# Squib Round Occurred



## TAPnRACK (Jan 30, 2013)

I've seen photos and heard the horror stories of the infamous Squib Round/Load occurring during a range session, but up til yesterday I've never seen one in person. One of my students was about 30 rds into a 100 round session when he pulled the trigger and we heard a "Poof" Instead of a "Bang" and he felt no recoil. A small cloud of black smoke poured out of the chamber. After ejecting the magazine and racking the brass out of the chamber, we observed a soot covered brass casing drop to the range floor. We had ourselves a genuine Squib Round! After disassembling the firearm, I could see the round lodged midway in the barrel...







Attempts to punch the round out using a Squib tool yielded negative results... the round was really stuck in there good.







This will have to go out to a gunsmith and the range session ended early... but a valuable lesson was learned that day, much more important than marksmanship skills...

A safety lesson... if the student had went into an immediate action drill... tap mag, rack slide and reassess/fire again (Tap/Rack/Bang)... we could have had another round coming down that barrel slamming into the lodged one, most likely causing an injury to the shooter or myself and destroying the firearm.

The "Squib Round" or "Squib Load" or simply "Squib" is usually caused by low powder or no powder in the casing during manufacturing. When the trigger is pressed and the primer goes off (with low or no gun powder)... it has enough energy to send the round into the barrel... but not enough to send it out of the barrel usually. Here are some common results of firing a gun with a Squib load lodged...























To the newer shooters and experienced shooters out there, if you ever experience this, take the time to diagnose the issue and take appropriate action in a safe manner. Like I said, I've been doing this a long time and have worked with over a thousand shooters during my time instructing and have never seen a Squib Round occurring in my presence. It was an experience I'll never forget... neither will the student, lol. Just a friendly safety reminder for everyone.


----------



## pblanc (Mar 3, 2015)

What did you have to do to clear the projectile?


----------



## TAPnRACK (Jan 30, 2013)

Usually, spraying some oil (Kroil) and tapping with a wood dowel or brass rod will do the trick. Not sure what the gunsmith used to remove it... it was not my handgun. If I find out, I'll post the answer for you.


----------



## win231 (Aug 5, 2015)

I've only experienced one squib, when I first started shooting & was using someone else's handloads. A missing powder charge was the cause. I didn't realize a bullet was stuck in the barrel but I knew something was wrong when it didn't sound or feel right, so I stopped shooting. I've never had a squib since I started handloading 40 years ago & I've never had a squib with factory ammo. That incident inspired me to do MY OWN handloading; I knew it would be safer than shooting someone else's handloads. When I see someone buy a bag of handloads at a gun show, it makes me cringe.

Almost all squibs occur with handloads - where the handloader is focused on speed or allows distractions. This is especially critical when using a progressive press, where several operations are performed at the same time & checking for a powder charge is frequently not done before seating bullets. Whatever method I'm using, I visually check for powder charges & I only use powders that fill at least half the case, so the powder level is easy to see & a double charge would overflow the case.


----------



## SamBond (Aug 30, 2016)

I had one factory load squib about 35 years ago. The bullet made it out of the barrel so it must have had some powder.
The next round in the box was a massive over-load. One round didn't get enough powder, one got toooo much.

I use a single station reloading press. That way I can check everything as I go, one round at a time.
Also, loading 357 & 44 magnums I find a few cases that need to be trimmed once in a while. With auto-loader calibers, almost never.
And like win231 said, no way would I shoot someone else's handloads.


Sam


----------



## Blackhawkman (Apr 9, 2014)

I never shoot ANYONE'S hand loads Period! I don't let other's shoot my firearms either. (brother & sis are exceptions!)


----------



## Goldwing (Nov 5, 2014)

When I was a youngster my older brother borrowed my 870 Wingmaster to go after some Ruffed Grouse on my Grandmothers property. Somehow he forgot to ask me if he could borrow it. Anyway, the bone head was using some antique ammo that he had found somewhere and had a squib on his first shot of the day and still had the grouse in his sights. He pumped in another round and shot again. When he came home with my prized possession all blown to hell he acted like there was a problem with my gun and that he had saved me from getting killed by finding the problem first. The prick still owes me for the new barrel I had to buy.

GW


----------



## Budd (Dec 17, 2016)

Squibs are easily removed with a wood or brass dowel and a few taps with a hammer. DO NOT allow anyone try to drill it out. A ruined barrel will likely be the result.


----------



## SamBond (Aug 30, 2016)

I'm half afraid of factory ammo. Thru the years I've had too many problems with factory ammo from some of the major manufacturers.
If a person learns how to load ammo the RIGHT way you'll have better ammo than you can expect an automated machine to produce.
It takes a lot of experimentation and testing but in the end you'll be safer with your own loads.



Sam


----------



## Craigh (Jul 29, 2016)

goldwing said:


> When I was a youngster my older brother borrowed my 870 Wingmaster to go after some Ruffed Grouse
> GW


Just curious, but how'd he get a squib with a shotgun shooting bird shot? I wouldn't imagine the wad could cause a catastrophic failure, but maybe. Most of the time I would guess, people blow up their shotgun barrels because they poked them into sand, dirt or snow at the muzzle end, and that obstruction caused the failure.

Back in the day, I tried to create lighter and lighter loads for 38 Special and PPC competition. I was really over doing it and would get a lot of squibs during that period. I'd sometimes use 90 grn. 9mm bullets and just a few flakes of Bullseye powder. I can't remember exactly the loads. This was around 40 years ago. I'd work down until it would just not work. Accuracy suffered so badly, I gave it up and went back to slightly more potent ammunition which would not squib. There for awhile, I had to be very careful while working up these light loads and squibs were an everyday affair.


----------



## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

I had one in my AR-15 using a fresh box of PMC factory ammo. The bullet had barely entered the barrel and I had no trouble removing it. Out of the tens of thousand's of rounds that I've fired both rifle and handgun that was the only time that ever happened. It was obvious that something happened as there was very little noise or recoil. Just a "click" when the hammer fell. Thinking it was a "hang fire" I waited a few minutes before ejecting the cartridge. When I pulled back on the charging handle and ejected the case powder spilled out of it. I could see the bullet had just entered the barrel and was able to tap it out with the cleaning rod by hand.

I guess the moral of the story is that if something just doesn't seem right. Immediately stop shooting until you can rectify and solve the problem.


----------



## Craigh (Jul 29, 2016)

desertman said:


> It was obvious that something happened as there was very little noise or recoil. Just a "click" when the hammer fell. Thinking it was a "hang fire" I waited a few minutes before ejecting the cartridge. When I pulled back on the charging handle and ejected the case powder spilled out of it.


Now that seems mysterious. If you only heard a click and unburnt power came out, what in the heck made the bullet leave the case? If the primer had ignited, you'd have heard it and I'd suspect a light load of powder, but it would also ignite. Maybe oil ruined the primer and powder, but smidgen of both worked to push the bullet. Who knows, but something had to push that bullet.


----------



## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

Craigh said:


> Now that seems mysterious. If you only heard a click and unburnt power came out, what in the heck made the bullet leave the case? *If the primer had ignited, you'd have heard it and I'd suspect a light load of powder, but it would also ignite.* Maybe oil ruined the primer and powder, but smidgen of both worked to push the bullet. Who knows, but something had to push that bullet.


That's a good question, and I wish I had an answer. I think you may have found the answer regarding oil or maybe some other type of contamination? The bullet was just into the rifling and took very little effort to get it out. In fact almost none. I probably could have tapped the butt stock on the ground and it probably would have fallen out. There was indeed a normal indentation in the primer. Evidently something ignited, but there was not enough pressure to drive the bullet all the way into the barrel. This happened awhile ago and I don't quite remember whether I heard the primer go off or not especially while wearing hearing protection. If the primer was contaminated too that may have accounted for that.

I guess it could be possible that only some of the contaminated powder ignited? That would account for the remaining powder to spill out of the cartridge. Since the bullet was stuck in the rifling it would have no where else to go until I ejected it.

Oh yeah for the record I discarded the rest of the ammo. Why take the chance?


----------



## tresi (Nov 26, 2016)

I guess I'm just lucky. I've been shooting since 1978 factory loads, factory loads from the 50's and hand loads. Never had a squib. I thought I had a hang fire but it only hung a 1/4 second or so.


----------



## Argon18smith (Nov 4, 2016)

My eyes were truly opened this morning out at the range. I was firing my Coonan 357 mag (using my hand loads) when the last round in the mag went bang but the slide didn't lock open. I ejected the spent casing by hand and proceeded to insert another mag. I closed the slide but it didn't close all the way. I removed the mag and ejected the partly loaded round. I looked down the barrel and of course couldn't see daylight. I disassembled the gun and when I lifted the barrel out, the projectile went plunk onto the table. The only markings on it was its blackened bottom. I have no idea where my head was at the time I inserted the new mag but I'm glad it's still on my shoulders now. It is all still going through my head as to how it could have happened. I have a single stage press so I am looking right at the case when I am inserting the projectile. How could I not see that the case had no powder. I use a table mounted Lee powder charge and I load 50 or 100 at a time so how could I only miss one. Lots of questions but no answers. I will definitely be more vigilant in all my reloading processes. I am glad the projectile did not make it any further down the barrel than it did. I am glad I can tell my story.


----------



## win231 (Aug 5, 2015)

Argon18smith said:


> My eyes were truly opened this morning out at the range. I was firing my Coonan 357 mag (using my hand loads) when the last round in the mag went bang but the slide didn't lock open. I ejected the spent casing by hand and proceeded to insert another mag. I closed the slide but it didn't close all the way. I removed the mag and ejected the partly loaded round. I looked down the barrel and of course couldn't see daylight. I disassembled the gun and when I lifted the barrel out, the projectile went plunk onto the table. The only markings on it was its blackened bottom. I have no idea where my head was at the time I inserted the new mag but I'm glad it's still on my shoulders now. It is all still going through my head as to how it could have happened. I have a single stage press so I am looking right at the case when I am inserting the projectile. How could I not see that the case had no powder. I use a table mounted Lee powder charge and I load 50 or 100 at a time so how could I only miss one. Lots of questions but no answers. I will definitely be more vigilant in all my reloading processes. I am glad the projectile did not make it any further down the barrel than it did. I am glad I can tell my story.


It's possible to look at something but not actually see it. You may have looked at the case but you were thinking about something else. Vision starts in the brain (like everything else).
Sometimes I'll be watching a movie & think about something else for a few seconds & totally miss a section of it - even though I never took my eyes off it.


----------

