In this video they reduced charges until they stuck a bullet in the barrel. Then they fired 2 more further reduced loads. So now there are 3 bullets in the barrel.

The last step is to fire a full power round. I wouldn't have believed the cylinder didn't come apart, but the only damage was a bulged barrel.

L Frame torture test

Man that just sux. If anybody has any contact with these gomers tell them to get a Taurus (preferably a "Judge") the next time they want to do something destructive.

__________________
Andy

Good to know but I still feel bad for that 686. I'm curious what would have been the difference if a 125 at 1400ish FPS had been used instead.

On Hornady's website, they list the MV for the 125gr @ 1500FPS. I wouldn't believe it without seeing it. Musta missed that episode. Joe

__________________
Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

The cylinder gap is a built in pressure relief valve. Waste of a barrel there.

I suspect a few more squibs to fill the barrel so the final round couldn't jump the gap and the outcome would have been more spectacular. Still, it's good to know that a squib in a gunfight won't necesarily blow my gun up in my hand. I may have to switch to my backup piece but I'll still have a working hand to use it with.

Maybe out of a foot long pressure barrel. I have yet to see a 1500 fps factory load when anyone chrono'ed one. Now I have seen some whacky handloaders and backed off at the first sonic boom they unleashed. I'm a huge Ruger fan but I still think some guys are just asking to be taken into the hands of the Lord early. I have been witness to as much fire shooting from the cylinder gap as the end of the barrel. Those guys are nuts...

Yeah, too bad for the gun still it just confirms what I already knew, THE "L" frame ROCKS!

I do have another question for these guys though, why did they use a 125gr @ 1500(which it never was) when you can get a 158gr to do the same velocity out of that barrel! Or maybe one of the super heavy loads they are throwing out now with a 180gr bullet!

I bet they would have had different results at that point!

I read once, and it may be total BS, that when Ruger introduced the GP100 at the Shot Show they made up a threaded barrel and screwed an iron rod down in it and then shot full-house .357s in it to demonstrate how strong it was.

But I sure wouldn't waste a 686 like that, either.

It's a parlor trick, don't fall for it.

I wonder why S&W didn't send them a revolver with a two piece barrel?

My wife stacked bullets up behind a squib load in a model 10 pencil barrel until the last bullet locked the cylinder. The only thing wrong was a bulged barrel. We installed a new barrel, and it's still going strong.

It flat irks me to see a fine revolver treated like that.

It is nice to know, however, that they won't come apart in an accidental event like my wife experienced.

Back when I watched that show, it seemed that that segment wasn't just two idiots trying to get attention by damaging a good firearm. I think it is a type of product endorsement and some of the firearms are sent to them by the manufacturers specifically for these antics.

I wonder if that revolver will bring a premium when it goes on Gun Broker?...lol

Larry

In "Gun Digest" as I recall, in the late 1950s or the 1960s a test was done with K-frame .38 of some model. The point was to demonstrate the inherent strength of, then, "modern" revolvers. This was before +P ammunition and was done with, again, as I recall (It was 50 years ago after all!) .38 Spl. mid-range wad-cutter ammunition. No matter, as all .38 Special was loaded to approximately the same pressure levels at that time.

The steps of the test were:

1) Remove barrel and screw solid plug into frame. I believe it was tightened against the cylinder and loose enough so it could be un-screwed to allow the cylinder to rotate to the next charge hole for the next step in the test.

Result? Bullet was flattened against the plug with no identifiable damage to the cylinder.

2) Same as above except cylinder wall had a flat machined on it's outer surface to reduce cylinder wall thickness to 50% of the normal dimension.

Result? Bullet was flattened against the plug with no identifiable damage to the cylinder.

3) On a different charge hole, a narrow slit was cut through the cylinder wall ca. 50% the length of the cylinder. I don't recall if it was from the front or back, sorry.

Result? Bullet was flattened against the plug with no identifiable damage to the cylinder, except the slit of course. The case wall did blow out through the slit. No surprise!

4) Same as 3, except the slit was full length of the cylinder.

Result? Bullet was flattened against the plug with no identifiable damage to the cylinder, except the slit of course. The case wall did blow out through the slit. No surprise, again!

Are you still afraid of shooting +P ammunition in a 1950 period M&P, Combat Masterpiece, K-38 Masterpiece?

The point?

A) The test on the L-Frame is not surprising in it's result.

B) Revolvers are a lot stronger than most give them credit for.

C) Minor problems, like a barrel obstruction do not cause a revolver to blow up! Blow-ups, so long as the revolver is mechanically sound, are a result of grossly excessive pressure, and nothing else.

And, finally, a revolver will not "blow up" until the cylinder fails. It is extremely unlikely for the shooter to be injured when a revolver does fail catastrophically so long as it is being fired in a normal position with the gun away from your face or body. Someone beside the shooter may be injured by cylinder fragments, though.

I remember reading of destructive tests on revolvers where it took about 80,000psi for cylinder failure to occur. 2:1 safety factor. I was at the gun shop the other day and the employees were showing me pictures of TWO revolvers brought in by one guy who blew the cylinders and top straps off both the same day. Freaking idiot. Double charged more than one round reloading and the first one didn't stop him. They told me his face was peppered from the shrapnel. He was trying to get them to send the guns in for warranty, they just laughed at him.

I think Ruger did that to its 9mm pistol when introduced, the P85, not the GP100 revolver.

I too watched the show when it first came out. Interesting and informative. What is more interesting is that not too long after that show aired, that one of those folks, Richard Venola, shot and killed a close friend during an argument after a day drinking. I believe he is still in jail awaiting trial.

Long, long ago when a Dillon 450 had manual powder and manual primer feed, on the same night, two of us stuck bullets half way down a 1911 barrel and pulled the trigger for the next round.

His was a government model and mine was a Gold Cup, Series 80 didn't exist. The recoil was substantial, barrel was blown, needed new bushing, no other damage. Slide locked oonto barrel bulge. In 2 weeks time after 2 new bushings and barrels both guns were running fine.

We were both a lot more careful reloading on those original Dillon 450s .

__________________
S&WHF 366

Wow. Just googled that. Hadn't heard of that until just now...

As far as on-topic, my father and I were introducing two new shooters to handguns, and dad was watching the guy shooting dad's Beretta 92, while I was supervising the other new shooter. I hear off to my left the pfffft! of a squib and before I can yell and get over there, he's rackef the slide and fired a full-power round.... That bulged barrel sits on my reloading bench to this day...