When I started loading a few years ago I once charged a .223 case and the powder overflowed the case and spilled onto the floor. Hmmmm. I poured out the powder and it turns out some walnut tumbling media had gotten caked into the bottom of the case. Ever since that event I now look into the case right before charging - looking for the base of the shiny new primer.

Tonight I was loading .223 and when I went to look for that shiny primer in the next case I was charging I saw......just blackness. I looked inside with a flashlight and - sure enough - a piece of corn cob media was in there.

So - if I'd charged that case and seated a bullet - how do folks think it would have behaved? I'm pretty confident in saying the bullet wouldn't perform as it should accuracy wise, but I'm wondering if it would feel like a full load, lite load, or even a squib.

If those latter scenarios - tonight's event reaffirmed in my head that squibs don't only come from "no or low powder". We get into frequent conversations about "measuring every load" and things such as this. If this errant piece of media could have caused a squib, no amount of careful powder weighing would have caught it.

Although I always intend to be and hope that I am very diligent, events like tonight provide a good additional wakeup call.

OR

If you had corncob media in the flash hole, I don't think you would have gotten any ignition from the primer at all. But there is a way to find out: stick a piece of media in the flash hole, prime the case, load as usual, and stick that one in your pocket to keep it separate. Take a rod with you to the range just in case (I actually use brass), and try to shoot the round once you are through shooting for the trip.

You will have your answer. If the bullet sticks, it should dislodge reasonably easily. If not, I would think a few taps with a rawhide mallet would drive it out.

About 30 years ago a friend at the local range had a problem with numerous missfires and hangfires from reloads that he'd just assembled for an old military surplus bolt action. He took half of the batch home and pulled the bullets. He found dead beetles lodged in many of their primer pockets. The remainder of the cases were out in a bulk box in his garage. A lot of them had dead beetles inside. My guess is that the corn cob granule you found stuck in a flash hole tonight would have been about the same as his beetles. A primer alone will usually push a bullet into the barrel. That's enough force that there is a good chance the granule would have been pushed through the flash hole with enough heat following it to light off the charge. It could also have remained lodged in the flash hole resulting in a missfire or hangfire. My GUESS is that a squib sticking a bullet in your barrel would have been a lot less likely.

Hunter Safety classes still teach students that if they have a missfire they should keep the bolt closed and gun pointed at the back stop for 20 seconds just in case the missfire develops into a hangfire. Perhaps that is sound if old advise.

Speaking of safety, I thought inspecting for clear flash holes after tumbling with granular media was mandatory.

Edit to add: I have to respectfully disagree with Doubless' idea of testing a single cartridge. How tightly the granules would stick in flash holes would vary too much to draw much of a conclusion form one reload.

The piece of media was inside the case. It wasn't stuck in the flash hole - it just happened to be covering up the primer which is why I couldn't see the primer when when I looked into the case via the mouth.

When I inspected the case, prior to priming, all looked copacetic: I inspected the primer pocket and cleaned it. And I didn't see any media on the other side (in the case - looking at it from the primer cup side) because at that moment that piece of media would have been up at the cartridge neck. I hold case mouth down (toward the floor) when doing that check.

Now - one could say I should have looked through to see if I saw daylight through the entire case. I should probably start that. (Although I recently switched to wet tumbling.) But if the case had been horizontal there is even a chance that media could have been below the line of sight to STILL make it look like the case was empty.

OR

The only thing I can think of that would keep one loose granule positioned over the flash hole is a compressed charge or at least a very full case. Other wise that granule could wind up any where. The powder capacity lost because of its presence theoretically could increase loading density and or pressure a tiny bit which is the opposite of what causes squibs. A case partially filled with media is very likely to result in a missfire. I do not see this leading to a squib and a bullet stuck in the barrel but what do I know?

It depends! In your first scenario, with enough media packed in the case that it caused an overflow when charged, would almost certainly result in a total mis-fire. Never bet on things like this. If a significant amount of the charge didn't end up in the case then there is a good chance that if the round did fire pressure would be sub-standard and could result in a stuck bullet.

In the second scenario, simply a piece of media stuck in the flash hole, it could cause a misfire, but more likely it would fire normally and you would never know it had happened. This is why you should always polish/tumble first, then size the cases. This way the act of decapping will clear the flash hole and save the effort of inspecting each and every case to make sure the flash holes don't have media stuck in them! Attention to detail is absolutely necessary to safe reloading.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

Thanks. I tumble twice - the first time to get off dirt, then I size, then I tumble again (when doing rifle) to remove the lube.

My check length/trim/inspect process needs to be more thorough - based on what happened tonight.

OR

The 22 caliber bottle necked cases are a bugger for retaining tumbling media. I've found that after tumbling my .222 Remington cases I need to inspect every case for media. Do this by inverting the case and tapping it against the bottom of a pan. About every other one dump out a considerable amount of media. I use walnut media without any cleaning additives.

John

Tumble your cases first , then deprime and size. Any media in the hole will be pushed out by the depriming pin.
You still must inspect every case through every stage of reloading to make sure the case is clear. I once had a spider build a nest in a case , sitting in a loading block , on my bench ! They were only sitting there overnight ! Inspect them at every stage.
Gary

I don't think one kernel of media would stay in the charge hole when the primer goes off. They are pretty snappy..

Although I can't say it's a good thing, or that it wouldn't affect the firing of the round, if a primer can push a bullet into the barrel, I'm sure it can push a piece of cob or walnut out of a primer hole.

Don't take this wrong, nothing should be in the flash hole.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I think many squibs or hang-fires are cause by media in the flash hole. It's not that there isn't enough force but it changes the way the falme gets to the powder.Best way to avoid that is tumble with the spent primer in the case. Then it punches out any media when sized.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Instead of tumbling twice, waste of time IMO, just roll them around in an old towel damp with water or if using a non water based lube, a bit of mineral spirits. Takes like 1min.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

I seldom tumble bottle neck cases. One that spends its life going back and forth between the range and loading bench without being flung into the mud by an auto-loader never needs tumbling. I find it convenient to lube with Chap-Stick lip balm then wipe it off with a rag. I have old tins of a very similar wax that was sold to wipe onto cases with the tip of a finger but while using lip balm my fingers stay clean. After a full length resizing die has been used for a few cases I only wipe a band of lube around the case down low every second or third case.

However, I am not interested in loading large volumes of .223 or anything of the sort. In the past I did that with Lee water based lube. Tumbling got it off. The time spent tumbling then handling cases afterward was actually about the same as the time it takes using lip balm. It is sort of like sharpening a knife. There are half dozen ways to accomplish the same end. To each their own.