Squib load

[S&W-Keeper]

After 40+ years, I finally witnessed my first squib load.My 14 year old grandson was shooting with me, and it happened with him. It just did enter the forcing cone, and locked it up tighter than a bank vault. I had talked to him a couple of weeks earlier about what to do in case it happened. He remembered and asked me if that was a squib. I could see that the primer had not backed out,so we took a small brass punch and tapped the round back into the case, and the cylinder opened up. I thought it was kind of cool that he remembered.

 

[m657]

great teaching moment there....

 

[HAWKEYE10]

He is a very bright young man. I have never had that
happen to me but this is a good reminder. Don

 

[mwtdvm]

Post "incident assessment"

Was it a factory load or a hand load?

FWIW, I must have had a "brain fade" when loading 45 Colt about 8-9 years ago. I was not using a progressive press but managed to forget to put powder in two of them(out of 100) Fortunately the primer didn't budge the bullet. After the second one, I stopped shooting and when I got home, weighed all the rest.

I guess I just skipped those two when I was putting in the powder. I learned my lesson and now keep a flashlight handy to look in the cases to make sure there is powder.

Glad you had as good an outcome as one could hope for.

 

[S&W-Keeper]

Sad to say it was a gunshow reload. I know, I know.

 

[sonny]

Sad to say it was a gunshow reload. I know, I know.

I once shot a double-load of powder (.40 Smith) from a gunshow reload. The Glock was fine; the brass was shredded, the mag blew out of the bottom and I had a black hand from burned powder, but no serious injury.
Also, I have had a squib load (.45 Colt) where the primer pushed the bullet just into the forcing cone and locked up the gun. But I had it loaded with H110 powder, but loaded 5% lighter than the recommended minimum load. So the powder didn't even ignite; not one bit. Had a big wad of unburned powder behind the bullet in the forcing cone. Hodgdon warns about this, but I was ignorant. I am better informed now.
Sonny

 

[Vegetaman]

For those of us not in the know, or that need a refresher... What's the trick for dealing with a "squib" load? Especially if it goes into the forcing cone and locks up the gun.

 

[s&wchad]

For those of us not in the know, or that need a refresher... What's the trick for dealing with a "squib" load? Especially if it goes into the forcing cone and locks up the gun.

A squib is a cartridge that has less recoil and report than a normal cartridge. The first trick is to recognize what happened and not attempt to fire a subsequent cartridge. Sometimes the bullet clears the forcing cone and lodges in the barrel, without seizing the action. If you fire a second shot, you'll bulge the barrel like this (between the shroud and the ramp).

If you encounter a squib, immediately stop shooting, open the action (if you can) and inspect the bore. If you can't open the action, check the flash gap from the side and you'll likely see the bullet. Ideally, you'll have a brass rod slightly smaller than the bore diameter and a hammer, but sometimes you'll have to improvise. Most range officers won't let you leave the line with a loaded gun. Slowly drive the bullet back into the cylinder, just until you can open the action and clear the gun. If the bullet's lodged in the barrel, you can unload the gun and get it to where it can be worked on with the proper tools. We encounter squibs quite often on the skeet and trap lines and have fiberglass rods to clear the wad from the barrel. Bore obstructions can be catastrophic!

 

[Ron H.]

For those of us not in the know, or that need a refresher... What's the trick for dealing with a "squib" load? Especially if it goes into the forcing cone and locks up the gun.

Sir, the first thing to do with a squib is to wait. It may be a hang fire (delay in firing) rather than a squib.

While you're waiting, set aside all remaining ammo of the lot that the squib came from. You'll want to check them all when you get home.

If the thing hasn't fired after a minute or two, insert a rod from the muzzle and tap the bullet back into the cylinder. Open the cylinder and remove the offending round.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

 

[MrJT]

Sir, the first thing to do with a squib is to wait. It may be a hang fire (delay in firing) rather than a squib.

If the thing hasn't fired after a minute or two, insert a rod from the muzzle and tap the bullet back into the cylinder. Open the cylinder and remove the offending round.

A hang fire and squib are totally different. You wont have a squib get lodged.. and then randomly fire after a minute or two. A squib is a round that for whatever reason doesn't have enough "umph" to make it out of the barrel, but enough to make it out of the casing and get lodged.

Hopefully with a squib you will notice the differences in recoil and report like mentioned before.

With a hang fire, you pull the trigger and get nothing.... but then after a few seconds or more.. the round goes off. When you pull the trigger and nothing happens, always keep the gun pointed downrange for at least a minute to be safe.

 

[Vegetaman]

Ah, I see. I've never had that problem, before. Either the gun kicks nice and the bullet goes out, or you just hear a "plink" and the round doesn't go off... And I am not a fan of the dull plink, either.

I usually shoot factory stuff, though. I assume this can happen with factory ammo, but is most likely more common with reloads?

So is the squib usually a result of the primer pushing the bullet into the barrel of the gun, but not igniting the powder? Or just perhaps an underpowered load?

 

[Ron H.]

A hang fire and squib are totally different. You wont have a squib get lodged.. and then randomly fire after a minute or two. A squib is a round that for whatever reason doesn't have enough "umph" to make it out of the barrel, but enough to make it out of the casing and get lodged.

Hopefully with a squib you will notice the differences in recoil and report like mentioned before.

With a hang fire, you pull the trigger and get nothing.... but then after a few seconds or more.. the round goes off. When you pull the trigger and nothing happens, always keep the gun pointed downrange for at least a minute to be safe.

Sir, that's fine, but I still prefer to wait. It hurts nothing and might just keep my fingers attached.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.