First and foremost, no damage was done to me, or my Glock 19. Both are completely ok, just VERY thankful. This may be a bit of a long read, but I'd like to describe my loading process, what happened leading up to the squib, ask about a few things, and offer some ideas about how I should change my processes.
In the past, I have always loaded 115gr LRN for my 9mm, but recently came into a good deal on some 124gr LRN, so I figured I'd give them a try. I didn't have load data for 124gr lead with the powder I wanted to use (700-X), so, I used data for 125gr lead. Starting low and working up. The load range for that weight of bullet using 700-X is 2.9-3.4 grains (per pg. 510 of Lee #2). I found that 2.9 wouldn't reliably cycle my pistol, but 3.0 did. I ran about 200 rounds of 3.0gr seated to 1.125" through my G19 no issues. My idea was to find a load that would reliably cycle my pistol, nothing more. Figured it'd be a soft shooting round, and would save me powder (I'll address this later).
First, my loading process. I load on a single stage RCBS Rockchucker using Lee Carbide Dies. I sort, tumble, size/decap, expand, prime, charge, seat, then apply a light crimp. Pretty standard stuff. When I am charging, I first verify that my scale (a 5-0-5) is zeroed. I dial in my Uniflow for my charge, re-verify the zero on my scale, then also re-verify the charge being thrown one more time for good measure (I didn't verify with a check weight, more on that later as well). I'll throw the confirmed charge into the 10th case in the row I am charging, then charge the other 9. I'll throw a charge to weigh, make any adjustments to the Uniflow as needed, then repeat the process. Once I charge a whole loading block of 50, I'll look at each case and verify that it is charged. After that, I move on to seating, etc.
Using that loading method, I loaded up 400 rounds of this ammo for a class I took yesterday. It was just a basic defensive pistol class. Everything started out good, it fed, fired, extracted, etc just fine. Then we started doing some one handed drills, and I was reliably getting a failure to feed (slide would close and chamber the round when I'd remove the mag) when I was doing one handed shooting with my weak hand. I chalked it up to limp wristing, since I'm pretty useless with my right hand. I didn't think of it at the time, but I'd never had that problem before. The squib happened on the next drill. We were back to two handed shooting and I had another fail to feed. I did remedial action (tap/rack etc) and nothing would work. We called a cease fire and tore the pistol apart, and sure enough, a bullet was lodged in my barrel. Thankfully it didn't go far enough down to let the next round chamber, or I would have been hurting. We knocked it out with a cleaning rod and hammer, looked the barrel and gun over, then got back to work. A student was nice enough to let me use his TulAmmo for the remainder of the class.
Cause of the Squib
1. What I think is most likely is that I somehow missed an uncharged case, despite looking at every case prior to seating. My guess is I zoned out a little, need to improve lighting at my bench, or both (probably the first option honestly). What leads me to think that this is the most likely cause is the fact that the bullet didn't go far enough down the barrel to let me chamber the next round.
2. Severely undercharged case. 700-X doesn't meter the best, so maybe instead of getting the 3.0gr I was expecting, I got something substantially less. I've never really had a problem with that in the past, but since I was so close to minimum charge anyway, maybe that had an effect.
3. Temperature combined with an undercharged case. This is a long shot, but I'd still like some input on this. I am unsure how temperature sensitive 700-X is as well. The temperature was at, or a bit below freezing for much of the morning. Could the temperature combined with a light charge cause this? My ammo was stored in my apartment the night before the class, so it was only exposed to the cold for as long as I was, maybe 2 hours tops before the squib.
4. Scale wasn't calibrated correctly. As mentioned earlier, I didn't use a check weight to verify that it was correct, just zeroed it and went about my business.
Takeaways/Changes to my Reloading Process
1. Immediate takeaway is that I'm incredibly lucky I didn't have a gun blow up in my face. I'm already ugly enough, so I don't wanna add to it. Let alone pay doctor bills and have to replace a gun
2. I need to be COMPLETELY focused when doing this. Like I said before, I think I missed an uncharged case, and there is no excuse for that whatsoever.
3. Should add lighting around my bench. The lighting isn't great, so I either need to add lighting, or shine a flashlight in the cases when I look at them
4. Load used needs to be altered. I focused too much on soft shooting and powder savings. When I first started reloading, I purposely picked 3.5gr 700-X with 115gr LRN because it is literally in the middle of the load range. It gives lots of room for error in terms of variation when powder is being thrown. I will start throwing 3.1gr or 3.2gr with this bullet immediately.
5. Check weight usage. I admittedly didn't verify my scale with a check weight prior to doing this, and I'm an idiot for it. All I currently have is a 100gr weight, but I'm going to order a set today when I order a collet bullet puller to pull the remaining 300+ bullets. I will start using them every time I charge cases, there's no excuse not to.
6. Look at each case after I charge the tray of 50, and again before I actually seat the bullet. It won't add much time, and could save my bacon. Kind of like the measure twice, cut once principle.
I appreciate any and all ideas and input about this situation
In the past, I have always loaded 115gr LRN for my 9mm, but recently came into a good deal on some 124gr LRN, so I figured I'd give them a try. I didn't have load data for 124gr lead with the powder I wanted to use (700-X), so, I used data for 125gr lead. Starting low and working up. The load range for that weight of bullet using 700-X is 2.9-3.4 grains (per pg. 510 of Lee #2). I found that 2.9 wouldn't reliably cycle my pistol, but 3.0 did. I ran about 200 rounds of 3.0gr seated to 1.125" through my G19 no issues. My idea was to find a load that would reliably cycle my pistol, nothing more. Figured it'd be a soft shooting round, and would save me powder (I'll address this later).
First, my loading process. I load on a single stage RCBS Rockchucker using Lee Carbide Dies. I sort, tumble, size/decap, expand, prime, charge, seat, then apply a light crimp. Pretty standard stuff. When I am charging, I first verify that my scale (a 5-0-5) is zeroed. I dial in my Uniflow for my charge, re-verify the zero on my scale, then also re-verify the charge being thrown one more time for good measure (I didn't verify with a check weight, more on that later as well). I'll throw the confirmed charge into the 10th case in the row I am charging, then charge the other 9. I'll throw a charge to weigh, make any adjustments to the Uniflow as needed, then repeat the process. Once I charge a whole loading block of 50, I'll look at each case and verify that it is charged. After that, I move on to seating, etc.
Using that loading method, I loaded up 400 rounds of this ammo for a class I took yesterday. It was just a basic defensive pistol class. Everything started out good, it fed, fired, extracted, etc just fine. Then we started doing some one handed drills, and I was reliably getting a failure to feed (slide would close and chamber the round when I'd remove the mag) when I was doing one handed shooting with my weak hand. I chalked it up to limp wristing, since I'm pretty useless with my right hand. I didn't think of it at the time, but I'd never had that problem before. The squib happened on the next drill. We were back to two handed shooting and I had another fail to feed. I did remedial action (tap/rack etc) and nothing would work. We called a cease fire and tore the pistol apart, and sure enough, a bullet was lodged in my barrel. Thankfully it didn't go far enough down to let the next round chamber, or I would have been hurting. We knocked it out with a cleaning rod and hammer, looked the barrel and gun over, then got back to work. A student was nice enough to let me use his TulAmmo for the remainder of the class.
Cause of the Squib
1. What I think is most likely is that I somehow missed an uncharged case, despite looking at every case prior to seating. My guess is I zoned out a little, need to improve lighting at my bench, or both (probably the first option honestly). What leads me to think that this is the most likely cause is the fact that the bullet didn't go far enough down the barrel to let me chamber the next round.
2. Severely undercharged case. 700-X doesn't meter the best, so maybe instead of getting the 3.0gr I was expecting, I got something substantially less. I've never really had a problem with that in the past, but since I was so close to minimum charge anyway, maybe that had an effect.
3. Temperature combined with an undercharged case. This is a long shot, but I'd still like some input on this. I am unsure how temperature sensitive 700-X is as well. The temperature was at, or a bit below freezing for much of the morning. Could the temperature combined with a light charge cause this? My ammo was stored in my apartment the night before the class, so it was only exposed to the cold for as long as I was, maybe 2 hours tops before the squib.
4. Scale wasn't calibrated correctly. As mentioned earlier, I didn't use a check weight to verify that it was correct, just zeroed it and went about my business.
Takeaways/Changes to my Reloading Process
1. Immediate takeaway is that I'm incredibly lucky I didn't have a gun blow up in my face. I'm already ugly enough, so I don't wanna add to it. Let alone pay doctor bills and have to replace a gun
2. I need to be COMPLETELY focused when doing this. Like I said before, I think I missed an uncharged case, and there is no excuse for that whatsoever.
3. Should add lighting around my bench. The lighting isn't great, so I either need to add lighting, or shine a flashlight in the cases when I look at them
4. Load used needs to be altered. I focused too much on soft shooting and powder savings. When I first started reloading, I purposely picked 3.5gr 700-X with 115gr LRN because it is literally in the middle of the load range. It gives lots of room for error in terms of variation when powder is being thrown. I will start throwing 3.1gr or 3.2gr with this bullet immediately.
5. Check weight usage. I admittedly didn't verify my scale with a check weight prior to doing this, and I'm an idiot for it. All I currently have is a 100gr weight, but I'm going to order a set today when I order a collet bullet puller to pull the remaining 300+ bullets. I will start using them every time I charge cases, there's no excuse not to.
6. Look at each case after I charge the tray of 50, and again before I actually seat the bullet. It won't add much time, and could save my bacon. Kind of like the measure twice, cut once principle.
I appreciate any and all ideas and input about this situation
