tomtheturner
Member
The Poster indicates that: "The second shot made a very loud BANG" I would say that it indicative of a double charged round.
Tom
Tom
629 explodes
- Thread starter Leah
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Kadonny
Member
But he also said on his first round he didn't see a hole in the target. That to me says the bullet might have gotten lodged in the barrel on his first shot, then the second shot did all the damage.
I had a squib yesterday and it sounded like the others. If the cylinder hadn't failed to turn (the bullet was right at the beginning of the barrel) my 66 might have looked like that. It was definitely a call to be more aware at the reloading bench (and the range). I'm glad no-one was hurt, but it's too bad about the gun.
Update
Here is another from my buddy's cell phone. I will send more once the guys in the I.T. department show me how to send the pictures that are on my camera.
I think the picture on the egg crate is backwards because my friend had to convert it so I could send it. This one may be reversed as well. The reason it is on an egg crate is because I interrupted my buddy during his breakfast to show him the revolver. He had to lean it on something to get a good picture.
I used my wifes name in the Log in because mine was taken and so were about 5 others that I tried.
I googled smith and wessons blowing up and have seen the pictures of the alleged chinese ammo. You will notice in that picture the rounds on either side exploded but the bullet never came out of the case.
I say trusted reloads because I have shot many many of the reloads that my friend reloaded for me over the last several years. The rounds have always been accurate and shot well. To be honest the worst thing I ever thought would happen with reloads was that one would be a dud. Never expected one to blow up. Lesson learned. If I can't be a good example then I can at least be a horrible warning. Trust me, I will be sticking to factory loads until I get a reloading set up of my own.
I just thought that one of you may have some insight and I am sending it back to Smith and Wesson so they can analyze the metal and how the thing actualy broke apart. I am not asking for a new gun but I am inquiring if mine is worth anything towards another. Frankly I am happy to be here with all of my fingers and eyes.
Just for the record, I ordered a beautiful tanker holster and full flap holster for the revolver the night before I blew it up. It was also the weapon that I was going to use to dispatch a bear I am trying to trap. How do you suppose that would have worked if that shot had been at a bear. Me with a blown up gun and a wounded bear. That would have been sweet.
Here is another from my buddy's cell phone. I will send more once the guys in the I.T. department show me how to send the pictures that are on my camera.
I think the picture on the egg crate is backwards because my friend had to convert it so I could send it. This one may be reversed as well. The reason it is on an egg crate is because I interrupted my buddy during his breakfast to show him the revolver. He had to lean it on something to get a good picture.
I used my wifes name in the Log in because mine was taken and so were about 5 others that I tried.
I googled smith and wessons blowing up and have seen the pictures of the alleged chinese ammo. You will notice in that picture the rounds on either side exploded but the bullet never came out of the case.
I say trusted reloads because I have shot many many of the reloads that my friend reloaded for me over the last several years. The rounds have always been accurate and shot well. To be honest the worst thing I ever thought would happen with reloads was that one would be a dud. Never expected one to blow up. Lesson learned. If I can't be a good example then I can at least be a horrible warning. Trust me, I will be sticking to factory loads until I get a reloading set up of my own.
I just thought that one of you may have some insight and I am sending it back to Smith and Wesson so they can analyze the metal and how the thing actualy broke apart. I am not asking for a new gun but I am inquiring if mine is worth anything towards another. Frankly I am happy to be here with all of my fingers and eyes.
Just for the record, I ordered a beautiful tanker holster and full flap holster for the revolver the night before I blew it up. It was also the weapon that I was going to use to dispatch a bear I am trying to trap. How do you suppose that would have worked if that shot had been at a bear. Me with a blown up gun and a wounded bear. That would have been sweet.
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DonD
Member
S&W knows very well people reload and the larger the caliber, typically the more who reload, they accept reality. They know the difference between something wrong with their product and defective ammo.
Odds are astronomically on the side of defective ammo, not structural failure. Don
David Sinko
Member
My reloads are "trusted" too. I've been doing it for 30 years now and after tens of thousands of rounds I have never loaded a double charge. But if it happens tomorrow and I blow up one of my revolvers I can accept that I screwed up and it's nobody's fault except my own.
Too bad. That WAS a nice revolver...
Dave Sinko
Too bad. That WAS a nice revolver...
Dave Sinko
Dream to Dream
Member
Well, on the plus side, since you have that new holster you have to get a new 629. No excuses! 
Regarding the reloads... anybody can make a mistake, no matter how good they are. Could have been equipment error, too. Factory ammo has much less of a chance of being defective, but I personally know at least one person that had a squib load on, IIRC, factory ammunition.
Sorry to see your gun exploded. Make sure you post some photos of the replacement.
Regarding the reloads... anybody can make a mistake, no matter how good they are. Could have been equipment error, too. Factory ammo has much less of a chance of being defective, but I personally know at least one person that had a squib load on, IIRC, factory ammunition.
Sorry to see your gun exploded. Make sure you post some photos of the replacement.
A good lesson here:
"I shot one round and I didn't see hole in the paper 30 feet away. The recoil felt normal. I cocked the trigger. I fired. It felt like a huge flash and BANG."
Whenever in doubt check it. Anyone can load a squib load by accident (negligence) but it is the shooters responsibility to identify if the it doesn't feel/sound correct.
I wish you luck with S&W and their inspection.
"I shot one round and I didn't see hole in the paper 30 feet away. The recoil felt normal. I cocked the trigger. I fired. It felt like a huge flash and BANG."
Whenever in doubt check it. Anyone can load a squib load by accident (negligence) but it is the shooters responsibility to identify if the it doesn't feel/sound correct.
I wish you luck with S&W and their inspection.
flagman1776
Member
Most of us have never had or even seen any kind of a blow up. I have. A buddy blew a case head in his custom 1911 race gun with his own reload. The loads were not "hot". It was the first round from the magazine, the barrel held. The heavily throated barrel blew the case head on the underside where the barrel had been heavily throated. No other cases ever bulged and the throating did not extend beyond the case web. We figured the barrel started to unlock before the excess pressures caused the brass to fail. The case was stuck (mostly) in the chamber. The extractor was blown out as were the wood grips & loaded magazine was peeled like a banana.
He admittd there must have been a fault in his reload but the evidence was destroyed. We pulled all the bullets in that batch & did not find any double charges... they were small target loads & a double charge would have fit.
The alternative would be bullet set back on loading. Again no proof.
My buddy took the gun back to the gunsmith that built it & it was returned to service with only minor parts replacement.
I forget what kind of progressive loader he has but I ALWAYS remove any case under the powder measure if the loader hangs up, dump the powder & single run that case later. If that does not clear a loader problem, I'll single run each case until the problem case is found. Better safe than sorry.
It was not one of my bullets but at the time, I was running a bullet casting business with Magma Machines.
I recall some yahoo at a gun shop touting how K frame smiths were no good & how he shot hot loads in his 28. I said nothing as I never quote loads off the top of my head & was not familiar with the powder he was using. My buddy that day & I looked up the powder when we got home. WAY above the book max for that powder.
I am very glad the OP was not injured. I have no doubt this was a reloader error, no matter if S&W decides to stand behind it or not.
He admittd there must have been a fault in his reload but the evidence was destroyed. We pulled all the bullets in that batch & did not find any double charges... they were small target loads & a double charge would have fit.
The alternative would be bullet set back on loading. Again no proof.
My buddy took the gun back to the gunsmith that built it & it was returned to service with only minor parts replacement.
I forget what kind of progressive loader he has but I ALWAYS remove any case under the powder measure if the loader hangs up, dump the powder & single run that case later. If that does not clear a loader problem, I'll single run each case until the problem case is found. Better safe than sorry.
It was not one of my bullets but at the time, I was running a bullet casting business with Magma Machines.
I recall some yahoo at a gun shop touting how K frame smiths were no good & how he shot hot loads in his 28. I said nothing as I never quote loads off the top of my head & was not familiar with the powder he was using. My buddy that day & I looked up the powder when we got home. WAY above the book max for that powder.
I am very glad the OP was not injured. I have no doubt this was a reloader error, no matter if S&W decides to stand behind it or not.
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gdnagle
US Veteran
Yep backwards also fixed this one for you also. This makes it easier for others to comprehend what happened instead of looking at it backwards. Don't think a over charge or no charge can't happen to you. It's a mistake that can have bad results as you see and can happen to anyone.
This is one reason I like 296/H-110 or 2400 in the 44 magnum. No way to double charge a case since even the minimum recommended loads fill the case 80% full or more.
Even if S&W were to replace the gun, it wouldn't be with as good a model since they don't make them like that any more. The new ones leave a LOT to be desired IMO.
Even if S&W were to replace the gun, it wouldn't be with as good a model since they don't make them like that any more. The new ones leave a LOT to be desired IMO.
Bullzaye
US Veteran
I also personally know one person that had a squib load on factory ammunition. Me!
I was shooting (actually, my friend was behind the trigger at that moment) my S&W M.625 in .45 ACP, and we were using Blazer aluminum-cased .45 ACP ammo. He fired a round or two, accompanied by a normal sounding **BOOM**, and then the next round made a very weak and subdued --pop--. He stopped firing, luckily, as there was a .45 round lodged in the barrel...which had to be driven out of the barrel with a dowel rod and hammer. No more Blazer for me!
Tim
Ive had two squibs out of the same batch of my reloads after 30-35 years of making my own.The first one had me baffled as I didn't hear or feel anything out of the ordinary (obviously on auto pilot) and it lodged half way in the forcing cone,tying up the gun.The second one-I knew.
Okay, let's all take a collective deep breath.....I have told this story many times, I'll tell it again.....
In 1981 I bought a 4" barreled Model 19. I mostly shot .38 Special rounds in it but I used .357 Magnum ammunition, too. 99% of the time I bought and fired factory ammunition.
One day in the 1996 time frame I bought some ammunition from a reloader at the Dallas Gun Show in Market Hall. By mid-1997 I had 6 rounds left.
Anyway, some time in mid-1997, as I was preparing to go to the range to fire a rifle in an Internet "postal match" with friends on a firearms discussion list, I took the Model 19 with me to play with afterwards. My weapon that day, for the contest, was a Swedish Mauser, 6.55 mm, etc. When I was done I recorded my score (terrible - and totally honest), put the rifle away, and headed over to the handgun range. This was all outdoors, by the way.
At the handgun range I took out my Model 19, I had a couple of boxes of ammo, and SIX ROUNDS OF LEFT OVER ammunition from the reloaded batch that I had purchased - in a little plastic bag. As I recall they were marked .38 Special +P. I thought, "Well, let's dump these off first", so I load them up.
5 rounds go off in the usual fashion - no big deal. The 6th goes off with what I can only describe as a supersonic crack, such as you might expect from a rifle shooting high velocity rounds. The revolver bucked a little more than I would have anticipated, way more than the first 5 rounds, and I thought maybe the 6th round was a .357 Magnum round except, even for that, the whole "buck" and "crack"/feel and sound was wrong. So, standing still, gun still in shooting position in two hands, pointed down range, I tipped it back to look at the gun.
Top strap - GONE
Rear sight - GONE
Top half of cylinder - GONE
Brass in bottom three now "open" chambers - crushed into virtual powder
I stood there dumbfounded. "Revolver on the half shell" was what came to my mind.
I was the only shooter that morning on the handgun side so I called my own cease fire but then showed the range master the gun and asked him if I could go down range to find the parts. He allowed that I could so I meandered back and forth - I could NOT find any of the parts in the grass - NO IDEA where they went or how far - but I found the rear sight some 20 feet or so behind my shooting position, to my right, on a cement walk. I still have that rear sight.
I called S&W, they asked me to send it up to them, which I did. They told me that if the metallurgy was faulty they'd replace the gun free of charge but if turned out to be the ammunition or, regardless, if they couldn't find a metallurgical issue, they'd replace the gun at the company's cost.
When all was said and done it turned out they'd let me replace the Model 19 with any gun and that is how I acquired my CS-45.
S&W claimed no metallurgical defect was found, I was totally inclined to believe them because I knew that the ammunition was NOT factory, so I sent a check and that was that.
S&W has the records to back my story up - so, NO, the story is NOT Bravo Sierra and the story that started this thread is likely not Bravo Sierra, either. That 629 looks exactly the way my Model 19 did except its rear sight is still attached. Revolver on the half shell. Almost guaranteed to be the fault of the ammunition but S&W will do their tests and let him know.
Any arguments can be resolved by asking S&W - I'll be glad to call them for anyone who needs proof. Besides, they kept my Model 19 - they might even still have it!
***GRJ***
In 1981 I bought a 4" barreled Model 19. I mostly shot .38 Special rounds in it but I used .357 Magnum ammunition, too. 99% of the time I bought and fired factory ammunition.
One day in the 1996 time frame I bought some ammunition from a reloader at the Dallas Gun Show in Market Hall. By mid-1997 I had 6 rounds left.
Anyway, some time in mid-1997, as I was preparing to go to the range to fire a rifle in an Internet "postal match" with friends on a firearms discussion list, I took the Model 19 with me to play with afterwards. My weapon that day, for the contest, was a Swedish Mauser, 6.55 mm, etc. When I was done I recorded my score (terrible - and totally honest), put the rifle away, and headed over to the handgun range. This was all outdoors, by the way.
At the handgun range I took out my Model 19, I had a couple of boxes of ammo, and SIX ROUNDS OF LEFT OVER ammunition from the reloaded batch that I had purchased - in a little plastic bag. As I recall they were marked .38 Special +P. I thought, "Well, let's dump these off first", so I load them up.
5 rounds go off in the usual fashion - no big deal. The 6th goes off with what I can only describe as a supersonic crack, such as you might expect from a rifle shooting high velocity rounds. The revolver bucked a little more than I would have anticipated, way more than the first 5 rounds, and I thought maybe the 6th round was a .357 Magnum round except, even for that, the whole "buck" and "crack"/feel and sound was wrong. So, standing still, gun still in shooting position in two hands, pointed down range, I tipped it back to look at the gun.
Top strap - GONE
Rear sight - GONE
Top half of cylinder - GONE
Brass in bottom three now "open" chambers - crushed into virtual powder
I stood there dumbfounded. "Revolver on the half shell" was what came to my mind.
I was the only shooter that morning on the handgun side so I called my own cease fire but then showed the range master the gun and asked him if I could go down range to find the parts. He allowed that I could so I meandered back and forth - I could NOT find any of the parts in the grass - NO IDEA where they went or how far - but I found the rear sight some 20 feet or so behind my shooting position, to my right, on a cement walk. I still have that rear sight.
I called S&W, they asked me to send it up to them, which I did. They told me that if the metallurgy was faulty they'd replace the gun free of charge but if turned out to be the ammunition or, regardless, if they couldn't find a metallurgical issue, they'd replace the gun at the company's cost.
When all was said and done it turned out they'd let me replace the Model 19 with any gun and that is how I acquired my CS-45.
S&W claimed no metallurgical defect was found, I was totally inclined to believe them because I knew that the ammunition was NOT factory, so I sent a check and that was that.
S&W has the records to back my story up - so, NO, the story is NOT Bravo Sierra and the story that started this thread is likely not Bravo Sierra, either. That 629 looks exactly the way my Model 19 did except its rear sight is still attached. Revolver on the half shell. Almost guaranteed to be the fault of the ammunition but S&W will do their tests and let him know.
Any arguments can be resolved by asking S&W - I'll be glad to call them for anyone who needs proof. Besides, they kept my Model 19 - they might even still have it!
***GRJ***
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Got to be an overcharge.
1 more pic
This is the last picture I have. Is there a view that some of you who know what you are talking about would like to see? I could probably post that next week sometime. I will not have access to a computer that can send pictures this weekend.
I plan on replacing my revolver with another stainless 6" barrel .44 mag. I am torn between the Ruger Redhawk 5.5 inch and another 629 6 inch. I am not sure about which generation I should be looking at. While researching this forum there seem to be some that love the old ones and some that love the new ones. I don't think I am worried about a lock. I will iunlock it and leave it unlocked forever. Is that possible?
This is the last picture I have. Is there a view that some of you who know what you are talking about would like to see? I could probably post that next week sometime. I will not have access to a computer that can send pictures this weekend.
I plan on replacing my revolver with another stainless 6" barrel .44 mag. I am torn between the Ruger Redhawk 5.5 inch and another 629 6 inch. I am not sure about which generation I should be looking at. While researching this forum there seem to be some that love the old ones and some that love the new ones. I don't think I am worried about a lock. I will iunlock it and leave it unlocked forever. Is that possible?
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