Shield is UNSAFE

[USAF385]

So, did your brother have a failure to eject before firing the disastrous round?

The one time I shot reloads in a semi auto (M&P9 fs) I had a squib round. I was shooting steel and noticed I didn't hear the ringing after one round... for whatever reason I wasn't comfortable after the miss - at the distance I was shooting I was 100% on target. I noticed the slide was slightly out of battery. Sure enough it didn't extract the spent casing and when I checked, the bullet was in the barrel.

If I had simply tried to "tap and rack" I would have had an unpleasant experience for sure.

I sure feel bad for the OP.

 

[Jim Watson]

I have not seen a gun so thoroughly demolished by blowing out a stuck bullet - the "Internet Squib."

I suspect a gross overload. A commercial reloader will likely use a fast burning powder, why use 6 grains of slow powder when 4 grains of fast will work and save 1/3 on powder cost? There is room in a .40 case for a double charge of HP38 and enough freeboard to start a bullet. Something really dense like Bullseye would be even easier to slip a double by with.

When you talk to Smith and the subject of ammunition comes up, be sure to emphasize the "FACTORY reloads" part and name the brand. That might let them cover you under warranty on the basis that you were led to believe it was quality ammunition. Or at least give you grounds to go after the loader... or the store.

 

[Radco]

Admin Edit-
The OP here is understandably upset after a catastrophic failure. Cut him a little slack.
It is completely out of line to label him a troll without obtaining the facts of this event. That is not how we roll here.

If you have something useful to say that is on-topic, and IF you understand and can use common courtesy, have at it. If not, stay out of it.

////////////////////////////////////////////////
the original post-

Second time at the range. Under 100 rounds through a brand new gun. Had to pull metal out of my brothers hand. They know this is a problem and keep selling these things.

Looked at the pics again and man that was one nasty blow up! Did you by chance happen to recover any brass after the gun blew up? If not I would go back to your shooting spot if you can and see what you find! As mentioned I read the a few .40 went boom with Buffalo Bore! Not sure if any issue with Freedom Munitions Factory reloads! What brand ammo were you using?
I go on a few other gun forums so I can ask about issue with ammo there! Again Glad there were no serious injuries! Happy New Year!
Rich

 

[ispcapt]

Another thing that will also cause way over pressure, and particularly so in the .40, is a bullet seated too deep which could be from the reloading process or if not properly crimped the bullet can be pushed back into the case during the loading process when the bullet hits the feed ramp. Could be a double charge of powder or a bullet set back.

 

[Radco]

I'll reopen this thread after I take out the trash.
Stay tuned.

Thank you for dumping the trash talk! I thought it was rude as hell and it was not my post! It was not a good way to welcome a new member with a problem ! A few just jumped the gun and maybe wanted to stir the old pot lol.. Hope OP continues to update us all! Thanks again

 

[twistedracer]

Still no answer on the ammo. He's skirted this question since yesterday.
I saw a rifle blow up like this during Hunter sight in last year. Shooter says it was factory loads but not in factory boxes and he couldn't remember what manufacturer or load. Uh huh.

Without further info on the ammo used, I'm getting very skeptical that this wasn't his own loads.

A very easy question that is being left unanswered.

 

[Radco]

IMO be it Factory Reloads Automation is not perfect!or home reloads it gives you a lot to think about to those that do reload! People do make mistakes and that includes a factory! I was thinking of trying Freedom Munitions Factory reloads but I will stay new for the couple extra $$.. Hopefully OP can recover the case if one split or what ever it did! Lucky part no one hurt!

 

[AlHunt]

That is, indeed, a spectacularly blown up gun. Everything that could be broken, is. If it were a failure of the gun, whatever part failed would be the broken part. As others have said - that has to be a thoroughly overcharged case.

I don't even think that was just a blown case from the "Glock bulge". I don't think a normally pressured case blowing out would create that much damage from the mag well to the slide.

 

[WGSNewnan19]

It was definitely "something" but since we dont have any details I guess we will just have to sit and wait patiently.
Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock.

 

[alleycat7002]

I think this shield is unsafe is bull....reloaded ammo is the problem

 

[oldfart64]

It is a post recall gun, I don't have the date in front of me. The gun was cleaned and inspected before the first firing and cleaned after the first firing. I take very good care of my guns.

The rounds were factory reloads in brass casing.

thanks, so it appears the only sketchy issue is the reloads (or an overtly defective barrel) . This is useful info to know.

 

[rsrocket1]

A double charge of 8 grains of Titegroup only occupies 55% of a case. The peak pressure of 104,000 psi occurs before the bullet moves 0.01" so most of the bullet is still in the case. Looking at the barrel photo, it does look like the entire chamber took the brunt of the pressure blowing the lock lug section off and allowing the pressure to escape into the frame of the gun and destroying it.

I don't think it is a squib followed by a live round. Agree that it was probably a double charge of dense powder. It would be interesting to disassemble a couple of the remaining rounds to see what type of powder was used. If it was a bulky powder like Unique, then a double charge is unlikely. You would have to set a bullet so far back that the cone of a TC bullet would be below the rim to cause the pressure to be > 50,000 psi.

My bet would be that you'll see a fine grained dense powder in the other cartridges and that it and like Jim Watson and scooter123 said, it will be and you'll see a very small pile of it when you dump it out.

 

[njl]

I have been reloading my entire life and I have never seen anything like this. You cannot fit enough powder in a .40 shell to blow every piece of the firearm apart.

With factory reman ammo, I doubt you have any idea what powder they used. I guarantee you enough of a really fast and dense powder (like titegroup) will fit in a .40 cartridge to turn any .40 handgun into lots of little bits.

A commercial reloader could have screwed up the powder charge, switched powders, but failed to fully empty the powder system (so they thought they were loading a suitable amount of Red Dot, but actually loaded a few with a Red Dot sized charge of titegroup).

There's no way S&W could have made that gun badly enough to explode the way it did with proper ammo.

 

[muddocktor]

I'm glad to see the OP came back with some more info on this incident, and hope that he returns and lets us know the info on his "factory reloads" he was shooting when this happened. Because it looks like a double powder charge blew his pistol up to me too and I want no part of that kind of ammo. I'm also happy that no serious injury resulted from this blowup too.

 

[gboling]

Still no answer on the ammo. He's skirted this question since yesterday.
I saw a rifle blow up like this during Hunter sight in last year. Shooter says it was factory loads but not in factory boxes and he couldn't remember what manufacturer or load. Uh huh.

Without further info on the ammo used, I'm getting very skeptical that this wasn't his own loads.

A very easy question that is being left unanswered.

From my own experience I must, initially, consider the possibility that the OP is focused on other issues and may not have read every response here. There has been quite a few, don't thump him yet.

 

[Smitty357]

I will also suspect the reload to be his problem. Factory or not, this is almost always the case. We have seen this outcome across all platforms of all manufacturers.

Now that were are on this subject. This is a good friend of mines, Shield .40. He's been reloading for near 20 years. So u could say this surely isnt his first rodeo. However, we are all human and mistakes are made quite often. This is why its important to always double check ur work and not get in a hurry........This is the result of 12gr of Unigue in a .40 case.......I dont care what gun u own. If its loaded hot, chances are itll go kaboom. You cant blame human error on the weapon.

 

[Radco]

I will also suspect the reload to be his problem. Factory or not, this is almost always the case. We have seen this outcome across all platforms of all manufacturers.

Now that were are on this subject. This is a good friend of mines, Shield .40. He's been reloading for near 20 years. So u could say this surely isnt his first rodeo. However, we are all human and mistakes are made quite often. This is why its important to always double check ur work and not get in a hurry........This is the result of 12gr of Unigue in a .40 case.......I dont care what gun u own. If its loaded hot, chances are itll go kaboom. You cant blame human error on the weapon.

WOW that is nasty! That looks a lot like OPs pistol! Hope you buddy was OK after that one Hope the OP does show the pics to S&W and who ever made the reloads.. He may get the gun replaced by the re loader!

 

[JW4286]

Thanks for the input everyone. I am traveling so slow to respond. Details on the reloads:

Military Ballistic Industries Ammunition
.40S&W 180gr. FMJ
MBI-47484

 

[BigDog48]

Thanks for answering! Travel and shoot safely!!

 

[OLDSTER]

unsafe Shield

YIKES !! Kaboom In my over 55 years of shooting, I've witnessed this all too often. If this were a "cheap" pot metal Saturday-night-Special, I could concede that it may have been a gun issue. But with this gun and from you've posted my friend, this is an ammo issue. Sorry for your troubles and happy you were not injured seriously