Finally happened to me...

[5whiskey]

I loaded a squib load. First time since I started reloading (about 5ish years ago now). The offender was a .357 round. It barely broke the crimp and came forward just enough to hang the cylinder up when I went to pull the trigger again. I could swing the cylinder out though. I barely

At any rate I haven't shot my .357 in 2 years or more. I don't know how long ago I loaded these rounds, but they could have been from when I first started loading. At any rate the streak ends.

 

[b.m.baumgartner]

Welcome to the club!

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

 

[Chainsaw.]

Ta da!! It happens. Now you'll just be more diligent.

 

[Tex44]

I had that happen once. It did pretty much the same thing as yours. It hung up the cylinder. Only mine was a M1895 Nagant revolver. This happened within my first year of reloading. Hasn't happened since because I am more careful about how I load. I immediately seat the bullet after I charge the round now so that it is much harder to have a mix up.

 

[jmorris]

Why I like PC dies. I suppose if I had to pick between the two I would rather have a squib than a double but both can be avoided.

 

[PA-Joe]

Are you using a single stage press or a progressive? Once you put the powder in do you put all of the cases into a loading block so that you can visually check the powder levels?

 

[F. Guffey]

Had you known the weight of the powder, case, bullet with primer you could have weight your loaded rounds when determining if one case got no powder and the next got too much. Or as they say “must have been a double charge”.

Again, for me there is nothing entertaining about pulling the and not knowing what is about to happen.

F. Guffey

 

[Mauser69]

You did WHAT???

You went to pull the trigger AGAIN?????! Bad, Bad; Oh very bad!

Consider yourself very lucky it hung up instead of letting the bullet go half way down the barrel. Whenever you hear/feel something different when shooting, just STOP, put the gun down for a few seconds, and THINK about what you should do next. Pulling the trigger is rarely the right idea.

Glad you and the gun are safe.

 

[F. Guffey]

A shooter/reloader standing next to me was doing everything he could do to pull the trigger, pull the hammer back, rotate the cylinder and finally he tried kicking the cylinder open. Two of us shooter/reloaders stopped what we were doing and explained to him what happened and then we drove the bullet back into the case and emptied his cylinder.

To our surprise he immediately started loading his S&W 66 357 with more reloads. He chambered a round with out knowing if it had powder and then started loading rounds that could be double charges. We offered to give him all the ammo he could shoot, we offered to help him with his reloading, we offered to loan him equipment he did not have. Was he happy? No; he got mad and left.

We thought we could get through to him with that story about him rendering his pistol scrap while standing between us and the remote possibility one of the three could get hurt and then we tried to put him on a guilt trip; think of the gun.

F. Guffey

 

[rebs]

sometimes you just cannot fix stupid

 

[5whiskey]

I did in fact go to pull the trigger again. There was no audible pop, nor would there be if the projectile never left the case (or it would be drastically muffled). I honestly thought it was a misfire. Only when the trigger pull was tight did I stop and examine. Opened the cylinder, which hung up for a half second and then opened freely, and removed offending round. Projectile barely broke the crimp and moved about 1/16th inch or so.

I still have the round. I haven't had time to pull it to confirm, though I know it was a squib. The only other thing it could be is a bullet unseated by recoil AND a dud primer at the same time. I have a decent roll crimp on my rounds, plus I'm not near max load and recoil isn't super stout, so I don't think for a second that my bullet came unseated from recoil (plus it coincided with a dud primer).

I load on a turret press. I've probably loaded a couple thousand rifle rounds and probably nearing 8 thousand pistol rounds. I now am very meticulous about reloading, much more so than when I first started. I always visually inspect for powder drop before I put the round in the mouth. All of my loads would be at the case mouth or overflow if I doubled, so that isn't a concern. Its fitting that I pay the price for not paying attention 3 or 4 years ago today.

 

[Mauser69]

A primer alone can easily push a bullet into the barrel (depending on the caliber, type of bullet and type of crimp). If you were shooting an auto-loading pistol, pulling the trigger again for a second strike would have been just fine - never any risk there since you know for an absolute fact that the same round is still in the chamber, and if the original bullet is now lodged in the barrel, nothing bad can happen UNTIL YOU LOAD A NEW ROUND. So after the second or third strike in an auto with no success, you best stop and unload and examine everything before you do anything else.

But a revolver is a totally different situation. You should NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER do what you tried to do with a revolver, because a revolver will ALWAYS load a new round when you cock the hammer or pull the trigger a second time. With a revolver, you put yourself and anyone around you in danger after just one strange sound or misfire if you do not immediately stop and unload to examine the last round and your barrel.

 

[jetinteriorguy]

I've been loading for close to 30 years and just had my first squib a couple months ago. Right around the time I went from a single stage to a progressive. I've since improved my methods on the progressive and learned how to be more diligent. In my case the bullet stayed in place due to a pretty stout crimp. Since I have matching lever rifles I use a good strong crimp on both my .357 and .41 since I use the same rounds in both rifle and revolver.

 

[5whiskey]

Mauser, I am well aware of what to do, and not to do, with a squib round. There was no aubible pop. Nothing discernible through ear pro, and not even good ear pro at that. I am aware that a squib will not cycle the slide of a semi and there is little danger there. I am aware that it could push out and possibly clear the cylinder in a revolver, meaning an obstructed barrel and kaboom if you kick off another round behind it.

Again there was no audible pop, and at first I honestly thought it was a misfire. Remedial action for a semi is tap, rack, bang. Remedial action for a revolver, barring an audible pop with no recoil, is to pull the trigger again. There was no audible pop because the primer didnt push the bullet more than 1/16th of an inch, no gas, nor any sound, escaped. Likely because of a heavy crimp, large (for a pistol) case volume, a heavier (158gn) projectile, and a soft (federal) primer that bulged out. Looking at it now the primer was what was hanging the cylinder up on the second trigger pull.

I understand your concern, i appreciate it, and I don't want to come off as a jerk. I know there are enough people on here that are new to this sport and need coaching on basics at time. I assure you I am not in the habit of pulling the trigger all casual like... But remedial action for a revolver in any professional training, and I've been to more than 2 or 3, is to pull the trigger again. With, of course, the caveat that you immediately stop shooting if you hear an audible pop with reduced recoil.

 

[briandg]

I use fifty round blocks. I count as I charge, and will always reach fifty when I charge the last round. Pistol cases are the examined in strong light from various directions. Anything that looks funny is dropped into the hopper and recharged. As I charge, I verify that the case is primed, I look at the powder as I set the bullet into the case.

What can risotto make it more certain? Nothing.

Rifle rounds are charged the same way, but I use a piece of round steel stock that has been marked, checking every case to ensure that there are no deviations in the block. I set the bullets into case necks while in the block when checking is over.

I should never have an inaccurate charge.

 

[RC20]

Had you known the weight of the powder, case, bullet with primer you could have weight your loaded rounds when determining if one case got no powder and the next got too much. Or as they say “must have been a double charge”.

Again, for me there is nothing entertaining about pulling the and not knowing what is about to happen.

Electronic scales are wonderful things for work like that even if you prefer a beam type.