Squib troubleshooting, .38 SPL.

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indie_rocker

New member
Had a squib today, obviously. Launched a 125gr FMJ about an inch into my old snub-nose Rossi. But I can't figure out why. There was powder in the case that was blown all over the bench so I don't think much, if any burned. The powder and primers are fresh. 40 rounds of the same batch fired very well before this one. It was the first shot of a set, so recoil didn't mess with bullet depth. I'm looking for opinions of other reloaders as to the cause.

The load is a Rainer 125gr FP over 3.8gr of red dot. C.O.L is 1.440"

Not sure if a pic helps...
Looks like unburned powder in cylinder that squib was fired from. Inside of the cartridge looked similar.
yje4ase7.jpg
 
W

WESHOOT2

New member
perhaps I'm right. or not....

Perhaps the bullet crept forward under recoil, increasing combustion area sufficiently to allow improper ignition.



When using plated bullets in 38/357 I resize the cases with LEE 'U' dies, and apply a firm roll crimp using the superior Redding Profile Crimp Die.
 
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indie_rocker

New member
The squib was shot 1 of 5 in a fresh cylinder though.

I'm wondering if it may have been tumbling media in the flash hole? I use walnut. Tumble, size/depeime then a quick tumble again to get any loose residue in primer pocket.

Is my OCD backfiring on me?
 
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g.willikers

New member
All guesses, but,
How were the cases cleaned before reloading them?
Tumbling?
If so there's always the chance of a clogged primer hole.
Washing and drying?
If so, there's the possibility that the case could have been damp inside.
What kind of powder measure is used?
It's always possible that the errant round might not have gotten a good powder charge.
Or maybe the Reloading Gods were just messing with ya'.
Good thing you caught it, though, and didn't keep shooting.
 
W

WESHOOT2

New member
my bad; reading comprehension 101 error

No; you CAN get flash hole interference.

You might have insufficient case tension.

And it's possible that your charge didn't drop correctly, leaving too little powder in the case.
'Dots' can bridge.



(I never deprime then clean.)
 
J

Jim Watson

New member
I had one like that.
I concluded that I had seated 125s to the same OAL as my usual 158s, and when I brought the gun up from low ready, the powder was way forward away from the primer flash.
Same load with the OAL down to where it should have been for the light bullet shot fine.
 
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GP100man

New member
My opinion is either A, primer flash was insufficent or B,low powder.

I`m bettin on the flash hole plugged tite .
 
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BOOMST1CK

New member
My money is on plugged flash hole. I never tumble after depriming, and I never clean primer pockets on hand gun cases.
 
H

Hammerhead

New member
I've seen HS-7 fail to ignite in .38 spl, but never a fast flake powder.

Must have been the media from the second tumbling.

You would think Red Dot would ignite regardless of how light the charge is. Red Dot is a favorite for cast bullets in rifle cartridges where it can be a good distance from the primer and still fire and give uniform ballistics.
 
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indie_rocker

New member
I'm gonna agree with the flash hole plugged theory. I know Red Dot is near the top of the burn rate list and should ignite easily. It's no mystery that handgun powders are hard to come by, so the RD is what I could get a hold of. Found that I rather like it for the snub nose loads. Metering is a bit frustrating at times, but it works. With that said, it does seem like the primer flash didn't get the powder burning.

I'll pay much more attention to the flash holes and stop tumbling the second time. Thanks everyone, this has helped a newb very much!
 
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pete2

New member
The only squibs I've had like this was with plated Berrys 148 HBWC bullets. The load was 3.4 231 in .357 cases. This is the same load I shoot with Hornady Lead 148 HBWC. I sold the plated bullets. I probably could have increased the powder charge and cured the problem but it didn't seem worth the trouble besides lighter recoil is better for a target load. Lead works great in the .38. I currently shoot 158 Speer Lead with 3.3 of WST, shoots great very little leading.
 
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indie_rocker

New member
Sorry about being so vague. I've been reloading for about a year and use the very basic Lee Challenger Breech Lock Anniversary Kit. The Lee Perfect Powder Measure is used to charge cases directly when they're not weighed. When charges are weighed, powder is dispensed into the Lee Safety Scale tray, weighed, then funneled into the case when the appropriate weight is reached.

I have found that environmental factors affect how Red Dot meters. If it's incredibly humid, it doesn't do so well and almost every charge is weighed. If however, the powder is cooperating on a particular day and I can get 10 weighed charges in a row to meter correctly, I'll start weighing every 5 charges.

Once I have one or two reloading trays filled with charged cases, I'll go over them all with a bright flashlight to visually check for any obvious over/under charges. If any are found that just don't look right, the powder is dumped and a new charge weighed.
 
1

1stmar

New member
Ok, I guess that leaves the flash hole. Though I suspect if there was media in there you would have felt it when seating the primer. The case was not split, correct?
 
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indie_rocker

New member
Correct, the case was not split. I was able to pick it out from the batch that it was tumbled with after the range. It had little resistance when ran through the size/deprime die because it never built enough pressure to expand the case, that's my guess at least. It looked fine, like every other case that was fired. I threw it in the recycle bucket though... It has bad juju.

Anyways, I use walnut media and think that it may have plugged the flash hole. If that happened, I wouldn't have felt that when seating the primer, right?

From yours and everyone else's responses, that's all I can come up with. I'll be giving brass an extra shake or two in the sifter after tumbling and will not be tumbling a second time after depriming.
 
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