Run of 3 Squibs

[ColoradoNick]

So out of about 10k loaded I've had one previous squib and I kinda new it happened just not which round so it all became range ammo. Yesterday I had 3 Squibs in a row. Bullet just past the chamber, case did not eject. That led me to believe they were primer only charges and for some reason my powder drop wasn't working. I went home and pulled the next bullet and it had a full powder charge. That seems like an extremely rare coincidence? What else could cause a squib? I use One shot case lube, would this effect the powder? CCI 500 primers. 

[4n2t0]

In order of likelihood...no powder, bad primer, moist powder, horrendous bullet seal. No powder accounts for the vast majority of squibs, so that's probably the culprit. Are you loading on a Dillon? If so, is there a problem with the failsafe rod?

 

Regardless, you sound like a prime candidate for a powder check system. I use one myself, won't load without it, so please don't think I'm mocking you.

[ysrracer]

The one shot isn't doing it. For some reason those didn't have powder.

 

What are you loading on?

Edited August 26, 2023 by ysrracer

[ColoradoNick]

17 minutes ago, ysrracer said:

The one shot isn't doing it. For some reason those didn't have powder.

 

What are you loading on?

A hornady lnl with a mini mr bullet feeder. I may pull that and go back to a powder cop for a bit. I feel like im good (lots of lights) at visually confirming but maybe I let a few slip. Seems highly unlikely though! Thanks 

[dtuns]

7 minutes ago, ColoradoNick said:

A hornady lnl with a mini mr bullet feeder. I may pull that and go back to a powder cop for a bit. I feel like im good (lots of lights) at visually confirming but maybe I let a few slip. Seems highly unlikely though! Thanks 

I was loading on an LNL with Mr. bullet feeder and I used a camera to see powder in case worked well for me. Before I would just look in to every case.

[Zachjet]

11 minutes ago, ColoradoNick said:

A hornady lnl with a mini mr bullet feeder. I may pull that and go back to a powder cop for a bit. I feel like im good (lots of lights) at visually confirming but maybe I let a few slip. Seems highly unlikely though! Thanks 

Expand through your powder drop and you can use both. Pretty much my set up.

[nkresho]

When i first started out with my LNL i had a few that happened initially.  After the first, I pulled all the subsequent loaded rounds (about 100) and found a couple more.  That batch was all together.  I did have prior batches of 100-200 that were squib-free.

 

It ended up being the way i set the powder drop up.  I had the case flare adapter on the powder drop and it was the screws on the flare limiter or the die itself that weren't adjusted right.  You have vertical  threaded adjustments on the threaded part of the powder hopper as well as the depth the die goes into the press.  Both impact the throw of the powder drum.  I remember uninstalling and adjusting them all per a hornady video and trying again.  I tore the whole thing down and put it back together.  

 

Since last September (2022) i'm up over 22k rounds of 9 through it and haven't (knock on wood) had a single squib since.  That initial issue was within the first 500-1000 rounds.

Edited August 27, 2023 by nkresho

[NoSteel]

To be blunt,  your visual powder check system is failing and needs to be corrected. No better assurance than your eyes….  Are you using good lighting?  Do you recall any hang ups with your loading process during this time?  Many if not most no powder loads are do to an error after recovering from a loading process issue.

[shred]

Pulling a case to weigh the powder charge is another common culprit.   Case gets put back in the press without thinking and without powder.

 

On a Dillon press the next one is when the white bellcrank cube on the powder measure gets loose or worn.  Then you get completely random powder drops from zero to regular charge.  The indication (if you aren't looking in each one) is a snap sound as the stud where the cube used to be gets yanked back by the 'failsafe' rod (which does nothing else to help in this case).

 

Then again years ago on the old IPSC e-mail list, a member from down-under had a spider build a web inside his powder funnel when he went for a snack mid-loading session, so keep an eye out for spiders too

 

[ddc]

The times I have gotten into trouble I am pretty sure it was due to an interruption in the process.

 

I now have trained myself to realize that if I have to interrupt the process to take care of a problem I need to seriously consider clearing off the shell plate before continuing. 

 

That probably means pulling some likely perfectly good rounds and tossing them in the "take apart someday" bucket.

Edited August 27, 2023 by ddc

[Farmer]

I had my powder return chain get loose and it wasn’t returning the drum all the way for a full charge. There was powder in them, just not enough in a couple. Those were the worst because they made it half way down the barrel and were a bugger to get out. 

[nkresho]

here's where mine sits (squib free for 20k+) as far as threads above and below the die.  Also the throw of the drum is basically topped out and bottomed out with a 9mm case in there.

[IHAVEGAS]

9 hours ago, shred said:

Then again years ago on the old IPSC e-mail list, a member from down-under had a spider build a web inside his powder funnel when he went for a snack mid-loading session, so keep an eye out for spiders too

 

I wouldn't be looking for spiders to be the high probability root cause, but if I was the original poster I would be taking the powder measure apart and looking for a wee bit of trash. 

[Guy Neill]

If there was no powder, the base of the bullet will be blackened.

 

If the base of the bullet is clean, there was powder, but it failed to ignite.

 

 

[Farmer]

4 hours ago, Guy Neill said:

If there was no powder, the base of the bullet will be blackened.

 

If the base of the bullet is clean, there was powder, but it failed to ignite.

 

 

But if it didn’t ignite then there should be unburnt powder everywhere. 

[Dr. Phil]

I have found that on my LnL the powder drum will begin to drag after something around 10K rounds loaded. It hangs up either at the top or doesn't make the full sweep. I have to watch for it and pull and clean the drum and the inside spaces. 

That will cause the no powder condition sporadically until cared for.

[m700]

A good press cleaning helps with many things. But squibs could be devistating and you noticed it. Thats important. No squibs is better but recognizing them is an important skill.

 

I too vote no powder. Im not overly familiar with the LNL. But for me when I have any issue on press I take every case off it. The sized and deprimed gets chucked back in the case feeder. The prime put on the bench, the powdered dumped and put on the press. With a bullet feeder I remove the unseated bullet and dump the charge. With the seated and or crimped I cuck them in the pull box(depending where the issue occured). At the end of my session I put the primed case in at the powder drop and finish them.

 

Asside from what I do above I make sure there is a complete pull every time.

[dtuns]

On 8/26/2023 at 4:51 PM, Zachjet said:

Expand through your powder drop and you can use both. Pretty much my set up.

I expand through powder drop but have Mr. bullet feeder, seating die, and a taper crimp no room for powder check. I haven't had good luck with seating and crimping in one station. That's why I use camera set up to look in every case for powder.

[Zachjet]

Gotcha. I seat and crimp in the same station.
 

[lll Otto lll]

This can happen when the CAPD return spring isn’t attached. But squibs are nearly always the result of operator error.

[Speedwagon]

I've had an issue with squids and bought one of these haven't had any since. Plain and simple! 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Speedwagon

[tim_w]

On 9/1/2023 at 6:35 PM, Speedwagon said:

I've had an issue with squids and bought one of these haven't had any since. Plain and simple!

I am 100% for using a powder check with alarm.  No matter how careful you are it can and will happen.  It's just about the numbers.   

 

I have gotten into the habit if my prefered die setup does not give me enough stations for a powder check, I run 2 passes.  One case prep pass, second to load and finish.