Two squibs in a week. Need help!

[staycold66]

I've been reloading for about 7 years and I've recently gotten my first squib load. The first was in my Glock 23 with a 124 grain frangible projectile and about 5 grains of Titegroup. The second squib happened yesterday in my 9mm AR-15. The load was a 115 grain plated round nose with 6.4 grains of Accurate No.5.

The only thing I've been doing differently lately is priming my cases by hand because my Lee Pro 1000 was giving me troubles. Is it possible that my primers aren't seated well enough? Would this be enough to cause multiple squibs? I inspected one of the squib cases and the primer looked pretty dented but I don't believe it was punctured.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[climbskirun]

If the projectile was pushed out, then the primer went off and the only explanation is that your powder charge was missing or was insufficient.

 

[ReloaderFred]

A squib load by definition is a round which contained no powder and the bullet was stuck in the bore by the force of the primer.

It sounds like the OP had failures to fire, rather than squib loads. This is normally caused by the primer not being seated all the way to the bottom of the primer pocket, which is necessary to fully seat the anvil into the primer pellet. If this is the case, then seat your primers deeper.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[staycold66]

The primer ignited and lodged the projectile about a half inch into the barrel. Could this be caused by improper seating?

 

[Havok7416]

The primer ignited and lodged the projectile about a half inch into the barrel. Could this be caused by improper seating?

No, it's not improper seating. Lack of powder (as in zero or almost zero) is the most common cause. I suppose you could theoretically use a very oversize bullet, but it likely wouldn't seat in the case at all.

Are you checking inside each case to make sure there is powder there? I failed to do this when I first got started and had a handful of squibs as a result. Now I check each one as do many of the members here.

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I think you were missing powder I all ways use a small flash light and look in
my brass when its in my loading tray's also keep a brass rod and small hammer in my range bag

 

[staycold66]

My reloading bench could use some more light so I'm thinking it's a light or no powder charge. Thanks for all the help!

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

Costco has LED 48" shop lights for a good price when they are in stock. I bought two and they light my entire garage.

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Costco has LED 48" shop lights for a good price when they are in stock. I bought two and they light my entire garage.
__________________

I have 2 of them in my loading room i like them a lot and yes they are bright

 

[noylj]

In general with handguns, 1.0gn of ANY pistol powder will produce enough gas to get the bullet out of the barrel. A bullet gets stuck in the barrel if the velocity is below about 450 fps. For that, you will almost always have a primer-only condition.
LOOK in every charged case before you place a bullet on the case or dedicate a station to an RCBS Lock-Out die or Dillon Powder Check die.
Light is important.

 

[maxxhavoc]

My guess is that since the cases are primed, you are not focusing on the down stroke of the Pro 1k, or there is something keeping the downstroke from happening with a primed case. This will cause no-charge cases. Get a sewing machine light to visually inspect cases.

Like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Working-gooseneck-Magnetic-Mounting/dp/B005UF8P52/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1447474291&sr=8-4&keywords=sewing+machine+light

 

[ljnowell]

Are you using the chain or spring on the powder measure? If the chain do you have it tensioned properly??

 

[njl]

If the bullet was stuck in the barrel, either you had insufficient (no?) powder, or something went wrong and kept your powder from burning (contaminated when loaded?). The latter is easy to see, because when you open the action to extract the spent casing, unburnt powder will spill out into the action/magazine. The gas produced by the primer going off is enough to push the bullet out of the brass case, but generally not enough to get the bullet very far in the barrel.

 

[Dudedog]

A week spring on the LPD or the auto disk measure can cause it to stick. After it is jarred sometimes it will pop back into place and be working again. If you have a lot of rounds on it you might watch for this and replace the spring if it is happening.
I ended up replacing the spring on my LPD a while back.

 

[gamestalker]

No brother, you missed a powder charge, or possibly under charged the case, but it most certainly had nothing to do with the primer.

Take a deep breath, then start inspecting your charged cases immediately after charging by using a bright flash light to confirm each case is charged, and all appear similar in volume. My Son is brand ne to reloading also, and he just made the same mistake. It requires having to inject various fail safe procedures into the reloading process to eliminate, or at the very least reduce the risk of encountering such issues.

GS

 

[ku4hx]

For decades, I followed Lyman's advice on using a flashlight to inspect every charged case in a loading block. I later used a battery operated pen light rigged to my RL550B for close to 20 years, then I found this about a year ago: http://inlinefabrication.com/products/skylighttm-led-lighting-kit-for-the-dillon-550

Some of the best money I've ever spent; every charged case gets a look as I set the bullet. Not so good with .223 Remington, but it can help there too.

When I realized how easy it was to double charge Bullseye, and conversely zero charge any round, I decided to take a positive step and modified my loading protocol with a lighted powder level inspection. Not a perfect remedy, few are, but it sure beats doing nothing and I wanted to trust my eyes, not another mechanical device.

 

[joem1945]

I have 2- 4 foot flor over one reloading bench and 3 of them over my big reloading bench. Change bulbs every other year even if they still work to get the brightest light.

 

[staycold66]

I went out and got a light for my bench so the charging issue should be solved. I'm also going to the hardware store later today to get a new spring for the powder assembly as suggested.

Another question: Would keeping my reloading components in a cold garage affect the loads at all?

 

[Ironicaintit]

I dont think a cold garage will adversely effect your components. A hot garage, on the other hand, will.

Im still trying to get over that youve been reloading for 7 years and havent already developed a habit of inspecting the powder charge in each case!
I did that from cartridge #1.

 

[staycold66]

I used to be much more diligent about it but I guess I got to big for my britches. Luckily it didn't cost me my gun or my hand!

 

[mdi]

Brighter lights themselves won't fix your problem, they will just make it easier for you to solve the problem. Ya gotta look! Or with a progressive you could get a powder check die and pay attention...

 

[Hondo 60]

This is why I don't mix headstamps.
Usually each head stamp is less than 1 or 2 grains different from each other.
Mixed stamps can be as much as 5-7 grains different.

With the same headstamp you could weigh each round & see a difference between those that got charged & those that didn't.

Not trying to look smarter than the next guy - just trying to explain my procedures.

I hope this helps someone.

PS maxxhavoc - I like that light. I think I may invest in one. Thanks for the link.

 

[ljnowell]

This is why I don't mix headstamps.
Usually each head stamp is less than 1 or 2 grains different from each other.
Mixed stamps can be as much as 5-7 grains different.

With the same headstamp you could weigh each round & see a difference between those that got charged & those that didn't.

Not trying to look smarter than the next guy - just trying to explain my procedures.

I hope this helps someone.

PS maxxhavoc - I like that light. I think I may invest in one. Thanks for the link.

You could do that sometimes. Take a 38 wadcutter load though, 2.5-3 grains of powder. You still can't get away with that.

 

[Sunray]

5 grains of Titegroup is .9 over max, but that's not the cause. You missed those cases when you powdered. And you didn't check 'em. Happens to everybody.
Is or is not. There is no "about 5 grains".
"...6.4 grains of Accurate No.5..." Tested in a 4" pistol. The rifle ever work OK with 115's? Mind you, it could be the same reason. How are you powdering? Check your thrower if there is one.
"...Luckily it didn't cost me my gun or..." Highly unlikely to do either. A squib will cause a bulged barrel if you fire another round, but will not likely blow the gun.

 

[ljnowell]

. A squib will cause a bulged barrel if you fire another round, but will not likely blow the gun.

I would say a squib with a round fired after it is very likely to blow up a gun. It happens frequently. Sometimes it will just bulge a barrel.