Does a primer along (in most cases) without a powder charge

[Kenk]

Hey Folks,
So does a primer alone  (in most cases) without a powder charge have enough pressure to cause a squib? I have in the past kept a few primed, uncharged cases in my caliper box for checking my cartridge OAL (never again) and have ended up with an unaccounted rd when completing my customary Sunday afternoon  hundred rd hobby time. Also, I have labeled that particular container that one rd may have an issue ...Thoughts?
Thanks

Ken

[les265]

I would weight each of those 100 rounds.  The one without the powder will weigh noticeably less than the others.  As far as the squib load, I would think that a primer alone would definitely stick one in the barrel.

[The_Shadow]

Kenk, yes it is possible for a primer to generate enough pressure to force a bullet into a barrel's freebore / forcing cone. (depending on the barrel)
Now will it push far enough for the next cartridge to fully chamber, maybe not!  (again depending on the barrel's freebore and truing cone cut)

It is possible to get a scale (digital would be faster) to determine if there is no powder inside especially if the difference is > 1 or 2 grains.

[Kenk]

Yea, If I can't find and verify the uncharged rd by weighing them, I'll be shooting this batch about as slow as it gets...not that I ever do a bunch of fast shooting with the G20 : )
Thanks Folks!

[Graybeard]

It is definitely possible for a primer to push a bullet far enough in to the barrel to chamber another round, in some guns. I've seen it happen a couple of times. My own experience, only had one primer only squib, did not go far enough to chamber another round. You should be able to feel and hear the difference.

[Kenk]

Yep, I was thinking the same thing

[tommac919]

yes as mentioned...

I still load and shoot wax bullets by just a primer for fun in winter...of course not as heavy as reg round, but is a good training for a nubie ( obv works best in revolver, but can manual feed )
They hit pretty hard.

My dummy rounds are not primed and painted with nail polish

[sqlbullet]

Stacked tolerances mean you may see more than a powder charge of variance.  Been down this road with 5.56 once.  See lets say your cases all weigh the same ± 3 grains.  And you bullets are all ±1 grain.  And you primers are all ±.25 grains.  And your powder charges are ±.1, except that one case.

Add all those up (6+2+.5+.2) and you have 8.7 grains of variation from lightest to heaviest.  And a 3 grain case tolerance and 1 grain bullet tolerance are pretty good.  They really are probably more like ±5/6 and ±1.5/2, which means the total variance is probably more like a double powder charge.

IMHO the only real option is to pull.  It will be a pain in the butt, but far less than replacing a gun or living without eyes or fingers.

[Graybeard]

Agree on pulling them. I was almost positive I did't get powder in one .45acp case during a late night long reloading session. Weighing them was useless because of all the variations listed above. I even pulled all the lightest ones first. Ended up pulling the entire batch. Peace of mind was worth it.

[Kenk]

Question then, why couldn't I shoot them one at a time, say bring 5 or 10 each trip to the range, and only put one in the magazine, shoot, and load another? When I get to the offending rd, no recoil / small report, disassemble the pistol, and inspect the barrel, or is this still a bad idea...Thoughts

[sqlbullet]

If you are going that route, don't rely on bang and feeling alone.  Make sure you see a new hole in the target with each shot.

[TODDXUSMC]

Hey Folks,
So does a primer alone  (in most cases) without a powder charge have enough pressure to cause a squib? I have in the past kept a few primed, uncharged cases in my caliper box for checking my cartridge OAL (never again) and have ended up with an unaccounted rd when completing my customary Sunday afternoon  hundred rd hobby time. Also, I have labeled that particular container that one rd may have an issue ...Thoughts?
Thanks

Ken

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TODDXUSMC]

Hey Folks,
So does a primer alone  (in most cases) without a powder charge have enough pressure to cause a squib? I have in the past kept a few primed, uncharged cases in my caliper box for checking my cartridge OAL (never again) and have ended up with an unaccounted rd when completing my customary Sunday afternoon  hundred rd hobby time. Also, I have labeled that particular container that one rd may have an issue ...Thoughts?
Thanks

Ken

I will say maybe(but not overly likely as there are too many factors that would make it possible), if the bullet is pushed far enough to get into the barrel and it goes far enough that you can manually chamber another round you could have issues. Other things that make it a case by case possibility, like actual land and groove diameter in regards to actual bullet diameter/weight &throat/lead in the chamber.
TG it only happened to me once, that was in my 686 w/158 jsp, the primer pushed the bullet far enough into the bore that had I been using a lighter bullet i may have had issues(if i were shooting extremely fast), thankfully just enough of the heel of the bullet caught the cylinder and it wouldn't rotate. It took a good amount of tapping with a dowel to remove the obstruction.
A more likely cause of concern (sqib)is improper powder/charge that will actually cause a serious problem.
The primer most likely will just push the bullet far enough that you cannot get another round to chamber.
But again it is not an exact science and there is no "rule of thumb".


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[The_Shadow]

Another thing is that a squib round is likely not going to eject a spent casing!  This should be a very strong indicator to check and not just rack in another cartridge...

[Kenk]

Yep, I will either pull them or watch the paper very closely, either way, another huge learning experience
Thanks Folks

Ken