I'm glad it doesn't often cycle it too, a squib mid Bill Drill could be really bad.
I'm glad it doesn't often cycle it too, a squib mid Bill Drill could be really bad.
My thought exactly.
David S.
I've seen a few... all due to bad handloads or really old ammo.
Generally they won't cycle the gun, but a shooter with good ear protection and not paying attention to small details (low noise, small puff of smoke) in the middle of a competition can EASILY mistake the squib for a simple primer/ignition failure, tap/rack the action lightning fast and shoot again...
Originally Posted by TiroFijo
I think it was something of that sort that my friends 1911 had the squib with. I think he was doing training drills at the SO.
This happened to me with a Sig Sauer 229, originally in .40 I had a 9mm Bar-Sto conversion barrel and was shooting 9mm.
It was the first shot in my string so I thought I forgot to rack the slide and I was on the timer so I tap, rack bang and there's a really loud boom (indoor range) and my hand starts stinging.
Cracked the barrel, cracked the slide and bent it until you couldn't get it off the frame. No flying debris and no damage to anyone. I left 10 minutes into my 1 hour range time a bit shaky.
Glad I had a firearm built for .40 but shooting 9 as well as a quality barrel from Bar-Sto. No idea if it would have been different in a stock 9mm gun.
I saw a bunch of these when I was working on ranges. All were due to bad handloads or cheap commercial reloads. None came from ammo loaded by a major foriegn or domestic maker. But as folks have pointed out, it's not the squib that gets you, but the round(s) you fire afterwards that make life complicated.
Okie John
The one squib I've had was with Federal HST(230gr+P) and it did fully cycle the gun. I didn't notice that it felt different but it sounded weak and I just caught myself before sending another round behind it. It was a bit unsettling since the round was from the same box that the ammo in my carry gun at the time came out of.
I saw a Winchester White Box 115 grain bullet barely make it out of the muzzle of a G19 once. Brass did not eject and the bullet hit the dirt about 20 feet in front of the gun.
Squibs are a funny thing because it can depend on the speed of the powder. I have witnessed a similar revolver story as mentioned earlier. The guy stacked three bullets from his reloads with a slow powder in a 6" Taurus barrel. He sent the whole gun back and they replaced the barrel at no charge.
A friend's wife blew the whole top off her little Cimarron 38 from a squib. The loads were really light for cowboy action using Bullseye. She was thumbing that hammer and making hits, didn't notice the squib, pulled the trigger again, and the topstrap, and upper half of the cylinder went into orbit.
-Seconds Count. Misses Don't-
When I was new to reloading, I had 2 squibs. Both felt and sounded noticeably different than a properly loaded round going off. First went about 3 inches down the barrel; i used 9mm brass, a screwdriver and a hammer to get it out. The second one went about 2 inches down tube and was a bitch to pound out, but eventually got it out.
FWIW at least 1 cycled the action, so I'm not sure if it was a squib or severely undercharged
"I'm a tactical operator and Instructor and also retired military."
-read on another forum
In revolvers, the "nice" squibs are the bad reloads that have no powder, only primer. The bullet normally get stuck in the forcing cone, half into the cylinder and half into the barrel.
Of course, it renders the revolver unusable and you have to push the bullet back into the case to open the cylinder and extract it. The good thing is that at least you can't shoot another round into the obstructed bore.
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