Squib load at the range

[KillerFord1977]

I was at the famous range competition with @SimonRL last go around and had some issues.

New gun, the Sig 320 Max Michel
Had about 100 rounds thru it for the day.
Fired a round and it jammed.
Dropped mag
Cleared an empty shell that was stuck in chamber.
Insert new mag and drop the slide
Wont go into battery. Slide half open on chamber.
Repeat the mag, slide, clear chamber..
still no battery.
I then disassemble & Take slide off.

Trigger housing full of debris … hmmm.. what the heck.
Clean it, re-lube the gun, and reassemble

Insert mag, drop slide and wont go into battery. Pull slide back and a squib drops out of the barrel.
The bullet was jammed in the barrel after where the round normally sits
Guess all the gunk in the lower was the powder and primer

First squib ever in tens of thousands of rounds, prob more like almost 100k rounds over 30 yrs.

Real eye open.
Thank god the pistol didnt go back into battery. End result would be no bueno.

Never too old to learn a life lesson.


Edit: blazer brass 115gr in 1000 round bulk case

 

[Jfal]

Those are some rough looking bullets. And the debris in the FCU...holy cow...

 

[10mmLife]

I was at the famous range competition with @SimonRL last go around and had some issues.

New gun, the Sig 320 Max Michel
Had about 100 rounds thru it for the day.
Fired a round and it jammed.
Dropped mag
Cleared an empty shell that was stuck in chamber.
Insert new mag and drop the slide
Wont go into battery. Slide half open on chamber.
Repeat the mag, slide, clear chamber..
still no battery.
I then disassemble & Take slide off.

Trigger housing full of debris … hmmm.. what the heck.
Clean it, re-lube the gun, and reassemble

Insert mag, drop slide and wont go into battery. Pull slide back and a squib drops out of the barrel.
The bullet was jammed in the barrel after where the round normally sits
Guess all the gunk in the lower was the powder and primer

First squib ever in tens of thousands of rounds, prob more like almost 100k rounds over 30 yrs.

Real eye open.
Thank god the pistol didnt go back into battery. End result would be no bueno.

Never too old to learn a life lesson.


Edit: blazer brass 115gr in 1000 round bulk case
View attachment 25244View attachment 25245View attachment 25246

Where did you get that ammo from, Dollar Tree?

Seriously I'm glad to hear your ok and you are 100% correct you are never to old to learn a life lesson.

 

[Keystone19250]

I was at the famous range competition with @SimonRL last go around and had some issues.

New gun, the Sig 320 Max Michel
Had about 100 rounds thru it for the day.
Fired a round and it jammed.
Dropped mag
Cleared an empty shell that was stuck in chamber.
Insert new mag and drop the slide
Wont go into battery. Slide half open on chamber.
Repeat the mag, slide, clear chamber..
still no battery.
I then disassemble & Take slide off.

Trigger housing full of debris … hmmm.. what the heck.
Clean it, re-lube the gun, and reassemble

Insert mag, drop slide and wont go into battery. Pull slide back and a squib drops out of the barrel.
The bullet was jammed in the barrel after where the round normally sits
Guess all the gunk in the lower was the powder and primer

First squib ever in tens of thousands of rounds, prob more like almost 100k rounds over 30 yrs.

Real eye open.
Thank god the pistol didnt go back into battery. End result would be no bueno.

Never too old to learn a life lesson.


Edit: blazer brass 115gr in 1000 round bulk case
View attachment 25244View attachment 25245View attachment 25246

Really glad you’re safe that could have been very bad for you and those close by.

 

[Annihilator]

Yea, could have been very, very bad, glad your ok, never did care for Blazer ammo, brass or aluminum

 

[TidalWave]

Yea, could have been very, very bad, glad your ok, never did care for Blazer ammo, brass or aluminum

…same here, about the Blazer. Last time I tried it, it was filthy (.45 FMJ). Still got some but it won’t be run in anything of mine….

 

[BassCliff]

Hi @KillerFord1977,

Yikes! I'm glad you avoided disaster. Was there a chunk out of that bullet that caused it not to seal properly in the case? Did you notice anything odd about the recoil on that shot? Once you cleared the malfunction, was the case cracked or anything?

The very first time I took my XD9 to the range I had a squib. We were down to our last couple of magazines when I got a malfunction. I noticed the shot felt weird, very little recoil, more like a "poot" rather than a "BANG!", and the case did not eject. Then I dropped the magazine, cleared the chamber, and saw why.

I guess this white box Winchester was a little bit old. The fizzled load just barely pushed the bullet into the barrel. Maybe that cartridge somehow missed the gun powder stage during manufacturing. I'm really happy the bullet did not go any farther into the barrel. I was told I could probably knock that out myself and save the cost of a gunsmith. But since I didn't have any tools with me we called it a day.

I got home and field stripped the XD9 and saw that the bullet had barely entered the barrel where the rifling starts.

So I just took a cleaning rod, careful not to touch the inside of the barrel, and a rubber mallet, two taps with the mallet and the bullet popped out.

At the time, this pistol had already gone through a stuck slide before this squib load. I learned quickly to take better care. I still have an "idiot" scratch on the slide because I tried to reassemble with the take-down lever in the wrong position. Doh! So here she is, all cleaned and lubed and ready to shoot another day.

I've had no issues like that since, knock on wood.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[BET7]

Glad it worked out the way it did and you're OK KF.
Most of my 9mm firearms don't have issues with Blazer Brass 115gr with the exception of my Walther CCP M2 9mm. FTF's FTE with several different mags. Upon reading Walther forums specifically on the CCP M2 9mm, it seems this firearm is very particular on the brands of ammo you feed it (Blazer Brass 115gr, was one it doesn't like). It's a shame, because I really like the grip on that gun, but it's too unreliable to Carry Concealed with the ammo issues it has.
BTW: I'd be interested in hearing what Max has to say about your issues with his gun

 

[David N.]

I was at the famous range competition with @SimonRL last go around and had some issues.

New gun, the Sig 320 Max Michel
Had about 100 rounds thru it for the day.
Fired a round and it jammed.
Dropped mag
Cleared an empty shell that was stuck in chamber.
Insert new mag and drop the slide
Wont go into battery. Slide half open on chamber.
Repeat the mag, slide, clear chamber..
still no battery.
I then disassemble & Take slide off.

Trigger housing full of debris … hmmm.. what the heck.
Clean it, re-lube the gun, and reassemble

Insert mag, drop slide and wont go into battery. Pull slide back and a squib drops out of the barrel.
The bullet was jammed in the barrel after where the round normally sits
Guess all the gunk in the lower was the powder and primer

First squib ever in tens of thousands of rounds, prob more like almost 100k rounds over 30 yrs.

Real eye open.
Thank god the pistol didnt go back into battery. End result would be no bueno.

Never too old to learn a life lesson.


Edit: blazer brass 115gr in 1000 round bulk case
View attachment 25244View attachment 25245View attachment 25246

You're one lucky man. Quick, buy yourself a lottery ticket.

 

[KillerFord1977]

Where did you get that ammo from, Dollar Tree?

Seriously I'm glad to hear your ok and you are 100% correct you are never to old to learn a life lesson.

Yea, could have been very, very bad, glad your ok, never did care for Blazer ammo, brass or aluminum

…same here, about the Blazer. Last time I tried it, it was filthy (.45 FMJ). Still got some but it won’t be run in anything of mine….

I’ve used Blazer 115hr 9mm for years.
I bought 10,000 rounds bulk way before Covid. 10x1000rd boxes. $149 box

I was shooting 1500-2000 rounds a month pre covid.

This was my 7th box in.. about 3/4 thru the box.

Prob went thru 20 boxes in the yrs prior.

This was my first issue in 7 pistols

 

[Keystone19250]

I’ve used Blazer 115hr 9mm for years.
I bought 10,000 rounds bulk way before Covid. 10x1000rd boxes. $149 box

I was shooting 1500-2000 rounds a month pre covid.

This was my 7th box in.. about 3/4 thru the box.

Prob went thru 20 boxes in the yrs prior.

This was my first issue in 7 pistols

And it probably won’t happen again but I myself would be very careful for awhile and listen for a good bang going forward.

 

[KillerFord1977]

And it probably won’t happen again but I myself would be very careful for awhile and listen for a good bang going forward.

Oh, hell to the yes …

 

[SimonRL]

Some people will do anything to avoid being outshot…

 

[SimonRL]

Seriously, the inside of his brand new gun looked like it had melted. Was relieved to find that it was just residue. Although we were both gobsmacked when the bullet fell out on the table and we realized what had happened. We’re going again Friday, I’m thinking of getting my own bay!

 

[KillerFord1977]

Seriously, the inside of his brand new gun looked like it had melted. Was relieved to find that it was just residue. Although we were both gobsmacked when the bullet fell out on the table and we realized what had happened. We’re going again Friday, I’m thinking of getting my own bay!

Guess I’ll go back to open sights and put a whoopin on ya

 

[KillerFord1977]

Some people will do anything to avoid being outshot…

2 small flyers.. you’d think I was not even hitting inside the 4” circle

 

[TSiWRX]

*ANY* range-fodder grade ammo has the chances of offering up an occasional squib/under-load.

115 gr. WWB and brass-cased 115 gr. Blazer without a doubt make up the bulk of my 9x19 rounds sent through both of my training/range XDms (a 4.5-inch at over 55,000 rounds fired and a 3.8 Compact at 25,000 rounds fired) and my EDC 3.8 Compact (~13,000 rounds fired). Add-in a couple of my other 9mm pistols, and I wouldn't be surprised if the sum total of these surpassed the 100,000 mark (which, while seemingly high, actually rounds out to a very reasonable 10K rounds per year, spread over the last 10 years that I've been in this sport/hobby).

I've seen plenty of issues with the bullets, case, and primer, but I've actually been tremendously lucky and have yet to suffer a squib.

Each of the issues I've seen corresponded directly with increased rates-of-production due to a period of national shortage. Actually, in the winter of 2012, a group of very well-known and very highly-regarded local instructors -also nationally competitive shooters who were at the time sponsored by CCI/Blazer- told us students to either avoid buying 115 gr. Blazer brass altogether for the time being, or, if that's the only thing that we could get, to be sure to visually inspect each individual round before inserting into our magazines (i.e. avoid speed-loaders), ostensibly due to a spike in quality-control issues that caused misshapen bullets and improperly charged cartridges, as seen in their own use.

I still shoot plenty of Blazer Brass. I've got about 2K of the 115 gr. (my current favorite are Magtech, in this length) and maybe 500 rounds of the 124 gr. variety left (I have come to prefer CCI's "Lawman," in this length). And really, I'd have no hesitation to buy more if the price is right.

Range-fodder really is just range fodder. It's all about the same, and I don't lose any sleep over it. I'll shoot the cheapest thing that functions my guns and gets reasonable POA/POI with my zero.

 

[OkiePewPew]

I was at the famous range competition with @SimonRL last go around and had some issues.

New gun, the Sig 320 Max Michel
Had about 100 rounds thru it for the day.
Fired a round and it jammed.
Dropped mag
Cleared an empty shell that was stuck in chamber.
Insert new mag and drop the slide
Wont go into battery. Slide half open on chamber.
Repeat the mag, slide, clear chamber..
still no battery.
I then disassemble & Take slide off.

Trigger housing full of debris … hmmm.. what the heck.
Clean it, re-lube the gun, and reassemble

Insert mag, drop slide and wont go into battery. Pull slide back and a squib drops out of the barrel.
The bullet was jammed in the barrel after where the round normally sits
Guess all the gunk in the lower was the powder and primer

First squib ever in tens of thousands of rounds, prob more like almost 100k rounds over 30 yrs.

Real eye open.
Thank god the pistol didnt go back into battery. End result would be no bueno.

Never too old to learn a life lesson.


Edit: blazer brass 115gr in 1000 round bulk case
View attachment 25244View attachment 25245View attachment 25246

Wow, no kidding no bueno. Glad you're safe.