Is it not horrible to admit your sins to a group which has many who believe that there is a
Just World, and that good things happen to good people and bad things things happen to evil people?
Ideological and judgmental attitudes really don't help advance a safety culture.
It is my opinion that all processes have the potential for error, and some processes are more error prone than others. My Dillion 550B does not provide for illumination of the charged case. So when I have problems, such as primer misfeed, tipped bullet in the seating die, off center case crunch in the seating die, etc, I can't see the powder level in the case. After clearing such process problems in a Dillion, some of which are simple, some much more complicated, the lack of powder charge verification (along with confirmation bias) is a potential error source for squibs. If I was perfect, I would always follow some "clear the decks" procedure, but of course, perfection is for the devine.
It is good to see that the market has responded, there are lot of Dillion 550B illumination kits available which allow the reloader to look down and see if there is powder in the case. This should help identify double charges in short pistol cases, which is also a real possiblity.
Anyway, just look at your reloading practice, see where there could be error prone processes, and look to see if there are people already addressing the issue with aftermarket parts.
As for squibs, I have seen a number of them, and had two. The first squib was due to weak mainsprings, cold weather, and a ball powder in a 357 case. The pistol I purchased had been owned by a PPC shooter who had fired "60,000" rounds. It worked fine with Bullseye or AA#2 pistol powder and Federal primers. However I poured AA#9, a magnum ball powder in the case, stored a can of ammunition over night in a cold truck, (WSP primer) and given the combination of a tough to ignite ball powder and weak ignition, I had a bullet lodged in the throat. Luckily the cylinder did not turn so that prevented me from firing another round.
I fixed the M586 weak ignition with a new mainspring, and went out in slightly warmer weather with the same ammunition and every round went off with a satisfying big badda boom! Ignition strength is very important and new mainsprings are a great way to ensure strong ignition.
As for squibs at 2700 Bullseye matches, I have seen two. The first was a bullet in the throat which prevented the next round from feeding, the next was a bullet in the middle of the barrel. If you ever jack an empty from your autopistol, always stop right there and don't even think of firing another round. Drop the magazine, (clear the chamber!), and drop the long 5/16" or 1/4" drift rod you have with you, or that cleaning rod you always have at the range. (Hint, hint, have a long brass drift or cleaning rod with you) Ole Joe had a squib during a match, and he is an wise old shooter, he knew that he had to investigate to see if there was a bullet in the barrel after jacking an empty out of the chamber. Ole Joe also had a long brass drift which proved there was a bullet in that there barrel. He removed the 1911 barrel from the slide, found a block of wood, and beat the bullet out using a wooden bench as a rest. Ole Joe reassembled his 1911 and continued with the match. Now the thing is, as I can verify, the shooter does not necessarily notice a weak recoil, or a weak blast. Another shooter, Jim, verified that: the shooter behind grabbed him and stopped him from firing the next round in his 1911. The shooter behind Jim noticed the lack of muzzle blast and knew that portended a squib. And it was a squib with the bullet half way down the barrel. Jim was grateful for the intervention and help.
There have been lots of squibs in revolvers where the bullet went half way down the barrel, the shooter did not notice that the recoil and blast were off, and continued to fire until the barrel was full of bullets. Such is life. I was lucky as my M586 squib stopped the rotation of the cylinder. At the time I was not as paranoid about squibs as I am now, and I was not carrying brass drifts with me out to the range. Now I am.
My second squib, was with a 1911 during a 2700 Bullseye match. I did not notice that the recoil and blast were all that different. Of course there were a lot of bangs going around. I jacked out an empty, and I really thought I saw the hole on the target. (I was wrong), and the next round bulged the barrel. I had not been carrying brass drifts in my pistol box, and was not thinking about squibs as I have never ever had a case without the correct powder charge. Hubris created an attitude that my ammunition had to be perfect. I was wrong. That cost me $600 to get my Les Baer Wadcutter fixed, it did not leave the factory till it placed ten shots inside two inches at 50 yards. I also don’t trust my reloading procedures as much as I did before and I did start using a light on my Dillion 550B.
