squib rounds

**3moose1** · Posted On: 9/06/2009 11:38am

My dad was at the range, shooting his 1911. There was some douche rapid firing, so he didn't hear whatever it is you normally here when that happens.

Now, it got lodged in the barrel, close enough so another round couldn't chamber and fire. What would have happened if he'd touched off another round? Is this a common occurrence? Is there anything you can do to prevent it?

**joecos** · Posted On: 9/06/2009 12:10pm

Originally Posted by 3moose1

My dad was at the range, shooting his 1911. There was some douche rapid firing, so he didn't hear whatever it is you normally here when that happens.

Now, it got lodged in the barrel, close enough so another round couldn't chamber and fire. What would have happened if he'd touched off another round? Is this a common occurrence? Is there anything you can do to prevent it?

Squibs are usually caused by mis-loads -- not enough powder when loading/reloading the cartridge. Can also be from bad/wet powder, or a deformed slug. Usually happens with reloads, but has been known to happen with factory loads.

Usually the action on an automatic will not cycle, letting you know something is wrong. People have been known to manually recycle the action and fire another round into the stuck slug.

If your dad is reloading his own cartridges, quality control will help eliminate the problem. If it is a factory load, not much you can do. When in the course of firing, NEVER HAND CYCLE AN AUTOMATIC FIREARM UNLESS YOU KNOW THE BARREL IS CLEAR, and you can avoid the danger from a squib. When firing a wheelgun it is easy to fire a round into the squib because there is nothing to stop the gun from rotating the next round to the firing position.

Mythbusters did a show on the danger of a blocked barrel, IIRC, they could not get a shotgun barrel to explode no matter how they blocked it, but squibs have been known to cause catastrophic failure in handguns.

**3moose1** · Posted On: 9/06/2009 1:00pm

My dad tried his hardest to get the damned thing to fire. Eventually just stripped it and thanked God he was that lucky.

He was shooting Michigan Reloads, apparently this is the first one he's gotten in the 20 yrs he's been shooting them. Is this at all bad for gun, for this to happen?

**joecos** · Posted On: 9/06/2009 1:11pm

Originally Posted by 3moose1

My dad tried his hardest to get the damned thing to fire. Eventually just stripped it and thanked God he was that lucky.

He was shooting Michigan Reloads, apparently this is the first one he's gotten in the 20 yrs he's been shooting them. Is this at all bad for gun, for this to happen?

As long as you clear the stuck slug without damaging the barrel, it won't hurt the gun. If he'd managed to fire another round without the gun destroying itself, I'd personally never fire that weapon again, because you'd never know where or how its structure might have been weakened.

**3moose1** · Posted On: 9/06/2009 1:24pm

Really? He said that is was at the very end of the barrel, just barely in. Should I suggest he have it looked at by a gunsmith?

He probably wouldn't take that advice, though

**joecos** · Posted On: 9/06/2009 1:51pm

Originally Posted by 3moose1

Really? He said that is was at the very end of the barrel, just barely in. Should I suggest he have it looked at by a gunsmith?

He probably wouldn't take that advice, though

If it's just barely in, he can probably clear it with a cleaning rod. If it won't move easily with that, pounding on something to get it out (I've seen idiots use everything from screwdrivers to cleaning rods and hammers) could damage the barrel and cause problems. A gunsmith can mount the weapon safely and extract the slug without damaging anything.

**3moose1** · Posted On: 9/06/2009 2:09pm

Oh, no, got the round out. He went to go pound it out, but realized he didn't have a hammer, so he took it up to the range desk (he's very good friends with the owners) and they did it for him.

**Wounded Ronin** · Posted On: 9/08/2009 7:08pm

Originally Posted by 3moose1

My dad was at the range, shooting his 1911. There was some douche rapid firing, so he didn't hear whatever it is you normally here when that happens.

Now, it got lodged in the barrel, close enough so another round couldn't chamber and fire. What would have happened if he'd touched off another round? Is this a common occurrence? Is there anything you can do to prevent it?

I was recently chatting with someone at a gun store about reloading and squib rounds. He basically explained to me that squibs caused by under-loading can be very dangerous in certain types of action because it can damage the action, besides for the risk of getting a round lodged into the barrel and then discharging another round into the stuck round.

Potentially very dangerous...always listen closely to your firearm and also pay attention to the feel to feel if it recoiled normally or not.

**SFGOON** · Posted On: 9/09/2009 1:56am

At the range, you can take the pistol to a gunsmith.

In a gunfight, (assuming you only have the one weapon,) you manually SLAM the slide into battery then squeeze the trigger.

If you're not a 'tard, you draw your backup pistol.

At my department, we're required to fire through the squibs, even in training.