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S&W Revolvers: 1961 to 1980 3-Screw PINNED Barrel SWING-OUT Cylinder Hand Ejectors WITH Model Numbers


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  #51  
Old 02-25-2009, 01:23 PM
jrd1976 jrd1976 is offline
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I double charged a 45ACP round with AA#2. It blew out the magazine on my Colt 1991A1. Pieces of brass hit and bruised my cheek where they hit me beneath my glasses. The rubber recoil cushion on the guide rod was about cut in half. My gunsmith inspected and miked, pronounce it fit to shoot and I've put a couple of thousand rounds through it since.

A friend had a muzzle break installed on his TC chambered for 35 Remington. Only problem was the muzzle break was for a .308 or .32, I forget which. It was swaging the bullet to the smaller caliber and throwing parts of the copper jacket 30 feet in either direction making me wish I had worn long pants that day.

The only other time was when I fired a MAC 10 for the first time. On the second or third magazine, a case separated, leaving about half in the chamber. A MAC fires from an open bolt which has a fixed firing pin. The next round headspaced on the piece that was left in the chamber and fired with the bolt open about a half an inch. Big supprise but no injuries.
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Old 02-25-2009, 06:56 PM
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While on desert exercises in W. Texas, acouple guys in my squad were fooling around (ignoring my warnings) with the 7.26mm blanks for their M14s To "make 'em louder". One guy gave his buddy a TRIPLE-charged round! Blew the spring & floorplate out of the magazine, and bulged the box. Split the bolt, jamming it in the receiver, and splintered the stock. Floorplate hit him in the thigh, but no worse injury than severe chagrin !
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Old 02-25-2009, 08:04 PM
Freischütz Freischütz is offline
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I broke the slide of a P.38 several years ago. The slide broke at the locking lug recesses. I fired and found the front 1/3rd of the slide hanging from the front of the barrel. The front sight stopped it. The two previous shots ejected to the right so I knew something was up, but I couldn't see anything wrong. I was using Finnish military ammo.
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Old 02-25-2009, 08:39 PM
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Quote:
Freischütz
Freischütz,

A similar thing happened to a friend of mine when I was on the range with him many years ago. He had a WWII era P-38 made around 1943. The lugs broke and the slide went flying back, narrowly missing my friend's head. Turned out he was using Swedish ammo made for the Madsen SMG.
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Old 04-26-2015, 02:02 AM
tires2burn tires2burn is offline
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I blew up my sweet 357 mag tonight at the range. I suffered no damage but the S&W is toast. I was having trouble resizing the cases and not getting enough neck tension. I weighed all the rounds and found one lighter than the rest so pulled it & it had no powder. I should have pulled the heaviest because that round got the powder from the squib. If I can post pictures you can see what a double load will do to your gun. It makes me sick that this happened. I was lucky I guess if you want to call this lucky that it was the last round.
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  #56  
Old 04-26-2015, 02:55 AM
Hang-Fire Hank Hang-Fire Hank is offline
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Default BAD INJURY - GUN DESTROYED

About 30 yrs. ago, during a big bore pistol silhouette match, a guy's Super Blackhawk blew up. He set his powder measure to drop 24 grs. of H110, but left Unique in the hopper. He was laying on his back, holding his head up with his left hand & resting the gun's barrel on his bent right leg in what was called the "Creedmoor" position. The top strap blew off, the cylinder chamber in line with the barrel blew open, & the cartridge just to the right also exploded its' chamber apart. Surprisingly the shooter suffered no more than a bruised right leg, but two positions to his right, a friend of mine was standing up shooting off-hand. Part of that cylinder blew upward at about a 45 deg. angle & hit my friend's face. Put a wide open gash in his left cheek & tore thru the bridge of his nose (his glasses just exploded into pieces). He fell backward into his spotter's arms, who happened to be a retired fire dept. Captain. I had just introduced the two of them to each other to team up for the match. Fortuitous, no?
The injured young man was a good looking married man in his 30s. Medical miracles in plastic surgery resulted in no more than a faint red line running up his cheek over a year later.
At least that much time after the incident, he asked me to take him back to that range to shoot a gun, so he wouldn't have a phobia towards guns & gunfire. When we arrived, I noticed he'd flinch at every gun shot he heard. I sat him down at a shooting bench, loaded one .22LR round in a TC Contender & had him rest his hands & gun on a block of wood. Once rested/supported, he shut his eyes, turned his head downward & fired. That was it! He succeeded in over-coming his fears & wanted to leave.
Hank M.
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  #57  
Old 04-26-2015, 03:11 AM
robertrwalsh robertrwalsh is offline
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Yup. Right new to me. Twice. Very impressive. One guy was hurt by one, chomped his thumb up pretty good. Took the top off a .38 snubbie.
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  #58  
Old 04-26-2015, 05:13 AM
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I've experience two. First was when my daughter was using my Gen1 Glock 17 in an IDPA match with WWB 9mm factory ammo. During her run on a stage the gun sounded odd on a detonation and she immediately stopped shooting. She said it felt like someone had hit her in the hand with a stick, and she got peppered in the face by powder particles, but no injuries otherwise.

The kaboom blew out the mag and extractor, and put a two inch crack down the grip of the gun. We found the empty casing, and it had blown out around 1/4 of the case head circumference. Glock replaced the 20-year-old frame for free and repaired the damaged extractor.

My other experience was with a new Sig P320 in December. I was shooting factory ammo that I inherited from my father. Ammo looked a little older, tarnished, but perfectly good otherwise.

My last round fired was just like my daughter's incident. Louder than normal, felt like someone smacked me in the hand with a bat. I checked the gun, and the damage was similar to my Glock's. Cracked frame, damaged extractor. Unlike Glock, Sig charged me $150 to repair the gun.
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  #59  
Old 04-26-2015, 05:37 AM
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Interesting thread even if it is old.

Only once I remember for sure. My ex and I were visiting friends in the country and thier son, about 16 years old was going to show us how he loaded his double percussion gun to throw a flame over cars "parking" in their long wooded driveway at night.

He poured black powder down that barrel for what seemed like a week. I asked him if that wasn't an awful lot of powder. He replied that "You can't put too much of this stuff in them. You could fill it to the end of the barrel."

When he touched that thing off, it sounded like a bomb hit. I guess it did. He screamed like a little girl and staggered around holding his hand. I think I screamed like a little girl too, now that I think about it. I thought he had blown his hand off and put his eyes out.

But he wasn't hurt, proving that God looks out for fools, drunks, and small children. He was more or less two of the three.

The barrel split about where you hold it by the forearm. I suspect there was so much powder in there it blew out before it all blew up. This was a really nice looking Navy arms double percussion gun too. They told me later that Navy arms replaced the gun.

I do seem to remember a 1911 that blew the floor plate out of the magazine, dumping the rest of the rounds, spring, follower, etc., on the ground but I'm not sure if I saw it, or someone t old me about it. I'm starting to come down with that CRS disease.
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  #60  
Old 04-26-2015, 05:43 AM
billw-sw billw-sw is offline
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I had one. On the twelfth round into the first stage of a USPSA match about 4 years ago, the barrel separated completely from the chamber/ramp/recoil lug assembly of my M&P Pro. The separation occurred immediately forward of the chamber area. The barrel remained in the slide protruding 2.5” out from the front of the slide. The chamber assembly was recovered on the ground approximately 6’ behind the shooter having apparently followed the ejected case out the ejection port of the pistol. No one was injured in the event although a number of people were left scratching their heads wondering exactly how that happened.

The barrel was not obstructed, nor was the case double charged. It was a 124 gr minor power factor USPSA load.

I sent the gun back to Smith & Wesson. They essentially replaced the entire top end. It has been flawless since.

Bill
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Old 04-26-2015, 07:53 AM
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Default Kimber BLOW UP

I was the world's biggest fan of kimber pistols. Owned 6 and shot them in competition. Today I own none.
At the range for a practice session firing different loads and yes one was reloaded 45. Gun blew up! The frame cracked, magazine blew out and was destroyed, extractors blew off and scared the h**l out of me.
Had the gun examined by two competent gunsmiths and both said "out of battery fire" and suggested I send it back to kimber. Discussed it with kimber and paid $70 for UPS to return the gun. Kimber said "bad ammo". That I am sure is possible but a XL650 is used to reload all my pistol rounds and I use a powder check die. They also told me a kimber will not fire "out of battery". Talk about CYA.
Fortunately there was no injuries except for my nose which stopped a piece of the gun.
However, kimber did offer to sell me a new Ultra carry at dealer cost ($750) to keep me in the kimber family.
Result was I sold the rest of my kimbers.
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Old 04-26-2015, 06:12 PM
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A poor lady had a S&W m and p in 40 crack in her hands a few rows overs. I leaned out after a weird noise and I saw her and mouthed are you okay? She mouthed no and set her gun down and went and sat down in a chair at the rear of the range. I came over...she had a bit of blood coming down her cheek, but thankfully not bad.

The gun had fired somehow out of battery and shattered the side plate and the grip, but thankfully she was okay. She was very new to shooting, and I think her gun was new, too. I felt so bad for her...I told her I've been shooting for years and never had something like that happen. Hate when something like that happens to anyone, esp. a newbie. Glad she was okay though.
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Old 04-26-2015, 06:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tires2burn View Post
I blew up my sweet 357 mag tonight at the range. I suffered no damage but the S&W is toast. I was having trouble resizing the cases and not getting enough neck tension. I weighed all the rounds and found one lighter than the rest so pulled it & it had no powder. I should have pulled the heaviest because that round got the powder from the squib. If I can post pictures you can see what a double load will do to your gun. It makes me sick that this happened.

Not liking because this is a good event, but because I learned from it. Thanks. Joe.
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  #64  
Old 04-26-2015, 06:46 PM
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Just a couple of weeks ago at the range there was a guy that qualified for all of the ugly things that could be said of him, coming down hard on an apparently new girlfriend for some issues that were clearly grip, but needed more instruction, not curses and headslaps. Finally he cussed her when it (an unknown black .40 striker auto, not a US brand or glock) did not go into battery, and reached over to slap the slide about the time she pulled the trigger. Result, OOB fire, with total destruction of the pistol, and a lot of GF's hand. Got the bleeding controlled, called 911, and shipped her off in an ambluance. She refused to let the guy ride, and I'm not surprised.

He is banned for life from the range.
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Old 04-26-2015, 06:57 PM
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Hot loaded Glocks M23 and M24C split both barrels at the chamber, destroyed the trigger bar and blew magazine out the gun. I attributed it to the unsupported chamber and too many reloads on the brass.
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Old 08-02-2015, 09:46 PM
billy_56081 billy_56081 is offline
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yes today as a matter of fact. My friends 629, he was using H110 with a 240 grain bullet. Best guess an undercharged case. He only received a minor cut to the forehead. The top strap went through the tin roof over the bench.
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Old 08-03-2015, 01:07 AM
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I succeeded in destroying an Egyptian Maadi AKM in September 2000. Case separation that split the dust cover in half and blew it off, damaged the receiver, and bulged out the magazine walls (I still have the mag around here somewhere).
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Old 08-03-2015, 01:11 AM
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None in 40+ years and only ONE squib load bullet stuck in barrel, which I heard and immediately stopped. No damage done.
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Old 08-03-2015, 08:11 AM
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AT the KD range while in the pits we heard a BOOM among the sound of gunfire. A cease fire was called. An M16A2 had blown up on a shooter.

The next time out, a couple positions down, there was a another BOOM followed by the sound of the action spring rattling violently. The Corpsman's rifle blew. He sat there looking shocked and stunned, looking himself over for injury. He had some powder marks on his face and some broken skin on his forearm from being peppered with aluminum and brass shrapnel. Luckily he had BCD's on as nobody wore eye protection.

The rifle had the bottom of the magazine blown out and the mag body ballooned. The left side of the upper receiver had blown off to parts unknown.

He was probably the only nice guy on the range that day. Seems to be the way luck goes for such folks. The scuttlebutt was that there was a bad lot of ammo floating around but that due to the low incidents of failure nothing was to be done about it.

As far as my own experience I once fired a 3" shell from a 2-3/4 chamber by accident on one ocassion. The recoil was more than expected but no harm was done. I was firing rapidly in low light and completely missed it. I had stupidly left it in the ammo pouch as I thought there would be no confusing that one.

I've had a few 45acp reloads with weak neck tension. In the 1911 they jammed, and in the 45acp revolver they sounded a little funny and hit low. That was four or five rounds in a batch of 200 of mixed cases, all with once fired brass. Had a few short ones, apparently. I keep my brands and "lots" of brass together, but apparently some will still vary.
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Old 08-03-2015, 09:32 AM
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Yup
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Old 08-03-2015, 11:12 AM
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Yes back in 1974 I bought a brand new S&W 29 8 3/8 barrel went to he range fired two rounds top strap half of the cylinder was gone. Living in Ct went to S&W factory spoke to Roy Jinks with the gun and pieces first he blamed it on the Ammo federal but after they analyzed gun it was the metal.
They gave me a new gun making taken undamaged parts from the old one .
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Old 08-03-2015, 02:23 PM
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Red face

I have never had a severe Ka-boom nor have I witnessed one personally. About 10 years ago I was shooting 40 S&W handloads in a custom built handgun(ParaOrdnance grip frame, Colt .38 Super slide, ramped barrel). Although the barrel was originally a fully-supported ramp the gunsmith throated the barrel a bit to enhance feeding. The handload was used brass, Clays powder and a 220 gr. lead truncated cone bullet; overall length 1.22". During a stage my gun stopped functioning; subsequent exam found the brass case still in the chamber with the entire rim gone. I knew why it happened, weak old brass, throated barrel, Clays powder and a heavy bullet. I continued to use the load in the same gun until it happened once more. The rest of the ammo was fired in an S&W Model 610.

Lots of lessons here but the most important is the relatively thin-walled case of the 40 S&W which was fired through the early Glocks. That once-fired brass can be resized so it looks OK but the brass has been weakened and you can't make that fact go away. I now buy once-fired 40 brass, resize it, load it once and leave it on the ground. Hopefully the range sells it for scrap.

A very close local friend blew his near new S&W 627 8-shooter sky-high at an IPSC match many years ago. The handload was TiteGroup made on a Dillon 650 which auto-indexes. To this day he swears it wasn't a double charge, but I believe it was either a double charge, a squib or both in the most disastrous combination. He sent the gun to S&W and they said it was his fault. They refused to sell him another 627 but did sell him a 625 wholesale.
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Old 08-03-2015, 08:56 PM
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The closest was split forcing cone in my dad's 1952 vintage M&P .38 special. My dad had bought it, used, a few weeks earlier. The clerk sold him a box of Super Vels, as they were "the best ammo around".

Dad shot six rounds, I shot six and my mom shot round number # 13. It was jammed because the forcing cone had split. The shop sent it back to S&W, who rebarreled it with a bright blue M10 barrel with a ramped front sight. Dad swapped the remaining Super Vels for a box of Federal lead round noses.
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Old 08-03-2015, 09:20 PM
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Yes , twice one a S&W 29 with an over charge of Bullseye, maybe a double charge (one reason I don't use BE), but the man did have eye and ear protection.
The second a springs and plastic something or other (Glock ?) that one of the pull the trigger as fast as you can types had a squib round stuck in he barrel when the next round fired. Springs/plastic/and shrapnel every where. The idiot didn't have safety glasses on or ear protection, he ended up with metal in his face,eyes and forearms. But he sure could fire it fast.....good news is I have never seen him at the range again...
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Old 08-03-2015, 09:29 PM
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Can't say I have and I would love to keep it that way.
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Old 08-03-2015, 09:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David Sinko View Post

My brother demolished a Kel-Tec 9mm Carbine with an identical situation. Again, the round somehow went off when halfway chambered. The case was very neatly and cleanly cut in half. The gun did not frag but the whole thing was bent up very badly. Kel-Tec replaced it, no questions asked.
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Ditto...Same thing happen to me with mine. Blew the mag out and cracked the side of the rifle...scared the you know what out of me. They fixed it and I shot alot of rounds through it with no further problems.

Kinda like blowing up a bicycle tire...goes boom and you are stunned for a moment or two.
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Old 08-04-2015, 05:50 PM
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Yes, I blew up a Uberti cal .44 black powder revolver by accidentally loading it with nitro! Blew the cylider in half with a loud BOOM!
What happend was some idiot had emptied some 12 gauge shotgun cases and but the nitro in an empty black powder container. When I loaded the 44 black powder I thought it was a bit strange the plunger would sink in deeper than normally, but thought it was just a different brand of powder. It was one loud bang, ruined the revolver but had no injuries. I have the old shooter on a wooden board now as a reminder always to be very carefull with gunpowder in a opened cotainer.
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Old 08-04-2015, 05:56 PM
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Originally Posted by gbrady View Post
I saw a 1917 enfield come apart, bolt and top of receiver were never found, shooter had wood splinters in his hand and arm,cracked shooting glasses and ear protection 30 yards away. He was a reloader and didn't change his powder from pistol to rifle. 58 gr. of bullseye takes a gun apart. He still loads and shoots, no one else hurt. but never saw a handgun blow up
A double charge of BE in a pistol will blow it to pieces, I can't imagine the blast from 58 grains. Please keep these incidents out in the open to keep us all on our toes.
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Old 08-04-2015, 06:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Smithhound View Post
Next back around '89 or so were 2 M1 carbines that some friends and i had rebarreled into a .17 cal wildcat round based on a .30 carbine, while working up a load the first let go and locked up the action, scared everybody but no blood. We backed down the charge and started up again on the second (of 3 we had rebarreled)things went well untill the action blew and propelled the extrator into the forehead of the shooter. Much blood and consternation resulted. The third rifle still sits in a safe, unfired. No one wanted to be the next biggest fool. This was my one and only venture into wildcatting.

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Old 08-04-2015, 06:11 PM
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Another interesting resurrected thread!

In 1997 I had 6 rounds of 38 Special handloads left over from a batch I bought at a gun show. Might have been +P but I don't think so. Definitely .38 Specials.

I was shooting a gorgeous Model 19 4" P&R revolver that I bought in 1980......

I loaded all 6, fired 5........

Hell, yeah I have seen, heard, and watched a gun blow up!!!!

The 6th round went off with a sound that was more like the sound of a rifle crack/boom than a hand gun boom. The gun bucked in my hands and my first reaction was "I know I did NOT load a .357!" My second reaction was right after that - "That was WEIRD!"

So I tipped the gun back to look at it and I was looking at a revolver-on-the-half-shell, to use an old oyster eating metaphor (which I don't even eat!).

The rear sight was gone, the top strap was gone, and the top half of the cylinder was gone. The three spent shell cases in the remaining "half cylinders" were crushed into tiny shards, teeny tiny shards for the most part.

It was at an outdoor range, I was alone, so they let me meander down range to find the pieces. I never found them. I did find the rear sight 20 feet behind me and to my right.

No fuss, no muss, nobody hurt, not even yours truly - nothing touched me.

S&W examined the gun, said the metallurgy was sound, the hand load was over the top overloaded and to blame (no surprise there), and they said I could buy any gun as a replacement at cost so I bought a CS-45 (still have it) at a lovely price and it took almost 20 years before I replaced that Model 19 with an exact same weapon. Found that replacement Model 19 right here on this Forum.

Yessir - but I have to admit I felt it and heard it more than I saw it - I really didn't "see" anything. So I'm more of an "ear witness" and a "hand witness" than a "visual witness" because I saw nothing!

I don't shoot unknown handloads anymore; haven't since 1997!
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  #81  
Old 08-05-2015, 03:32 PM
S&WIowegan S&WIowegan is offline
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Exclamation Saw race gun blow last night

Our local club has a USPSA match every Tuesday evening in the summer months. We had a guest shooter from Tacoma WA join us last night. He is a mature and experienced shooter. He was running a full race compensated 1911-style gun with a C-more mounted. Ammo was 9mm Major. On the last stage of the night, he was about 10 rounds into the stage when Ka-boom! He stopped, moved the gun to his left hand and started shaking his right. No blood, no noticeable injury but the gun is destroyed. Grip frame might be salvageable. Slide and barrel ruined. The C-more mount sheared off along the screw line and the sight itself may be OK.

The 9mm Major load was with Silhouette powder and is a compressed load so double charge is impossible. My guess is the accumulated metal fatigue in the barrel chamber finally caused it to give way.
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Old 08-05-2015, 04:37 PM
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When I felt the hammer release, the sight picture on my pre-war .38spl M&P disappeared into a white cloud. I heard a somewhat soft PHFFFFFFFFFFT and felt no recoil. When the white cloud cleared and I saw my newly formed half cylinder humpback frame S&W, I new I would stop watching TV while reloading.
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Old 08-05-2015, 04:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug.38PR View Post
Has anyone ever witnessed or experienced a handgun blowing up at the range for whatever reason (too hot handloads, turnign a 38 spl into a magnum etc.)
Yes, It was a NIB 90's vintage Taurus 85 Snubbie and it was in my hands at the time. Luckily, I was not hurt but in that instance, I understood the value in spending a few dollars more to get a S&W.
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Old 08-07-2015, 12:12 AM
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Originally Posted by tires2burn View Post
I blew up my sweet 357 mag tonight at the range. I suffered no damage but the S&W is toast. I was having trouble resizing the cases and not getting enough neck tension. I weighed all the rounds and found one lighter than the rest so pulled it & it had no powder. I should have pulled the heaviest because that round got the powder from the squib. If I can post pictures you can see what a double load will do to your gun. It makes me sick that this happened. I was lucky I guess if you want to call this lucky that it was the last round.
After being an employer for over 40 years and a father of 6, it is refreshing and commendable for someone to step up to the plate and take responsibility for a mistake that any one of us could have made.

While this is a lesson well learned ... an EXPENSIVE lesson well learned ... you are blessed that no injury or worse occurred. Material things can be replaced, life and body parts are not that easy to replace.

Sincerely ... Sal
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  #85  
Old 08-08-2015, 12:06 AM
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Default Does this count?

I saw a B52's left wing touch the runway, when landing, and the HAP spun around and blew up launching the entire tail gun section off the runway and onto the grass.
The gunner lived and was ready to fly again.
They're tough in SAC as well.
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Old 08-08-2015, 11:14 AM
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Never had a blow-up, but had an out-of-battery detonation on a Sig 226 some years ago. The projectile was found at my feet, with no rifling marks on it; the case was a classic flower petal multiple split. Noisy, with only a small scratch to my hand. Exam and consult with the experts present resulted in decision that it was a bizarre misfeed issue from a cheaply built, popular aftermarket magazine. Mag went into the vise; still have the flower petal and the scar as souveniers. Went back to better-built mags, and have fired thousands of rounds thru the Sig since then. Some days we're all luckier than we deserve.
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Old 08-08-2015, 09:05 PM
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I saw a Browning Citori O/U lower barrel rupture on the trap firing line.

There was a stuck wad in the barrel and the guy didn't check it before loading the next round. Oddly, the sound was not much different than a normal discharge.

The forearm was splintered and disintegrated and the barrel had three wide slits in the budged barrel. Fortunately the shooter received no injuries, however he had a swollen hand for a couple weeks.


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Old 08-09-2015, 10:45 AM
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Closest I ever saw was a friend destroy a magazine & blow out the grips on a 1911 from a double-charged round. Fortunately it wasn't bad enough to cause injury.

I've thought about acquiring another 1911, but looking back on where that excess gas went (into the magazine well that your hand is wrapped around), I may be an even stronger devotee of wheelguns.
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