Fate or Luck, 9mm Squib

[Bill M.]

I do not shoot a auto or a 9mm auto so I have no experience. I shoot my 9mm in a revolver. I do not see any mention that you checked the fit of the loaded rounds in the chamber? I have read that the CZ is tricky in that regard and that some bullets will not work when loaded to the specified OAL. Sounds to me like the action stuck the bullet in the forcing cone and it pulled when you ejected the for some reason unfired round. Maybe too much headspace?

I would check the fit of all of the remaining rounds in the chamber. I would weigh all of the remaining loaded shells and order them by weight. Then pull the bullets on the lightest 5 and weigh the powder charge. I would check the fit of the loaded shells in the chamber carefully. Was there loose powder in the chamber? I would check to be sure all the cases have new primers in them.

 

[Texas10mm]

What I did not see in your long involved process is if you had plunked the cartridges in your chamber to see if they fit.

Did you? If not then it's possible that the cartridges were too long for your chamber. Was there a black coloring on the back of the bullet that was stuck in the chamber?

 

[Toprudder]

I’ve had one squib, and it was exactly as you described - bullet stuck into the lands, with soot on the back, and no loose powder anywhere. I even purposely recreated the scenario by seating a primer and bullet in a case - no powder - and fired it. I got exactly the same results. With ear protection on, it sounded like a click to me. Without ear protection (during my repeat test) it was a muffled “puff”.

 

[748]

What I do is charge them, set the primed and filled shells on the bench in rows then use a flash light to look them all over, I pick out any that look high or low and weigh that charge.
I set the oal to my guns.

 

[Ghost In The Fog]

All great advise. I can tell the OP that the people here are awesome and have helped me plenty over the years. Even what may seem to be an obvious piece of advise- take it, apply it and listen. These guys know what they are talking about.
The only thing I can add to this is I have shot a lot of BE-86 in 9MM for the last three years. Alliant powders load data for BE-86 tends to run on the hot side.
I load 5.4 grains of BE-86 with RMR 124 JHP's at OAL of 1.095 to 1.100 and get 1235 FPS

For that bullet Alliant says 5.9 grains should get me 1175 FPS.

I am half a grain lower and a lot faster. Your chronograph will become one of the most useful tools in this adventure.
Your ladder work up of .1 at a time is good. Like others, I start with .2 and when I get to where I want to be then I will further dial in the load at .1 for ultimate accuracy or performance. What I have found, if I am looking for 5.4 I can't tell the difference between 5.15 and 5.55 I can definitely tell over but not as much with under. 5.4 at 1235 FPS is a stout load out of my Glock 19

These are just my findings- please do your own research and work up your own loads. We are shooting different bullets and weights. My numbers are for reference only
Be safe and have fun. This is addictive.
Welcome aboard.

 

[Slamfire]

Unfortunately since I couldn't find the spent case is there any definitive way to know exactly what may have gone wrong? The bullet definitely had soot on it, but when I field stripped the CZ I didn't see any signs of loose gun powder or loose soot anywhere.

It is possible that the powder was in the case you ejected. My experience with a 357 squib was something that had been beyond any previous experience. I purchased a M586 that had been used for at least 60,000 rounds by a PPC competitor. I took the thing out on a 40 ish day with loads with AA#9 and WSP primers. Weak ignition loaded a bullet in the throat of the revolver and I could not rotate the cylinder. This is the actual round. I was able to knock the bullet back in the case with a long screwdriver and block of wood.



primer looks well hit, but looks can be deceiving





the actual cure was a new, stronger mainspring. Same ammunition, a little warmer later, no misfires, no squibs.

But, the gunpowder left in the case was like a dirty cotton candy. I crumpled that up and tossed it out. Wish I had a picture. But, weird things happen when pressures and temperatures are not high enough to properly ignite gunpowder.

So, I am going to offer a number of potential issues. Primer not fully seated leading to weak ignition. Primer too insensitive for your pistol. No powder in the case. Bad primer. (bad primers happen) And, the potential of the bullet being seated out so long that the mechanism was slightly unlocked and gave a weak ignition strike.

Now you have to wait to find out if your ammunition gives more squibs, which would tell us, the problem is your reloading process, or, if no reoccurring misfires/squibs happen, the most likely cause was a bad primer or no powder in the case.

Always wear your shooting glasses! If you ever get a stuck bullet in the barrel and the next round goes off, there will be pieces of things in the air. You won't have time to blink! The event will occur so fast that you will be stunned, and your brain will have to reboot before you figure out that something happened. My electronics are Intel 8080 based, so it takes me a while to get back to reality.

Always take a cleaning rod or metal dowel and a block of wood with you to the range. A plastic mallet will work, but if you have a metal hammer, you will likely damage something when knocking a stuck bullet, or case, out of the gun.

 

[Texas10mm]

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1004617853/

One of these in in my range bag. Much better than a cleaning rod, and cheaper than a correctly size brass rod.

But if you want brass https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...s/stuck-case-removers/squib-rod-prod1251.aspx

 

[rfwobbly]

Would you happen to know which of these would be the best for me to learn to use ?

Sorry, I have to defer to the Lee guys on this one.

If you were on a single-stage press, then the RCBS Uniflow might be my guess. But since you're on a Lee press, using one of your Lee powder measures probably lends itself better to the automated operation you want to achieve.

All the best.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I use a Lee Pro Auto-Disk in my 4 hole Classic Turret Press and either a Lyman #55 or RCBS Uniflow with my Rockchucker single stage press.

Try them all and see which you feel is best for you.

 

[Jonesy814]

I stated that there would be more than a click based on being present when it happened to a friend. We both heard a pop, like a Calvin. Also from shooting primer only was bullets, but I guess since those were in a revolver, they were easy to hear.
I think the OP using his turret press as intended would reduce the chance for error. With the powder through expanding die and auto disk system you aren't handling anything near as much, and once set up correctly it makes great ammo with little chance for error. You still can look into each case and see that there is powder before seating the bullet

 

[71GTO]

I want to thank everyone for all of your input, critiques, advise, tips, etc. I appreciate the wealth of knowledge that is very evident on this forum and am grateful that I found it. I am going to start from scratch and revamp my procedures so that I can incorporate most everything that all of you gentleman have suggested. Hopefully no one will mind if I ask additional questions in the future.

After reading everything I believe that I must have made the mistake of not charging the case, which caused the squib. I am taking this as a learning experience and moving on, but I also thanked the good Lord that I wasn't hurt!

Thanks again for all of your help and I hope you all remain safe and healthy.

 

[Otto]

Deleted

 

[rfwobbly]

Hopefully no one will mind if I ask additional questions in the future.

We don't mind waiting for those future questions, if you don't mind a homework assignment.

Your assignment is....
A powder measure dispenses volume. But what we really want is powder by weight. What or where is the connection ?

Mull that over. Keep your eyes on your own paper. Test on Monday. Keep your homework away from the dog.