From another forum. My apology if this has been previously discussed as I did not find reference to it.


One should enjoy handloading. Just DON'T exceed the recommended loads, unless of course you like holding bombs in your hand...

Received these pictures from a police officer who works for RPD.

Wow! I guess the factory MAGNUM loads just don’t kick enough………………

For those of you who load your own ammunition......
A guy came into our department the other day to ask a favor. He had a Smith & Wesson Model 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....

Attached Images

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The shooter /handloader was very lucky.

I would hate to be the guy next to him when it went "off".

This is why you don't use C-4 in .44 Magnum cases.

Looks like these loads would have blown up a Super Redhawk too.

Nice.

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Aaron Terry

Use some Flitz & that'll polish right out.

GF

Those lock guns jist don't stand up.

Dammit - and I thought 30g of Bullseye was a safe load!!

An example of why to ALWAYS wear eye protection

This has been around before, but it is still 'entertaining' to see what people will do to a fine revolver.

It fit in the case, it should have been fine...

Isn't that covered by warranty.............

In his chapter on reloading in "Sixguns" Elmer Keith says someone will think "This fellow Keith cut back on his loadings to get into print so I'll just add a few grains and get his 'real" load. Anyone doing that WILL get a real load-most likely a new gun as well."

Were his BVD's also ruined?

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

GF

Those newer locked models have too many dashes...............too many dashes just ain't good for any revolver. I'll bet his fellow shooters were dashing too!

It would appear that the hoop stress may have exceeded the yield strength.

Yeah, about .001 seconds before it exceeded ultimate strength.

I can see it now, "BOOOOOM" looks at mangled 629, looks at brown smear on trousers, "Boy the wife is going to KILL me if I come home after blowing up this gun and looking like this, can you hand me another one of those rounds half the cylinder is still there?"

That is the Poster Child f/YOU CAIN"T FIX STUPID!

Just needs a little JB Weld........................

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

In all seriousness, did anybody ever find out what the load was?

seriously, I doubt that any truthful information to that question will be forthcoming....after this long, unless the owner of the gun makes himself known, then trusting whatever is told about it would be sketchy at best

I'm not buying an over load so much as a stuck bullet in the barrel.

Those internal locks are obviously making the frames weaker in critical areas. This would not have happened were it not for the MIM parts and the hole in the frame for the internal lock.

Just send it in to the factory for repair under warantee.

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Shoot the CPU, not the monitor

I can hear it now.....

"What powder was you using?"


Well....

"Gunpowder"

WC

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.357 Magnum - 8 Times

'If it fits, it ships'

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Dan Ortego ~

OK, I'll show my ignorance.

Assuming the round at the top of the cylinder caused the "incident", why are the rounds in the two flanking chambers also blown apart? Were they "touched off" somehow? Just trying to understand what happened, thanks.

The answer is almost always that it is the fault of the manufacturer for making junk and using inferior metal followed by, "I'll never buy any of the miserable %?$#! made by them again!" Then they go and post the same thing on every forum they can find.

The cases appear to have been sheared by the cylinder walls when the center chamber let go. My suspicion is that the bullet in the left side chamber actually came from the right side. The bullet would have been knocked out during the event and was likely placed back on the gun for the picture. Someone just got it on the wrong side leading to confusion.

That makes no sense to me. How would a barrel obstruction rupture the cylinder like that?

I'd suspect a double-charge of something fast in the Bullseye range.

When I first started loading I read an article showing lots of blown up guns.

There was a picture of a revolver (.38 or .357 can't remember which) that looked almost just like this and the caption said a double-charge of Bullseye did it.

I don't understand what right acco40 has in using My Face in his avatar!!!
yancyd

"Respect and Acceptance", the rest falls into place!

About 25 years ago in our local gun store there was an old Mod. 10 that looked very much like this. The story was the "handloader" bought a lee loader that used the little "scoop". The instructions said to use 3 grains bullseye, and he put in 3 "scoops" of bullseye. I guess 9 grains of bullseye was just a little too much.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

In a gun forum, can't remember which, another forum member asked me why I refused to use Bullseye in magnum cases.

I don't even like to use fast burning powders (Bullseye, Red Dot, Titegroup) in .38 special cases. It's just too easy to double charge.

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NRA Lifetime Member

42 gr of 2400?

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WILL WORK FOR AMMO!

Yeah! Where's my lawyer?

Unless the owner, or an eye witness, comes forward none of us are going to know exactly what happened here. The best we have is educated guesses based on our experience. Personally, I have been reloading for 40 years and am currently certified as a law enforcement firearms instructor. I've been in law enforcement for over 30 years and have seen quite a number of mishaps both on the range and in the field while hunting. Someone with more or different experience may come to a different conclusion.

I have been reloading for the model 29 Smith & Wesson's since about 1970 and can tell you these are very strong revolvers. In order to cause the kind of damage shown in this event there not only had to be an extreme amount of pressure developed within the fired cylinder but also the duration of the pressure would have to be longer than normal. The most common cause of increased pressure duration is an obstructed barrel and the most common obstruction on the range is a stuck bullet.

Most of us have seen bulged barrels on S&W revolvers. I personally have only seen these on the "pencil" barrels, never on anything as heavy as a model 29 or 629 standard barrel. There's simply too much steel there to move. It's going to have to give at the weakest point which, in this case is the cylinder.

Lots of people fire double loads of Bullseye powder with no ill effects at all. Like I said, these are very strong revolvers. They will take some abuse and are forgiving of a limited amount of beginner mistakes. The cylinder may bulge or crack with a foolish overload but the damage shown in these photos goes way beyond that. The only thing, in my experience, that could cause this kind of damage is a barrel obstruction. Other opinions are equally valid.

I once tracked this incident to its source. Here's the first description of what lies behind the photos, put up on a tactical forum by a LEO in Alaska late last August. There are no earlier posts anywhere that feature these photos, and the photobucket album that contains the familiar photos also contains other photos that never made it into common circulation.

Why you should be careful when reloading.......... - Sniper's Hide Forums

If you read the later posts, you will find one saying that the guy who had the blowup was "testing a new load."

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David Wilson

It appears the Gentleman had already partly disposed of the Model 629 before coming to the PD

sir, you are lucky you did not damage your fingers and hands they can not be replaced,regards Marc

It looks like a true screw-up on the reload home front, when the round went the ones on each side went with the cylinder. This isn't the first time these pictures have been on here, I think this is round three in the last 6 month's. Have alway hoped that the one holding it wasn't hurt. Plus I don't see how someone could say the lock or MIM parts was the problem, they are the only parts that can be re used .

Wow - you can't fix stupid! I bet that can be fixed with some Duck Tape and 550 cord.

I'll give you a few bucks for the IL parts.

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NRA Benefactor Member