First squib

[Doc Harvey]

After nearly 1000 rounds (between 10mm and .40 S&W) I experienced my first squib. Now I feel like I need to pull ALL of the bullets from that "lot" of 100 and start over...which is very discouraging...I had a suspicion that the Hornady powder measure wasn't throwing consistent charges...now I know for sure. On the plus side, I had only put 5 rounds in the magazine and the squib was the 5th round.

[Sigfan220]

That must have been one light charge. I would suspect no powder. If it's just 100 I'd pull them if you think there are more

[BigDog58]

You can try weighing them if you have a digital scale (beam scale will work but very slow) but it isn't a sure thing, given the difference in case weights. If you have those bullets segregated, you could also shoot them, but no rapid firing and you must be sure to pay attention to not only the sound but the recoil as well. It seems from your post, that you were aware of the squib and were able to prevent a problem. But if you are unsure you can immediately know the difference in the rounds when you fire them, then the ONLY choice is to take them apart. I have taken my share of 9mm's apart when I discovered I had a problem with my powder measure and had about 50 empty cases.

I did learn am important lesson about my progressive press from that experience. I now sit in a position so that I can physically see inside every single case, before I place a bullet for seating. I have an automatic bullet feed, but those 50 rounds made me understand why I choose to place each bullet by hand. I still haven't figured out what caused the powder dump trouble? I tore the entire powder measure down, checking for blocked passages, or clumped powder. I never did find out what caused the problem, but I am now 100% certain that EVERY pistol round I load on my progressive, has powder. I don't have to worry about my rifle loads, because I weigh every charge and manually put the powder into each case. I still physically look into ALL charged rifle cases, gefore I begin seating bullets.

[Countryfried Frank]

I've noticed that different powder drops prefer different powders and different charge weights. A couple years ago I was trying to find one powder for all handgun cartridges that I load and I found recipes using 700x. Loading .45 and .357 didn't present too much of an issue but the light throw for .38S was very inconsistent. I ended up with a squib in .38S. Since then I've found that Accurate piwders meter very consistently in my powder drop and have migratedl smaller calibers to their powders.

I'm glad you caught it before something blew up.

[TTS]

After nearly 1000 rounds (between 10mm and .40 S&W) I experienced my first squib. Now I feel like I need to pull ALL of the bullets from that "lot" of 100 and start over...which is very discouraging...I had a suspicion that the Hornady powder measure wasn't throwing consistent charges...now I know for sure. On the plus side, I had only put 5 rounds in the magazine and the squib was the 5th round.

Don't feel too bad, it happens to everyone. I think it is a good reminder as to why you want to visually inspect each powder drop, even on a progressive. I have a light set up to make it easy to see the powder charge.
http://inlinefabrication.com/collections/lighting

[mc762x54R]

my only ever squib was with Federal Automatch 22LR in my Savage MKII BV. Luckily I heard the difference in the report and checked the bore.

[gunsmith]

Total NON reloader question:

How badly was the bullet stuck? would 2 taps w/ a screwdriver get it out?

or were you in deeper do-do?

[TTS]

Total NON reloader question:

How badly was the bullet stuck? would 2 taps w/ a screwdriver get it out?

or were you in deeper do-do?

You do not want to use a screw driver, a brass or aluminum rod is needed. The screw driver will slip off the bullet nose and scratch the inside of the barrel. (I know first hand because I was young and impatient once )

[TH3180]

That must have been one light charge. I would suspect no powder. If it's just 100 I'd pull them if you think there are more

This

[bensdad]

I feel like I need to pull ALL of the bullets from that "lot

You DO need to pull all of those bullets.

[Doc Harvey]

Total NON reloader question:

How badly was the bullet stuck? would 2 taps w/ a screwdriver get it out?

or were you in deeper do-do?

It was maybe 3/4" past the chamber. Eric @ Bills GS tapped it out for me in like 3-4 whacks.

[Sigfan220]

Total NON reloader question:

It was maybe 3/4" past the chamber. Eric @ Bills GS tapped it out for me in like 3-4 whacks.

Yeah - that would be no powder. A primer can get a bullet surprisingly far down a barrel. At a few inches I would suspect a very light charge.

[LS3Miata]

If you decide to.pull the bullets give my a shout. I have a hornady cam lock bullet puller. It will take all of 20 minutes.

[CarRacer]

Glad nobody got hurt and you didn't wreck any of your guns but I found it pretty funny that a thread about making a mistake was posted in the wrong forum.

[Doc Harvey]

Glad nobody got hurt and you didn't wreck any of your guns but I found it pretty funny that a thread about making a mistake was posted in the wrong forum.

D'oh!