625 Light Strikes / Squib

[RJ24]

I purchased a used 5” 625-8 and have put approximately 500 rounds through it of primarily handloads with Winchester primers and a few moonclips of factory loads with no problems.

I started having problems on the last two visits shooting 230 LRN over 4.8 grs of w231.

On the first visit, I had a squib that just the tip of the bullet was entering the forcing cone and would not allow the cylinder to turn. When I knocked it out, there was unburnt powder in the cylinder and brass.

On the second visit, I had quite a few light strikes, one or two on every other moon clip. They would not even fire after a restrike.

The previous owner was the second owner of the gun and didn’t seem to know much about it. I am new to N frames but the double action is very smooth, much smoother than my 586, 10 or 64, which leads me to believe one of the previous owners might have done some trigger work done on it. My primers appear to be fully seated, so I’m planning on switching to Federals. Since there was unburnt powder on the squib, does that mean it was a bad primer or a light strike?

Thanks,

RJ

[Carmoney]

Misfires and squibs are totally different.

Squibs are caused by having no powder (or grossly insufficient powder) in the case.

Misfires are caused when the hammer doesn't transfer enough stored energy from the mainspring to cause the primer to detonate. Well-seated primers require less energy. Federal primers, with their softer cups, require less energy. Well-seated Federal primers require the least amount, obviously. Many of us use only handloads with well-seated Federal primers in our competition revolvers, in order to take advantage of the super-light DA trigger pulls that ammo will allow, and still achieve 100% ignition reliability.

Here's how to solve the problem--first off, you will need to develop loading practices which ensure that consistent powder is dropping into each round. Then, do each of the following, in this order, test-firing after each:

1. Make certain the primers are very well-seated. Ideally, they should be seated to below flush and starting to flatten out. Some machines will not do this without special adjustment or modification. If this is the case, a hand-priming tool is recommended.

2. Use only Federal primers in your competition revolvers.

3. If neither of those does the trick, you will need to increase the mainspring tension. Depending on how your gun is set up, there are a couple ways to accomplish that. Be warned, however, that the springs in a revolver must be properly balanced to one another, and you often cannot significantly increase the mainspring tension without it creating a sluggish trigger rebound. There are other factors that come into play as well, including yoke alignment and cylinder endshake (to name just the first two that come to mind), that contribute to proper ignition.

[Carmoney]

To clarify one other point.......the only light strikes that matter are misfires.

A light strike doesn't cause a primer to partially ignite. If the primer pops, the round fires.

[DougCarden]

Hi RJ, welcome to the party!

As far as the light strikes, it may be as simple as your strain screw backing out or loosening up. Pull the grips and check the screw down at the bottom of the frontstrap. If it is tight then you need to either use Federals well seated, or put some more 'bend on the mainspring. I will leave that advice to the more proficient of us here...

As far as the squib......The primer had to have gone off to move the bullet out of the cylinder, from what you describe. That is a pleasant load to shoot, but not sub minor or anything like that...I would more likely think something was in the case that caught the primer flash, or you had a big split in the case, something like that. The powder might have been contaminated by something, perhaps too much case lube if you use that?

I would recommend some straight CLAYS powder and I think you will be a happy camper with your blaster. I can heartily recommend Carmonize if you need someone trustworty to look over your Revo as well!

Good luck,

DougC

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

The other addition to the equation causing odd number light strikes could be a light action with an end shake problem. I have seen it happen many times that the action turns consistent with the elimination of excessive end shake on the yoke.

[John Z Sr]

I am by no means any kind of gunsmith, and one of the best in the business has given you some advice already, so all I might add, is I do clean ALL my primer pockets and use hand seated Federal primers, and have had 100% perfect ignition for over 8,000 rounds and counting. Good luck to you

[RJ24]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

I didn't think the misfires and squib were related but I couldn't figure out why there was unburned powder. I am loading on a Horndady LnL with the primers seated flush or just below flush.

I looked at all the light striked primers and they were all flush or just below flush. I just measured the trigger pull at approximately 10lbs double and 3lbs single even though the double action feels smoother than 10 lbs. The brass from my squib was not split but had a lot of soot on one side of the case. I checked the strain screw and I was able to turn it a quarter turn and that was all. I'll try to pick up a gap guage tomorrow to check the end shake. This weekend i'll try to test the light strike ammo with my XD or 1911 to see if the primers ignite. Also, I do use hornady one shot case lube by spraying my brass in a ziploc, shaking it and waiting a few minutes before starting to load. So, it is possible that a concentrated amount of case lube did land in one of my cases.

Thanks again. I'll have more info later...

RJ

[DougCarden]

RJ, I use Dillon lube faithfully, and I did have a similar occurence when I put the brass in a bullet box, sprayed in the lube, and shook it around.

I know use an old cookie tray, knock them all down, and spray from the top. No problems now. You might try another way to lube the brass.....FYI

Good luck,

DougC

[pskys2]

A squib can also be caused by contaminated powder or primer.

Use a Carbide Sizing Die and don't spray the case with any lube. That's probably the problem with the squibs.

Water or oil can inhibit ignition and with you having powder in the case it seems likely the primer was contaminated.

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

You really don't need a gauge to check end shake. Hold the yoke tight against the frame while cylinder is closed and see how much movement you have front to rear. A little is acceptable and desired. A lot is a problem. You may just want someone to look at the gun for you

[cas]

A wrong combination of powder, bullet, seating depth and crimp can cause misfires where the primer lights but the powder doesn't, That will squib bullets in the cylinder and barrel for sure.

Many years ago I had the unfortunate experience of using up some cheap plinking rounds in .38 special. I had some light for caliber bullets and chose a lower end charge of a powder I had a lot of. I loaded 50-100 as a test box. They fired fine, so I loaded up the rest of that batch of bullets. Another 1400 more. Only then did the misfires and stuck bullets show up, one or two per box. Grrr... I ended up experimenting and found that by seating them a bit deeper with more crimp, they would fire fine.

Wasn't the gun or bad components, just a bad combination.

[Carmoney]

Still....99% of the time, squibs are caused by error in the reloading process, where no powder (or just a little powder) is dropped into the case.

[TonyT]

I never use case lube with straight walled pistol cases. In my mind that's why carbide dies were invented.