DeadboltSecurity
Member
Been reloading 9mm FMJBT and .223 for some time with my Dillon 550B and never had a squib load. About 2 weeks ago, I acquired a Dillon Square Deal B, 8 pounds of Unique and about 2,000 SmallBall 125gr unjacketed bullets from Missouri Bullets. Add in his expertly gunsmithed Beretta 92FS for $500... yeah... I got a pretty good deal. <Youth. He had to pay off his second DUI charge. That will teach him... we all hope anyway>
Love the Dillons... you can pull it off your bench, throw it in the trunk of a car and drive down 50 miles of back country road and if it was set to dispense 4 grains before... gosh darn it... it'll dispense 4 grains after. And that's about what this guy I got if from had it set for.... about 4 gr of Unique and came out with an OAL of 1.105"
Looking up the data that seemed about middle of the road so I loaded up about 150 rounds and headed for the range. About 30 rounds into punching some paper targets, I got my first ever squib. Fortunately, the next round wouldn't even chamber. Unfortunately, I had to head home and pound the sucker out on my bench.
I couldn't retrieve the brass to inspect it but I did visually inspect the remaining rounds and I on a couple I would have liked to see the primer seated a little deeper but it wasn't really out of tolerance but I discarded them anyway.
Next day... two more misfires and the second squibbed the Beretta again. I did get the brass on both though. Primers were well seated (but even if they weren't the firing pin would have seated them upon discharge) but the cartridge was very black and sooty.
The brass was the same brass I've used for months, the Dillon was obviously new to me as was the powder and bullets but one other new item was a new box of CCI primers. A friend of mine that's been reloading for over 20 years now suspects that out all those variables it's most likely a bad primer. Or now a batch of bad primers.
I double checked the seating on the primers and I'm happy with it and again all lengths and weights seem to match the reload guides pretty much in the middle of the range.
Anyone else have any theories? Primers, in my experience are pretty reliable and CCI is not a half bad brand so I'd be surprised if that was it. They were pretty smokey loads but after some research, I found that lead-only bullets will do that as they burn off the lube. My buddy also said that 'Unique' can be a little smokier that some other powders. I wouldn't know... never used it and never used anything other than FMJBT in my 9mm.
So I've got a bit of mystery on my hands... and I hate like heck squibbing a darn fine pistol such as the 92FS. Oh, and I did run my old 9mm ammo (150 rounds or so) without a single glitch so it ain't the gun.
Love the Dillons... you can pull it off your bench, throw it in the trunk of a car and drive down 50 miles of back country road and if it was set to dispense 4 grains before... gosh darn it... it'll dispense 4 grains after. And that's about what this guy I got if from had it set for.... about 4 gr of Unique and came out with an OAL of 1.105"
Looking up the data that seemed about middle of the road so I loaded up about 150 rounds and headed for the range. About 30 rounds into punching some paper targets, I got my first ever squib. Fortunately, the next round wouldn't even chamber. Unfortunately, I had to head home and pound the sucker out on my bench.
I couldn't retrieve the brass to inspect it but I did visually inspect the remaining rounds and I on a couple I would have liked to see the primer seated a little deeper but it wasn't really out of tolerance but I discarded them anyway.
Next day... two more misfires and the second squibbed the Beretta again. I did get the brass on both though. Primers were well seated (but even if they weren't the firing pin would have seated them upon discharge) but the cartridge was very black and sooty.
The brass was the same brass I've used for months, the Dillon was obviously new to me as was the powder and bullets but one other new item was a new box of CCI primers. A friend of mine that's been reloading for over 20 years now suspects that out all those variables it's most likely a bad primer. Or now a batch of bad primers.
I double checked the seating on the primers and I'm happy with it and again all lengths and weights seem to match the reload guides pretty much in the middle of the range.
Anyone else have any theories? Primers, in my experience are pretty reliable and CCI is not a half bad brand so I'd be surprised if that was it. They were pretty smokey loads but after some research, I found that lead-only bullets will do that as they burn off the lube. My buddy also said that 'Unique' can be a little smokier that some other powders. I wouldn't know... never used it and never used anything other than FMJBT in my 9mm.
So I've got a bit of mystery on my hands... and I hate like heck squibbing a darn fine pistol such as the 92FS. Oh, and I did run my old 9mm ammo (150 rounds or so) without a single glitch so it ain't the gun.
