Anyone care to comment on this?

[Geronimo Jim]

I have seen exactly the same thing. Usually from an overload of
fast burning powder. Suspect cases I saw was loaded on a Dillon
550 and somehow forgot to index case and got a double load
of bullseye, 231, clays etc. Reason Trail Boss powder was created.

 

[Ruger 13]

A double charge of Bullseye will do that!

 

[kreuzlover]

What the man said (reading between the lines) is the explosion forced material stronger than cartridge case walls into those walls-----which surrendered without any resistance worth talking about.

In other words, the explosion was at the 12 o'clock position, and the force of the explosion radiated out in 360 degrees------which is a rather simple concept if/when you think about it-----which I did---eventually-----with some help.

Ralph Tremaine

Give this man a hand! I think so, too.

 

[22hipower]

My guess is Titegroup. These days, it’s most likely to be Titegroup.

Which is why I weigh every load. Which doesn't guarantee not making a mistake either, but it helps.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[Sevens]

You know what else helps? Not using an ultra-fast pistol powder in a magnum revolver round, even though data says “you can.”

 

[handejector]

I'd suggest reducing that load in 1/2 gr increments till a gun stays together.

 

[jughed440]

His pants are dry. Fake!

 

[Tytan01]

A failure and a Smith, seemingly. But ***??? Cases are crushed.


Part of me wants to say "fake".

Thoughts?

What the heck kind of loads was that guy using? I'm thinking he used the column meant for RUGER when he did his re-loading.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

ANY pic can be photo shopped...........I go with fake.

 

[BC38]

ANY pic can be photo shopped...........I go with fake.

Just curious, but by whom and for what purpose?
To say "DURRR look what a dufus I am and what I did to my gun?"
Seems like Occam's razor applies here.
Here is an extreme zoom on the cylinder. I don't see any of the blurred edges or odd pixelation artifacts that are the telltales of a PhotoShop job.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Looks amazingly similar to the 4" Model 19 I blew up in 1997. No obstruction, just over loaded private handload - last round of the day, actually. Blew the top half of the cylinder and the top strap into the stratosphere, never recovered, the rear sight was 20 feet behind me, the three cases in the "bottom half" of the cylinder were virtually powdered.

That ain't no fake. And I don't trust handloads accordingly.

 

[rubiranch]

I'd suggest Renaissance Wax. Should make it look new again.

That's why I don't reload my own ammunition. I let a good friend do it for me.

 

[dave1918a2]

It appears that the blown cartridge and chamber are missing and are somewhere in the surrounding area.The force of the blast removed the top strap and the top of the chambers on either side. The downblast from the moving topstrap then crushed the soft brass cases or the same blast that took the chambers on either side was strong enough to crush the cartridges. Must have been one heck of a double charge or even triple or a case full of BE deliberately.

 

[6518John]

I'd suggest reducing that load in 1/2 gr increments till a gun stays together.

We are just two weeks in to 2021 and we already have a strong entry for Funniest Post of the Year. From the boss too!

 

[__steve__]

Awesome image !!

Perhaps someone thought it was H110, but it was actually titegroup

 

[Pine_Worker]

Definitely not fake!

 

[Jon651]

A failure and a Smith, seemingly. But ***??? Cases are crushed.


Part of me wants to say "fake".

Thoughts?

My vote is "not fake" and "probable obstruction", and actually the crushed cases are the reason why.

My reasoning: If the barrel is obstructed, the blowback of the gases in the cylinder will attempt to escape out between the cylinder and forcing cone, leading to an overpressure inside the cylinder chamber, leading to the crushed cases as some of the gases try to exit around the case and out the back of the cylinder.

Also, it's difficult to tell from this one photo, but of the two cylinder chambers affected that are visible, the top one appears to still have the slug just in front of the empty crushed case. If so, this leads me to believe the shooter had a problem with the other chamber first but it didn't blow the cylinder apart, but instead of checking the weapon he just pulled the trigger again which is why the slug I think I can see didn't go far and the cylinder fragmented at that point.

The picture is just low-res enough, but it does appear that the barrel has a slight bulge in it which would be from an obstruction. If so then I believe there were actually three rounds involved in this order:

First round - weak load or bad round and bullet gets stuck in barrel.
Second round - normal round fired normally, fully packs barrel with the second bullet and gases escaping out the back of the cylinder crushes the case but the cylinder remains intact.
Third round - normal round fired normally, but the bullet does not enter the barrel (it already having two rounds in it) and the gases escaping out the back of the cylinder crushes the case and the increased overpressure from having the bullet remain in the chamber causes the cylinder to fragment.

Please note that in my scenario, the first round does not have to have been fired on the same day - it could possibly be the last round fired during an earlier session but the gun wasn't checked or cleaned before this incident occurred.

Just my two cents worth from one picture.

 

[cmj8591]

Ok, so who's going to step up and start blowing up some guns to test these theories?

 

[jake1945]

It would be interesting to blow up some handguns; as long as they are not mine. There should be a safe way to do it.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

It would be interesting to blow up some handguns; as long as they are not mine. There should be a safe way to do it.

Remote control? Hire someone else's kid to do the shooting?

Hey y'all! Hold my beer and watch this!