Boy, this is embarrassing

[Hambo]

I have been using a single stage press for 55 years. Turret presses are also single stage. My method to reduce errors is loading in small batches. Also, I prepare brass in advance. My final stage is sitting down to add powder and then seat and crimp bullets. On the left side of powder measure are cases. After charging a case, I place this case in a block. Before seating bullets, I look at the block of bullets and then peek inside each. Concern is detecting a double charge or no charge. The last step is seating and crimping bullets.

I do small batches on my 550. Boredom is real, and it's dangerous. I've only had two squibs with that press, but it was when I was loading for more than an hour at a time. I have a light on the press, and I load with a somewhat bulky for 9mm powder. There is no doubt that it's there or not. (I caught when I fired both squibs, no damage done)

On a single stage I break up the operations. Sizing/decapping, then later on priming. Neither operation causes squibs, so I can have the TV on while doing them. Powder and bullet seating/crimping get all of my attention. I've only loaded one squib on a single stage, but I figured it out while loading. The hard part was finding it, but they were .44s with a hefty charge, so weighing them sorted it out. The problem then was that I was in rush.

-Take your time
-If you're tired or impatient, process brass but don't load
-ALWAYS see the powder charge, even with a progressive. If you didn't see it, proceed as if it's not in there.

[schneiderguy]

It's a max charge of 231

What weight bullet?

I had my first (and only, so far) squib with a plated 125gr bullet over 5.3gr W231, which is a max .38 +P load. I'm fairly sure that the powder charge was correct - there was a bunch of unburnt powder left in the barrel, and when I pulled the bullet from the remaining cartridges in that batch I didn't find anything unusual. My theory is there was a lack of crimp/case tension on the bullet, so combined with the light bullet it moved forward too fast and all of the pressure escaped out of the cylinder gap before the powder fully ignited. I should have gotten the hint to stop shooting after the first four rounds I shot from that batch seemed very erratic/weak, and the one immediately prior to the squib was so slow that I was able to actually see the bullet travel on a ballistic arc to the target at 15 yards

[jtcarm]

The only squibs I've ever had were with. 38 wadcutters when I was shooting bullseye. The powder charge was so small that a little static charge in the hopper tube would really mess with the charge weight. After a batch of squibs I resorted to weighing every charge individually. What a pain in the ass.

I tried loading my cast .360 wadcutters as-cast, figuring that’s the same diameter as the factory HBWCs.

I learned that the uber-soft factory HBWCs are much more amenable to being squeezed through .357 chamber throats than bullets cast from wheel weights 😱

[03RN]

What weight bullet?

I had my first (and only, so far) squib with a plated 125gr bullet over 5.3gr W231, which is a max .38 +P load. I'm fairly sure that the powder charge was correct - there was a bunch of unburnt powder left in the barrel, and when I pulled the bullet from the remaining cartridges in that batch I didn't find anything unusual. My theory is there was a lack of crimp/case tension on the bullet, so combined with the light bullet it moved forward too fast and all of the pressure escaped out of the cylinder gap before the powder fully ignited. I should have gotten the hint to stop shooting after the first four rounds I shot from that batch seemed very erratic/weak, and the one immediately prior to the squib was so slow that I was able to actually see the bullet travel on a ballistic arc to the target at 15 yards

That's interesting. I was also shooting 125gr plated bullets. Pulled ones actually. Next time I shoot them I'll keep an eye for powder.