After many years of shooting and reloading a very large quantity of all kinds of ammo I finally experienced my very first hangfire yesterday. I was shooting a mixed bag of 9mm through my 940 and number five in the cylinder delayed about a half a second before firing. It was a very unsettling experience and fortunately the revolver was still pointed at the target. If I had been shooting rapid fire and it had been any round other than number five, what would've happened? Has anybody ever experienced a hangfire when the cylinder was turning out of alignment with the barrel? When I think of all the light hits I have experienced while adjusting the mainspring tension in all my revolvers I am amazed that hangfires don't happen more often. It's a testament to the consistency and quality of primers on the market today.

Oh, and the round in question? It was CCI aluminum case Blazer, and BERDAN primed, so I know I didn't reload that one!

Dave Sinko

I've always wondered the same thing--it would be disastrous. It wouldn't be a whole lot better with a semi auto, either, if you happen to be racking the slide the clear it.

Glad you are safe!

Never had one of those! Hope I never do.

I have had several rounds go off at the same time in a percussion pistol though. Not real fun. I got in a hurry and didn't use any ball butter and there may have been a cap fall off too, don't remember. I do know this, that little brass framed 36 cal pistol sure jumped!

Have fun, be safe!

As an instructor for 22 years we always teach about hangfires, however I have NEVER actually seen, or experienced one. You are the first. Disconcerning to say the least.
Randy

Hangfires and light hits are what taught me long ago never to lighten mainsprings in J-frame revolvers. Smaller guns simply must have that full-punch hit for reliable ignition. There is very little extra "oomph" in the standard spring. A smooth action, and not a light trigger, is the way to go with a J.

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Pisgah

I've seen one happen. It was in a Colt single action and maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 second delay.

I went like:

Gun: Click
Shooter: "Wh....."
Gun: Bang!
Shooter: "***,O?!?"

I always have that memory in the back of my mind when shooting fast double action. I don't think there is any way I could NOT keep from pulling the trigger if I had a dud or hangfire in that case.

I have had them with old 8x57 mauser ammo, very annoying and quite dangerous.

Back in the 1960s, my father had a hangfire with .22 LR ammo. I was standing next to him and didn't notice it, but he immediately said that he'd just had a hangfire.
Dad taught basic marksmanship in the Army and Air Force, so he was familiar with the term.
About 1978 I saw a hangfire occur in an M16 at Howard Air Force Base, Panama.
We were qualifying when a shooter at the end of the line raised his hand. The rangemaster began yelling, "Cease Fire! Cease Fire!"
None of us knew what had happened.
The shooter, at the end of the covered line, was about four feet from a concrete wall. His M16 clicked so he immediately pulled back the charging handle.
Just as he did, the primer ignited. It threw brass fragments out the ejection port and peppered the nearby concrete wall.
All shooting was canceled for the day, pending an investigation.
But the rangemaster was a smart man. He took the opportunity to lead a few of us at a time up to the site (to eliminate evidence interference) and show us the brass fragments on the concrete floor, and those tiny flecks of brass on the wall.
The cleared M16 showed streaks of brass on the cover.
And each group was told, "That's WHY you wait for a moment if your rifle goes click."
It was nearly a miracle that this happened to the last shooter in the line. If it had been any other shooter in the line, the man next to him would have been peppered with brass shrapnel.
By the way, the shooter was fine. The enclosed design of the M16 saved him from any fragments. If it had been a design with an open bolt, like a bolt-action rifle or an M14 that brass cartridge case might have been buried in his face.
Hangfires are very, very unusual. They almost never happen with modern ammo, but the possibility is always there.
I've experienced a number of duds through the years. The only hangfires I've encountered -- where there was a miniscule delay between the primer going off and the main charge igniting -- has been with my cap and ball revolvers or muzzleloading rifle. It's far more common with these designs.
Yet, when I hear a click and a modern cartridge doesn't go off, I keep the firearm pointed downrange for at least 30 seconds. When I open the breech, it's well away from my face and body.
Those brass flecks on a concrete wall have been good reminders for nearly 35 years.

As a recently trained NRA pistol instructor, I'll tell you what they taught me.

When you have a mis-fire, keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction and wait 30 seconds before opening the action or advancing the cylinder. The mis-fire could be a hang fire.

LTC

gatofeo,

What happened to the bullet in that instance?

Exactly. this very thing happened to me a few weeks back with a G23 and CorBon's 135 gr HP. I was merrily banging away and then about the fourth round-click. I kept the pistol pointed up and down range, waited around 30 seconds and then ejected the round. The primer had an indentation on it but nothing happened...dead primer. Normally with a glock the striker hits the primer and leaves a sort of smear but this one showed the indent like it came from another brand of ammo. that indicated to me a bad primer as I didn't have anymore problems with another brand I shot later that day. This is what it looked like.

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Excellent reason why one should not mess with mainspring tension! The books say wait 30 seconds when you hit a dead primer. Of course, you cannot do that in a gun fight. . . . Presents a dilemma, doesn't it?

Just like others have already stated for themselves, I am no different. 35+ years of FAR more than casual shooting and I have never experienced a hangfire. The chances for anyone to have one seems to be pretty slim.

I have carried for 28 years now and have never been in a gunfight. I would say that chances of that for most people would also be very slim.

A gunfight and a hang fire at that same time? THAT would be a REALLY bad day!

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BT
EGO VOLUNTAS HAUD OBEDIO

I've had hangfires with old surplus ammo (303 british mainly) as well as with some muzzleloaders. Keep the muzzle downrange and wait a few seconds, if it's going to go off it usually does so in less than 30 seconds. In a gunfight situation it might be best to seek cover or concealment (after all the gun may have broken instead of the ammo failing)

Has happened to me twice, both times with cheap .22 ammo.

I bought my 940 used and it's the only handgun I own that I have never disassembled. Mainspring tension is quite satisfactory and while I don't know if it's stock, it fires all commercial and whatever military primers I have tried in it and has never misfired previously. And there is no strain screw to back out on a J Frame. Even so, I do not believe that a light mainspring can cause a hangfire. The primer gets whacked and it either explodes or it doesn't - instantly. I believe that the problem is with the powder charge. For some reason it doesn't ignite properly. I never buy factory loaded ammo so I don't even know how I ended up with this round of Blazer. It could've been abused or mistreated. I guess I'll never know. I wasn't using my electronic muffs that day so I don't know if the primer popped immediately, though I suspect it did.

I found out recently and quite inadvertently that Hodgdon BL-C2 powder loaded in the .30-06 with 150 gr. bullets and non-magnum primers will cause a very slight hangfire effect similar to firing a flintlock muzzle loader. I even had one round where the primer detonated and only scorched the powder charge, failing to ignite it. Those lots of primers and powder were normal and functioned properly in all other loads in different cartridges. I guess this situation could be called a hangfire also, though it would be my fault for not realizing I was supposed to be using magnum primers.

Much of the time it's just not possible to stop when the gun goes "click," especially when using a revolver. If I had been firing a fast string with my 940 there's no doubt that this round would've gone off as the cylinder was turning. I don't think there's anything I can do to prevent that, short of not shooting fast. I also believe that the phenomenon of "hangfire" is overused to cover faulty gunhandling, such as unloading the gun with the finger on the trigger and having a negligent discharge. "It wasn't my fault; it was a "hangfire!" Also, odd things can happen, such as live rounds being extracted and bumped, having the primer thrown into the ejector.

Dave Sinko

Dave Sinko

I have seen a few, in the last 4-5 years a fellow came out to the club with some surplus 30.06 and a Garand to do some 100 yard shooting. After shooting a few factory rounds, he switched to the surplus (Korean I think). He would pull the trigger and as he was raising his head up to look why the thing didn't shoot, it would go off. He shot it like that for three or four rounds in a row. I offered to field strip the gun to make sure there was no mechanical causes to the hang fires and he agreed. We found the rifle working perfectly. I would say those rounds were going off after a half to 3/4 of a second after the primer strike.

The only other time I saw the rare hang fire was when we were qualifying with the 30 carbine in the Air force in 67. Yea all the m16s were being used in a more important place at the time for us dumb Air force fools to have them. Anyway we were shooting when the fella a few pits down from me got up from prone and raised the arm for the sarge to come take a look. The count was at 7 when the round went off- lets just say we were all surprised and the guy got chewed for sitting up and not counting on his own and having to be reminded to by the range master. Ever since then I always wait for 30 seconds after a FTF. Just in case. (Brings back the memories.)

Sinko,
I use BLC-2 with standard primers, regularly in a 30/30.
Dick

I had one several years ago in my Marlin 882 bolt action .22 Mag. shooting CCI Maxi-Mags. And it is a very dis-concerning experience, at least a learning experience I won't forget.

I had a couple with Interarms Surplus 9mm Luger ammo, way back in the 1970s! I bought 250 rounds REAL CHEAP back then and I got about 7 bad rounds (never fired) and two hang fires. I was shooting for groups at the time off a bench and a rest. The ammo was as accurate as new ball ammo. I was shooting a lot of S&W ammo back then and loaded new hollow point ammo for defense.

Geoff
Who notes the failures only occurred in a S&W 39-2 not in a Browning HP I had at the same time.

I've had a couple hang fires and have seen a fairly large number of them on the range. Mine were with new factory ammo on a cold day. What I really hate are squibs.