had my first squib 20 minutes ago.

[mls204]

I experienced my first squib just now. Im glad I now know what they are and what happens when you fire one, but hopefully I'll never have to go through that again. I was at the range and heard the pop but no bang. I thought it was just an unseated primer like I've had before so I eject the mag and rack the slide. Out came the casing covered in white dust instead of an unfired round. Odd, I thought. When I looked in the breech I saw more white dust and a little further in, the bullet!

Not knowing it was a squib, I took the gun apart, googled, confirmed that it was indeed a squib, and promptly packed up my gear and left. I didnt have anything to clear the barrel with me, but thinking about all the bad things that could have happened just put me out of the mood for any more shooting.

[Justintoxicated]

Glad your ok, did you miss putting powder in the case or did something else cause the squib?

[Low-Pressure]

Glad your ok, did you miss putting powder in the case or did something else cause the squib?

+1, Just curious, what kind of equipment are you using (progressive or single stage)? There's been a few squibs posted here lately and I'm wondering if any of those are loaded via single stage.

[Cowboy T]

Glad you caught it! That could've been bad news. Takes guts to post something like this, so good on you for doing so. Maybe it'll help the next person reading this thread.

Progressive or single-stage notwithstanding, this is why we always have to pay attention to what we're doing. The OP was, and caught it in time.

[HighLander51]

Here is the 'Perfect Squib"

[22popnsplat]

I am glad you caught the squib , The real question is do you know why you got a squib so you can prevent the next one? There are various reason no powder gets into the case .

[mls204]

Lessons learned

Im pretty sure the squib was due to no powder in the case since it was just white residue all over the place and no left over/unburnt powder. I'm guessing the white stuff was from the primer ignition.

I load on a Hornady LnL auto progressive. I do not have a case or bullet feeder.

There's two things I need to change in my reloading process. First, there are times where I have to manually remove one or all the casings from the shellplate for one reason or another. It could be to to clean some spilled powder, a mis-prime, die adjustment, etc. Then, instead of starting back up at Station One, I put the case back in the station it was in before I took them out. I must have messed this up somehow and made the squib. Definitely not doing this anymore.

Secondly, even though I have a light that shines directly into the cases so I can visually inspect each case before I seat the bullet, this experience has taught me that that's not enough. You can never be too careful when reloading. I have a RCBS lockout die that doesn't get much use because I seat & crimp in separate stations, and do not have a powder through expander so all 5 stations of the LnLAP are used up. I'll be adding the lock-out die back into the starting line-up as soon as I can.

[MAC USMC]

If you shoot pistol reloads a lot it is wise to make up a simple set of wooden dowels to remove stuck bullets. These take up very little room, are lightweight, cheap and work great

It is disgusting to have to pack up and go home when a simple wooden tool can solve the problem quickly. I have aided other shooters and made some solid friends over the years in this fashion. Naturally, being precise and FOCUSED at the reloading bench will virtually eliminate the problem.