9mm Minor, Dillon 550B, Squibs and Jesus

[Henny]

You might realize this, but make sure you're putting the fail safe rod in correctly. It was mentioned the powder measure seemed to be binding. It goes through the large part into the small.

[Mike0301]

Hey, good advice.

Early in my reloading journey, I had an old reloader advise me to keep only 10 empty cases on the bench. When those are reloaded they get spec'd for OAL, seating problems (like shaving lead), primer seating, reweigh whatever powder you're metering, and give the powder hopper a coupla taps. Then you get 10 more cases and repeat it. This will keep ya focused and after 100 rounds the checks will occur almost automatically.

Yes it takes longer, but the pucker factor goes waaay down when you shoot those rounds.

I do this still if I've made big changes to any set up (OAL, powder weight, different case manufacturer)

[Sarge]

That sure would take the "progressive" out of the progressive reloader. Besides, if you have a pucker factor involved in shooting your reloads........

[Mturnbull333]

I learned my lesson when my 14 year old daughter shot a what I assume to be a double charge in her sti edge .40. Gun blew up in her hand, blew the mag out and peppered her with brass, luckily no real harm to her thank god or any damage to the gun, but it really opened my eyes to the possibilities of what could happen!

[captain037]

Also remember that just because a batch of bullets came from a reputable manufacturer doesn't guarantee that there isn't one in there that wasn't properly sized. A lead bullet that missed the sizer and was plated looks correct but could be just over enough to lodge in the barrel at lower velocities. That comes with experience too, something doesn't feel right and you have to figure out what it is. Loading from a batch of .40's the other day and found two .41's. Different profile so this was easy.

[02doooce]

I'm new to loading as well and my first 250 rounds resulted in many squibs. My SA 1911 is actually in the midst if getting a match barrel and bushing because I found I had bulged the barrel similar to the OP.

Specific to reloading I use a Dillon SDB. I've changed things around and as such I've eliminated the squib problem.

1. I test and measure powder and set the charge before I load. What this means is when I'm testing loads or powder drops I use an empty case and I don't try to load of make bullets while I'm in the measuring or testing cycle.

2. Every time the flow is stopped or disrupted, I look at the powder and bullet seating to make sure I know what's happening there before I resume.

Good luck and just be glad because the bulged barrel could have been something more serious.

[njl]

I'm new to loading as well and my first 250 rounds resulted in many squibs. My SA 1911 is actually in the midst if getting a match barrel and bushing because I found I had bulged the barrel similar to the OP.

Specific to reloading I use a Dillon SDB. I've changed things around and as such I've eliminated the squib problem.

1. I test and measure powder and set the charge before I load. What this means is when I'm testing loads or powder drops I use an empty case and I don't try to load of make bullets while I'm in the measuring or testing cycle.

How were you doing it before when you had squibs?

I've always done my powder adjustment using a dedicated set of powder measuring brass. I keep 5 9mm and 5 .45acp cases on the base of the strong mount for this purpose. Those get used for all powder drops when I'm adjusting the measure. Only after I've got it adjusted properly do I start loading with good brass. The powder measuring brass is mostly stuff I wouldn't want to use for reloading. Things like dingy (tumbled, but didn't really clean up well) brass with crimped pockets, AMERC brass, etc.

[Quag]

You might realize this, but make sure you're putting the fail safe rod in correctly. It was mentioned the powder measure seemed to be binding. It goes through the large part into the small.

I'm the OP Henny you nailed it I had the rod in backwards. I do not think that was causing the squibs but the travel on the stroke is lot smoother now.

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Thanks

Quag

[Quag]

I'm the OP and here's an update. I have learned a lot from the more experienced reloaders and their posts. Thank you.

I have shot between 1000 to 1200 rds of 9mm 124 gr or 147 in a variety of practrice sessions and club IDPA and USPSA matches with no squibs. I found no signficant problems with my press, my components or reloading forumlas after checking and rechecking everything. I went over my log books to see if I could spot any mistakes in past reloading, nothing popped up.

So what did I change? Me! I did what any manufacturing process would do and that is slow down my production and redouble my QC checks. check the powder dispenser drop every 100 rds, use 2 lights instead of 1, force my self to look at that powder level in every cartridge and reject any that looked light (I've emptied out a lot of good rds but I caught a few). Make sure on every round to fully depress the handle so the powder bar travels its full length. Check OAL and crimp size on 5 bullets every 50 rds. Double check the primer seating after putting the bullets in the loading case. Reject any cartridge if there is any problem. my production rate is slower but no squibs. I just hit abt 5000 rds total now and I've got my confidence back.

again thanks for a lot of good advice.