Last Tuesday was "Blow holes in paper from a distance while making a ridiculous amount of noise" night for me as I worked up some new rounds using the Longshot. Didn't like it as much as the TiteGroup as it had a snappier feel and left unburned powder all over the place. It did however have one hell of a report of which my first shot had several people stop and see what the &*$#! made the noise.
I was only shooting 2 rounds at a time. Part of the reason is for safety. I check each spent case (well, the ones I could find. They all flew out and pelted guys 4 lanes down from me) to see if there's any bulging or indicators that there might be pressure problems. I also see if the rounds go where I'm putting them.
Well, I was about 1/2 way through the workups when I fired, got a loud BOOM and a fireball, then pulled the trigger again. *Click* pfffft. At first I assumed a dud. Sometimes if the primer isn't seated properly it simply doesn't go off. So I racked the slide and out popped a spent case. My brain immediately screamed WARNING!!!! as if the round had fired properly, the action would have slid back and ejected the case for me. If it was a dud, the bullet would have been still in the round. I instantly knew I had a problem.
Being a Glock, it took me all of 7 seconds to field strip it and sure enough, when I looked down the barrel, there was the bullet, about an 1/8th of an inch jammed into the barrel.
See, most people don't realize that the bullet is slightly larger than the inside diameter barrel and that it take a LOT of pressure to force it out. That's why there's a loud POP when you shoot - it's the sound of all the gas escaping when the bullet leaves the barrel. The primer only exerts about 4 to 5 thousand PSI from what I hear, which is just enough to push a 10mm bullet into the barrel.
Needless to say, my night was over.
To get out a squib, you simply take a wooden dowel that's slightly smaller than the ID of the barrel and proceed to whack the ever-lovin-shit out of the bullet to get it to dislodge. After a lot of hammering with a dead blow mallet, the bullet popped free and my barrel was ready to go.
The lesson here is that I did not pay close enough attention during the loading process. When I'm working up loads, I weigh each charge to ensure the powder is perfect by putting it on a scale. I apparently failed to put the powder back in that one. Thankfully a squib was all I got, but that's no excuse for not paying closer attention.
I know better for next time.