Bangy the Bullet sez: "Remember, kids: If it goes *pop*, STOP!"
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| Cocoa Beach's finest, apparently having succumbed to a squib. (Click to see it in all its 2600x2200 pixel glory.) |
I don't have any empirical statistical proof, but my hunch tells me that a certain level of quantity has a lack of quality all its own. Ammo plants are running full tilt to keep up with the demand, and even if the rate of defects doesn't increase, the absolute number of wonky rounds let loose in the wild is going to go up.
Is that a sliver of copper jacket pinched in the split near the muzzle?
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Would be nice to see other angles.
Think I'll put a little more emphasis on the misfire/hangfire/squib portion of the morning safety brief at the next Appleseed I work.
BGM
Ammo plants are running full tilt to keep up with the demand, and even if the rate of defects doesn't increase, the absolute number of wonky rounds let loose in the wild is going to go up.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but that doesn't affect the probability of any individual round being a failure.
Only an increase in the defect rate will do that.
Sigivald,
ReplyDeleteYou and your math. Phhht. ;)
Last time I got a *pop* was in a Boberg XR9-L...it had pulled the case off the projectile. Left a lonely little bullet in the feed lips, but managed to chamber the empty case (throwing the powder all out in the process) and made a cute little pop when the primer ignited by itself. Whoops...guess I need more case crimp.
ReplyDeleteNot yours, I hope?
ReplyDeleteThe metal deformation in the barrel is... well. I'm a metal working kind of guy. It takes some pretty good forces to make metal do that.
I hope everyone was ok.
I had a squib .32 ACP once in my little Savage. "*bang!* *bang!* *bang!* *pip!*"
"Hunh. That didn't sound right."
Stopped, unloaded, disassembled it, looked through the barrel. Sure enough, it was blocked.
Knocked it out with a wooden dowel. Still have it somewhere, I think. (Probably. I'm a horrifying pack rat. I should throw far more things away than I actually do.)
Ian,
ReplyDelete"Last time I got a *pop* was in a Boberg XR9-L...it had pulled the case off the projectile. Left a lonely little bullet in the feed lips, but managed to chamber the empty case (throwing the powder all out in the process) and made a cute little pop when the primer ignited by itself. Whoops...guess I need more case crimp."
I had a couple of those in my first range session with the Boberg. The Gunsmith Bob and Shannon were both chortling, until my detective work noticed that the rounds that came apart were Speer Lawman, which is not known for excessive crimping...
Then I read the instructions. D'oh!
Interesting malfs to clear, no? ;)
perlhaqr,
"Not yours, I hope?"
Nope. Customer gun.
Sigivald,
ReplyDeleteBut think, more folks are spending more time at the range now too.
So more rounds are being expended. It's not all being horded. So the likelihood that one of us will witness a bad round does increase somewhat.
Be nice to catch the neophyte shooter in the lane next to you before their new piece goes kaboom.
Just a thought.
BGM
As a reloaded I'm horribly paranoid about making squibs.
ReplyDeleteDoubles I don't worry about as most of my charges won't fit as a double or would be very noticeable in the case.
I was out working with a new shooter on Wednesday. He was doing really well so i stepped back to the bench to say hey ti a friend when i heard the "pop" come from his m&p 9mm. I quickly called a cease fire and discovered a squib load. First one i had actually witnessed first hand. Good thing we were there vause he said he probably would have just kept shooting!
ReplyDeletePerlhaqr:
ReplyDeletesame thing in my .32 LLama. FMJ, which I also kept. I was disappointed to discover that my Dejammer was too large to fit the bore. Had to use a metal rod to hammer it out. Emphasis on hammer! I was surprised at the amount of force it took, as the rifling imprint was fully formed at that point. Knocked it out the breech end, shortest distance. Don't recall the ammo brand.
Wanting to avoid that sort of picture is the reason I don't shoot reloads bought at gun shows any more.
ReplyDeleteI bought a ziploc baggy of 250 rounds of .38SPL at a gun show back when I was new to shooting, because the price was about $5 lower than comparable factory loads.
I shot through more than half the bag at the range, then experienced the opposite of a "pop" which is a louder than normal "BBBBAAAAAANNNNGGG!" And a really stiff recoil.
I got, if not a double load of powder, just about as much as one can cram into a .38 case.
Fortunately I was shooting a GP-100, so after inspecting for any problems in the cylinder and barrel and finding none, I carried on. Nowadays I'd have weighed each cartridge before continuing to shoot the crap ammo.
TW: Economy estikeld. It certainly is.
Dangit, missed this one while out of town. Would have linked it in my post about squibs a day or two ago if I'd noticed. Apologies for the missed opportunity.
ReplyDelete~ K