What is a squib load? What causes them? Do we need to be concerned with such a thing?
You better believe we need to be concerned! A squib load could cause your firearm to explode. At the very least, a severely damaged firearm could occur with the shooter seriously injured. Aside from danger to the shooter, bystanders can also be struck by flying pieces of the firearm from the resulting explosion.
Consider every rifle, handgun, or shotgun cartridge as a small bomb. These small bombs are comprised of several components including a case, powder, primer, and projectile. In order to work properly, all the components have to work in concert. If one fails, there are problems.
What Is A Squib Load?
A squib load occurs when there is insufficient force to propel the bullet down (and out of) the barrel. To put it simply, the bullet is stuck in the barrel, having never exited.
Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Well, it kind of is. While it may seem simple, there’s more behind the scenes with what might cause a squib load and how to remedy this. It’s estimated there is approximately one squib round for every 100,000 rounds of ammunition.
Causes of a Squib Load
There are a few possible culprits for squib loads. Some of those causes are a light (insufficient) powder charge, a low power load, an improperly seated projectile, or too much barrel fouling. Lubricant or moisture infiltrating the case can cause the powder not to ignite properly. A compromised bullet seal can sometimes allow moisture to enter the round.
Cheap, low-quality ammunition can sometimes not have enough power to push the round out of the barrel. This results in a spent bullet lodged in the barrel. Shooters who reload their ammunition are more prone to experience a squib load. Frequently, it’s caused by too little or a complete lack of gunpowder.
Malformed flash holes can cause a squib load while an improperly seated or damaged primer can be the source as well. Debris, fouling, rust, and dirt in the firearm and barrel can sometimes be the culprit. This would be an extreme situation, but is possible. Sometimes an improperly sized bullet or old, corroded ammunition due to improper storage is the source. If improperly stored, moisture gets inside the rounds and powder degrades over time if storage conditions are not right.
As evidenced above, there are a lot of things that can cause a squib load.
Signs Of A Squib Load
It’s quite possible you’ll hear a popping sound when a squib happens. There may be little or no recoil with possibly a small puff of white smoke.
What To Do?
- Stop Firing!!
- Wait one minute with the firearm pointed down range in case the powder detonates (we could be experiencing a hang fire. A hang fire is a delayed detonation of the powder in the cartridge).
- With the firearm pointed in a safe direction, eject the magazine and unload it.
- Using a cleaning rod, slide it down the firearm’s barrel. If it won’t go all the way through, you have a squib. If it does go through, you don’t have a squib.
- You may be able to push the bullet the rest of the way through with the cleaning rod.
- If that fails, take the gun to a qualified gunsmith.
Preventative Measures
How do we prevent squib loads?
Most importantly, use quality ammunition. I once bought a pile of bargain basement 9mm ammo on the cheap and was elated with my “good” fortune — until I got to the range. The ammo shot erratically. The recoil of some rounds felt normal while others shot more softly. I didn’t experience any squib loads, but I was concerned one was impending because of the varying energy levels of the rounds. I won’t do that again.
If you reload your own ammo, carefully check each round and make sure the primers are properly installed and you’ve given a proper powder charge to each bullet.
For that matter, it’s a good idea to visually inspect each bullet, of any caliber, before you shoot it, regardless of where the ammo came from or who manufactured it. Even the best ammo manufacturers screw up every now and then. At a minimum, you can check the outside to make sure the primers, cases, and projectiles look okay. You can also see the projectile is properly seated. Make sure the barrel is clean and free of obstructions.
Misfires vs. Squib Loads
Squib loads can seriously damage your firearm and even cause injury or death. Meanwhile, a misfire is simply a round that does not fire. Typically, we’ll just hear a click.
Many shooters are taught to perform an immediate action drill in the event the weapon does not fire. This is frequently called the “Tap-Rack-Bang” Drill and is performed automatically. If this is performed with a squib load (bullet) in the barrel, the gun will likely explode, equating to a very bad day at the range.
If you pull the trigger and hear a pop (as opposed to just a click), STOP! The pop was the primer firing when hit by the firing pin. There may be slight or no recoil. The shooter may notice a smell from the primer’s detonation. Some smoke may also be visible. This is likely a squib load.
In the case of a squib load lodged in the barrel, your Tap-Rack-Bang stoppage drill will be more like Tap-Rack-BLAM!
Hang Fires vs. Squib Loads
A hang fire is when the shooter fires the gun but the round does not immediately fire. There might be the sound of a primer popping and little else. The round might detonate after several seconds, so it’s important to keep the firearm pointed down range safely for at least one minute. In short, a hang fire is a long delay between trigger press and firing.
Sometimes shooters will assume they didn’t chamber a round. With that assumption, they then chamber a round. During this time, the round could spontaneously detonate while out of the chamber, which is very dangerous.
A light firing pin strike to the primer due to a damaged firing pin can cause a hang fire. Inexact tolerances in the firearm can also be a source of the issue. Sometimes fouling in the gun interferes with the firing pin’s movement, causing light primer strikes.
Other Considerations
When shooting at slower rate of fire, it’s pretty easy to decipher if we get a round with little or no recoil. Bolt action and lever action firearms force us to work the action between shots.
However, we sometimes engage in very rapid fire with semi-auto firearms. Rapid fire makes it difficult to ascertain whether or not a round didn’t feel quite right. When dumping several rounds a second down the barrel, it’s tough for the mind to grasp that a round did not feel right and stop firing quickly enough to avert disaster. The key here is evaluating the recoil each time we pull the trigger.
Real-World Danger
Some of you may remember the death of Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee’s son) while filming The Crow in 1993. His tragic death was caused by a squib load. Prior to blanks being fired in the filming sequence, dummy rounds were placed into the .44 caliber revolver. Dummy rounds look like loaded bullets, but they are not loaded with powder or a live primer. Externally, they resemble normal rounds.
The dummy rounds were taken out of the gun, but, unbeknownst to the film crew, the bullet from one of the dummy rounds was stuck in the barrel of the revolver. The bullet remained there until the scene was about to be filmed and blanks were loaded into the revolver. Normally, a blank is relatively safe to use, but not this time. The separate components of the blank and dummy bullet acted as a complete round, proving to be a fatal combination. The blank had enough pressure to push the bullet from the dummy round down the barrel and into Mr. Lee.
In Summary
We’ve defined what squib loads are, as well as misfires and hang fires. There are many potential causes of squib loads including poorly store old ammo, improperly reloaded ammunition, and dirty firearms. We’ve also outlined the immediate steps to take for these conditions, and how to do it safely.
Reacting properly to squib loads, misfires, and hang fires can spell the difference between life and serious injury or death. Don’t become a statistic – avoiding injury can be accomplished by following the basic steps outlined here.
