So, this video of a gun blowing up after being shot has the internet stumped, and we want to figure out what's going on. - Outdoorhub

The video shows a .500 Smith & Wesson burst into pieces after being fired, and nobody seems to have a clear understanding as to what caused this malfunction. It seems after watching the video, as if there was some sort of timing issue inside the gun or a blockage somewhere in the barrel.

The post includes plenty of photos for your own investigation, so feel free to offer your thoughts. One thing we're certain about however, is how lucky this guy is for not getting injured when the gun blows up in his hands:

Video: .500 Smith & Wesson Experiences Catastrophic Failure With Enigmatic Cause | OutdoorHub

__________________
Fred
S&WCA 3238

Thankfully, the nature of a revo blowup is for the forces to go forward and perpendicular to the shooter.

It's hard to tell without being able to study the parts firsthand. Just from the pictures it looks like the barrel had a crack or inclusion that gave way.
In the picture looking at the back of the barrel you can see the surfaces of the split on the right side are a different color than those on the left. The left side is a new break, the right side has brown discoloration where the metal was not homogeneous for a period of time before the break.

The gun appears to have timed up correctly when cocked single action, and there is no bulge in the barrel to indicate a blockage.

My vote is an imperfect piece of material that the barrel was made from.

I'll go along with the barrel obstruction theory. Probably a squib load fired before left a bullet in the barrel just passed the forcing cone.
Yep, one lucky guy for sure.
If he hasn't already, he needs to contact S&W, send them the gun and let them examine it.
I also have some questions.
What ammo was used?
How old was the gun?
How many rounds had the gun fired before it blew?
While it could be a metallurgical issue, I'll stick with the obstruction theory.

Wow weeee! That must have been some blast coming out sideways. I have no idea as to why that happened besides the previous posters theory of an imperfection in the metal in or near the where the barrel meets the frame.

I agree the right side of the barrel had at least a partial separation before the complete break.

First of all, there was no blowup "after it was fired". The video shifts to slow-mo as the shot is fired, giving an impression of a delay. Second, I don't think there's much mystery to it -- the banana-peel appearance of the barrel points pretty strongly to a bore obstruction within the first inch +/- .

__________________
Pisgah

The frame and cylinder seem OK and not part of the cause.

That leaves ammo and barrel.

How are these barrels attached to the frame?
Are they 2 piece barrels?
Was there a gap that allowed gas pressure in forcing cone area of the frame on the left side.

I see what appears to be a Remington ammo box on the bench so should we assume factory ammo?

Without personal examination a logical explanation is an assembly defect fitting the barrel to the frame.

__________________
NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

Talk about a bad day at the range video this guy takes first place. He is totally lucky his hands were not damaged. I bet he felt his hand bones rattle on that shot. The article fails to say if it was the blow up on the first shot fired or 2nd or 3rd. If it was 2nd or other following shot then that would point to a squib or barrel damaged from previous round fired. It seems strange that wasn't mentioned. At least I didn't read it in this article.

I doubt it was ammo induced, Every failure I've seen that was ammo caused (usually a double charge) blew apart the cylinder and tweaked the top strap.

If you had a squib 500 magnum I think you would surely know it.

How many rounds previously fired from that revolver?

If the 1st round maybe the factory fitting of the barrel to the frame was too tight and caused a narrowing just forward of the forcing cone.

Something was wrong/went wrong in the forcing cone area.

Modern manufacturing cost cutting methods?

__________________
NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

I vote barrel obstruction just forward of the forcing cone. That caused the force to be contained where the barrel and frame mate and that's why the frame gives way at the yoke. If it had been a 50 grain charge of Bulleseye, or something along those lines, then the cylinder would have burst. Looking at the video makes me wonder if this wasn't some type of You Tube set up. I mean what are the chances that you just happened to be recording when that shot goes off? It just smells like one of those "Jackass" type stunts to me.

Video says no longer avilable and facebook photos removed. ??

__________________
PTLAPTA!

I did not get to see it,, either!!

Fake was my 1st thought because of the filming and what appears to be less recoil than expected by hand held 500 magnum but why defame an S&W product and possibility of a suite against you?

__________________
NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

No videos, it's going to lawyer up I guess. I say someone measured the powder wrong or grabbed the wrong powder. Time for the metallurgical guys to inspect it first.

Working for one of the top engineering groups in the country. It's time for a failure annalsysis to find out why it broke.

Was the steel completely heated and mixed before it was poured?
Was the heat treat done right, not over heated?

To the s&w 500 owners if you half cock the revolver, then back off leaving the cylinder moved halfway. Then return the trigger then use the double action will the cylinder go to full battery or move and stay offset? Freakish things can happen?

Or a squib ?

Ruger uses a top grade quality steel from carpenter steel. I'm not saying it's s&w fault. It could be operator error. I don't like the two piece barrel.

It's not just s&w.

Access Denied

The video is still at the link in post#1....just watched again

__________________
NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

Video is back up. ?? Looking at it frame by frame, there is a large flash only on the left side of BC gap, then flash encompasses entire gun.

Bore obstruction would be my first guess. Squib? One of the pics shows 9mm and 45acp empty brass with 500 loaded round. Will a 45 acp drop thru a 500 bbl, or lodge? An unfired 45acp round I have measures .475" dia. Fired brass would be slightly larger. Possibility??

Remington box on table but they don't show a factory 500 load on their website.

Seems like a rifle barrel mfg, several years ago, got a bad batch of SS that would split in light contours. Especially in cold weather. The 500S&W 2 piece barrel is a fairly thin contour on the inner liner. Maybe??

Would be interesting to read the engineering report on this one. Glad He wasn't hurt! Keep us posted!

__________________
PTLAPTA!

I bet it was that !@#$%^&* lock... just kidding.
I'd say from the looks of the barrel, some sort of obstruction.
The shooter was fortunate (uninjured) to be so unfortunate (blown gun).

My guess is a squib lodged in the barrel. Notice the lack of recoil when the gun goes off. Someone loaded up some really light rounds and the squid in the barrel went undetected.
The round that went off was no where near "full power"

__________________
Tennessee

There is only one possibility: limp wristing!

At least that's what I was told on the Glock Forum when my new Glock 19 Gen 4 threw brass back to my face from the first shot.

They did temper that conclusion a bit when I sent it back to Glock and they said it was a repeatable event for their pistolsmiths due to an unrepairable issue with the gun and sent me a new Glock of my choosing with factory night sights.

Okay, maybe his cause wasn't limp wristing either!

Does the cylinder rotate when he cocks it? And does he have to use 2 thumbs to cock it? Looks like it is hard to cock, uses both thumbs and the chamber does not rotate....

I also think it was a squib. Watched the video at least 5 times and in all that looking didn't see any flash coming out of the end of the barrel. What was visible was the flash from the B/C junction and the barrel coming free of the frame.

One other thing about this video may be a result of the frame rate causing some "strobing" but I didn't see ANY movement of the cylinder when he pulls the hammer back. So another possibility is a cylinder that was "clocked" just enough to cause the bullet to strike the forcing cone far enough off center to cause the same effect as shooting a squib.

That is precisely what I did to my first 4" Model 19. Blew the top strap completely off and the top half of the cylinder. It was over charged ammunition, last round of the day, actually. The three casings left in the bottom half of the cylinder were crushed and reduced to a rough powder.

That video is weird. I can't imagine he blew the gun up on purpose but the look on his face as he gets ready to shoot suggests there is a reason that they are filming this, like maybe to see exactly what the gun could handle in a handload.

I just watched it and he does use 2 thumbs to cock it and yes, it does look like it was hard to cock. But the cylinder does rotate when he cocks it. On the FB page, they state that the ammo was factory Hornady ammo, not reloads.

The video I watched is here: Cole McCartney
- YouTube

...I think a forcing cone crack at the six o'clock position went unnoticed and finally let go...break at the bottom of the barrel is discolored compared to the top break...indicating it was probably a progressing crack that undermined the strength of the barrel and finally let go...

__________________
A Country Boy Can Survive

Why is everyone blaming it on a squid? What' a squid ever done to you?

__________________
Don't You Ever Wash That Thing

I'd bet not, either there was an obstruction he wasn't aware of or someone gave him a case full of Bullseye. Shooter didn't act like he was at all experienced.

The X Frames are seriously strong. A S&W engineer I've had a number of email correspondence with, phone calls and who worked on the 500 Mag program said he thinks it would take 120-130,000 psi to break one. Don

I'm going to stray from all of this technical analysis to say the guy had good form. He didn't flinch or anything when that thing came apart.

Could this be the fault of Russians somehow?

And I know it's slow motion, but he kept his arms outstretched after he shoots longer than I would have.

The left side of the barrel is a fresh break the right side has an old separation you can tell by the discoloration of the break on the right side and the clean color on the left side.

Yeah, I coach kids and I wish they followed through as well as this guy! He is a champ!

That guy extended his left hand up enough to get his left index finger on the front of the trigger guard! That is a good way to get your hand flash burned to start with. I wonder if somehow he pushed on the cylinder release with that odd grip?

Oddly he didn't seem surprised by what happened?? The camera guy didn't even flinch?
Hmmm, the hard to cock hammer could have meant another round projecting out the case and a double ignition of both powders?
Karl

After looking and thinking more it appears that something hit the forcing cone edge to the left to cause that barrel to spin around like that rather than being propelled forward. Hitting the forcing cone could have split the barrel for sure. Makes me think more about the cylinder not being timed up correctly or as mentioned the cylinder release inadvertently pushed?

Strangely enough, not even a cuss word...or two....from anyone!
Quite the form and and self control.

I lean towards an obstruction in the barrel, either on the round fired in video or possibly an earlier occurance of firing with an obstruction that stressed the barrel to the extreme then it lett go on that round. Timing is unlikely because rear of forcing cone appears OK on both halves.

What I find amazing is that the cylinder appears to be fine. Would like to check both it and the frame for deformation.

Of course it was the last round of the day!

Upon my fourth look at the pictures, everything destroyed is on the left side of the revolver. The barrel is pushed out to the left and the left side of the frame is missing. Because of this, my suspicion is the cylinder was not aligned with the barrel, either due to malfunction or short stroking. I'd like to see the fired case to see where the primer was struck.

__________________
So many S&W's, so few funds!!

A while after posting, I had another thought. Maybe this was all set up to try to make it appear S&W makes bad products.

Who, other than an obsessively egotistical person videos every time they shoot? If it wasn't a setup, why would video be running at the precise time of the "accident"?

Maybe that partially accounted for his apparent nervousness? Don

Looks like the cylinder did not rotate to the stop. Video did not show the fired case. Too much speculation. Be interesting to find out what happened.

I thought so as well.

__________________
K & N S&W revolvers

very lucky gunner.....

Go to post #25 and use that link for the video, it will clearly show the cylinder rotating when the hammer was pulled back. The first video was of poor quality and you could not see the cylinder rotate but it did................
Karl

My guess - Some type of barrel obstruction. Not a squib tho.. Likely a

cleaning patch or swab..

The hesitation of the shooter before firing and his CALMNESS afterwards

seems maybe it was possibly staged... The look on his face kinda reminds

me of those crazies on Youtube before eating hot peppers like Carolina Reapers;-/

They KNOW they are in for a big surprise.. Just not sure what the outcome will be!!!

As to lack of recoil, I've been told that when a kaboom happens
the power and pressure is released in a different manner than
when the pressures are contained in a properly functioning gun.

The ripping apart of the gun is actually the "recoil" occurring.

I wonder if the back end of the barrel(threads) wasn't loose by the way the barrel split where it was attached to the frame, shroud has some damage but, not like the barrel? And the barrel seems to have backed out of the shroud at least a couple of inches? My guess is something was loose as a goose? And, yes 500s operate at rifle pressures(60,000 psi).
Steve

But can you tell if it rotated all the way to lock up? I'm just not buying the plugged barrel theory, as I can see no evidence of bulging in the barrel. I hope they send it to S&W and post the autopsy report.

__________________
So many S&W's, so few funds!!

It looks like a range rental, which explains the filming, anyone know how many rounds a 500 is good for before it wears out?

How could anyone get a squid in the barrel??? And why???

I am going with global warming. Nobody has mentioned global warming yet.