Drills - Dummy Round or Squib Load?

[ungawa]

When practicing semiauto pistol with dummy rounds how do you avoid clearing and shooting after a squib? I guess a squib should make some noise vs. a dummy round. You could watch the round eject when you clear. But you move fast in the drills and a small oversight could be costly.

Any suggestions?

[lprgcFrank]

A dummy round results in a 'click'
A live round results in a 'bang'
Squibs definitely don't go 'click' and not 'bang' either - more like a 'ploop or a pop' and usually a noticeable difference in felt recoil.

I don't think you'll have issues on clearance drills - the sounds are very distinctive - where you need to keep aware is one on the first shot of a double tap - you need to be aware of the unusual 'report' sound of the first shot before you press the trigger on the second shot.

[ungawa]

Regarding "double tap," wouldn't it be unlikely for a squib to eject and reload a second round? Thanks in advance.

[CommonHighrise]

Just got done doing a few sample batches of reloads for my buddy's Taurus, starting from the factory load, and working all the way down to 3gr of HS-6. The 3grs was only enough to have the slide pop back maybe 1/4" at most, but still sent the round well downrange. It seems a very remote chance to me that a squib would have enough force to cycle the slide and eject the casing, but not leave the barrel. Unless theres something very wrong with that bullet, which should have been spotted while loading the mag.

[Computer Steve]

There is no point in practicing or drilling to clear a squib load.

It takes considerable force to get a bullet out once its stuck.

If a bullet is lodged in your barrel, your gunfight is over.

[FireHawk77028]

I think the poster means doing drills (on target) with a mix of live rounds and dummy rounds (when you hit a 'dummy' rounds you do a ftf drill to clear it). The concern is if the 'dummy' being cleared was actually a squib and the next round is a live round, thus.. one stuck in the barrel and an empty case being cleared instead of a dummy.

Some people mix dummy/live rounds to practice trigger control (mainly to look for jerking the gun before a shot). Personally I wouldn't practice ftf drills with live ammo.

[max384]

I have and continue to do drills with live and dummy rounds mixed together to practice trigger control. If you purchase dummy rounds, the chances of one being a squib round is effectively zero. If you load your own rounds, don't put in a live primer (obviously).... and load up a magazine of only dummies and try to shoot each and every one of them before mixing them with live rounds. If you have done this, your chances of having a squib mixed in is zero. Also, mark your dummies so you don't have dummies mixed in with lives that you can't tell apart easily. Oh, and a squib shouldn't have enough recoil to cycle the action of any semiauto.

[Computer Steve]

I think the poster means doing drills (on target) with a mix of live rounds and dummy rounds (when you hit a 'dummy' rounds you do a ftf drill to clear it). The concern is if the 'dummy' being cleared was actually a squib and the next round is a live round, thus.. one stuck in the barrel and an empty case being cleared instead of a dummy.

Some people mix dummy/live rounds to practice trigger control (mainly to look for jerking the gun before a shot). Personally I wouldn't practice ftf drills with live ammo.

Thank you for clarifying. I was shooting poorly with my response.

The only thing I would add to what you wrote is to have someone load your mag for you. In fact, maybe there is no dummy round, maybe there's two or three. The only way you could truly react to that is by not knowing at all.

I also use that technique and have someone load revolvers for me with mix of 38 wadcutter, 38spl, and .357mag. It is the easiest way to get a shooter to acknowledge they are flinching.

[ungawa]

I think the poster means doing drills (on target) with a mix of live rounds and dummy rounds (when you hit a 'dummy' rounds you do a ftf drill to clear it). The concern is if the 'dummy' being cleared was actually a squib and the next round is a live round, thus.. one stuck in the barrel and an empty case being cleared instead of a dummy.

Some people mix dummy/live rounds to practice trigger control (mainly to look for jerking the gun before a shot). Personally I wouldn't practice ftf drills with live ammo.

Thanks, that's what I meant. Back in my target days (last week) if my gun seemed not to fire or cycle it would be considered danger time and everything comes to a stop. But this weekend I went to a course and we mixed a lot of dummy rounds into our mags to simulate failure to fire. Of course, FTF did not mean the threat had ended so we had to clear and resume firing very quickly. Seems like a recipe for dissaster unless you pay close attention for squibs.

Any more thoughts on this?

[max384]

Thanks, that's what I meant. Back in my target days (last week) if my gun seemed not to fire or cycle it would be considered danger time and everything comes to a stop. But this weekend I went to a course and we mixed a lot of dummy rounds into our mags to simulate failure to fire. Of course, FTF did not mean the threat had ended so we had to clear and resume firing very quickly. Seems like a recipe for dissaster unless you pay close attention for squibs.

Any more thoughts on this?

I'm confused as to why you think mixing live rounds with dummies would increase your chances of encountering squib rounds. Squibs are exceedingly rare in factory ammunition. And if you're reloading, it all depends on how careful you are. Personally, I feel more comfortable about firing my reloads than I do factory ammunition.

Am I missing something or misunderstanding you maybe?.... If you mean that you have to be careful not to confuse a dummy round with a squib round, that will be all too obvious. A dummy will make a 'click' and that's all, just like dry-firing. A squib will make a small pop, probably a slight kick (much smaller than a full-power live round), and when you eject the squib round, it will be an empty casing, rather than a full dummy round.