Kaboom-Another "Don't trust anyone's reloads!"

[Rockrivr1]

This Bersa belongs to the wife of a friend of mine. They were at the range over the weekend and were shooting reloads that another friend had given them. To me this has squib load written all over it. She didn't remember a weak round prior to the last round, but she was also shook up pretty good by the experience so is just not recalling it. Luckily she is OK with only a couple minor scratches. The gun on the other hand is toast.

Once again proving the old saying of "Never trust anyone else's reloads!"

 

[rep308]

Never give your reloads to anyone either! I shoot my own but make my kids and friends shoot factory. I've had a couple of incidents, fortunately none like that!

 

[noxin]

What are the chances that the squib would still be in the barrel?

 

[GJH86]

That would scare me big time. I'd go all UPS

 

[MisterHappy]

What are the chances that the squib would still be in the barrel?

High.

The question I have, is would the squib cycle the action?

I've only had one metallic cartridge squib load (factory, but ancient), and that went about 3 inches down a 4-inch barrel. Revolver, of course.
Lesson learned from this? Bring more than one gun to the range, so you don't have to go home.

 

[noxin]

High.

The question I have, is would the squib cycle the action?

I've only had one metallic cartridge squib load (factory, but ancient), and that went about 3 inches down a 4-inch barrel. Revolver, of course.
Lesson learned from this? Bring more than one gun to the range, so you don't have to go home.

I meant what are the chances the squib would still be in the barrel after the ... unintentional dismantling of the firearm

 

[drgrant]

Might even be a couple rounds queued up at the end of that thing....

Thankfully nobody got hurt.

-Mike

 

[rep308]

I reloaded a .45 cal 200 gn SWC lead squib round that cycled the action of my Colt 1911 and put another round ready to go. The report was very light and I had the piece of mind to unload and check using a rod I carry in my range bag. I figured out that I ran the powder hopper on my Dillon 500 out of 231. I ended up pulling about 50 rounds.

After freaking out I brought the barrel to Dave Santori who knocked it with a wooden dowel and a hammer. Dave didn't charge me but I learned a life lesson, and learned that Dave was a good guy

 

[DW357]

High.

The question I have, is would the squib cycle the action?

Yeah I was wondering the same. I've never made any squibs for my semi autos, but I have made a few squib 38 specials (still not sure how I managed it).

 

[Dennis in MA]

Back about a decade or so ago, there was some upstart Cowboy Action magazine that I subscribed to. One of the main authors was trying to diagnose how he blew up SEVERAL single-action revolvers.

SEVERAL!

After the 3rd of 4th, he determined that his seating die got all gunked up and he was, in fact, loading one cartridge with NO bullet and another with TWO bullets.

WTF?!?!?!?! This was using 45LC. So you could probably tell by HOLDING a bullet that it's wrong. Get an empty case, you might want to weigh all the rest of the cartridges in that batch.

Multiple blow-ups. He was pretty proud of himself.


That said - might be a similar problem. Double-bulleted case. Takes pressure to the NEXT level.

 

[exo]

Back about a decade or so ago, there was some upstart Cowboy Action magazine that I subscribed to. One of the main authors was trying to diagnose how he blew up SEVERAL single-action revolvers.

SEVERAL!

After the 3rd of 4th, he determined that his seating die got all gunked up and he was, in fact, loading one cartridge with NO bullet and another with TWO bullets.

WTF?!?!?!?! This was using 45LC. So you could probably tell by HOLDING a bullet that it's wrong. Get an empty case, you might want to weigh all the rest of the cartridges in that batch.

Multiple blow-ups. He was pretty proud of himself.


That said - might be a similar problem. Double-bulleted case. Takes pressure to the NEXT level.

Doesn't everybody close their eyes while (re)loading?

 

[knfmn]

Back about a decade or so ago, there was some upstart Cowboy Action magazine that I subscribed to. One of the main authors was trying to diagnose how he blew up SEVERAL single-action revolvers.

SEVERAL!

After the 3rd of 4th, he determined that his seating die got all gunked up and he was, in fact, loading one cartridge with NO bullet and another with TWO bullets.

WTF?!?!?!?! This was using 45LC. So you could probably tell by HOLDING a bullet that it's wrong. Get an empty case, you might want to weigh all the rest of the cartridges in that batch.

Multiple blow-ups. He was pretty proud of himself.


That said - might be a similar problem. Double-bulleted case. Takes pressure to the NEXT level.

Sounds like a case of RWSF: Reloading while S faced.

To the OP: "Bersa" I am glad to hear that the folks didn't get hurt when things went kaboom.

 

[MarkT]

Never give your reloads to anyone either! I shoot my own but make my kids and friends shoot factory. I've had a couple of incidents, fortunately none like that!

I completely agree. I reload for my guns only.

 

[DW357]

Doesn't everybody close their eyes while (re)loading?

Yeah I was going to say, how the f*** do you manage that??

 

[Pinion]

I like to take it up a notch and reload in the dark.

 

[GaryO]

Might even be a couple rounds queued up at the end of that thing....

Thankfully nobody got hurt.

-Mike

Nobody got hurt but i bet some panties got ruined.

 

[Fixxah]

I reloaded a .45 cal 200 gn SWC lead squib round that cycled the action of my Colt 1911 and put another round ready to go. The report was very light and I had the piece of mind to unload and check using a rod I carry in my range bag. I figured out that I ran the powder hopper on my Dillon 500 out of 231. I ended up pulling about 50 rounds.

After freaking out I brought the barrel to Dave Santori who knocked it with a wooden dowel and a hammer. Dave didn't charge me but I learned a life lesson, and learned that Dave was a good guy

And to carry a hammer and brass rod for squibs.

 

[xtry51]

I don't think that was a squib. A squib causes the next incoming bullet to impact it, making the rear of the barrel/bolt to fail.

A squib in a semi handgun will NOT cycle the action. So if she didn't rack the slide after what she perceived to be a FTF, it's not possible this was a squib.

It's far more likely this was a double charge. Easy to do on pistol rounds due to the small quantity requirements for powders like Titegroup. This is why I would never recommend using a half case capacity powder or less with a new reloader.

I never fire other people's loads through my guns. Mostly because I know even I have made mistakes loading cartridges.

 

[Stee]

I had my first squib in 45 years of reloading.. crap primer, it went pop instead of KABOOM on a 460 smith.. opened the cylinder and there was the bullet.1/4 inch into the barrel..

 

[Glockster30]

Never had a squib in a semi-auto. Had one with a revolver years ago and was surprised that the primer alone could push the bullet half way down a 6" barrel.

 

[rhombus]

Never give your reloads to anyone either! I shoot my own but make my kids and friends shoot factory. I've had a couple of incidents, fortunately none like that!

I cringe every time my father shoots one of my reloads, but he bought me the reloading kit so I'm kinda on the hook to make him some shells!!!

 

[MisterHappy]

I cringe every time my father shoots one of my reloads, but he bought me the reloading kit so I'm kinda on the hook to make him some shells!!!

I'm comfortable shooting my kid's shotshells. Better him running the machine, than me!

 

[dhuze]

That looks like it hurt. Glad shes ok.

Never give your reloads to anyone either! I shoot my own but make my kids and friends shoot factory. I've had a couple of incidents, fortunately none like that!

This is what I do. Not even friends or family shoot my reloads. I shoot them and bring factory rounds for everyone else.
I've had a couple of squibs, but I knew they were somewhere in the box. I ran out of powder not paying attention and there were a lot of rounds in the pan so I took them all out and marked the box "possible squibs".

 

[Delkancott]

As someone who's seriously considering reloading, for someone who's generally competent, how common is a loading error? If you pay attention are they 99% avoidable, or do they seem to happen regardless of attention paid?


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[Fixxah]

If you are not 100% sure about your ability to make better ammo than a factory, don't waste your money. Lack of confidence in yourself will not help.
I had 3 squibs in the first 100 rounds due to the rotor on the powder prop hanging up. Not a hiccup since. I trust my life and family's to my ammo without a doubt in my mind.

 

[Duxprep]

As someone who's seriously considering reloading, for someone who's generally competent, how common is a loading error? If you pay attention are they 99% avoidable, or do they seem to happen regardless of attention paid?


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100% avoidable. If you're not paying complete attention to what you're doing 100% of the time then you shouldn't be reloading.

 

[Dadstoys]

Some of guys that bang out hundreds of rounds an hour would proabably be ready to throttle me if they watched me reload , but I check every freaking round at each step.
I had one minor kaboom years ago with factory crap that ended up with a scavanger hunt for brass shrapnel in the back of my hand.
Nothing more than a mildly painful annoyance, but a good wake up call..

 

[jaypap]

I was told many years ago never shoot anyone else's reloads.

I consider it a rule not a suggestion.

 

[scottb]

As someone who's seriously considering reloading, for someone who's generally competent, how common is a loading error? If you pay attention are they 99% avoidable, or do they seem to happen regardless of attention paid?


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Reloading errors are operator errors. People make mistakes. I, and many friends and acquaintances, have loaded thousands upon thousands of rounds and errors are very rare. I mean very rare. Those errors aren't usually dramatic- but sometimes they are and you get to see gun destruction pics. Loading manuals are great safety tools. With good equipment, instruction, practice, and some common sense, you'll be able to 'load your own' safely. There's pretty much nothing we do in our daily lives that doesn't carry some risk like driving or operating power tools. My loading machine gets the same respect as my car or my lawn mower.


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[DW357]

As someone who's seriously considering reloading, for someone who's generally competent, how common is a loading error? If you pay attention are they 99% avoidable, or do they seem to happen regardless of attention paid?


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Not common if you keep distractions away from you while reloading. So far I think I've had 2-3 squibs in the ~15k rounds I've made in the last couple years or so. The squibs were with my light 357 mag loads using a light charge of bullseye powder under a plated bullet. I'm honestly still not sure how I've managed 3 of them (only with these specific loads) as I pay very close attention while reloading. I know EddieCoyle and others have mentioned that it could be bullets that are oversized and creating enough resistance with these light charges to allow it get stuck on the barrel? It's either that or something off with my Hornady powder measure when dropping 4 grains of Bullseye powder.

That said, I have not made any squibs in the other calibers I reload (many thousands loaded also) such as 9mm, true 357 mag loads, 44 mag, 7.62x25, 30 carbine, 30-06, 7.5x55 and most recently .223.

Due to the issue of the lighter 357 mag loads, I don't allow anyone else to shoot them since I can recognize a squib when it happens. But I do let my friends and family shoot my guns with my reloads. I don't let people shoot my reloads in their guns though.