Neighbor stopped by to visit. About guns, of course.
Brought over the remains of his mother's 60-3.
Story is a police officer friend gave her some 38 rounds, provenance unknown.
Unsurprising result:

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

WOW!That is a true shame.

I wonder just how much pressure those rounds of unknown origin were pushing. Wow! Sad...

I also wonder if Smith & Wesson would replace it.

Holy smoke!

That is terrible.

Hope everyone was OK.

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The best I can with what I got

Looks like the result of a severe overpressure round (like the classic double Bullseye powder charge error).

S & W 'may' warranty the gun if you can prove the damage was done by a factory load. No possibility of that here.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Whoa! that's.......well, never mind...
I just wanna know what the bullet weight was and what velocity it achieved moving down range...did she happen to fire it over a chronograph??
inquiring minds would like to know...

That just makes you sick!

Sad to see that.

I wonder if the suspect loads might have been confiscated by the PD.
She was not injured, said the shot was really strong and couldn't cycle the next pull.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

Well that aint no good no more.. Too bad, and a waste of a good gun.
Glad no one was hurt.

This is why I don't trust anyone else's reloads but my own, no matter who loaded them. And why I never let friends or students use my reloaded ammunition.

When I provide ammunition to friends or students, is is ALWAYS factory ammo, no exceptions. Its not because I don't trust my reloaded ammunition, because I am very careful when reloading (always inspect every charged case before bullet seating. It is because if I should make a mistake, I'll be the one who suffers any consequence.

The person who provided that ammo mentioned in the OP's original post, should be buying the owner of that gun a replacement of the exact same specification.

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FBINA, 204th Session

I never used someone else’s reloads, and never sold my own to anyone.

Recipe for disaster and lawsuit.

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Sure you did

Would be interesting to know if it was box of factory ammo or reloads, and what kind of bullet...wadcutter, SWC, RN, jacketed or lead...and if all were of the same type...

Glad no one was hurt...but another pre-IL S&W is down the tube...

Bob

Ummm, duct tape?

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

Good engineering and manufacture- Looks like it kept everybody safe.

A rubber mallet and some JB Weld and she’ll be back in business.

I must admit, that made me laugh! It is a real shame that it happened. Hopefully, everybody is OK.
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

I, too, hope everyone is ok. Now, it's a parts gun. Or should I say, an "a-parts" gun. Must be extra careful with ANY ammo, pays to inspect each round upon loading. Once I didn't listen closely enough when a pal gave me a partial box of a foreign brand .22LR marked 'target ammunition.' Shooting it in my Marlin Papoose carbine, I incurred a bulged bbl from a bullet not exiting the bbl and me firing the next round. Bbl was still usable, but I ordered a new one from the factory.

Recently had a .38 round from a WalMart R-P 100-round box with the primer loaded sideways. Worse, I didn't inspect the ammunition and had loaded it in the gun for the trip home.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

so it was not rated for +++P+++?

Bet that was snappy in a J frame

My next thought was I wonder if a 27 or 28 would have swallowed that one.

Wow! That was at least a double charge of a very fast burning powder. This is why I will not shoot someone else's handloads in my firearms. Glad no one was injured.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

WOW! Sad to see that happen to any gun, but I have to admit I find it fascinating to look at the smooth arch of the gun's top strap. I am also happy that nobody was injured! Great photos, and thanks for sharing!

I'd have that mounted and put on the wall. It's a story, a reminder, and a curiously compelling work of art now.

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Pickpocket

That model 60 should be gift wrapped and presented to the "friend" that gave her the ammo! More than one lesson to be learned here! It is great that no one got sent to the hospital from this mishap.
jcelect

That's why I never shoot reloads that someone else has loaded and any other rounds of questionable origin. Glad that no one was hurt. Fortunate that the top strap held and didn't fly off backwoods toward the shooter's head; has the same effect as a hand grenade or worse.

Over the loading bench would be appropriate!


Many years ago when I was young, the local gun shop had a display of Ka Boomed firearms over the counter where reloading supplies were sold. Every few months one or two more examples were added. It made an impression on me.

Agreed I only for my own (and my wife's) never know what it might be used in or how. What a shame !

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

I’m surprised the top strap held, usually blown off.

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Pine_Worker
Ex-LEO, NRA Life

First time i have seen a j frame with a carry handle modification.

All joking aside. Im glad she still has her face and fingers
Might not he an overcharge - possibly squib load and barrel wasnt cleared prior to next trigger pull. It can happen during double tap drills.

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Romans5:8

In the 50’s my dad and I stopped at a gunsmiths shop and he had a J frame, probably pre 36, with the cylinder split in two pieces and the frame twisted. The story was the owner who fired the gun lost an eye and part of his hand. It was suspected that the case was double or triple charged with bullseye. Remembering how it looked I’d say it was triple charged.

Once upon a time my agency inherited an office trailer for use at our range from a defunct shooting club. In a cabinet we found a cardboard box containing hundreds of loose rounds of old school .38 wadcutter reloads. Guys were begging to shoot them. They wanted to save a few bucks. Obviously we wouldn’t let them. We were hoping to save them to scavenge the lead but later buried to lot of it because guys were trying to sneak it out to qualify.

ouch... so sad... this must have been a horrible event...

I’ve only been loading for 9 years. I would never shoot somebody else’s reloads. I have let my friends shoot some of mine a few times. I don’t make a habit of it but I am confident I will never have a kaboom or a squib.

I only use one type of pistol powder. No chance of mixing them up. HP38.

I have a separate hopper for rifle. No chance of mixing them up.

Load data open on the bench to refer to. Powder weight taped to hopper to verify I using the right data for the bullet.

I batch load. Single stage press. Weigh every charge. Empty brass primer up in the block. No chance of double charge. Throw powder, weigh charge, dump powder into case. Seat bullet immediately. I used to load in batches of 50, check them all with a flashlight, and seat them after the powder was dropped, but one time when I had loaded about 40 cases my hand bumped something and I spilled the powder into the open cases. Had to dump them all and start over. Now I seat a bullet immediately. This way I can load 4 or 5 at a time if I get called away. When they’re all seated I crimp.

But yeah, I wouldn’t shoot somebody else’s loads.

Ah, the new S&W Humpback Split Cylinder .38 Extra Super...

All kidding aside, thank God nobody was injured.

Sounds exactly like what I do, lee single stage press weigh every single charge made thousands of rounds, worn out 3 press's oh well I'm retired, no hurry not supplying anyone but me, and I know what everything is.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

I am not an engineer but I don't think it's supposed to do that! Too much Bullseye and not enough space to burn it.

Wait - is that the new Kimber?

August 1964, don't remember the date but I turned loose a double charge of bullseye in my M-19 (about 7 gr) It definitely sounded different that what I had been shooting. The only Problem I had was the cylinder wouldn't open. the primer had flowed back around the firing pin and I had to use a rubber mallet to shear the brass of the primer to open the revolver. Also had to use a mallet to remove the rest of the cartridge. Glad it was a 357 magnum I shot it in. I still have that revolver and shoot it. So much on how fragile a M-19 is.
SWCA 892

OUCH! Shame about the pistol but at least it can be used for parts. I'd definitely be having the person who gave her the ammo replace the pistol.

Makes a great piece of keep on my desk.

I bet it scared the bejesus out of him. Wow.

Neighbor's mother was the shooter.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

An aside: if this device can no longer fire a projectile, say because the cylinder can no longer fit between the rear face of the frame and the end of the barrel (can't tell from the pix) is it still a "firearm" that needs to be transferred with a 4473 to somebody who wants it for parts?

If it's still a firearm, could that be fixed by cutting the top strap and the front of the frame below the barrel threads, so there was no longer a place to attach a barrel?

I'm just thinking it would be a lot easier to sell for parts if you could just mail it to the buyer. (In theory you could even use PayPal, since you're not selling a gun, although I'm not sure I'd trust PayPal not to make up some rule of their own if they thought it was just a really snub nosed gun . . . )

Can you say, KABOOM!!?

Jeez. . . .even knocked the spur off the hammer!

Are you sure that won't buff out OK?

My brother borrowed an ammo box from me to take to the range. He brought it back with a lot of empty brass. When I opened it, I found 1/2 of a blued M19 cylinder. His friend blew up the revolver with an overload. The friend admitted he was distracted by his family when he was loading.
Dont know what the load was. I kept that 1/2 cylinder on top of my loading bench for many years. If I find it after my last move, it will go back up there.

I quit using any powder that would not overflow if double charged.

I also read where it is possible to load two shorter bullets in the same case. It was in a 44-40 with 200 gr cowboy loads made on a progressive loader. The lube can build up in the bullet seater and can hold a bullet. If you dont notice it, the next load will be doubled. Those loads blew up two original Colt Single Action Army revolvers. I went out to my bench and tried this with the 200 gr bullet in my 44 Magnum brass. They both went right in. It would not work with the 44 Special brass.

Br careful out there. Trail Boss became my new light load powder.

I've never done any reloading; but, is Trail Boss a powder that will overflow if not a safe charge?

Trail Boss is made to basically fill the case and still be a light load. There are fairly stern warnings about not compressing it, though, so a standard load is to fill the case to just below the bottom of a seated bullet.

The target audience is cowboy action shooters who use large volume cases but don't want heavy loads OR any risk of a double charge. It's a low enough energy powder that you probably can't get enough Trail Boss in a 9mm or 45 Auto case to cycle the slide of an autoloader.