Glad they took care of you, and very happy to hear no one was hurt!

Life is GOOD!

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Good shooting.

Excellent! Glad they are taking care of this (as they should).

As a totally WAG observation:
Blued carbon steel guns are now a small part of S&W's business.
It would not surprise me if they quit making them entirely.
It's possible that the craftsmanship required to make these correctly is disappearing.
This is happening in many manufacturing arenas including firearms.

Oddly enough, I have just been reading Hatcher's Notebook in which he details the process by which
they decided (some of) the first 300K Springfield rifles had been over-heated and became brittle.
They were blowing up using normal GI ammo.
This was due to inattention and lack of scientific measurements during both forging and heat treatment.
Just because it is 2016 doesn't mean this kind of thing can't happen again.

My experience with S&W customer service is almost all positive with only one MEH.
Both Ruger and the former Dan Wesson were excellent when I needed them.
I do, in fact, have one of those 44 magnum Redhawks that have been mentioned and it did get a new barrel.
Been perfect for the last 30 years.
Charter Arms has kind of blown me off.
You get what you pay for.

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NEMO
"Everything 44"

Sometimes processed steel can contain a bit of stray material that is commonly called an "inclusion". When an inclusion is in the wrong spot a result like this can happen. Note, while these types of flaws in processed steel bar stock are rare when failure can result in a catastrophe that effects the National Security or a large loss of life the quality manual for this type of raw material will require X Ray or Eddie Current certification of every single inch. Because this typically increases the cost of that raw stock by a multiple somewhere between 2 and 200 most manufacturers don't require this level of a confirmation of quality. To put it simply, S&W doesn't X Ray inspect their barrels and sometimes on very rare occasions "Stuff Happens".

Good news that S&W is taking care of you with a replacement. I'll also chime in as others have by saying its a blessing no one was hurt either.

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Guns + Dogs= Bliss

I was pretty sure they would send you a new one.

Call them back and get the whole story! I just re-read this thread, and would like to know what they say!

But the good news is, they are replacing the revolver... S&W Customer Service comes through again.

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S&W Rover

I did call back, and he said it was in fact, the over torquing issue that caused it to over stress and weaken. one of the safer malfunctions if you are going to have one.

Thank you for telling us your story and keeping us updated. We all share the joy of shooting and even just looking at our Smiths. If an anomaly crops up, we are all interested as it could be us it happens to the next time.

See ya at the range!

Glad no one was hurt. It's always interesting to me to see photos of failures like this, coming from the research & development perspective of course. One of my jobs of the past was to find the breaking point of "things".

Thanks for posting OP.

Again, I'm glad no one was injured. It almost looks to me like you had a squib and the next shot barely pushed the stuck bullet out of the barrel, but there are other possible causes of course. Some good posts in this thread too.

Glad you got help and a replacement coming. Over torqued barrel? Hmmmmm. It happens but I never experienced it.

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YouJustCantSeeMeLaughingIsAll

it was my pleasure. SINCE no one was hurt, i can say that this has been one of the cooler stories i have about guns. i have been considering putting another .44 in my collection after this. not because i am afraid of shooting it, but i think it would be nice to have a second that i dont have to be super careful with since it would be a stainless one

If I was looking for another 44 mag it would be a 4" 629-3 or-4.
Good looking. Easy to carry. Good shooting with many loads.
Feed it a diet of 8 grains Unique/Universal and a 240 SWC or WFN and it would last forever.

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NEMO
"Everything 44"

Quite a thread and story!

I have seen 2, m19s with cracked frames as OPs, there was no evidence
ammo had anything to do with it. I have seen 1 m29 and several Ruger
S/As, with bulged barrels, cause by Barrel obstruction. Have seen several
revolvers with blown cylinders and warped top strap. These were caused
by double charged 357s. Owners wouldn't admit it, but was the only way it
could happen. For some reason all these guns but one were 357s, maybe
there are more of them on the road.

AdminEdit of VanillaMcshake first post.
That was a good warning, and i like how this post worked out.
Good Job everyone. I hope Smith gives vanilla a new gun.
Thanks all.

I am glad nobody got hurt and I am glad that S&W is making it right.

Post pics of the new revolver when you get it.

I wonder if the overtorquing of barrels is somehow related to the misclocking of barrels. I understand S&W installs barrels by placing the barrel on a mandrel that engages the rifling of the barrel. Then, the mandrel turns the barrel into the frame. Once a predetermined and set torque is achieved the mandrel stops turning. If at that point the front sight is completely vertical, fine. If not, I don't know what S&W does. We know, in some cases they just ship 'em out. Perhaps, in some cases someone tries to tighten it further to make the front sight vertical. In that case, perhaps sometimes the barrels gets overtorqued to beyond engineering limits. Not being there to observe the process, these are just guesses on my part.

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NRA Benefactor

Good that it was s new one. Not a real one. I like that comment. Imagine how many they could sell if they went back to making real ones.

Great thread. Thanks for the post. Interesting reading.

A good rule to follow is to never buy gun show ammo, reloads or otherwise. Some one may have given one of those rounds a double dose of powder.

[QUOTE=VanillaMacShake;139228005]so far it has all been from walmart, except for one box i bought at a gun show a couple weeks ago. i would have to check to see for sure, but i think that was the box we were shooting[/QUOTE
At my trusted gun shop the other day a customer had a Beretta 92 in 9mm. Similar area of destruction, both grip panels were spread out at the chamber. Kind of apples and oranges comparison 9 and a 44 but, I was told Winchester has a deal with Wallmart for let me quote or better, loosely repeat the idea anyway. The brass in the white box Winchester plain Jane looking white box has thin wall brass, to enable to keep the cost down as is Wallmarts deal. I know before I get a lot of response that most Winchester ammo is in white boxes, the cheaper thin brass is an almost generic looking box, no fancy art, cowboy on his horse etc. I have been shooting Winchester ammo for over 50 years and too have used this generic looking box ammo, hey name brand stuff right? just going to punch paper with it anyway. I have never had anything ever go wrong with Winchester ammo, lots and lots of bucks, ducks, doves, etc. have come out on the wrong end of the deal with Winchester ammo over the years for me and they all tasted great. Don't take that thin wall brass story to the bank, just saying that's what I heard. Thank you Lord that both these Men were not hurt.

That 29 just got dinged a bit, this is a catastrophic failure and it was ALL MY FAULT!
Took out three cylinders, the top strap and a Bomar Rib!
I survived my reloads but learned a valuable lesson. I was not as good as I needed to be to load my ammo.

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I blew up my Smith 929 a year ago. It was my fault because I was using reloads. Smith sold me a replacement at a very reasonable cost. Hope they replace your 29 but if not you will get a super deal from them for a new one.

Good luck.

I did a thread on this mishap but by comparison my late model revolver maintained the integrity of the frame. Everything that went flying went perpendicular to or forward of the shooter. Don't know if that is a deliberate design feature in the event of catastrophe but it worked out in my case.

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Thanks for the follow-up.

Glad your getting a new replacement revolver.




.

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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

That was also due to a batch of barrels that had some lube (?) applied that remained on them too long and affected the steel.

I'm sure it wasn't a normal lubricant, but something used in the manufacturing process that damages the steel if left on too long.

When S&W stopped using pinned barrels, I heard of some barrels being over tightened that supposedly behaved as your gun did. They soon got that sorted out.

Be sure to refer to the cylinder as such and not as the "drum" in any correspondence. There is just one cylinder, with six chambers.

Alas, when S&W replaces the gun, it'll be with one of current manufacture. But you can sell that and apply the money toward purchase of a more classic version.

They do have a good warranty and I think will take care of you, as the flaw was in the gun.

I'm glad that no one was injured and that this didn't happen as you were firing at a bear, etc. that was attacking.

Only my guess but, if there wasn't a stuck bullet in the barrel, I wonder what the primer looks like from the case that was last fired. Is the firing pin strike in the middle of the primer or off to the side? Could the hand have broken, and the cylinder didn't index to be inline with the barrel? The only reason I'm not suspecting a metallurgy issue is because both the barrel and frame cracked. Those are both separately forged and heat treated pieces. I really think, as others have said, that an ammo problem would have at least bulged the top strap or likely blown the cylinder entirely. Glad nobody was injured.

Thanks for the follow-up.

Glad your getting a new replacement revolver.


*When I see the term "over torqueing" or
more like torqued beyond the limit of the strength of the threads.....

Stripped threads don't hold parts together very well.

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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

I don't know where this is coming from in view of the fact the barrel installation procedure for both types of one piece barrels is essentially the same sans the insertion of the pin. If somebody could come up with the source I'd be extremely interested in it.

Bruce

Glad your ok. absolutely horrible, may not sleep for a few nites.

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"I'm feeling MUCH better now"