Powder Failed to Ignite

In my almost fifty years of reloading I've only had something like this happen one time. It was with a 45-70 rifle using 3031 powder. Each charge was individually charged with a dipper and trickler so there was no chance of not having enough powder in the case. Also, the cases were not tumbled before loading and each flash hole is inspected before use.....all low volume loading methods for a single shot rifle. The bullet went about six inches into the barrel and stopped. The powder looked like a large lump of melted plastic inside the chamber behind the bullet. I'm certain the cause was powder position in the case. The flash went over the powder and didn't cause hot enough ignition. The primer and resulting mildly expanding gases pushed the bullet out of the barrel and the chemical process stopped at that point. I've discussed this with other experienced reloaders and this seems to be the consensus on this subject. A low volume amount in a larger case will allow the powder to lay from the back of the case to the bullet and not be positioned to completely cover the flash on primer ignition. Some shooters use filler (not reccomended) or turn each cartridge tip up before shooting to position the powder in the bottom of the case. Most use more powder or different powder to prevent this. A search on this subject will reveal lots of similar experiences. Just something to think about. I never had it happen again after getting away from minimum charges of 3031 in this large case.
 
I got a bullet out of the barrel of a friend's gun by lubricating the barrel for a few days with Q20 and thereafter I had taken a cleaning rod and a mallet to bump it out.

I did soak the bore with penetrating oil (muzzle up) over night and then muzzle down all the next day. I think the pounding with the aluminum rod from both the muzzle and chamber end compacted the bullet and caused it to be stuck even tighter.

Highly likely to be a squib load and nothing more sinister. Or at least the whole 27 grains.

I know a squib is usually what lodges a bullet. But I load my rounds 50 at a time and peer into each case in the loading block with a flashlight to be certain powder levels are uniform. And when I ejected that case, powder spilled all over the place - 27 grains worth!

It's possible that you had some tumbler media still in the case (at the bottom) and the powder charge on top of it.

Plausible, but I tumble my brass before sizing/decapping and if there was a media "bridge" in there, you'd think the decapping pin would break it up. I then toss the case into a box to await the priming stage and use an RCBS hand primer. Any loose media would surely reveal itself by then.

A low volume amount in a larger case will allow the powder to lay from the back of the case to the bullet and not be positioned to completely cover the flash on primer ignition.

27 grains of 748 in the 7BR fills the case. It's not a compacted load but there's little or no dead space once the bullet is seated.

Anyway, I took a handful of Q-tips and started swabbing the interiors of the remaing unloaded brass and eventually found one with a wet interior. The liquid on the swab was slippery. Car wax!
So I cleaned out the tumbler and put in fresh media. I'll retumble all the remaing brass and then carefully punch out the live primers so I can start over. And unfortunately, I'll need to disassemble the 50 or so remaining loaded cartridges. I just don't want to take the chance of another tie-up, especially at a match.
Thanks, guys, for all the ideas and advice. You make this world a better place.
Peace,
Bud Beeler
Oxford, Michigan
 
When you process your cases, stick with the Zilla, leave out the liquid. Run your brass for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Since the liquid "appears" to be a variable in the equation, take it out and see what happens (path of least resistance and no cost to you). Leaving the brass in for an extended period of time should give you the results you were looking for when you added the liquid.

Good luck. Be safe.

PS - nice looking magnum
 
Ribcracker,

If your just trying to get up a "possibility" list. I had the exact same thing happen to me - Squib fire with bullet logging 2.5" down barrel. Powder was synced but didn't light. However, I recognized the powder - It was one of my rifle powders - Not suppose to be in that pistol case. The primer fired and pushed the bullet into the barrel - But powder didn't light.

What did the powder look like that came out?
Was it synced? Did you positively ID it?
 
Ray,
As a matter of fact, the powder WAS singed when it spilled out. But I'm certain it was W748 since it was one of a batch of the 50 cases I loaded. W748 has a medium burn rate and is perfectly suited for the 7BR. I also use Reloader 7 which has about the same burn rate.
Also, I never have more than one can of powder on the bench when I reload.
I don't know why the rifle powder in your handgun load didn't ignite unless that particular powder requires a hotter primer than what you were using.
Another mystery?
 
Wet tumbling media? (From an additive, or from wet brass.)
Moisture from wet-tumbling?
Blocked flash hole?
Oil-based lubricant inside the case?
Oil-based lubricant on the base of the bullet? (It can take just a tiny amount to contaminate a whole powder charge.)
Powder charges thrown with a new (contaminated) powder measure?
Short charge?

Note that most of my theories are based on contaminated powder.
Click to expand...

I would agree 100% that this is the most likely scenario.

The primer worked. I have trouble with the theory that you can vary primer output with the intensity of the strike except in some extreme bizarre freak incident.

You had a squib. You knocked out the bullet. Move on. Life is short!
 
Ribcracker wrote:

Ray,
As a matter of fact, the powder WAS singed when it spilled out. But I'm certain it was W748 since it was one of a batch of the 50 cases I loaded. W748 has a medium burn rate and is perfectly suited for the 7BR. I also use Reloader 7 which has about the same burn rate.
Also, I never have more than one can of powder on the bench when I reload.
I don't know why the rifle powder in your handgun load didn't ignite unless that particular powder requires a hotter primer than what you were using.
Another mystery?
Click to expand...

Well...Just check all possibilities since I did have that happen to me. As far as how I got the wrong powder in the one case has haunted for yrs and I still have no idea. Same as you - I have and always had practiced one powder on table at a time. But somehow I still got that one case wrong, yet has never happened before or since???

But, I'm glad that wasn't the case for you. So, it still doesn't rule out the possibility that the primer pushed the bullet into the barrel yet didn't light the powder for some reason.
 
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