My first squib load, yikes !

[watkibe]

In 40 some years of shooting and reloading, I have had misfires and hang fires, but yesterday I had my first squib load ever. When I pull the trigger, I usually expect a "bang". I have heard "click", and I have heard "click...bang", but this time what I heard was "pop". Thank the Lord for a personal safety rule that I have never really put into words before, so I will say it here first; "WHENEVER SHOOTING OR RELOADING, IF SOMETHING DOESN'T LOOK, ACT, OR SOUND RIGHT, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT WHY AND FIX IT" ! Accidents and mistakes can blow up guns and people.
I pulled the cylinder out of my Blackhawk and there was a 240 gr SWC about 3/8" into the barrel. It was from an old box I ran across from the days when I was just getting used to a then-new progressive loader, and I'm sure it had no powder in it. The primer was enough to obturate the base and jam it firmly into the forcing cone before it ran out of juice. I shudder to think what surely would have happened if I had ignored the "pop" with an "oh well" and pulled the trigger again.
Over the years there have been 2 or 3 mishaps that didn't turn into tragedies or disasters because I had shooting safety drilled into my head by my Dad, the Boy Scouts, and the US Navy. Boy, am I grateful !!!

[454PB]

Glad you caught it. I had my first one 35 years ago, and as happened to you, it really makes you pay attention from that point on.

Mine was in a Ruger SBH .44 magnum, and unfortunately, I didn't stop. I fired another round behind it. Neither I nor the gun was seriously hurt, but I did get a cut on the web of my hand from the recoil.

I've had a few since, and a lot of hangfires, but NEVER pulled the trigger with a boolit in the barrel again.

[Bret4207]

When I was a young ladjust getting into reloading, and a rather heavy drinker, I had some squibs. I was out of bullet lube so I tried some lithium wheel bearing grease. I loaded up a whole mess of 32 S+W cases with those boolits, Lyman 311316, and a pinch of SR7625. They shot great at 25 yards and I was happy. I had 9 rounds left over and found them some months later. With all the common sense a couple of 6 packs gives you I one day decided to take a pop at a marauding woodchuck from my bedroom window. I missed Woody! Couldn't understand it, so I stuck a target out about 25 yards and fired of the remaining 8. Not a mark on the paper! You guessed it. 9 boolits in that barrel. The primer would send them about 8" up, the powder was contaminated. That ancient Remington #4 Rolling Block never even hiccuped. The pop from the primer was about the same as the loaded round and in my condition at the time I probably wouldn't have noticed any difference anyway.

I learned a lot form that lesson. I learned how to remove stuck boolits, I learned guns and alcohol don't mix well and I learned that bearing grease isn't a good lube. I also learned I was a freakin' retard! Later on I figured out that alcohol and I didn't do too well altogether, although it took a near divorce and alienating a few friends before I got the message.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I was shooting with a friend of mine, yes I do have a friend. He was shooting some factory .40`s thru his Glock. I was on his left shooting a revolver. I was reloading when I heard the Pop. My friend only looked puzzled then operated the slide to eject the empty and let it slam another round into the chamber. I am not vocal usually, but I was then. I screamed to keep his finger off the trigger and lower the piece. On examination he has a "J" bullet about 1 - 2" up the barrel! It allowed a loaded round to be chambered behind it. He has that slug as evidence to pay attention to how the gun acts when fired. Winchester bought him a fresh box of ammo for his "trouble". My friend actually got the shakes when I pounded the slug back out of the gun. My friend has an outdoor program on TV, but is not a rocket scientist around guns, that`s for the tech staff. :?::?::?:Robert

[Crash_Corrigan]

When I first started reloading in '94 I had a Lee Loadmaster. Does the word CLUSTER bring something to mind now?

Anyhow I got so flustered with the lousy primer function of the press that I let a few rounds get finished with no poweder at all.

POW, POW, pop. What the ......? .38 lodged 1 inch up the tube of my 686. I had many opportunities during the next month to use that homemade squib rod again and again until I established a sound loading rythym.

Fast forwards 16 years and it happened again last week with a .45. Will I ever learn?

[crabo]

When I first started reloading in '94 I had a Lee Loadmaster. Does the word CLUSTER bring something to mind now?

Fast forwards 16 years and it happened again last week with a .45. Will I ever learn?

Well at least you have handles for your molds now, I think there is hope.....

[shotman]

Here is a true one maybe some of you can relate to. Back in the 60s when Lee Loaders were $9.95 I cut grass to make money[$3 a yard] cant buy the gas now. Anyway i got a 38 spl loader and a can of powder[wrong kind but you know] My neighbor was a cop and had a 38 . He got some brass for some buddys . I loaded about 4 boxes. That takes some time with the LL . Well I made a back stop out of plywood and 2x6s and filled with sand. So we are going to shoot these reloads. Well it was BANG -- POP-- click-- poof---Bang---Bang -- poof - you get the idea. some would fall out the barrel and roll across the floor. I had the 3 boxes for years before i got a 357 and shot them up . I think that I used red dot and the dipper was for bullseye

[watkibe]

"When I first started reloading in '94 I had a Lee Loadmaster. Does the word CLUSTER bring something to mind now?" Well, Crash...

By strange coincidence (maybe not...) the progressive loader I was getting used to was a Lee Loadmaster, too. It's the only Lee product I have ever been less than entirely happy with. It requires real attention to detail. The hardest part is getting it set up since there's no good way to check what happens at each station, one at a time, without unscrewing the shellholders. Changing the dies holders and shellplates isn't too bad, but changing primer size is a genuine pain. I have shellplates and die holders for 357, 41, and 44, and I only use it when I really need a bunch of ammo, and am feeling particularly capable and lucky.

[Crash_Corrigan]

That press was donated to another unfortunate who had one. One of my good friends decided to opt out of reloading {huh?} and gifted me with a Dillon 550 B with all the goodies with a light string. Would I make ammo for him if he paid the actual costs? My labor would be free. No problem.

I make 45 Colts for him on an irregular basis. He still buys 9MM and .45 ACP's from all over but saves me the brass. What a deal!

The biggest problem with the Loadmaster was the priming. Then if you missed doing the primer and then loaded powder etc. it made a mess. I was tired of wasting powder and I did not have confidence in my reloads nor the machinery.

With a Dillon it was a whole new world. It has a learning curve but it is mercifully short and good help is a phone call away.