Bowling pin shoot gun fail

[jkmo]

I can’t figure this one out. What am I missing?

Was shooting pins today with my partner. Timed event. He was shooting some 44 wadcutters with 17.5 grains of 2400. We had shot a couple frames and was all good. Next frame up he shot his first pin and when he shot his second pin, big boom. Several spectators and all said the boom was louder than his previous shots. He stopped shooting.

Inspected the gun as it was having difficulty locking up. I thought the bolt was damaged and it may be. Hammer would not go back.

Found a squib load just in the barrel with un burnt powder behind. Just entered the barrel enough for the whole bullet and un burnt powder. All shells extracted easily. No expanded cases.

Anyone have a possible explanation?

 

[S42N8]

1) Faulty primer
2) compromised propellant (unlikely)
3) ???

I’d be pulling every one of those handloads, and check the primer lot. Squibs do happen, but I’d think primer is the most likely.

 

[LVSteve]

Did the first pin go down with one shot? Big boom and a stuck bullet seems odd. I wonder if the bullet became dislodged and the "big boom" was excess propellant getting loose at the cylinder gap.

 

[jkmo]

That’s a possibility I hadn’t considered. Makes sense

 

[IAM Rand]

I kinda like S42N8's #2. It almost seems like the powder directly under the bullet had issues and only the powder on the bottom ignited. Not sure it would be a primer issue, if it started the powder, how could it be the primer. The powder clumping without igniting leads me to think it was bad powder.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

Many questions with no answers. But I suspect primers. Just my two cents.

 

[venomballistics]

Did the first pin go down with one shot? Big boom and a stuck bullet seems odd. I wonder if the bullet became dislodged and the "big boom" was excess propellant getting loose at the cylinder gap.

exactly ... a boom is a result of high pressure gasses being released. Obviously, that did not happen if the cork is still in the jug. Not to mention that much of the powder did not convert to gas to become pressure.

2400 is not hard to ignite,I'm going to go with contaminated powder charge, seeing as it's all in a clump, and not a free flowing pile.
Not that 2400 would be my choice for this load in the first place.

 

[weatherby]

My only thought is that second shot loud boom damaged
The gun enough the cylinder rotated and hit the primer on #3 weakly.

We're there 2 fired cases and that one ?

 

[jkmo]

Only two shots. The first and then the boom

 

[s&wchad]

Good primer, bad powder...

 

[gwpercle]

Too much 2400 in the case .

The 44 wadcutter bullet moved back into the case and was sitting on powder charge .

The 44 wadcutter bullet crept forward , out of the case , low velocity stuck bullet in barrel ...next shot = big boom .

Need more details to figure out what happened ... lots of things can conspire and all together add up to the big boom .

Gary

 

[reddog81]

It sounds like the primer worked but the powder didn't ignite. That powder clump looks like it didn't even try to ignite so that's weird. Does he clean cases using liquids? Maybe a case wasn't dry before use.

 

[BE Mike]

Eyewitness accounts are very often not reliable. So the stuck round was the 3rd shot attempted? If so, it would seem that the powder of the third round was contaminated and would not ignite. That means that the primer pushed the bullet into the barrel enough for the unburned powder to occupy the space between the stuck bullet and the end of the forcing cone.

 

[Nevada Ed]

If the bullet was just barely into the barrel,
how did that powder, get in front of it
or was the bullet deeper into the barrel? (per picture)

Did the primer get struck by the hammer?
Did the inside show that ignition, took place ?

Just glad that things worked out, ok.

 

[Fishinfool]

I am going to guess contaminated powder as well. Bullet lube, case lube? The "big boom" is subjective, though it probably did sound different than the first, normal shot. Bullet in the forcing cone is about what I would expect from a primer only.

As others have stated, I would pull down the rest of that batch of reloads, and check for contaminated powder.

The guns failure to cycle afterwords could have been from any number of issues such as unburned powder / crud blocking the cylinders rotation, or the primer backing out slightly, causing drag on the breach face. I doubt high pressure and subsequent damage to the gun occured. Does it now cycle normally after being cleaned?

Larry

 

[BE Mike]

If the bullet was just barely into the barrel,
how did that powder, get in front of it
or was the bullet deeper into the barrel? (per picture)

Did the primer get struck by the hammer?
Did the inside show that ignition, took place ?

Just glad that things worked out, ok.

Actually, according to the photo, the powder followed the bullet into the forcing cone which would be expected if the primer ignited and the powder failed to ignite.

 

[LVSteve]

We still don't know if the first bullet went downrange. Did a pin go down with that first shot?

 

[243winxb]

The boom was an overload. This dislodged the bullet from the next cartridge. Bullet jumped crimp, moved forward, out of case. Pressure did not build when primer fired, but was enough for the bullet to enter the barrel.

 

[243winxb]

KABOOM photos.

Log in | The High Road Photos of when things go wrong.

 

[LVSteve]

The boom was an overload. This dislodged the bullet from the next cartridge. Bullet jumped crimp, moved forward, out of case. Pressure did not build when primer fired, but was enough for the bullet to enter the barrel.

But the big boom was supposed to be on the second shot.