,357 Squib

[dbmjr1]

So a fellow brings his revolver in with a squib.

Says he knew right away, and tried to clear the gun at the range.

When he was unable to dislodge the squib, he packed up the gun and brought it to us.

He stated that these were .357 reloads from a widow who was selling her deceased husbands belongings.

It took special tools to remove the obstruction.



Yep. Two projectiles. Jacketed. Obviously Mr. Gun Owner didn't recognize the squib until after he followed it with another round.

The barrel showed no evidence of being bulged, nor ringed. Cylinders passed inspection.

Return firearm to owner with an invoice and instructions never to shoot someone else's reloads.

Ruger GP100 It's a beast of a firearm.

 

[reddog81]

Those look like 2 totataly different bullet weights - maybe a 125 and a 180. I wonder if the light bullet got used in a load meant for the heavier bullet and ended up stuck.

 

[Drail]

In Kuhnhausen's Ruger DA revolver manual he has many photographs of Ruger revolvers with the full length of the barrel barrel completely filled by bullets until the cylinder could no longer turn. The barrel didn't even bulge. The barrel was run through a bandsaw so you could see the bullets. Amazing stuff. How anyone could keep on firing a revolver that many times and not notice what was happening is even more amazing to me.

 

[dbmjr1]

I removed the two bullets. Despite appearances, I believe them both to be of the same weight. While I didn't weigh them, I'm going to estimate their weight to be ~148-158 grs.

They were FMJ projectiles, as the bottom was an exposed lead core.

I have no clue as to the original shape of the projectiles. LRN? All I know is that they were swaged flat.

 

[MrBorland]

Two projectiles. Jacketed. Obviously Mr. Gun Owner didn't recognize the squib until after he followed it with another round.

The barrel showed no evidence of being bulged, nor ringed. Cylinders passed inspection.

Happened to me once. Shooting rapid fire Bill Drills, a squib followed (luckily) by a 2nd. No damage to the gun, but yes, they were a bear to get out.

I've since ditched that powder dispenser and paid closer attention to each charge.

 

[1775usmarine]

Had some issues with my 45acp reloads as the bullseye I was using had clumped together over the winter. Was shooting my 4506 when I heard and felt something wasn't right. My buddy ended up using his glock slide and a rod I had to get it out. After that I started to give my powder a stir if i plan on being away from reloading for a while.

 

[Jim K]

FWIW, I think you are wrong; there are three projectiles. The second, which looks like an extra long bullet, is actually two bullets. While I am pretty sure other makes of revolvers would have handled the situation as well, I think that picture shows that Rugers are plenty strong revolvers.

Jim

 

[pittpa]

Only 3?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Iron Sight]

Thanks for the stacked squib photo.

 

[AlfonsDeWolf]

Wouldn't a stuck squib load show far less recoil? Not only does the bullet not fully travel down the barrel, when it gets stuck the bullet's forward momentum stops the gun's rearward velocity

 

[AZAndy]

Wouldn't a stuck squib load show far less recoil? Not only does the bullet not fully travel down the barrel, when it gets stuck the bullet's forward momentum stops the gun's rearward velocity

Yes, you can definitely tell something's wrong. It feels like you've suddenly switched to a BB gun.

 

[pittpa]

It's definitely quieter. I had one shooting rapid fire with a 1911. But I knew it quick enough to stop.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BWB]

Years ago I was shown a number of these sectioned at the Ruger factory in New Hampshire (I'll bet they have a box car full by now).
The ones I remember were .357 revolvers, whatever the model designation was in the early 80's.Their favorite at the time was a brand new one returned by an irate customer with a stern letter saying that this POS was so pathetic that on his first trip to the range he couldn't even hit the target board at close range, let alone the target.
It had seven bullets in the barrel, in a firmly welded column of copper and lead.
It was their favorite because the pilgrim had reloaded before giving up.
The gun was completely undamaged, and could have been cleared and returned.
He either got a demanded refund or a new gun, can't remember which.

 

[Kendal Black]

...
It had seven bullets in the barrel, in a firmly welded column of copper and lead.
It was their favorite because the pilgrim had reloaded before giving up.
The gun was completely undamaged, and could have been cleared and returned.
He either got a demanded refund or a new gun, can't remember which.

I would have sent the refund. There are some customers you don't want.

 

[AlfonsDeWolf]

I assume most stuck squibs are copper jacketed vs lead.....? Ideas?...Opinions?

 

[Havok7416]

A squib can be any bullet type. It's the lack of powder that causes it, not the material moving down the bore.

 

[Kaeto]

Fear of a squib is why I triple check that there is powder in every round I reload.

 

[AlfonsDeWolf]

Havok, I assume that since copper creates more friction that the lead might just slide through vs get stuck hence my guess that jacketed are more apt to get stuck.

 

[Old Shooter]

When I lived in Texas I used to visit a gun shop, I believe it was in Plano, that had a board with three or four pistol barrels sectioned like the one Pittpa posted and each was full from muzzle to forcing cone with bullets back to back. So I guess this is not as uncommon as you would think but it still makes me wonder about some people.

 

[Jim Watson]

If you don't put in powder, it doesn't matter what type of bullet.

There is some underload threshold at which a lubricated lead bullet would clear, but jacketed or plated stick.
I know that one grain of 700X will get a .38 wadcutter out of a 6" barrel and to a 7 yard target... barely, and about two feet low, keyholed.
How do I know this? Because a CH Autochamp powder measure will occasionally drop one grain of 700X when set for a load below 3 grains. It is a bulky powder and it is easy to see that there is SOME powder in the case and move on rather than squint and try to tell if it is the normal height in the case. I changed to 231.

A friend had one worse. He did not want those nasty old lead wadcutters fouling up his new M15, so he loaded some 158 gr JSPs over a midrange load of whatever powder.
He succeeded in shooting a core out, all the way to the target, and sticking the jacket.
We were wearing muffs, no noticeable difference in the sound. He got a hole in the target, no warning there. But the next shot pushed the jacket out, leaving him with a ringed barrel found when he cleaned the gun.

We went back and dug in the berm. We found the core and the jacket, now packed full of cardboard neatly cut out of the target and backer and with the base dished in where hit by the following bullet. We even found the following bullet with the exposed lead of the nose molded to the depression in the stuck jacket.
This was back when you could ship a gun UPS ground, about $7, and S&W only charged $65 for a new barrel, so it wasn't TOO expensive a lesson.

 

[Havok7416]

Havok, I assume that since copper creates more friction that the lead might just slide through vs get stuck hence my guess that jacketed are more apt to get stuck.

Actually lead creates more friction from what I have seen. I have squibbed lead, copper and powder coated bullets (a few were on accident when I first got started, but I ended up squibbing bullets on purpose for testing). The lead ones are universally harder to get out, although not by much. This has to do with the fact that they are typically .001 or .002 oversize and "grip" the barrel better - creating more friction.

 

[ljnowell]

Actually lead creates more friction from what I have seen. I have squibbed lead, copper and powder coated bullets (a few were on accident when I first got started, but I ended up squibbing bullets on purpose for testing). The lead ones are universally harder to get out, although not by much. This has to do with the fact that they are typically .001 or .002 oversize and "grip" the barrel better - creating more friction.

Lead definitely does NOT create more friction in the bore.

 

[Drail]

After seeing SO MANY people at the range have squibs and double charges on their new Dillon setups I lost all desire to switch from a single stage press to a Dillon so I could load ammo "faster". I started reloading in 1987 and I am still using the same old Rockchucker. Never had a squib or an overcharge. Not in that much of a hurry. FWIW - I used to load up to 1000 rounds a week so my wife and I could shoot USPSA.

 

[Malamute]

The problem isnt the Dillon, or any other progressive, its how they are used. If they are run assuming they never fail to operate perfectly 100% of the time, then you will have a problem at some point, not to mention the possibility of operator error factoring in. I operate mine like I assume its going to fail to operate perfectly at some point and want to be on top of it when it happens. If I cant be on top of it attention wise, I dont load.

I like the Dillon 550 I sort of inherited, but I dont try for top speed by any means. I look at every single charge as they go through the cycle. Ive never had a no charge or double in anything.

When starting out on a single stage ages ago, I chose Unique because its bulkier, and less chance of making a double charge and going unnoticed. I threw a load block of charges, looked at every case with a good light, then seated bullets (also weight checked the measure at the start and end of each block). I do basically the same thing with the Dillon, looking at every charge. I could care less if it slows me down. I'm thinking I do about 300/hr when its all going well. If I stop for any reason and have the slightest doubt as to my process, I pull the questionable cases off the plate and re-do them on the powder charge step. It happens now and then when a primer doesnt seat well. If in doubt as to the primer seating that case is pulled and checked, primer reseated until I'm satisfied, and any other case that could be affected is pulled and redone on that step. One reason I like the manual advance rather than automatic advance.

 

[Bearnut]

Sometimes it's nice to have an "overbuilt" gun. Those barrel cut-aways are amazing.