Had my first Squib load... I feel like a failure

[LAKEMASTER]

A few months ago, my father n law went out to the range with my brother n law with some of my ammo.

3 shots in, one of my reloads wedged a bullet 1/2"up my wife's gun.


The part that is disappointing is this particular batch of ammo was 300 total rounds.

I've isolated all the reloads, and I plan to shoot them, but I just feel it's a reality check to myself.

Especially when I look at every powder charge.

Or at least I thought I do....

[MyFlatline]

__it happens, I have had one, thankfully it was caught before another round was chambered. Mine was loaded from a progressive press. Just brings us back to reality , that we are only human..

[LAKEMASTER]

Looks like I'll be taking a punch and hammer to the range

[dverna]

Nothing is 100% foolproof. Visual inspection is one of the worst ways especially during long sessions or fatigue.

At least it was not a double charge!

I have had about five squibs in 500,000 loads but have never had one on the 1050 since adding a powder check die. Same with the 650 before I sold it.

They are embarrassing but I doubt anyone who has loaded any amount of ammunition can say they never had one.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

It happens i loaded some snap-caps in magazines before and let my kids shoot them to see what they would do just in case they had it
happen to them they stopped and checked and asked me too to make sure it was safe

[JBinMN]

At least it was caught & did not become a catastrophic incident. Very glad to not hear of anything worse than maybe a bit of disappointment in your doings....

[Texas by God]

It can happen to anyone. Especially if using a progressive loader. I had one in a 22-250 when I was young. That bullet was no fun to knock out of the barrel. I won't reload with company in the room because I'm easily distracted. I bulged the barrel on a Ruger 9mm because I mistook a squib for a dud due to my bad hearing. I did a quick clearance drill, not even looking at the ejected brass and boom-magnum recoil with two bullet holes in the target. The slide was stuck on the bulge. The strong Ruger saved me from my dumb self. So that boo boo cost me a barrel.
You should feel better now.

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[LAKEMASTER]

I think I'm way too new to be running my loadmaster full auto.

I decided a few months ago that I would manually push cases into the Shell plate and physically move the lever for the bullet feeder.

I can stop and check whatever/whenever without worrying about short stroking both feeders.

I feel my ammo is much more consistent without the drag from the bullet feeder and especially with the case feeder, that system puts a ton of drag on everything............

[Bazoo]

I had one bout 5 years ago in my 1911. I cant remember if It felt funny, or if It wouldnt load the next round. Not sure how it happened, Guess I was distracted. Been more careful ever since that one incident.

[c1skout]

I know how you feel!

I've had 2 in the last 25 years. First one was a 38 special snubby and the boolit stuck about half way down the barrel. The front of the cylinder, the barrel and boolit base were covered with a yellow looking ash.... weird. Second was 45acp that stuck JUST into the rifling.

[3leggedturtle]

I learned if you mistakenly use 3 grains of Unique instead if 3 grains of Red Dot in a 38 Special with 148gr WC they will stick in the barrel about 1/3 of the time! Was a nice mild accurate load tho. Take it easy on yourself, you caught it and that’s all that matters. Todd/3leg

[kmw1954]

I'll add on to this. So far my only squib occurred right after starting to wet tumble brass. It was very frightening and more so after thinking about it because it happened in my wife's gun while she was shooting. Fortunately the bullet stuck in the lead of the barrel and prevented another round from chambering. I hate to think what might have been if the bullet was stuck further down the barrel!

As it turned out I pulled apart the remaining bullets and found 2 more with wet powder. Thankfully no one was hurt in either case!

[Jeff Michel]

Carry an assortment of brass rods to match to bore of your gun(s) your shooting with you to the range and you'll be ready the next time it happens and it will happen again. Cut yourself some slack, not that big of a deal, annoying yes but certainly not unusual.

[Outer Rondacker]

It happens. Dont feel bad. No one got hurt. Just learn from this. When I first started I was so scared about messing up I checked the weight of ever shell after it was loaded. If it was off more then just a tat I pulled it. I tell you this so you know I still had a light load. It cleared the barrel but stuck in the 1/2 plywood backstop from 20 yrds. This is when I learned I had bad powder. Pulled the rest.

[Beagle333]

Fortunately never had one (yet), but I use reloading blocks. All 60 must look the same from at least a couple of different angles or they get re-charged.
I realize there are a couple more factors that might cause one too, but I've been lucky.

[bullseye67]

Good morning,
I have been shooting bullseye for over 30 years. Every match someone has a squib. It happens.....more with the light loads we use. I carry a brass rod that fits 9mm and up. It seems the guys that batch load have the most frequent squibs. I load my 32 S&W Long on a LEE Loadmaster with case and bullet feed, drum powder measure dropping 1.6grs bullseye powder. I have had 2 squibs in the last 5 years.
Like all things in life, squibs happen!!! Less with a progressive press in my case.


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[ulav8r]

Almost had one when I first started reloading. Was using a boat tail pulled from surplus 06 ammo in my 308. Had a Lee Loader and dipper set, no scale. Using Unique, I started at 7-7 grains of powder with a pinch of dacron. First shot was loud and left some charred balls of dacron in the bore. Wiped it out and tried the next smaller dipper of powder.I think I reduced the charge 1 or 2 more times before finding the lightest load that would be useable. The lowest load I tried sent the bullet about 12 feet from the muzzle.

[popper]

Did you weigh the reloads? Typically you can tell with large powder charges. Fast pistol powder - nope.

[osteodoc08]

If you haven’t had a squib you’re either

1. Lucky
2. Haven’t been doing it long enough.

I’m honest with myself to say I’ve had a squib load. Root cause analysis was that my powder dispenser started dropping light charges half way through. The bullets would plop out the barrel but had one that didn’t exit. I was able to pop it out and continue getting rid of the “defective” ammo.

[LAKEMASTER]

Did you weigh the reloads? Typically you can tell with large powder charges. Fast pistol powder - nope.

We are talking about 4 grains.

I tried, my pistol casting is purely for numbers. So they vary a lot.

I tried.....