Model 19 Jammed

[Cooter Brown]

Glad you got it resolved.

I did the same thing once (failed to charge a round). But there's an easy way to check. When you have all the cases charged and they're in the tray use a small flashlight to shine on them at an angle. You'll be able to see easily if any are uncharged and also if any are grossly over-charged.

A squib like this won't always hang the gun up, which can lead to a bad situation. I learned this the hard way with a Lee loader--the kind you use with a hammer--and a 45 Colt Ruger BH.

A buddy of mine was shooting when the squib happened and he cocked the gun to shoot again. Fortunately I had a rare attack of brains and stopped him before he pulled the trigger. I was only 16 or 17 but that lesson stuck. I've been doing the flashlight thing ever since and any odd sounding round shuts things down until I determine that the gun is safe to shoot.

A brass rod and a small hammer are good things to have in a range bag.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

Invest in a bullet puller.

 

[JoeM19]

I agree..or...

The most common problem is the ejector rod backing out; you may be able to tighten it by holding onto the knurled portion with padded pliers and turning counter-clockwise. That is the extent of what I know to fix it ...let us know if that works.

My 19 (2.5") used to freeze anytime I shot close to 50 rds. through it if I didn't brush the back of the star off occasionally. The 2.5 is short enough that there is no complete powder burn and when you turn it up to eject the rounds, the unburned powder falls on the back of the star eventually forcing it back against the face of the frame. When I qualify with my 19, I keep a brush in my belt and clean the star fairly often. Just my .02. - 'ole joe.

 

[opaul]

This was a great posting. Thanks for all in sharing their knowledge.

 

[robvious]

the shake test works to tell you there is powder... but not how much...
if one had none... another may have double... just run them all across the scale and make sure they are all in the same range... be safe..

 

[deyomatic]

I cannot believe how much great info I got crom this one thread. To think I almost didn't open it. Many thanks to all the experts.

 

[flagman1776]

Never had a squib with any round I loaded either on a single stage (Lyman) or progressive (Dillon). Can't argue with a flashlight check on the single stage. With the Dillon, on the rare hang up, I'd pull the cases, verify & run single rounds until all the in-process cases were loaded.
However, dept issue practice reloads were variable.
I had a squib in an intense live fire training session... tie up my M66. Had it been a real gun fight, I'd have gone to my backup (not allowed in the exercise)... or I'd have been dead... and my partner was left to fend off multiple "bad guys" without me. Thankfully it was only embarassing. Always after that I carried a brass range rod on my key ring... and at least 1 BUG.

 

[Mark6005]

Good post and great info. Once again I learned something here

 

[spad124]

You're not the first one to misload. My FIL and I were chatting as I was loading some .38s. I did not put powder in two cases and seated bullets over the empty primed case. In my case the primer drove the bullet far enough into the forcing cone of my 686 that I could open the cylinder- both times. I used a dowel to tap the bullet out.

Now, when I load I don't chat and stop loading if my wife wants to chat. Also, when our son loads I stay long enough to make sure he's on the right track and then leave.

Just find a process that works for you and double check the powder. A double charge could be much more catastrophic

 

[BC38]

Had the exact same thing happen to me. With ear muffs on, a primer popping off with no powder in the case sounds almost like the click of the hammer falling on on a dud round. Usually has just enough pressure to push the bullet out of the case and into the gap between the cylinder and forcing cone. Locks 'em up tighter than a drum every time!

 

[bruner1981]

It's happened to me too, twice, back when I was using the whack-a-mole style Lee loaders for 357. Happened on my Taurus 605 snub, but on mine, the bullets managed to get past the gap and fully engage in the rifling. That was a real pain to get out. Now I use a progressive press and weigh every single round with a digital scale after every 100 rounds. Glad you were able to fix it

 

[CajunBass]

I had a "run" of duds like that for some reason recently. I though I was checking the power in the case and everything but I was missing some somehow. I ended up pulling bullets, and doing them over again. Now I triple check each round and then weigh the loaded ones.

So, I've had a couple of stuck bullets. I used an aluminum shotgun cleaning rod to tap them out with a small hammer. Just about a perfect fit for a 38/357 barrel. The aluminum won't hurt the steel. The female screw end fits right over the T/C shaped bullets I use 99% of the time. Now I keep them in my range bag.

 

[Sevens]

Please consider:

if you have more suspect rounds of ammo from the same batch...
Invest in a kinetic (hammer-type) bullet puller and take the rounds apart.

Taking them apart is time consuming and annoying, but it will beat a memory in to your mind that it's is extremely important to build decent ammo (and/or) avoid suspect ammo.

The rounds you have left and your "shake test" is a poor idea--
Please understand that you got LUCKY that the slug tied up the revolver. Had you been far less lucky, that bullet would have made it another half-inch down the bore and out of the cylinder. At that point, your revolver would NOT have been tied up and done for the day.

What would happen next is that if the round behind it were FULL POWER, now you'd have a single full power round of ammo attempting to push DOUBLE the payload. The first problem here is irrational over pressure.

The typical result is that the bullet from the full power round will go forward toward the stuck bullet and the column of air between the two slugs becomes trapped. That column of air ends up "ringing" your barrel when it cannot escape and you end up with a bulge in your barrel.

And while that is truly awful... it won't put you in the hospital.