Kaboom........!

[D R Greysun]

This just came to me via email.

"A guy came into our department the other day to ask a favor. He had a S&W 629 that he wanted to dispose of after a mishap at the range. He said there was a loud bang when he tested his new load and the gun smacked him in the forehead, leaving a nice gash. When the tweety birds cleared, this is what he saw.....!"





Be careful out there!

D R

[Pontiaker]

Our local indoor range has a Colt Anaconda that looks just like this one. It happened from a double powder charge from their reloader that loads their range ammo for them:~) I dont shoot their range ammo in any of my guns, I like many of you only shoot my own reloads in my guns.

[Will K]

Wow. That's always in the back of my mind when i reload!

[SWSC]

Literally, two to the body, one to the head!

[Pontiaker]

This brings up a cool topic, what reloading mishaps have you had? We can earn from others mistakes. I have had a couple of squibs through the years, never a problem though. When id doesnt go boom you find out why before you continue to shoot. The primer usually would push the bullet out of the case and into the barrel and most times just jam up the revolver I was shooting it in. I know this has happened to me at least once but it was so long ago....I also had a .357 Magnum round with a loose bullet? The recoil from the fired round caused the bullet to move forward and jam up a 686 I was shooting. It was just a few rounds with a less than tight crimp. Never had anything go kaboom on me though. When I load I use shell trays and drop the powder in 50 rds at a time, before I seat a bullet I take a flashlight and check every case to make sure the powder level is even in all of them. I guess you can tell I dont use a progresive press, just one at a time.

[29aholic]

what would you take for it??

Pontiaker
There was a thread on the old forum in the reloading section about these mishaps

[gjamison]

thats what not to do!!!! lucky to be alive!!

[Road Rat]

Sorry, I can't hear you!! There is a loud RINGING in my ears!!

Man, glad he wasn't injured.........

[chessail 77]

I am sure this will be covered under S&W's fantastic warranty and great customer service......!!!!!....J....K

[Texas Star]

Wonder what he had in that cylinder? Did he say?

[Smee78]

I would send it back to S&W, you never know, they may just send you a new one!

[Art Doc]

I have a Colt New Service in 45 Colt. A buddy gave me some ammo he had loaded and since I knew him to be experienced at reloading I trusted the loads. big mistake. He double charged several and the first one bulged the chamber and tied up the gun. The report and fireball from the muzzle was intense. I pulled the rest of the bullets and found a couple with 16 grains of Unique. A replacement cylinder made it right.

Have a Ruger #1 in 243 Winchester. Was using a trickle type powder measure and it stuck, delivering only half the charge and then on the next case it dumped that plus the full charge. I happened to be shooting over the chronograph when the 1.5 powder charge round was fired. It hit over 3,400 FPS with a 100 grain bullet. I figured out what happened when I found the next round in line was only half charged. Case had to be pounded from the chamber but rifle undamaged. Pressure had to be off the chart but strong action.

[n4zov]

I suppose this is confession time. When I was a lad of 16 and had just learned to reload, a friend and I were loading some .220 Swift ammo for his dad's rifle - a custom Mauser. As I remember, the load called for IMR 4350 powder and I mistakenly picked up a can of IMR 4320. Well, the numbers are close! We loaded the ammo and headed for the range, and on the first shot, smoke and gas went everywhere, and the bolt refused to open. His dad finally hammered the bolt open and the rifle was not damaged, but it was a close call that I have not forgotten. I check and double check components and loading data when I load.

[redlevel]

Wow!! After reading this I'm going to start limiting myself to just one six-pack or three drinks of hard likker during my reloading sessions!

Seriously, I wonder how many reloading mishaps involve drinking while loading? No one on here would do that, I know.

Another factor that I have encountered while loading is fatigue. When I get tired and sleepy, I realize it is time to stop.

Be careful. Destroying a $500-$600 revolver is bad enough, but fingers and eyes are even harder to replace.

[DCWilson]

Originally Posted by redlevel

Another factor that I have encountered while loading is fatigue. When I get tired and sleepy, I realize it is time to stop.

Yeah, fatigue scares me. 90% of being smart about your work is knowing when you are too dim to get it right. There have been days when I got the table saw ready and then just walked away before making the first cut; I knew I wasn't alert enough to do the work safely. Same with wiring; I was extending a kitchen circuit once and got sparks when I flipped the breaker back on. For the life of me I could not diagnose the problem, so I capped the ends and quit for the day. The next morning it was obvious at a glance what I had done wrong; it had been foolish of me to try to wrap it up the day before.

I refuse to work impaired if safety is at stake. The worst mistakes are the ones that cannot be repaired.

[MWAG]

i've seen these photos in at least 3 different posts............

[JSR III]

I am wondering how the other two rounds that are still visible in the cylinder were set off. I have to assume that the explosion of the first cartridge somehow sent metal and flame into both brass cases and caused them to errupt.

Using the wrong powder is something that would be difficult to correct. Double charging can be caught two ways. Visually check each case before seating the bullet or weigh each charged case and verify that they all weigh the same.

Having a TV playing during reloading is another boo boo that I have heard of. House and cell phone interuptions can also be a problem.

[Sugar River]

Damn IL's!!!!

Pete

[Homie]

In the 2010 GUN DIGEST (book) there's a pre-64 M70 that is the worst I think I've ever seen. Looks even worse than any of Ackley's action testing.

Good shooting.

[Peter J.]

I'd give $50 for that just as a wall-hanger.

[DHENRY]

WHAT reloading 'savings' ??
Don