MeanestNiceGuy
Inactive
Yeah they replaced it, thank Heavens!
You're right, it's usually the shot after the squib (I saw the empty shell casing still lodged in the chamber).
Squib Load...Anybody Else Experienced This?
- Thread starter MeanestNiceGuy
- Start date
You're right, it's usually the shot after the squib (I saw the empty shell casing still lodged in the chamber).
MeanestNiceGuy
Inactive
This was the aftermath....
MeanestNiceGuy
Inactive
No offense taken, I can only be thankful for your insight!
Yes, a squib cycled during fire.
MeanestNiceGuy
Inactive
Sheesh!
I posted a pic a few minutes ago. When I say mine made a LOUD popping noise and all I saw was smoke and the spring hanging from it.
I'll make sure I take a rod and a hammer with me at all times....not that I'm anticipating another squib.
I won't lie, it messed me up...had me second guessing every round I shot afterwards. I'm a slow shooter, mainly because I don't like to run through ammo so quick (lol). After the incident, waiting on me to empty a magazine was like waiting on an answer for Final Jeopardy.
I've seen pics of people's hands after a squib load....didn't help my fear at all, lol. Just reading you guys's replies, watching a bunch of videos, and gaining insight from experienced shooters has helped me and built my confidence back up.
Evil Monkey
New member
Sequence of events:
1. girlfriend says it won't shoot, this is assuming she pulled the trigger.
2. NiceGuy takes pistol, and had to have cocked the pistol again due to the fact that the kel tec PF9 doesn't have double strike capability.
a. Either he soft cocks the slide/hammer with the round remaining in the chamber or...
b. He hard cocks the slide/hammer and loads a new round.
3. Fires the first round with no issue.
4. Second round blows up pistol.
NiceGuy you need to confirm or adjust my assumptions. What exactly did you do when you girl gave the pistol back? Be extremely specific and leave no detail out.
If the round your girlfriend tried to fire was a squib, then that means when you loaded a new round by racking the slide, that first round you fired should have blown the pistol up, but instead it happened on the second round.
1. girlfriend says it won't shoot, this is assuming she pulled the trigger.
2. NiceGuy takes pistol, and had to have cocked the pistol again due to the fact that the kel tec PF9 doesn't have double strike capability.
a. Either he soft cocks the slide/hammer with the round remaining in the chamber or...
b. He hard cocks the slide/hammer and loads a new round.
3. Fires the first round with no issue.
4. Second round blows up pistol.
NiceGuy you need to confirm or adjust my assumptions. What exactly did you do when you girl gave the pistol back? Be extremely specific and leave no detail out.
If the round your girlfriend tried to fire was a squib, then that means when you loaded a new round by racking the slide, that first round you fired should have blown the pistol up, but instead it happened on the second round.
I guess I'm not sure how looking at that picture you diagnosed it as a squib. The barrel looks intact unless it ruptured at a point we can't see. I also don't know how a squib would affect the trigger pull. When you pulled the barrel from the slide was the barrel bulged? Did you see evidence of some kind of obstruction in the barrel? What I see seems like a case rupture or maybe even an out of battery detonation.
Evil Monkey
New member
Neither. Mag well would have blown out violently either way. The barrel and slide still looked locked up.
I'm waiting for OP's response for my last post. I suspect a simple barrel failure occurred.
The shell casing should reveal an overcharged cartridge if what you report is accurate! The only other way you could have blown up that barrel is by lodging a squib into it, then inadvertently firing another round through it and into the lodged squib, creating a catastrophic failure!
Rapid firing is not controlled pairs, or double taps, its attempting to shoot the gun just as fast as you can, and its a practice that is not condoned anywhere, but enforcement often is lacking! When my Glock 21 SF blew up on a factory overloaded(PMC 230 gr 3x norm confirmed by Glock's armorers)cartridge, it sure could have fooled me into believing it dangerous, I was covered in blood from head to feet from multiple lacerations imparted by the pistols shattered and fragmenting grip frame and trigger to my face and hands, including cutting open the eyebrow of the range officer at my back!
Any firearm that experiences a catastrophic failure is capable of causing great bodily injury or death!
My point is even with a double tap you have the potential for a squib to be a problem. Any fast shooting can be a problem with squibs, mag dumps aren't the only potential issue.
But that's not a squib. A cartridge with 3x the normal charge is one thing, a squib is something else entirely. A squib should not result in the level of catastrophic failure you just described, hence my original comments. Is it something you want to happen? Absolutely not. But I've never known of anyone or heard of anyone that was covered in blood from head to feet from a squib. It will usually do a number on your hand, depending on the level of the failure. Some barrels, such as HK, are stout enough that people have actually shot out the squib (at least according to the myth
).
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Yeah, there's nothing inherently wrong with shooting fast--if you're accomplishing something you have as a goal. I've sent 10s of thousands of rounds downrange shooting as fast as I possibly can--while meeting other requirements. It's a legitimate objective of certain kinds of shooting, after all, under the umbrella of hitting the target, of course.
I've had about 6 or 8 squibs, maybe a few more, in shooting about 50,000 rounds of handloads over the years. The first one I experienced while shooting for accuracy in my P220, and blew up the barrel. Several very clear signs of a squib were blatantly obvious, and I ignored them all due to ignorance and fired that second round--bursting the barrel and jamming the gun up real nice.
The others I recognized right away and avoided catastrophe. After the first one I installed a light on my press, along with a 'powder cop' indicator die. But I still managed to get a few through.
All I can say is that the experiences have made me slow way down at the press and pay better attention to what's going on.
I've had about 6 or 8 squibs, maybe a few more, in shooting about 50,000 rounds of handloads over the years. The first one I experienced while shooting for accuracy in my P220, and blew up the barrel. Several very clear signs of a squib were blatantly obvious, and I ignored them all due to ignorance and fired that second round--bursting the barrel and jamming the gun up real nice.
The others I recognized right away and avoided catastrophe. After the first one I installed a light on my press, along with a 'powder cop' indicator die. But I still managed to get a few through.
All I can say is that the experiences have made me slow way down at the press and pay better attention to what's going on.
Stevie-Ray
New member
I've never had to actually deal with a squib. I've checked for them more times than I can count, nearly 100% of them in my GSG-5, and fully 100% of those being Federal brown box bulk. Always a snap, instead of a bang, always too underpowered to cycle the action, but always make it out of the barrel. So I consider myself lucky. Never had one from any reload or any other centerfire. Had a few hangfires though, always factory.
Generally speaking, a squib will not cycle the action on a semi-auto. But I still check, except on those rapid-fire strings. On those I've just been lucky.
Generally speaking, a squib will not cycle the action on a semi-auto. But I still check, except on those rapid-fire strings. On those I've just been lucky.
Evil Monkey
New member
It's mostly an issue with blow back operated weapons. Not so much with locked breech short-recoil operated weapons like most pistols.
There's a high likelihood of cycling in a blowback, which would make it appear as if the firearm fired just fine, until the next shot.
With short-recoil systems, the action cannot cycle. Physics won't allow it.
Cheapshooter
New member
Tell the guys with the full auto 1911's, and Glocks at Knob Creek that in April.
"With short-recoil systems, the action cannot cycle. Physics won't allow it."
Not true. In a short recoil system, the barrel/slide unit starts to move and begin the unlocking process the instant the bullet begins to move, so even with a barrel obstruction at some point down the barrel, the bullet will usually move enough to cause the pistol to cycle and put a fresh round in the chamber. Only if the bullet is tight against the obstruction, preventing the bullet from moving at all, will the slide not move.
I would like to see the barrel of the pistol involved in this situation; the pics look more like damage caused by an unsupported case head than by a burst barrel caused by a squib load, but it is not possible to be sure without more pictures.
Jim
Not true. In a short recoil system, the barrel/slide unit starts to move and begin the unlocking process the instant the bullet begins to move, so even with a barrel obstruction at some point down the barrel, the bullet will usually move enough to cause the pistol to cycle and put a fresh round in the chamber. Only if the bullet is tight against the obstruction, preventing the bullet from moving at all, will the slide not move.
I would like to see the barrel of the pistol involved in this situation; the pics look more like damage caused by an unsupported case head than by a burst barrel caused by a squib load, but it is not possible to be sure without more pictures.
Jim