Yeah first squib load story

[04DarkShadowGT]

Well today was my first dummy day since I started reloading 6 months ago. I just picked up some 9mm lead bullets from McDonalds in Marion. They are about the only place within a reasonable drive from Ft Wayne that has 500 round boxes or more, at least that I know of. Descent prices at $35/500 and he has always been great to deal with. Funny thing though, a very lightly used Taurus PT1911 walked away with me too. That was unexpected, but price was right and it was stainless. You can never have too many 1911s.

Anyway back to the story, well I was setting up the dies for proper OAL, I was using a round without powder to setup the dies in the turret (you see where this is going huh). Well I got it all setup and somehow that round must have made its way into the 10 I loaded to test the actual load.

But luckily I noticed that the pop wasn't quite right so I did not shoot off a round after. That would have made my gun very unhappy with me. So I got to shoot 4 rounds through it. I did shoot the PT1911, very nice.

 

[HDSilvrStreak]

Glad it wasn't any worse. Good thing you heard the difference in the shot sound.

I am curious though. Why would you even use an empty case to set up the die for OAL? I just back out the die and continue moving it in small increments until I've reached the proper OAL. I don't think I would even think to do that with an empty shell.

 

[Cat-Herder]

i have unprimed dummies with all the bullet profiles i load in a drawer next to my press. it saves time during setup to back out the seating die, run the dummy into it, and screw the die down until it contacts. then i do a quick measurement check and start my run. YMMV...

 

[zenbruno]

Glad it wasn't any worse. Good thing you heard the difference in the shot sound.

I am curious though. Why would you even use an empty case to set up the die for OAL? I just back out the die and continue moving it in small increments until I've reached the proper OAL. I don't think I would even think to do that with an empty shell.

This is more or less the method that I use, as well… without ever a chance of a squib load or double-charge, etc. But thank god you caught that squib round before firing the next one!

 

[XtremeVel]

In my mind, a dummy round is just another form of " record keeping ".

I find dummy rounds do come in handy and make for a great reference later. I make one up for each bullet profile in which I might think is something I will load again in the future. They are a time saver, granted it doesn't take long to re set the die for seating depth. I find I refer to the dummy round probably more often than I do thumbing thru pages of my notes. That is what I find is more the time saver.

Dummy rounds are also nice for checking for function with greater peace of mind than using loaded ammo in the house. Just make sure the primer is either spent or primer pocket is empty to avoid any possible confusion.

 

[04DarkShadowGT]

Yeah that is what I do for my .38 and .45 but this was the first batch of 9mm I have done. I guess I just got complacent and was only going to make 10 rounds to check the results.

Lesson learned, never be in a hurry. But got the bullet out, no worse for wear. Live and learn. Im just lucky nothing was damaged.

 

[Brownie]

i have unprimed dummies with all the bullet profiles i load in a drawer next to my press. it saves time during setup to back out the seating die, run the dummy into it, and screw the die down until it contacts. then i do a quick measurement check and start my run. YMMV...

Third word hits the nail on the head "UNPRIMED".

 

[jblomenberg16]

I've had this happen too, although not from the process you mentioned. I ran my progressive out of powder during one of the first high volume loading sessions I did on 9mm. I thought I caught it in time, but must have still managed to load at least 1 squib.

Same thing...gun went "pop" and didn't cycle. My next step was to Tap -Rack - and then almost clicked the bang switch, but remembered I had some suspect rounds. I dropped the mag, cleared the chamber (which had a live round in it) and field stripped my G19. Sure enough, a projectile was neatly stuck in the barrel. Because I had already shot more rounds from the mag, empty brass with dented primers were all around me...so no way to know that what I had just cleared could have been bad other than the failure to cycle.

Would have been a Kaboom for sure had I pulled the trigger. We tapped the round out with a dowel, swabbed the bore with a bore brush to makes sure it was nice and clean while we had it stripped, and resumed firing. My first round was the live that I had ejected...and yep...it dig go bang. So, I guess I was lucky in that I didn't pull the trigger, and good in that in that split second I thought to check the bore.


Now anytime I have a misfire, especially when shooting my reloads, I check the ejected case after the "rack" portion of the tap-rack-bang clearing drill, to see if the projectile is still in the case. If so I know I'm clear, and if not I know to check the bore.

 

[g+16]

I use dummy rounds, yes they are unprimed but also are painted red

 

[Cat-Herder]

i mark mine with a sharpie denoting the weight and profile of the bullet in the case. i keep notes on powder charges and other salient info in my loading books...and yes UNPRIMED dummies! as in ...there's NO primer in the pocket. :-)