Squib Load CCI Blazer .380

[yeahbuck36]

Took a friend shooting last Sunday with a Bersa .380 and experienced a squib load. Filled the mag up, first shot went off fine, second shot there was a soft pop and some smoke vented out of the back of the slide. Kept the gun pointed downrange for 50 - 60 seconds then dropped the mag and retracted the slide, the casing did not eject so pried it out and to my surprise unburnt powder fell everywhere. I pulled the slide off the frame and sure enough, the bullet was stuck in the barrel, about 1/4" forward of the mouth of the chamber, I was easily able to tap it out with a small rod and mallet. I don't know if I would have been able to fully chamber another round behind the bullet or not, it was not in the barrel far at all, and no way in hell was I going to try. Never in my life would I think that I would experience a squib load with factory ammo. Unfortunately, this was older ammo that I had long thrown the box away for, so I do not have the lot number. All I know is that is was 95gr FMJ CCI Blazer, the aluminum stuff. Just be careful, and if something seems off, take a second to look things over before you start shooting again.

Also, just to add, I'm not sure that squib load is the proper term to be used here as there was obviously powder in the case, it just didn't burn.

[JoshIronshaft]

I have seen at least 2 squibs with factory ammo.

Did you see if the primer flash hole in the case was unobstructed?

[yeahbuck36]

I have seen at least 2 squibs with factory ammo.

Did you see if the primer flash hole in the case was unobstructed?

I didn't. I just tossed the case to the side, and thought that I should have looked at it after the fact.

[Bang]

That's the risk in rapid-fire. Takes a damned sharp brain to detect and react to a squib when you've already committed to getting off the next shot. Probably the reason most indoor ranges say no rapid fire. Glad it was detected and handled correctly!

[WVBob]

Squibs happen. I've seen factory rounds that just had a primer, get stuck in the barrel, or just not fire. Being factory does not mean they are always good.

[Bang]

In the 70s many reloaders expressed the opinion that they carry loaded with their own reloads....saying at least it is known that there is powder in every cartridge. There is no way of finding that out about a factory round until it fails. Some argued that factory primers were more reliable than the primers available to the reloader.
it all went yada yada yada for years until opinions went the other way...that factory rounds were the tits for a lot of reasons...some real, some imagined.

[Yellowfin]

I am fortunate to have only had squibs that prevented the next round from chambering and the slide going fully forward.

[QuackXP]

Squibs happen. I've seen factory rounds that just had a primer, get stuck in the barrel, or just not fire. Being factory does not mean they are always good.

Did these cycle the action?

[WVBob]

No, and tapping a round out of the barrel is not fun. But now I carry what I need to tap one out with me to the range. I've seen it happen to a number of people.

[Bill67]

It happened to me with my Winchester 30 40 Krag, but I found out after the incident that a 6mm round had mistakenly ended up in my 30 40 ammo box. There were three of us at the range the trip before and I can't really place blame on any individual, but it sure had me rattled.