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Post by Quick Draw McGraw on Jul 25, 2016 20:23:51 GMT -5
So my wife and I were out yesterday at the range. It's an out door range and she was shooting. I was a few steps behind her calling out where she was hitting her target. As she finished she put the pistol down and saw what she thought was a black bird fly by behind me and land on the ground a yard to our right. At the same time I heard what I assumed was a 1911 magazine (or similar) hit the ground. She stops, walks around me and goes toward a black object on the ground. She picks it up, turns to me with a confused look on her face and asks, "Is this a gun part?"
My eyes widened as I recognized it as one-half of a double action revolver cylinder, clearly blown apart. I explained what it was and looked for the source. Way down the range on my left is a commotion. I walk over with my wife, still holding the cylinder half, to see a guy with a Smith & Wesson 586, cylinder gone, top strap bent dramatically upwards just in front of the rear sight. The other cylinder half was on the table next to the gun. It had hit the guy next to him in the torso above the hip causing a nasty bruise and a fragment had stick in his arm (small piece). He was ok, thankfully. The fragment was easily removed and only needed a band aid.
After handing him the other cylinder half, we found out he was using reloads but swore they were fine. I question this only because Smiths aren't so fragile as to launch a chunk of cylinder due to a defect. I did a measurement and he was about 25 yards to my left! He had to have done something wrong.
Scary thing is I would have been tagged by it if I had stood two or three steps further back from where I was. A bruise, a cut, and a broken revolver is not bad considering how bad that could have been.
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Post by nolongcolt on Jul 25, 2016 20:31:47 GMT -5
Yikes!!!!
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Post by BigBore44 on Jul 25, 2016 20:46:08 GMT -5
YOWZER!!??!?!  Sounds like you (and Everyone else around) got lucky. He did nothing wrong? Hmmm...?? Evidentally somethin went Wrong, VERY WRONG! I HOPE He backtracks himself and finds (and learns from it) the root of the "nothing done wrong" that caused this EXPLOSION!!! I wouldnt shoot Anything he owns/loads!!! Glad it wasnt worse. THIS is a good time to remember, We can Never Be Too Safe! Never Get Distracted while Handloading! ALWAYS know where your ammo comes from. BE SAFE! BigBore44 |
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Post by Frank V on Jul 26, 2016 18:17:29 GMT -5
Glad you are ok, did you commit his face to memory so you won't ever shoot next to him at the range?
Reloads ok huh, well I've never seen an ok reload take a gun apart. Glad no one was hurt, maybe he can learn something from that?
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Post by bushog on Jul 26, 2016 20:02:00 GMT -5
I try to shoot when the range is empty.
The other guys don't like my guns anyway...BOOM!
Glad you and yours are OK....scary....
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princeout
.375 Atomic
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Post by princeout on Jul 26, 2016 20:10:25 GMT -5
Get that guy together with StumpBuster - he wants to do a partial lug removal on a S&W 581.........
Tim
(tongue firmly in cheek)
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Post by Quick Draw McGraw on Jul 26, 2016 20:34:44 GMT -5
Given the distance that cylinder half launched, he had to have done something wrong to generate that kind of force. I know Rugers are generally stronger, bit Smith does NOT build weak guns, nor is their quality control going to allow for a defect that bad.
If nothing else it has made me rethink all my safety precautions to ensure I don't do this exact same thing.
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Post by dougader on Jul 26, 2016 20:56:32 GMT -5
Those "hot loads" (or double charges) with Bullseye...
Glad you're ok!
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Yetiman
.327 Meteor
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Post by Yetiman on Jul 27, 2016 19:05:58 GMT -5
How many grains of C4 is maximum for a 357??
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JSilva
.30 Stingray
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Post by JSilva on Jul 28, 2016 1:39:56 GMT -5
Id love to know what equipment that boomer was loaded on. Only exploding rounds I've heard of came from manually indexed progressives and single stage.
Sometimes I think my press is smarter than I am.
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Post by contender on Jul 28, 2016 9:20:10 GMT -5
First,,, it's good to know that nobody was seriously hurt.
One thing not considered here. Did he have a squib & then fire a full house load? A bullet stuck in the barrel may be what caused the explosion. Especially if the bullet was just in the barrel far enough to let it function, but not allow a second one anyplace to go.
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Post by bradshaw on Jul 28, 2016 9:26:31 GMT -5
So my wife and I were out yesterday at the range. It's an out door range and she was shooting. I was a few steps behind her calling out where she was hitting her target. As she finished she put the pistol down and saw what she thought was a black bird fly by behind me and land on the ground a yard to our right. At the same time I heard what I assumed was a 1911 magazine (or similar) hit the ground. She stops, walks around me and goes toward a black object on the ground. She picks it up, turns to me with a confused look on her face and asks, "Is this a gun part?" My eyes widened as I recognized it as one-half of a double action revolver cylinder, clearly blown apart. I explained what it was and looked for the source. Way down the range on my left is a commotion. I walk over with my wife, still holding the cylinder half, to see a guy with a Smith & Wesson 586, cylinder gone, top strap bent dramatically upwards just in front of the rear sight. The other cylinder half was on the table next to the gun. It had hit the guy next to him in the torso above the hip causing a nasty bruise and a fragment had stick in his arm (small piece). He was ok, thankfully. The fragment was easily removed and only needed a band aid. After handing him the other cylinder half, we found out he was using reloads but swore they were fine. I question this only because Smiths aren't so fragile as to launch a chunk of cylinder due to a defect. I did a measurement and he was about 25 yards to my left! He had to have done something wrong. Scary thing is I would have been tagged by it if I had stood two or three steps further back from where I was. A bruise, a cut, and a broken revolver is not bad considering how bad that could have been. Good to gather from one of these encounters as much information as possible. Sounds like more than a double charge of fast or medium powder, especially if the single-throw charge is on the low end of recommended charge for a fast or medium powder. Vague or evasive answers from the person with the KABOOM are suspect. A double charge of fast or medium powder may bulge or split a chamber without blowing the cylinder. Ruins the cylinder, of course, To bend or break the topstrap is another kaput. A triple of quadruple charge of fast or medium powder reaches grenade status. Substitution is another possibility, for example, to mistake a fast powder for a look-alike slow powder, filling the case up to the bullet with fast powder----KABOOM. Examination of the scene provides an opportunity to take the KABOOMER beyond shock and impart a bit of wisdom. David Bradshaw |
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Post by hardscrabble on Aug 4, 2016 22:30:10 GMT -5
Another possibility is that he completely forgot to put powder in one of the cartridges. That usually means a stuck bullet in the barrel. If it is not caught, the next bullet will dismantle a revolver. Somewhere I read that that the pressure doing that is more than a double charge. A double charge (again, from what I have read) is more likely to bend a revolver than dismantle it. That is why I always check the amount of powder in the cases before seating the bullet. I have caught one that had no powder.
I am grateful for Trail Boss. For many years (since the mid-1960's) I have been loading 32-20's with small pinches of Bullseye and Red Dot. You could put four (4) charges of those powders in that case of you were careless enough. My standard (factory equivalent) Trail Boss load is about 2/3 full with the bullet seated.
Even another possibility is what I read a magazine article several years ago. Seems that a CAS shooter was loading 45 Colt for himself and a friend with a progressive press. He blew up three guns before they found out that a hesitation at one point in the handle stroke would press TWO bullets into the case. The case was big enough to completely swallow both bullets. That blew the revolver just like you described.
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Post by Quick Draw McGraw on Aug 4, 2016 22:51:10 GMT -5
Another possibility is that he completely forgot to put powder in one of the cartridges. That usually means a stuck bullet in the barrel. If it is not caught, the next bullet will dismantle a revolver. Somewhere I read that that the pressure doing that is more than a double charge. A double charge (again, from what I have read) is more likely to bend a revolver than dismantle it. That is why I always check the amount of powder in the cases before seating the bullet. I have caught one that had no powder. I am grateful for Trail Boss. For many years (since the mid-1960's) I have been loading 32-20's with small pinches of Bullseye and Red Dot. You could put four (4) charges of those powders in that case of you were careless enough. My standard (factory equivalent) Trail Boss load is about 2/3 full with the bullet seated. Even another possibility is what I read a magazine article several years ago. Seems that a CAS shooter was loading 45 Colt for himself and a friend with a progressive press. He blew up three guns before they found out that a hesitation at one point in the handle stroke would press TWO bullets into the case. The case was big enough to completely swallow both bullets. That blew the revolver just like you described. Wow, that sounds like a possibility. Two bullets in one case... That's incredibly scary. |
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Post by bradshaw on Aug 5, 2016 8:11:45 GMT -5
A squib load consisting of a bullet seated WITHOUT POWDER, fired in a revolver usually sticks the bullet in the forcing cone. The primer is not enough to push the bullet, even a cast bullet deep enough into the barrel to permit cylinder station. The bullet then must be driven back into the chamber in order to rotate, open, or remove cylinder.
Two bullets seated one on top of the other should be visually apparent. At any rate, it would certainly rocket pressure.
David Bradshaw
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