Gun blowup posts are interesting!
Especially when they happen to somebody else.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

The barrel looks bulged about 2" from the frame. Was there a bullet lodged in the barrel? Two bullets, maybe?

The forcing cone is cracked, along with the frame. I see no damage to the cylinder or top strap, which would be typical of an overpressure load.

If you're wearing hearing protection, a squib load may not make a sound to your ear. You will feel very little if any recoil. For all you know without looking, you had an empty chamber or a total misfire. The next round will bring a big surprise. I've seen one revolver barrel with 6 bullets in it.

Good news no one hurt, the gun is always replaceable, not so easy with an eye or thumb or finger.

Is an over-torqued barrel visually detectable--before it gets to
this stage, that is?

Underwood 44mag + lists recommended guns. For example the Taurus gets the thumbs up, none of S&W made the list.

44 Remington Magnum +P+ 340 Grain Lead Flat Nose Gas Check - Underwood Ammo

I'm just the messenger

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Just hanging with my dogs

http://smith-wessonforum.com/139228111-post18.html

I only have one 44mag. I have 10 fingers and 2 eyes.

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Just hanging with my dogs

I don't know for sure but the yellowish peices in the forcing cone/barrel may be bullet jacket material that was shaved off.

That it was a normal round that was fired on top of a bullet that was already stuck in the barrel. The result not only being the destruction of the gun, but also the removal of the squib from the barrel.

This is exactly what I thought. I do believe that the squib had some powder because a primer only load probably would have stuck in the forcing cone.

With the cylinder jammed a second round would not have been fired.

No followup from the OP about the possible barrel bulge.

Bruce

I would bet they will replace it-don't worry.

Alternatively, the jacket could have separated from one bullet, and then partially plugged the bore on the next one.

Which, I would honestly not blame the OP on, especially he sounds new to revolvers and such.

It just occurred to me that after reading all these stories, I'm starting to trust my own reloads more than factory.

the barrel feels pretty straight, to me and to the gunsmith i took it to today. i dont think there was a squib situation.

for everyone else, this is the ammo box that i bought at the gun show that i used.

I will be calling S&W tomorrow morning to get the RMA and send it to them

Attached Images

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I wasnt the one shooting it when this happened, so all i can say is it sounded normal all the way. Could there have been a squib, maybe. Everything seemed normal until the last round

Was there a squib before this round leaving a bullet in the barrel? The pressure reached into the barrel because the way the barrel is separated from the frame, unless the frame is just bent away from the barrel. I'm also surprised that the chamber didn't blow out and that could be due to a squib, too. To me, it's not likely that a factory round could be loaded that high due to case volume unless it was a fast powder, which I doubt. I think it more likely that that a primer popped but didn't burn the powder good enough to get the bullet out of the barrel.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Kabooms or bear threads? Which is more interesting???

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I think that a magnum primer can move a bullet part way into the barrel, but surely won't clear the barrel (except maybe a snub)

And your Bruce Lee name is interesting here because Brandon Lee got killed by a squib bullet that was forced out of the barrel by a blank.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

No... when a barrel is over torqued, the resulting stress on the frame can be a micro stress crack in the interior of the metal that isn't visible or it is so small it's not seen unless under high magnification or disclosed by a process like Magnaflux.. notice in the video at time index @ 21 secs when the test block is shown, there are no visible cracks on the surface until the solution is applied and the electromagnets energized with the foot switch.

Magnetic Particle Inspection - YouTube

If you've followed S&W during the past decades, when they changed to the non-pinned barrel style, this kind of thing was not uncommon, and when they went to the 2 piece barrel, they had J-frames cracking in that spot, and even the muzzle end of the barrel popping off from over tightening, if I remember correctly.

2 PIECE BARREL CAME APART

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

That would fit with jacket separation. I'm still more inclined to believe it was a defect in manufacturing, but I'm intrigued by the golden flecks present in the first two pictures.

Looks to me like the remnants of unburned Winchester ball powder, but what do I know?

I would not wish that to happen to anyone but now the bigger question since it did happen the why it happen.
However I think I understand your sarcasm, I think, let's hope it is just sarcasm right.

Anyway with something as catastrophic as this be it gun, toaster or automobile, I would definitely be on the horn to the manufacture first before any where else that's for sure.

If this is metallurgical failure the public needs to be warned and no doubt a recall will be in order.

Hopefully the OP does indeed contact S&W today and keeps us up to date on what transpires.
Because if it is a processing failure it could affect other models of guns as well.

Revolver kaboom's are far more dangerous than semi-automatic kaboom's because it's all right there basically out in the open in your face so to speak. And it can happen in the cylinder to the barrel.

As far as buying ammo at a gun show goes doesn't matter what the box says, it's a good idea to open them up right there to make sure it's not just the box they are using to sell their ammo in.

How bad has it become, at one of the ranges I use we are not allowed to bring in any ball ammo and the reason was told to us because people where sneaking in reloads and they can't get insurance coverage. We can only shoot defensive JHP and all is inspected before we head to the firing line to make sure we are not sneaking any target ammo in.

Gun show ammo is a 50/50 proposition.
You may trust your reloads but would you trust someone else's, I sure as heck would not.

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Mulebuk Sam and the Governor

Hicock45 was doing a review of a Ruger SR9 and shooting Winchester White Box. The gun failed to eject and he said "whoa! That wasn't the guns fault. The last round was extremely weak". The sound of that shot going off was lighter. One thing that I thought was odd was Hickcock, a long time reloader, did not check the barrel before shooting the next round. I could understand if he shot a steel target and heard the impact, but I believe he was aiming for a far off target and missed, so he heard no impact.

I find it hard to believe that the OP wouldn't have felt a squib, especially in a 44 Mag.

I shoot exclusively my own reloads now. There's a big dirt mound behind the targets and i always look for the dirt impact. I weigh every powder drop and check for powder in case before I seat a bullet so I can't imagine ever having a squib with my loads

So the final answer is contact S&W and ship it to them, right...

I'd say so. That and don't shoot Winchester white box anymore.

Two good things about this trouble:

Nobody was hurt, and this was new gun. S&W will likely replace it with one just like it because it is current production. Imagine if this had been a Model 29, 29-1 or 29-2 that broke. S&W has no replacements available for them!

I would also call the ammo manufacturer's customer service department and give them the lot number of the ammunition you were using when the incident occurred. You never know, there may be other complaints regarding this batch of ammo, just not enough to institute a recall notice.

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

An old gun shop owner once told me that guns blowing up is God's little joke on man.Thank The good Lord no one was hurt and By the posts it looks like this has happened before, I just dealt with S&W on a revolver issue, they are a little slow and backed up right now, but if it's their fault, they will make it right.They handle their warranty work much faster than customer repairs.

my friend was the one shooting it when this happened, and although he is inexperienced with shooting, i was watching and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I really dont think it was a squib situation.

I will be calling S&W as soon as i can today. I only waited because i wanted to get an opinion from my gunsmith and chat with him first before i called.

The Raging Bull was originally designed as a 454 Casull. Of course it'd make that list.

That's a +P+ 44 Magnum load. Of course S&W doesn't make the list. That's pretty much a given, and has no relevance on this particular issue.

By Telephone:
1-800-331-0852 (USA)
Mon-Fri 8:00AM-8:00PM Eastern Time

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Mulebuk Sam and the Governor

Smith & Wesson already makes THE STRONGEST revolver..

X Frame it's called .... Equal to Lotsa Plus Ps..

Never heard of "U N D E R H O O D A M M O"

In a situation like this how do you prove that you were not shooting the hottest reloads known to man? Not pointing fingers, just asking a question. I am guessing that is why store bought ammo is usually not returnable, but "gun show" ammo may be in a factory box but what has been done to it once it left the factory is anyone's guess. At one point no one ever thought anyone would tamper with factory sealed Tylenol either.

My guess is the tests they can do would determine what was being shot, but i dont know

I thought it looked a little too shiny. Some of it's the right shape, some of it isn't. Then again, I haven't sat around pulling apart Winchester .44 Magnum factory ammo.

I only have one comment, what's taking you so long to contact Smith and Winchester?

I've had two guns with issues that almost certainly would have caused a catastrophic failure. I can't say whether either one could have bent the top strap or shattered the cylinder.

The first was a Ruger Redhawk .44 Magnum. I bought it for one of our children. Frankly, I didn't even THINK to check the gun over. NIB!
Our son, in his early 20s at the time, and shooting since the age of 5, opened the cylinder and looked at the barrel. He pointed to what appeared to be significant erosion at the bottom of the barrel where it extended into the cylinder window, and upon a closer look there appeared to be a crack in the bottom of the barrel extending into the frame. The barrel was tight in the frame as expected.
Back to Ruger, fixed no charge, no explanation, but obviously a new barrel.

Second was a S&W 327 TRR8 Performance Center model. I purchased it NIB. I was ecstatic about it and handed it to our son who is a LEO. I had opened the cylinder and given the gun a general look over and spotted nothing.
Our son held the barrel/shroud in one hand and the frame in the other and said "Look, Dad." The entire barrel/shroud assembly wiggled in the frame. It would not slide out. The rear of the barrel in the cylinder window seemed fine, but could be seen to wiggle.
Back to S&W. They scrapped the whole gun, sending me a new one.
I have wondered what might have happened if I had fired a full-house .357 Magnum round into that barrel.

I don't think either issue would have bent the top strap noticeably or shattered the cylinder. Just glad they were caught first.

I bought a box of same type ammo at Walmart a week ago and have shot up half of it thru my 629-2E with no issue other than a slightly sore hand right afterwards. Could you post the Lot number of the box?

Ok sorry....I just went back to your ammo pic and saw the number.

This explanation fits the photos better than the "overpressure round/squib in barrel" theory.

The only squib I have ever had was with a friends 45-70 lever action. It drove the heavy bullet a few inches into the bore but since it was a closed breech there was no noise and so little recoil it felt like I had dry fired the rifle.

That particular squib was the result of a small amount of modern powder in a huge case designed for blackpowder. Despite some filler intended to hold the powder next to the primer it failed to ignite.

I don't think that is what happened here though. If the OP did have a bullet stuck in the bore and the next round pushed it out he definitely would have felt pushing 480 grains of lead out.

I just had my first ever squib last Friday. Shooting my .38 SPL reloads out of my S&W 19-5. All I can say is that it was very obvious when it happened. No recoil and the round just made a small "pop" sound. Sure enough the bullet was stuck in the barrel. The gunsmith at the range got the bullet out for me, took him about 2 minutes to pound it out. My 19-5 was fine. I reload with a Dillon Square Deal B. I check about every 20 rounds for powder. Now I may check more often.

Based on my experience a squib should be pretty obvious when it happens, if you know what a squib is in the first place. Some newer shooters my not be familiar with the possibility of a squib.

Often what goes boom, it is the double charge of fast burning powder in the next round. The powder can stick in the measure causing a light load, with the next round getting a double charge. Has happened many times over the years. I think dillon makes a "powder checker" to indicate a light load. Not really familiar with their equipment.

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PTLAPTA!

I hope you got your shipping label and your 29 is off to the mothership! Keep us updated, interesting thread!

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PTLAPTA!

Everything is on track! i expect a waiting game now

My condolences, that is sad! I had a bunch of Winchester 44 JSP white box ammo exhibit crack cases back in the 90s with a Ruger Redhawk. Sent the ammo back and they sent me a coupon for more. BUT, I've had a sour taste ever since for cheap Winchester ammo!

Actually not if it's legit. Shipping label in 1 minute or less straight to your email inbox.
Of course going to your gunsmith first speaks volumes.

We will all be waiting right here for further updates, by all means please keep us posted.

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Mulebuk Sam and the Governor

oh yes, the RMA label was printed and i shipped it out right away. i meant waiting for them to get back to me with their resolution.

and of course, i will update when i get some answers.

The problem may well have originated from a flaw in the forging. If the billet had an inclusion forging does not overcome the flaw.

Actually, that is "creative marketing" for ammunition which is overpressure as there is, I believe, no SAAMI specification for .44 Magnum +P+. That said, the "approved list for this ammo is a left handed way of trying to limit their liability exposure.

Just something to keep in mind.

Bruce

A kaboom with a charging bear would be interesting? Not good.

I was banned so I'm posting late, the cracked barrel threads is from over torquing it.

**UPDATE**

got a call today from S&W, they said that it was in fact broken, and they would send a new one. He didnt have a detailed explanation as to why it broke.
-edit-
Sorry, i was preoccupied with getting the new one that i forgot i wanted to ask why it broke.