Squib Load Incident - Tula 9mm Luger

[Excaliber]

On Saturday my daughter, her husband, and I went to our local range as is our tradition whenever they visit. She was using her new Kahr PM9, and had left her ammo at home, so I gave her a few boxes of my Tula Mfg (the factory that produces Wolf ammo) rounds.

After firing a few magazines, she stopped in the middle of a string and asked me to examine her gun because when her last round went off she saw a puff of smoke from the ejection port and the recoil "didn't feel right." I worked the slide and ejected a fired steel casing with several small (1/16 x 1/16 inch) nicks missing from the case mouth. At that point I was pretty sure of what I would find next, and I wasn't disappointed - an examination of the barrel found a FMJ 9mm projectile firmly lodged about 1 inch forward of the chamber. An attempt to remove it with a cleaning rod wasn't successful, and we had to resort to a hammer and punch to get it out. There was no damage to the bore. The cause was apparently a cartridge with either no powder or too little powder to move the bullet out of the bore.

I am sharing this because, although it is a very rare event with factory ammo, it does happen. If she had been a less experienced shooter who didn't recognize the potential danger and had racked the slide to eject the empty and then fired another cartridge behind the projectile stuck in the bore, the results would have been catastrophic for both the shooter and the gun. It's a good opportunity to remember that rare doesn't mean never, and that performing a detailed examination of the gun after any unusual circumstances pays off big time.

In case anyone else may have some of the same ammo, the manufacturing date of the cartridge lot involved was 01 08, and the lot number was Z223.

[TLynnHughes]

I've never had much luck with Wolf and I was completely unfamiliar with Tula ammo. Thanks for sharing and I'm really glad that nothing bad happened. Kudos to your daughter for catching that!!

T.

[joe817]

She was taught safe gun handling techniques. She was very observant about her gun. She is to be congratulated. And I think Dad might have had something to do with that.

Had she(or you) not been as observant, then indeed it would have led to a catastrophic failure of the gun, with severe injury.

Kudos to both of you! And thank you for sharing this story.

[SPen]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Excaliber]

I've never had much luck with Wolf and I was completely unfamiliar with Tula ammo. Thanks for sharing and I'm really glad that nothing bad happened. Kudos to your daughter for catching that!!

T.

I've used Wolf with very good results for years. This was my first experience with the Tula brand, which I only bought because Wolf was unavailable when I ordered and my research showed it was made in the same factory to theoretically the same standards.

I'll watch the rest of the ammo from that batch carefully, and, although this could happen with any ammo, I won't be buying Tula again.

[cougartex]

Very observant, she must have had a good teacher.

[TLynnHughes]

I've used Wolf with very good results for years. This was my first experience with the Tula brand, which I only bought because Wolf was unavailable when I ordered and my research showed it was made in the same factory to theoretically the same standards.

I'll watch the rest of the ammo from that batch carefully, and, although this could happen with any ammo, I won't be buying Tula again.

Oh yes, it just takes once for a negative event to actually happen and then you can't get that out of your head every time you think of the brand name.

T.

[MoJo]

I've never had much luck with Wolf and I was completely unfamiliar with Tula ammo. Thanks for sharing and I'm really glad that nothing bad happened. Kudos to your daughter for catching that!!

T.

I've used Wolf with very good results for years. This was my first experience with the Tula brand, which I only bought because Wolf was unavailable when I ordered and my research showed it was made in the same factory to theoretically the same standards.

I'll watch the rest of the ammo from that batch carefully, and, although this could happen with any ammo, I won't be buying Tula again.

If I quit using every brand of ammo I ever had a problem with I would be reduced to throwing rocks or a spear.

[TLynnHughes]

If I quit using every brand of ammo I ever had a problem with I would be reduced to throwing rocks or a spear.

Well, you can't get a squib load from a rock, that's for sure.

T.

[Excaliber]

I've never had much luck with Wolf and I was completely unfamiliar with Tula ammo. Thanks for sharing and I'm really glad that nothing bad happened. Kudos to your daughter for catching that!!

T.

I've used Wolf with very good results for years. This was my first experience with the Tula brand, which I only bought because Wolf was unavailable when I ordered and my research showed it was made in the same factory to theoretically the same standards.

I'll watch the rest of the ammo from that batch carefully, and, although this could happen with any ammo, I won't be buying Tula again.

If I quit using every brand of ammo I ever had a problem with I would be reduced to throwing rocks or a spear.

If it was a poorly seated primer or similar small issue, I wouldn't get excited. However, I haven't had a squib load that lodged a projectile in the barrel with any other brand of factory ammo in over 15 years.

I'm not in the business of rewarding poor quality control with more of my money. In view of the fact that this extremely dangerous defect showed up in my first box of Tula ammo, I will continue my practice of providing customer feedback with my wallet.

[davidtx]

Thanks for writing this up. I had a vague notion of what a squib load was, but it didn't occur to me that it could leave a bullet in the barrel. Imagining what could have happened next will keep me from forgetting this lesson anytime soon.

[kalipsocs]

I have had a buldged barrel from a factory squib load, Remington Golden Sabres no less. It was when I was 21 and thought I knew all there was to know about pistols. Shot one and I remember the weird recoil but didn't have the knowledge to know what it was at the time. Shot the next one which went fine, but the slide locked HARD about halfway through its cycle. 45 mins of prying with Dad and I having not a clue, we got it to go into battery but that was it. Bersa confirmed what had transpired and I was frightened by what they told me could have resulted. Learned a hard lesson the somewhat easy way that day, and am now attentive to my shots as well as others. Glad you avoided that altogether, especially since (best case scenario) a new PM9 barrel is $150!!

[Excaliber]

I have had a buldged barrel from a factory squib load, Remington Golden Sabres no less. It was when I was 21 and thought I knew all there was to know about pistols. Shot one and I remember the weird recoil but didn't have the knowledge to know what it was at the time. Shot the next one which went fine, but the slide locked HARD about halfway through its cycle. 45 mins of prying with Dad and I having not a clue, we got it to go into battery but that was it. Bersa confirmed what had transpired and I was frightened by what they told me could have resulted. Learned a hard lesson the somewhat easy way that day, and am now attentive to my shots as well as others. Glad you avoided that altogether, especially since (best case scenario) a new PM9 barrel is $150!!

New barrel cost aside, daughters are not replaceable.

[Excaliber]

Over the years I've stopped a few shooters from firing the next round when I heard their firearm go "pop" - but I have failed to catch 2 shooters in time who blew up their guns, one a revolver shooter who just cranked the trigger again and the other an ISPC shooter who did the "tap, rack, bang" drill and ended up with "tap, rack KABOOM!"

Listen for any pop, folks.

And if the recoil just doesn't feel "right", stop and check.

If you're lucky, it could be a light load that drove the projectile out of the barrel but at a lower speed than the other rounds. Then again it just might be a squib with a projectile lodged in the barrel.

Checking is painless. Not checking isn't.