Monday, August 15, 2011

Sign of the Squib

Good friend Ross sent me this video of an Indiana Appleseed instructor who happened across a squib load in his .22LR rifle. Watch and learn:



Some good information there - be careful when you're plinking!

That is all.

6 comments:

Andrew said...

Most shooters, even experienced ones, don't listen for a reduced load, feel reduced recoil, or notice more smoke. They *do*, however, notice "something's different".

I try to teach that you ALWAYS listen to that little voice, whether at the range, at work or walking to your car on a darkened street.

If you hear that voice: stop, assess, analyze and act if necessary.

Glenn B said...

There may be some great information in that video but it is certainly contradictory. The title, then definition shown on screen, would lead you to believe you are about to see something about a squib load. Insead of seeing anything to do with a squib load, the video shows someone whose firearm or magazine malfunctions and possibly caused the round to go off with the rifle out of battery. A round going off out of battery is not a sqib (sure a round that goes off out of battery could also be a squib but that was not likely the case here). Chances are the bullet got stuck in the chamber or bore, not because it was insufficiently powered, as would be a true squib, but because the bullet was not aligned properly when it fired. That is not a sqib round. A squib round is a defective round. It is a cartridge that has only the primer ignite or a round in which there is insufficient powder or in which the powder has been corrupted and does not ignite properly, therefor not having enough released energy to propel the bullet with enough force.

A squib is the defective round and not the resultant bullet being stuck in the bore although the result can be a bullet stuck in the bore. While it could have been both in this case, it probably stuck in the chamber in this instance because of the angle it was fired and not because it was an underpowered round. This was, as the gentleman in the video said, a round that fired with the rifle out of battery.

All the best,
GB

ajdshootist said...

One of the reasons i always keep a full bore and small bore rod in the car along with a kinetic bullet puller so very usfull.

Eck! said...

That was an out of battery. I've had squib load in the 12ga very different. I've experienced that shooting clays using reloads and that pop when braced for a recoil really does a what the heck on you.

Now a hangfire or nofire is more disconcerting I've had those too. The best you can do with that is keep the barrel down range and wait. Then if after say 60 seconds eject that shell into a safe barrel.
The club used to have a 55 gallon drum for spent shells that were not for reloading. It always seemed the right place to eject/extract the unfired shell to.


Eck!

Veeshir said...

I had one with my .50 Beowulf with a factory load.

I didn't notice, all I knew was that the next round would not fully chamber. Luckily, otherwise I would probably have had a jaw-shattering Kaboom!

When I got home, I found the bullet jammed in the chamber. Whew.

Anonymous said...

Educational. My father experienced a squib once and did not realize it; the next round obviously failed to exit the barrel. The smith had to saw off an inch or two from the end of the ever-so-slightly swollen barrel.