For someone shooting reloaded ammunition an occluded barrel is a sure sign of a failure in the re-loader's procedures - particularly their quality checks and quality control.

Agreed! I don't know to what degree the person this happened to will do a retrospective on their procedures to try and figure out what happened.

I, too, have never had a squib. It was sobering to see it happen.

 

[LaneP]

I pulled the trigger on my first reloaded cartridge (.38 Special) sometime around 1977 and I was shooting a 6" S&W model 10 at a piece of upright 2x8 lumber at 10 feet. I didn't see a bullet strike and when I looked at the muzzle of the revolver, there was my 158 grain JSP, sticking halfway out of the barrel. I had under-charged the case with Unique using my brand new Lee loader kit.

If you've loaded long enough you are going to see an anomaly of some sort at some point.

Knowing your equipment and constant vigilance at the bench through each step of the assembly process keeps these incidents minimized.

Your plan for how to go about dealing with that going forward is a good one.

 

[H&R Glock]

IMHO- 38 special is the most likely to be your first squib load caliber. Loads are normally so light and velocity so low that it can happen when trying different bullets of different jacket thicknesses. MY first fmj bullet with 38 special was a squib. Other plated or lead bullets of the same weight were no problem. Listen carefully for the pop!