Squib, bullet stuck in barrel, etc be honest

Have you ever had a squib or other reloading blunder that was your fault?

  • Yes

    Votes: 110 69.2%

  • No

    Votes: 49 30.8%
  • Total voters
    159
  • Poll closed .
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O

okespe04

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I have been reloading for about 3 months now and have loaded and shot over 2000 rounds in 9mm, .357 Mag, .38 special and .45 ACP. On my last time out shooting I had what I think reloaders call a squib. I fired a round in my 1911 and the bullet barely left the case and got stuck in the barrel. Luckily something did not feel right and I checked it before I pulled the trigger again. I assume this was 100% my fault. I think there was only a primer and no powder in the round.

Has anybody else had this happen? Be Honest.
 
Though I must say it occured while using a progressive press. I've switched to the Lee Classic Turret press and not had a repeat of the blunder. I reckon I do not do well trying to view four operations at one time. I am more comfortable, and accurate, one step at a time.
 
I adjusted my seating so it is a little higher and pointed a light down into my lee turret press so can can see every charge now. Hopefully it will not happen again.
 
Kinda broad isn't it? "Other reloading blunder" If you haven't had a blunder (high primers, bad crimp, inconsistent charge, etc...) you've probably only been reloading for a day.
 
I use a single stage press and have had about three that I remember. Two left the case and had to be pushed back with a rod (38 Special and 7-08) and one didn't (44 mag with a heavy crimp).
 
I don't reload but did have a factory round squib that was my fault. I sprayed a loaded Dan Wesson Model 15 with WD-40 on several occassions and wiped it down. After doing this several times(over a couple of weeks) when I finally fired the rounds all failed to some measure. One,the bullet just entered the barrel and lodged there,had to be driven out. The other 5 either hit low or never reached the target.
 
Yes, the square nylon bushing fell out of my Dillon's powder measure and a few got by before I noticed it wasn't dumping powder any more. The bin was pretty well full of reloads so I couldn't pick out the ones without powder. I carried a rod to drive out the squibs as I came across them. (And found that a primer can can actually get a .452 200gr SWC completely through a 5" 1911 barrel. Sometimes.)
 
I've had 3 squibs but I can't blame myself for that. My first progressive was a Dillon 550b. Was a great press and produced thousands of loaded cartridges for me.

About the 3rd year of ownership I found 3 squibs in a lot of ammo I loaded on the press. Because of this I have sold the 550b and moved on to the Dillon 650 and 1050 as these presses can accommodate a powder check die.

Since moving to presses that accommodate a check die I've had no more mishaps. All the squibs were produced with Alliant Unique powder. Recently I switched from Unique to Power Pistol and Universal to ensure I never have this problem again.
 
It happens, just like that other word starting with "S" happens. I've been hand loading and casting bullets since 1956 and it happens. Have never had a problem with it, I've never put a second one in right behind it to ruin a barrel, but squibs happen.
 
" knock on wood" but I have not had a squib yet (30k+ rounds) I use a RCBS P2K, now I almost had some but I only charged 3 cases with nothing when I realized it. Since then I put red tape on the uniflow powder silo and never let the powder fall below that line.
Another thing I do is set a cook timer to go off every 20 minutes or so just as a reminder to check everything real fast, powder, measure what the uni is throwing, primer strips get a refill. But that is just my process


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Kinda broad isn't it? "Other reloading blunder" If you haven't had a blunder (high primers, bad crimp, inconsistent charge, etc...) you've probably only been reloading for a day.
Click to expand...

I guess I meant potentially dangerous blunder. I try to be as precise as I can and not make mistakes. I do remember a had a little trouble with my lee auto disk sticking the day I was making those rounds but I thought I had caught all the rounds that did not get powder. Higher seating so I can look down into the case and better lighting should help reduce the possibility of this happening again. I'm still just learning, I'm sure there will be more blunders ahead, I am going to jump back on the horse, be careful and always wear my eyes and ears and shooting.
 
Yup, with a Lead .40 cal in my 1911. Got distracted at the press and didn't charge it with propellent.
 
Not that Ive had anymore repeats of squibs since 1957(no overly snide comments please, define squib!), but I have found that a really good double check of loaded ammo is to run any suspect ammo over an electronic balance/scale. The relative uniformity of rounds loaded with the same cases, powder, bullet probably wont vary more than 0.5 grain. Cast bullets will tend to vary a bit more. If a round varries more than a grain off the average + or -, then you need to check for the cause. The largest variant in the overall cartridge is the brass. Loads of say a 45 colt w/ 300 gr bullet and heavy load of H110 only show a variance of ave. 0.4 grains. Ive weighed a lot of ammo because the appearance of a 300gr XTP and a 250 gr XTP is negligible and its easy to have them mixed.
 
Failed to use magnum primers with +P loadings of H110 in .45 Colt. Several of my load manuals,said yes and some said no need, so I only loaded 18 rounds.

When the hammer dropped on the 1st round in my Blackhawk, I didn't hear any thing or felt any recoil, opened loading gate, removed the other five rounds and then checked to see if the bullet lodged in the barrel it didn't so the 17 rounds went to the hammer.

Lesson learned, don't load to many rounds when working up a new load!
 
I was using a Lee adjustable charge bar & Titegroup.
The powder has a low charge weight.
In the beginning it was dropping fine.
But for some reason that I still haven't figured out, it started to not drop correctly.
I just went back to the discs.
I'm not reloading for match shoots (just plinking)

The 2nd time, I "forgot" to put a primer in.
When I noticed it leaking I did a REALLY dumb thing.
I dropped it in the powder measure & then forgot about it.
When it got to the bottom of the hopper, it partially blocked the hole.
Some charged just fine, so I didn't notice it right away.
 
Quote:
I fired a round in my 1911 and the bullet barely left the case and got stuck in the barrel. Luckily something did not feel right and I checked it before I pulled the trigger again.

Pulling the trigger again wouldn't have been a problem. A squib like that would not have operated the action, hence a new round would not be chambered. Much more a serious problem in a revolver if you don't realize something "wasn't right."

I would add that your poll results indicate lack of honesty or a whole bunch of people without much reloading experience. If you play this game long enough, you will have blunders, whether it be a primer that gets seated upside down, a realization that the powder measure setting loosened and now you have several assembled rounds that need to be disassembled, the wrong weight bullet was used, crunched a case while sizing, etc. Perhaps the respondents mean to say they have never had a blunder that resulted in damge to a firearm or personal injury. The majority of reloaders probably fall into this category, but I doubt there is anyone who has reloaded for any length of time that didn't screw something up at one time or another.
 
Sure. It will happen some day.

I have three stainless steel rods ( 30 cal. 38 cl & 45 Cal) in my shooting bag and I would think two or three times a year I tap a bullet out of someones barrel at the pistol range.

If you load it will happen. It's happen to me three times in 50 years.
 
I had 4 squibs in my first 45 reloads on my new LnL AP. The pistol rotor was hanging up and I didn't catch it. At the time, the press only came with the rifle rotor for the powder drop. Hornady sent a new one at no cost and while I was waiting, I used fine emery cloth and elbow grease to get it working smooth. No issues since then but it is quite an eye opener when it happens.

I have a powder cop die but always visually check anyway.
 
Since I'm not into competition shooting, I don't need a progressive loader and only use a single stage loader...RCBS...sure, its much slower, but my reloads are precisely done and I don't worry about overcharge or no charge.
Once I set up and the charge is where I want it, I weigh every 3rd round for correctness and if there is a deviation of 1/10 of a grain of more or less powder, it is corrected.
I've never had a squib or FTF yet and want to keep it that way....but then, I don't reload for rifle, only 9mm, 38/357, and 45ACP pistol.
I sort the brass according to headstamp, trim to proper length, and clean the inside of the casing after tumbling...I also deburr the primer flash hole.
All my reloads are a pleasure to shoot, chronographed and logged in and thats why I love reloading so much.
 
In my early casting days the used sizer I bought had lymans black moly lube in it & that stuff melted & killed my powder in `bout 50 of the 100 in the case .

Yes it was in the shade but still it leached into the powder , made interesting shooting , some would fall inbetween the muzzle & target !!
 
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