Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading First time.....

I got a squib load.
Not sure what happened. 31 grains of H110 under a 250 gr Hornady XTP in new Starline brass
454 Super Redhawk

At the shot, there was an obvious issue. No recoil, no impact on target, nothing. I stopped & inspected the revolver, & unloaded it. Then it clicked...yes sir, that bullet is still in the barrel.

My initial thought is not enough crimp as the bullet is lodged about an inch away from the forcing cone .
There was unburned powder between the cylinder & the base of the bullet.

My plan to remove the obstructed bullet will involve an application of Kroil to soak then using a close fitting rod to tap it out from the muzzle.

Anybody have a better idea ?

Always learning stuff......mostly the hard way

Burt2506

Kroil and a BFH will do the trick.

Was there previous shots fired in the cylinder before the squib? Were you able to verify the bullets moved forward from the inertia/recoil?

Glad you became aware of the issue...

If you load for handguns long enough squib loads happen, especially if using a progressive. My pistol range bag has an assortment tools including an assortment of squib rods and a leather mallet. These guys here

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...ck-case-removers/squib-rod-prod1251.aspx

Was it cold when you were shooting? Which primers were you using? I've had several squibs with 110/296 in a few cartridges with less-than-hot primers.

Last time it happened to me was in a 357 revolver. There was a clod of unburnt powder behind the bullet in the barrel, just past the forcing cone. Looked like I only got partial ignition. I used a dowel to quickly hammer it out, cleaned all the powder out of everything, and went back to shooting.

Well.. I had shot 2cylinders ..no problems

Only 1 shot lodged in the barrel


It was nearly dark, about 27 degrees,
I was using CCI 450 primers..yes there was a clump or clod of unburned powder wedged behind the bullet in the bore. The cylinder was not impeded in its release or rotation.

You indicated that "...nothing happened...", so the primer did not ignite or did it?

Not likely, but a clump of tumbler compound can obstruct the primer flash hole...IF the primer went bang and the powder didn't ignite.

Then again, a CCI 450 IS a magnum small rifle primer...

The primer looked just like the others...2 cylinder of Hornady factory ammo

I think I had a 'perfect storm' of events...a not too hot primer, with H110 in cooler weather and perhaps a not heavy enough crimp on the bullet all contributed to the lodged projectile.


Still ain't got the dang thing out of the barrel

Grease the bore and use a wooden dowel or a metal rod wrapped in a couple of layers of tape.

I always load H110/296 close to maximum and NEVER have had an issue even in 15 to low 20s F. using WLPs.

You may reconsider not to use rifle primers in a revolver...jusayn.

I havent tried to get the bullet out. I have saturated the bore with Kroil and will use a dowel & vice to (hopefully) remove it... I aint gonna get in a hurry.


SherrifJoe, just an FYI : as a very high pressure cartridge, virtually all load data for the 454 has a small rifle primer. I was hoping to use the small rifle magnum primers (CCI 450) because thats what I have. Obviously, this didnt work out the best....lol

I try my best to stay away from winchester primers due to an instance of bolt face pitting my Father-in-Law had several years ago with WSR primers.


YMMV

burt2506

You are correct, thanks...Hornady does recommend the Federal 205 for the 454 Casull...

Don't get all freaked out about removing the bullet from the barrel. It doesn't take a whole lot of force. I did it with a wooden dowel and a 10" adjustable wrench on a tailgate, the dowel in the muzzle down against the bullet, the cylinder open, the gun held firmly in one hand with the butt on a towel on the tailgate, and the wrench in the other hand as a hammer. I tapped it out. It didn't take "hammering".

I don't know why the 450 didn't ignite the primer. It does have a thicker cup than the 400's and the 205's, but only slightly thicker than the 205M primers (that info from an article I found online some time ago where a gentleman dismantled primers and measured cup thickness). Perhaps the flash hole was plugged, as SheriffJoe suggested, or perhaps the 450's have just a slightly too-thick cup to get good ignition with all hammer strikes in your revolver. Rem 7.5's have the same thickness of cup (according to that article), but are also demonstrably "softer" than the CCI 450's. I'd suggest trying a different primer if you have access to others.

Good points.

I carry a 1/4" dia brass rod in my range box for moments such as these. Or a chunk of shotgun cleaning rod.

31gr of H110 should be plenty hot enough, and the cci450 should be enough primer. The fact that bullet made an inch leads me to believe you got partial ignition, as primer-only squib will tie up the cylinder.

So my guess is that you need more neck tension, more crimp. And this is only going to be the case in cold weather. I have had this happen to me in 44mag, same powder, XTP bullets, WLP primers, temps in the 20's.

everybody : thanks for the insight. I was able to remove the stuck bullet yesterday with a homemade rod. I gave the Kroil plenty of time to do what it does, and the bullet came right out.

I will definitely apply more crimp to the remaining loads & re-test.

a learning experience for sure.


thanks again,
burt2506

in Hornady's #10 manual, The 250 gr XTP isn't listed in the 454. The 240 XTP mag is listed as 34.1 gr of H110 as minimum. My guess is you used too low of a load for H110. I'm thinking you need to bump the charge up a couple of grains or switch to an easier to ignite powder such as 2400. Alliant MP 300 or accurate 11FS may work too

I just found my Hornady#4 from 1994. It shows 30 gr of H110 as minimum, max is 33.9 gr of H110 with the 250 XTP in 454 casull. They used a federal 205 primer. Hope this helps

jaydub in wi = thanks for the load data.... My Hodgdon pamphlet from a few years ago showed the same...I think the biggest cuplrit in this whole deal was me. I didnt put enough crimp on the bullet.

I was out late last night feeding bovines, so I hope to have time today to recrimp & retry.

I certainly will try my best to find more SR primers to try.

Thanks again to all you guys....

Burt2506

I watched 2 guys and a nice 6" mod 57 smith same prob 1 bullet stuckin barrel ,.,one guy holding gun muzzle up other guy (owner) pounding on a pc of threaded rod with a hammer 0h cylinder was open .,.warned them to close cyl. reply was no dont want bullet to get stuck .,with cyl open it will just fallout... 6 or 7 whacks later cyl with crane and ejector rod jumped off hit the tiled floor and rolled under the table,.,pounding sheared ring on crane let let everthing get away was fun to watch

This,
I loaded up a bunch of 45 ACP once before noticing that on my Dillon powder measure a nut came loose and it was not activating the powder drop. so I've gone through a bunch of squib loads.
I thought I could find them by weighing the finished rounds but I didn't find all of them.

so pretty much I just know that I can only shoot the ammo and I won't let anybody else shoot any of my reloads. After that I bought the Dillon powder measure checker